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Another home made ski tow bar - finally installed!
Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2014 7:58 pm
by PlaynDoc
OK... I've taken the plunge. I like towing tubes and skiers.. My daughter is getting to the age of 'maybe it's time for skiing'.....
I'm tired of using the
Y yoke strap with swivel. I'm tired of using the
Powerball Tow System.... Both are great devices, but more hassle than having a tow bar.
Here's the plan... Since I have no idea how much it costs to powder coat a ski tow bar, and since my welder guy does all the work at home - with a driveway issue that won't allow me to leave my boat at his house.... I made a PVC mock up/prototype... I called
Powder Coating by JLC for estimate on powder coating. I emailed them these pictures. He said, that since it will be exposed to a lot of water, he needs to add some type of special primer, followed by powder coating in my choice of color, should be around $150. I think I'm going with a beige/tan type color, since 1. My wife says so, and 2. Matches some of the striping on the boat graphics.
Sounds good enough. My welder guy will pass on the savings of the material to me. He can get all the tubing/angle iron stuff from his workplace, at wholesale pricing. We're going with 1 1/2" tubing with 3/16" wall. The base will be 2" angle iron... The tow bar will be mounted to the same cross members that the engine pod is mounted, using heavy strength bolts....
Sound strong enough?
Anyway, here's the photos of the initial prototype... I'm going to add some additional braces that go from the slanted/angled tube, to the vertical rear piece... They're not on at time of photos. I'm also going higher with the angled/rear supports.
I'll update this when the welder finishes.... Of course, ignore the wooden and the grey pvc support bars....
The
Powerball Tow System will be for sale when this tow bar is completed.... I think...
Re: Another home made ski tow bar
Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2014 6:30 am
by rancherlee
PlaynDoc wrote:OK... I've taken the plunge. I like towing tubes and skiers.. My daughter is getting to the age of 'maybe it's time for skiing'.....
I'm tired of using the
Y yoke strap with swivel. I'm tired of using the
Powerball Tow System.... Both are great devices, but more hassle than having a tow bar.
Here's the plan... Since I have no idea how much it costs to powder coat a ski tow bar, and since my welder guy does all the work at home - with a driveway issue that won't allow me to leave my boat at his house.... I made a PVC mock up/prototype... I called the closest place for powder coating. I emailed them these pictures. He said, that since it will be exposed to a lot of water, he needs to add some type of special primer, followed by powder coating in my choice of color, should be around $150. I think I'm going with a beige/tan type color, since 1. My wife says so, and 2. Matches some of the striping on the boat graphics.
Sounds good enough. My welder guy will pass on the savings of the material to me. He can get all the tubing/angle iron stuff from his workplace, at wholesale pricing. We're going with 1 1/2" tubing with 3/16" wall. The base will be 2" angle iron... The tow bar will be mounted to the same cross members that the engine pod is mounted, using heavy strength bolts....
Sound strong enough?
Anyway, here's the photos of the initial prototype... I'm going to add some additional braces that go from the slanted/angled tube, to the vertical rear piece... They're not on at time of photos. I'm also going higher with the angled/rear supports.
I'll update this when the welder finishes.... Of course, ignore the wooden and the grey pvc support bars....
The
Powerball Tow System will be for sale when this tow bar is completed.... I think...
looks good to me, Mine is built out of 2x2x.125 square stock and had been abused with 4 person tubes and pulling other boats without a single complaint. Only difference on mine is the angled bars form the main loop and the uprights are the support so the tow point ends up being back a bit farther to keep the rope off the outboard easier when the line is slack.
Re: Another home made ski tow bar
Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2014 7:11 am
by curtiscapk
Awesome!
Re: Another home made ski tow bar
Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2014 11:42 am
by Bamaman
Looks good, Doc. Have you thought about having the tow bar welded on top of a piece of flat steel instead of using angle? I would think walking around the bar with angle iron might result in some stubbed toes.
Don't forget that you've got to have a stainless steel ski eye in the middle of the top cross piece to tie the ski rope to. The Big O in Fayetteville, NC carries them--$35 to $69.
Re: Another home made ski tow bar
Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2014 4:05 pm
by PlaynDoc
Bamaman wrote:Looks good, Doc. Have you thought about having the tow bar welded on top of a piece of flat steel instead of using angle? I would think walking around the bar with angle iron might result in some stubbed toes.
Don't forget that you've got to have a stainless steel ski eye in the middle of the top cross piece to tie the ski rope to. The Big O in Fayetteville, NC carries them--$35 to $69.
Using angle for strength. The vertical portion (rear most) of the tow bar must extend beyond the rear of the boat, because when the rear sun deck opened, it needs the clearance. The possible force on flexing of flat steel beyond the boat edge will place and rely all force onto the bolts only. The angle prevents any chance at flexion. All edges will be rounded, to reduce the pain factor. It might be a bit overkill, but I want this thing to never cause me heartache, or the evil eye from the wife, to spend more to replace it. As far as walking around the bar, there's never anyone walking around it.... however, I can see, on the rare occasion that I need to get to the rear cleat from inside the boat, i can see where it will be in the way.
A ski eye will be made, and welded as part of the bar. At the area of the ski post/eye, there will be a layer of double thickness tube wall welded on. A hole will be drilled through all '4' layers, to weld the post in place. All this will be done before powder coating, so it looks like it belongs...
Re: Another home made ski tow bar
Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2014 6:57 am
by PlaynDoc
Time to post some update pics...
Here are the 'dry fit' pics... merely tack welded.... hoping the final welds will be finished, edges rounded to a finished look, and ready to be picked up today... Then, just need high strength bolts... Then, perform the dreaded drilling through the deck... can't get that wrong. must be right the first time. After bolt-holes drilled... then, off to the powder coating....
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Re: Another home made ski tow bar
Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2014 7:56 am
by curtiscapk
Re: Another home made ski tow bar
Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2014 8:12 am
by hootowlhollow
looks awesome. Bet you could pull tree stumps with that thing!
Re: Another home made ski tow bar
Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2014 3:05 am
by tuned
hootowlhollow wrote:looks awesome. Bet you could pull tree stumps with that thing!
He gonna git on dat Swamp Logger show!
Re: Another home made ski tow bar
Posted: Fri Apr 25, 2014 3:49 pm
by PlaynDoc
Re: Another home made ski tow bar - finally installed!
Posted: Fri Apr 25, 2014 6:35 pm
by r&s20
very nice, playndoc makes me wish mine had room for one. congrats
Re: Another home made ski tow bar - finally installed!
Posted: Sun Apr 27, 2014 7:31 pm
by curtiscapk
looks great! I recognize an older version!
Re: Another home made ski tow bar - finally installed!
Posted: Sun Apr 27, 2014 11:06 pm
by tuned
Awww. He even got a glint of sunshine in the finish.
Re: Another home made ski tow bar - finally installed!
Posted: Mon Apr 28, 2014 3:44 am
by justrfb
Nice... Good Job and good for you!
Sincerely,
Rich
