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Need help - wakeboard tower rope attachment
Posted: Mon Sep 23, 2019 3:37 pm
by Kasey
Hi!
I have a CS22 with a factory wake board tower and this might be a dumb question.... But can I hook up a rope under the light to wake board behind?
I saw in another thread that a guy broke his going into a garage, so I started to second guess myself on if it is meant to be pull people or not.
Thanks.
Re: Need a help
Posted: Mon Sep 23, 2019 3:47 pm
by AsLan7
Kasey wrote: Mon Sep 23, 2019 3:37 pm
Hi!
I have a CS22 with a factory wake board tower and this might be a dumb question.... But can I hook up a rope under the light to wake board behind?
I saw in another thread that a guy broke his going into a garage, so I started to second guess myself on if it is meant to be pull people or not.
Thanks.
.
Hey Kasey. Welcome to the CobaltChat forum. So glad you found us!
Yes, the CS22 wake board tower is designed to pull wakeboarders from the top "pylon".
I believe the thread to which you are referring is when BigBlockPower backed into his garage without first lowering his tower. Needed some extensive repairs. That post is
here.
Any pics of your CS22?
Again, welcome aboard mate!
.
Re: Need a help
Posted: Mon Sep 23, 2019 4:38 pm
by jma2@fuse.net
It's in the manual, which provides: "Arches or towers are designed to tow a wakeboarder. Do not tow other boats, tubes, parasails, etc." Basically there is a recess on the all-around-white-light where the rope attaches. Also, there is a velcro slit in the Bimini top that you thread the tow line through so it doesn't go over the top of the canvas. Please note that it's only for wakeboarding: You never want to pull a waterskier or even worse a water toy (e.g., tube) using the tower. I've seen too many people on the lake doing this with pull-toys and cringe.
Re: Need a help
Posted: Mon Sep 23, 2019 6:27 pm
by Big Block Power
AsLan7 wrote: Mon Sep 23, 2019 3:47 pm
Kasey wrote: Mon Sep 23, 2019 3:37 pm
Hi!
I have a CS22 with a factory wake board tower and this might be a dumb question.... But can I hook up a rope under the light to wake board behind?
I saw in another thread that a guy broke his going into a garage, so I started to second guess myself on if it is meant to be pull people or not.
Thanks.
.
Hey Kasey. Welcome to the CobaltChat forum. So glad you found us!
Yes, the CS22 wake board tower is designed to pull wakeboarders from the top "pylon".
I believe the thread to which you are referring is when BigBlockPower backed into his garage without first lowering his tower. Needed some extensive repairs. That post is
here.
Any pics of your CS22?
Again, welcome aboard mate!
.
Welcome. Yes as they said your good to pull from the tower. Yes remember to lower your tower going into your garage. And as a new member not me found out on a A25 the light won't fit through either.
I'll take the light over the tower though. He wins. I lost.
I think this might have been the thread you are referring too.
viewtopic.php?f=29&t=3212&start=15
Re: Need a help
Posted: Mon Sep 23, 2019 6:30 pm
by AsLan7
.
As others have mentioned, the tower pylon is great for pulling a skiier, knee boarder, or wakeboarder.
It's not to be used for tubes... primarily from the force generated on the tower if the tube submarines....or worse...a leveraged side load from that. Fiberglass spider cracking or failure could result.
.
http://blog.bigairwaketowers.com/2017/0 ... h-a-tower/
Re: Need a help
Posted: Mon Sep 23, 2019 7:02 pm
by Bfun220
AsLan7 wrote: Mon Sep 23, 2019 6:30 pm
.
As others have mentioned, the tower pylon is great for pulling a skiier, knee boarder, or wakeboarder.
It's not to be used for tubes... primarily from the force generated on the tower if the tube submarines....or worse...a leveraged side load from that. Fiberglass spider cracking or failure could result.
.
http://blog.bigairwaketowers.com/2017/0 ... h-a-tower/
I'm not saying I disagree and I know have said it before. But this guys numbers are just to scare people. His math is messed up. He uses line break strength to figure out how much force a tube is going to generate. Max weight for a 4 person tube is going to be around 750lbs including the tube. So there's no way your going to hit 10,000 lbs. His figure should be more like 3700lbs. ÷ 4 = 975. And dont forget a good Solomon skier can generate around 1200lbs of side force.
Sorry, it just kills me to see big scary made up numbers, carry on.
Oh, and wakeboard tow ropes are rated 2,000lbs.
Re: Need a help
Posted: Mon Sep 23, 2019 8:24 pm
by AsLan7
Bfun220 wrote: Mon Sep 23, 2019 7:02 pm
AsLan7 wrote: Mon Sep 23, 2019 6:30 pm
.
As others have mentioned, the tower pylon is great for pulling a skiier, knee boarder, or wakeboarder.
It's not to be used for tubes... primarily from the force generated on the tower if the tube submarines....or worse...a leveraged side load from that. Fiberglass spider cracking or failure could result.
.
http://blog.bigairwaketowers.com/2017/0 ... h-a-tower/
I'm not saying I disagree and I know have said it before. But this guys numbers are just to scare people. His math is messed up. He uses line break strength to figure out how much force a tube is going to generate. Max weight for a 4 person tube is going to be around 750lbs including the tube. So there's no way your going to hit 10,000 lbs. His figure should be more like 3700lbs. ÷ 4 = 975. And dont forget a good Solomon skier can generate around 1200lbs of side force.
Sorry, it just kills me to see big scary made up numbers, carry on.
Oh, and wakeboard tow ropes are rated 2,000lbs.
.
I think we’ve discussed this before but I’m not reading it that way bfun. He’s actually not using the max towable breaking line load of 4,000 pounds but a conservative load estimate based upon a tube submarining. (Btw, he’s only using one tube vs multiple which can make it even worse).
“ Let’s do a little math…if a submerged tube can create enough load to break a rope at let’s say a conservative number of 2,000 lbs and say the tower is 5 ft tall above the hull. A simple torque calculation shows that 2,000 lbs x 5ft would create a torque moment of 10,000 ft-lbs on your boat hull. ”
I’ve had four 200 pounders (conservative) on a 25 pound 4-person tube. That’s 825 pounds. Now submarine that baby...at speed...with a side load. An increased submarining force estimated at 2,000 pounds against the tower is conservative imho. It’s also a reason they use a 4,000 pound breaking strength on a heavy duty towable rope...(to not break —even under a worst case scenario).
In any event, I think we can all agree that regardless of what numbers one uses, tube
pulling from a tower is a no-no unless heavy duty reinforcements & custom modifications are accomplished to a boat. And even then, the leverage from a sudden increase in side load can be disastrous to an inexperienced driver due to higher fulcrum leverage--(Force = Torque x Distance)
Force calculator
Click for
Boat US Recommendation
.
Re: Need a help
Posted: Mon Sep 23, 2019 9:28 pm
by Bfun220
Yes. Pulling a tube from a tower/boat not rated for the task is a no no.
But there's no way your getting to 10,000. And if you could hit 10k how are some boats/towers able to be rated for tubing because I'm sure they can not handle a 10k side load yet their rated for tubes ?
Re: Need a help
Posted: Mon Sep 23, 2019 9:39 pm
by AsLan7
Ahhh, rationalization at its finest. Thought you may be tube pulling from your tower.
As long as you’re aware of the dangers. As the saying goes, “all things are permissible but not all are beneficial”.
Loce the Cobalt flag by the way.

