Towing harness

[jjohnson120]

I made myself a towing harness based on the designs I have seen online. My question is how do you keep the harness from rubbing on the motor cover? After just 2 days of using it it has started to rub spots on the side of the engine cover and I'd like to keep this from happening. Any help will be appreciated.

 

[Jeff-in-PA]

Re: Towing harness

Pictures would help too.

Either lengthen the ropes to get them away from the cover or add tubing ( plastic or rubber ) over the lines where they would contact the cover.

 

[jjohnson120]

Re: Towing harness

How long should the rope be to not interfere? I would think that at any length it would eventually rub but maybe I'm thinking to much into it. Adding the tubing sounds like a pretty good idea if I can get it to stay where I need it to be.

 

[BatDaddy1887]

Re: Towing harness

How long should the rope be to not interfere? I would think that at any length it would eventually rub but maybe I'm thinking to much into it. Adding the tubing sounds like a pretty good idea if I can get it to stay where I need it to be.

...tie knots in the rope to keep the tubing in place......

 

[lncoop]

Re: Towing harness

jjohnson, something doesn't add up. Your harness shouldn't be that close to the motor. Where are your attachment points? How about some pics?

 

[jjohnson120]

Re: Towing harness

The u hooks are on either side of the motor, I honestly am not sure if any length of rope could keep it from hitting. I'll see if I can find some pics if not I'll have to take some.

 

[Jeep Man]

Re: Towing harness

...tie knots in the rope to keep the tubing in place......

A knot will weaken the harness at the knot. Better to wrap some string or tape at each end.

 

[Jeep Man]

Re: Towing harness

I bought the longest one I could find, 12 ft. It still wasn't long enough, as the tie-offs are on the sides about 2 ft. from the rear. I'm adding a couple of tie-offs at the rear.

 

[Mr Crabbs]

Re: Towing harness

A knot will weaken the harness at the knot. Better to wrap some string or tape at each end.

Ahh, you beat me to it.

How about using a noodle, or am I missing something here?

 

[jjohnson120]

Re: Towing harness

Ahh, you beat me to it.

How about using a noodle, or am I missing something here?

I thought about using a noodle, but I'm afraid that will interfere with the pulley.

 

[lncoop]

Re: Towing harness

It sounds to me like the problem is width, not length. Your harness needs to be spread sufficiently to avoid making contact with the motor at all. Padding the rope isn't really a solution, nor is lengthening it. You need to find a way to get the harness away from the motor. That may require different attachment points or the addition of a pole.

 

[Water logged]

Re: Towing harness

What Incoop said. If the line is tied near the motor the line length will have little or no effect on your problem. You need to install tie offs further out from the motor toward the strbrd and port edges. With the proper tie off location you can use a shorter line and with a float reduce the chance of line in the prop syndrom.

Glenn

 

[jjohnson120]

Re: Towing harness

I've just currently been attaching to the factory loops. Thing is I don't believe I can attach further out as the battery and gas tank have covers and adding those hooks wouldn't allow these to fold down. I've heard some bad things about adding a pole so was hoping to avoid this.

 

[jjohnson120]

Re: Towing harness

Well I did some looking last night and adding new hooks isn't doable. After some consideration and a second opinion I have decided to go the route of adding a small tower in front of the motor to get the rope above the motor to swivel. I think this will help 2 things, first being it won't rub the motor and the second helping pull the rope out of the water for ease on the kneeboard and being able to swing the tub out. I think this will make pulling overall a lot more enjoyable. I'll post pictures when it's done.