will a 50hp do

[pdante62]

I have 15 ft bass boat wtih 50hp, will it pull a tude

 

[sangerwaker]

Re: will a 50hp do

It should pull a tube no problem. Your only issue might be your point of connection to the boat. If you hook your rope to the tow hooks on the back of the transom, there will be no "angle" on the rope to stop the front edge from digging in. A ski pylon is preferred, but it really depends on where you tow hooks are vertically. Some are actually under water whrn the boat is at rest or idle.

 

[pdante62]

Re: will a 50hp do

It should pull a tube no problem. Your only issue might be your point of connection to the boat. If you hook your rope to the tow hooks on the back of the transom, there will be no "angle" on the rope to stop the front edge from digging in. A ski pylon is preferred, but it really depends on where you tow hooks are vertically. Some are actually under water whrn the boat is at rest or idle.

What is a ski pylon?

 

[sangerwaker]

Re: will a 50hp do

These work better for all types of skiing compared to using the transom hooks.

 

[mike176]

Re: will a 50hp do

under the safety warning on any tube i have ever had it say DO NOT PULL FROM SKI PYLON the force from a tube is far to great for a factory pylon and i would not what to even think about and aftermarket one that was incorectly installed on a boat it was never ment for, but we do need runners for the darwin awards

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: will a 50hp do

I have 15 ft bass boat wtih 50hp, will it pull a tude

Should pull a tube no problem. Buddy of mine does it with 2 on the tube, a 17ft boat, 2 in the boat and a 65 hp motor. He has issues with getting a skier up though.

 

[Rancherlee]

Re: will a 50hp do

depends on how "skilled" the tubers are. If they like a thrill ride its going to be fairly hard to give them an aggressive ride. I did lots of single tube pulling behind my boat with a 55hp (crank rated) on the back of my boat and if I cut a corner hard to "whip" a tuber the motor had alot of trouble getting the boat out of the hole again (weight of the tube is GREATLY increase when you cut a corner hard and its trying to pull you backwards) Your 15' bass boat should do better then my 16' Aluminum though with the same amount of power. NO issues with pitching tubers off now with the 70hp Johnson 4 stroke on the back now

 

[paulie0735]

Re: will a 50hp do

I have 15 ft bass boat wtih 50hp, will it pull a tude

yep!

 

[Frank Acampora]

Re: will a 50hp do

Yup! same problem when I slalom skied behind a 55. If I cut real hard, it pulled the back of the boat around. Just not enough boat and engine. Also found as I got older and heavier that I needed 2 skis to deep water start.

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: will a 50hp do

Yup! same problem when I slalom skied behind a 55. If I cut real hard, it pulled the back of the boat around. Just not enough boat and engine. Also found as I got older and heavier that I needed 2 skis to deep water start.

I run a 140 hp on a 16.5 ft now. Gets rid of all the issues.......BUT the fuel bill has increased accordingly !!!!

 

[CATransplant]

Re: will a 50hp do

I don't ski any more, but when I learned, back in 1960, at age 15, my father had a 13' plywood boat and a 25hp Johnson on the back. I was a skinny kid about 140 lb, and that boat would pop me right up on two skis. A slalom ski was something else again. We started by dropping a ski on a combo set. That worked pretty well, but it was hard to work your foot back around to get into the rear binding.

I tried the both feet in thing, and that didn't work out at all. I finally found a way to get up on a slalom ski, though. Rear foot out...ski drawn up to chest and rear leg dragging. Poor dad would hit it and drag me through the water until I got part of the ski half out of the water. About that time, he'd be getting almost enough speed to plane the boat, and I'd bodily haul myself up into a crouch on top of the water so the boat could pick up enough speed to get stable. Then I'd stand up, stuff my back foot in place and ski as long as my skinny little arms would stand it.

I was, however, the only one who ever managed to get on top behind that underpowered little boat on a slalom ski. Everyone else had to start on two, then drop one.

Later on, a new boat came along, with a 50 hp motor and everything changed, but it was sure fun, even with that little boat.

 

[jimmbo]

Re: will a 50hp do

I learned to ski behind a 14ft Skagit witha 40hp Johnson. Even learned to do slalom deep water starts behind it. Here is something few people pick up on. A boat with a wide transom will more easily pull skiers up than a boat with a narrow transom. Owned bigger more powerful boats later on. We also used to ski behind a 14 ft Mirrocraft cartop with 1980 35hp tiller motor. This boat being much narrower than the Skagit even though much lighter had a harder time pulling us up.

 

[CATransplant]

Re: will a 50hp do

It's kinda funny, really. Today's folks getting into skiing and other water sports are used to boats with plenty of horsepower. When water skiing started, though, or at least when I started, a 35hp motor was the hot item, and a 50 was luxury, and about the biggest outboard that you could buy.

The boats were made to perform with those outboards, and water skiing took off like wildfire behind those boats. Even a 25 hp would tow a skier, if the boat was designed right, especially on two skis.

These days, of course, the boats are heavier, and much bigger, so the old stuff doesn't work any more. Unless, that is, you buy an older boat and motor.

What's tough today, though, is a young family that doesn't have $20K or more to buy a boat that will drag the kids on skis. My father, who worked as an auto mechanic back in 1960, managed to buy that 13' plywood boat and a used 25 hp motor for not much money and we spent summers on the water, despite having no money.

It just isn't like that these days.

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: will a 50hp do

Well you can still get a nice little ski outfit (albeit used) for a reasonable price as long as you don't expect all the bells and whistles of a new outfit.