Re: Need a help
Posted: Mon Sep 23, 2019 9:53 pm
by Big Block Power
B. Nice water. I missed that lake this year. Lol
Re: Need a help
Posted: Mon Sep 23, 2019 9:59 pm
by Bfun220
Big Block Power wrote: Mon Sep 23, 2019 9:53 pm
B. Nice water. I missed that lake this year. Lol
You haven't used my side entry either.
Re: Need a help
Posted: Tue Sep 24, 2019 6:10 am
by Big Block Power
Bfun220 wrote: Mon Sep 23, 2019 9:59 pm
Big Block Power wrote: Mon Sep 23, 2019 9:53 pm
B. Nice water. I missed that lake this year. Lol
You haven't used my side entry either.
I'm just glad you got your flag mounted.
Re: Need a help
Posted: Tue Sep 24, 2019 12:05 pm
by liquid
good thing my arch came from an A36 and has it's own pontoons.
Re: Need a help
Posted: Wed Sep 25, 2019 5:41 am
by Ytmsn
liquid wrote: Tue Sep 24, 2019 12:05 pm
good thing my arch came from an A36 and has it's own pontoons.
Ha! I'm going to start calling you "spoon" because you always try to stir stuff up!

I loce it!
Re: Need a help
Posted: Wed Sep 25, 2019 4:19 pm
by liquid
Ytmsn wrote: Wed Sep 25, 2019 5:41 am
liquid wrote: Tue Sep 24, 2019 12:05 pm
good thing my arch came from an A36 and has it's own pontoons.
Ha! I'm going to start calling you "spoon" because you always try to stir stuff up!

I loce it!
Can’t help being myself I suppose!