Pulling a tube

echandler1971 · July 2022

I’m reading horror stories about Rinkers pulling tubes, blowing out transom assemblies. I have an 05 360 with twin VP 5.7 GI. Is this really something I should worry about? I just got a tube and haven’t even used it yet.

YYZRC · July 2022

I could see yanking a rotten cleat out of the boat. Transom assemblies would be fine.

aero3113 · July 2022

Use the “D” rings on the lower transom.

randy56 · July 2022

We pulled water skis' and tubes with 270. No problem. Never heard anything about transom assem. going bad. it does not have any thing to do with it, and Rinker has the same Merc transom assem. as all other boats. Now curious where you heard this info.

echandler1971 · July 2022

randy56 said:

We pulled water skis' and tubes with 270. No problem. Never heard anything about transom assem. going bad. it does not have any thing to do with it, and Rinker has the same Merc transom assem. as all other boats. Now curious where you heard this info.

It was a recent FB post in a Rinker group. My wife keyed in on that and put my plans of pulling a tube in doubt. That lead to me asking the many Rinker experts and users in this group to try and quell (or possibly confirm) those fears.

Willhound · July 2022

I pulled a tube with my 270 no problem by using a water ski bridle attached to the two trailer tie down loops on either side of the transom below the swim platform. Kept the tow line out of the way too. Be sure to use a floating one so it doesn't get caught in the props when slowing down.

Griffs_Aboard · July 2022

Pulled a tube for years on Rinker 250FV and Rinker 290EC using swim platform cleats. I made sure the tow line was on a self centering harness at least 15 feet. I would recommend a tow booster or significant float on the line to minimize added strain of the harness in the water\wake. I never had any issues or even visible wear on the cleats. Pulled both 2 person and 4 person towables.

laureniac1 · July 2022

Same here with the water ski bridle to the cleats on back of boat. The 270 Rinker is a tubing machine lol

echandler1971 · July 2022

Anyone have a link to this “bridle” that would work on a 360 with a 13.5’ width? I assume I hook it to D rings and it floats out past the swim platform? I wonder if I can hold it with the dinghy davits when not in use and to keep it from getting in the outdrives?

YYZRC · July 2022

https://www.airhead.com/collections/ropes-and-harnesses/products/heavy-duty-tow-harness

Black_Diamond · July 2022

https://youtube.com/shorts/EIQUhEKhq44?feature=share

Roulette wheel towable

Cableguy Greg · July 2022

I don’t recall any post on the Facebook pages that I am the admin for about a transom being pulled apart by a tuber.

echandler1971 · July 2022

Cableguy Greg said:

I don’t recall any post on the Facebook pages that I am the admin for about a transom being pulled apart by a tuber.

it wasn’t the transom. It was the transom assembly. Apparently had to pull an engine to fix - $20k

Aqua_Aura · July 2022

My pop up cleats on the 280 swim platform are just slightly bent so they can be hard to pull up but not really any issue. It would not surprise me if the previous owner pulled from these, not sure what else would cause this.

aero3113 · July 2022

@Aqua_Aura I have a bent one on my starboard side, and it will not fully stow. I always wonder how it happened.

Willhound · July 2022

echandler1971 said:

Cableguy Greg said:

I don’t recall any post on the Facebook pages that I am the admin for about a transom being pulled apart by a tuber.

it wasn’t the transom. It was the transom assembly. Apparently had to pull an engine to fix - $20k

I'm having a hard time envisioning how pulling a tube lead to having to change a transom assembly. Too much strain? Hardly. A fully loaded 270 already approaches 2 tons and many owners put a thousand hours on an assembly without issue. I suspect poor maintenance and an already worn gimbal, output shaft etc and things happened to grenade while pulling a tube and the owner blamed it on that. In a properly maintained 270 and with a properly rigged harness the only thing that will suffer pulling a tube is your fuel bill.😉

aero3113 · July 2022

It’s possible that the tow line got tangled around the drive and he continued to pull and did damage to the assembly. But that would be VERY odd/almost impossible (with the correct harness) thing to happen.

Aqua_Aura · July 2022

Correct harness and I think there is a float ball you can add as well to keep the line up since it's tied so low.

echandler1971 · July 2022

Aqua_Aura said:

Correct harness and I think there is a float ball you can add as well to keep the line up since it's tied so low.

I have an old Nerf football that would work for that, but depending on how it lays, I may hook the middle of the rope around the davits for the dinghy so long as I see the primary load still transfers down to the D rings on the transom. The davits would just be guides and prevent outdrive intrusion. I won’t know until i try. I could also just use the davits to hold the harness when not in use (driving out to the tubing area)

davidbrooks · July 2022

If you read it on Facebook it must be true.

LaRea · July 2022

@echandler1971 think about the physics. How hard could a skier's arms pull on your boat? Guessing 25-30 pounds while skiing? Maybe 50 pounds for a few seconds when trying to get up? Your 8-ton boat won't even notice it. Go for it!

echandler1971 · August 2022

We were successful. Nothing bad happened except my guinea pig son inhaling a lot of spray.

Aqua_Aura · August 2022

So how did you end up connecting the line to the boat?

echandler1971 · August 2022

Aqua_Aura said:

So how did you end up connecting the line to the boat?

I got a proper harness (Airhead, I think) and connected it to the D-rings on the transom. It worked fine and no issues with the outdrives grabbing it.

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