Guys - I've heard a jet ski can be towed no problem behind a boat. I'm trying to rig up a tow rope and am trying to figure you how long to make it. I have a 37' Four Winns with twin IBs. Any advice on what would be optimal length?
Towing a Jet Ski
- Thread starter bsteven43
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Somewhere I read that there can be a problem with jetskis-jetboats where water is forced into the engine via the pressure created while towing.
My brother has a Sea Ray Jetboat with a 90 hp 2 stroke motor. Any comments on the potential for problems?
RWS
My brother has a Sea Ray Jetboat with a 90 hp 2 stroke motor. Any comments on the potential for problems?
RWS
There was a problem with 2 stroke jet skis, the 4 strokes are ok since they have a closed loop cooling system. I have as well as others on the board here have towed 2 strokes before. Tow slow and short distance. If I remember right thet say you should pinch the water inlet line before towing. I must confess and say I never have. Quess I have been lucky.
With towing, slow is the only sppeed as far as I am concearned. I have toyed with the idea of a solid tow bar. I know there are several on the market b ut I dont tow the ski often enough to make it worth the investment.
With towing, slow is the only sppeed as far as I am concearned. I have toyed with the idea of a solid tow bar. I know there are several on the market b ut I dont tow the ski often enough to make it worth the investment.
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I have a 4 stroke sea doo and read in the owner’s manual that when towing you should keep it under 10kts and that there is a hose that you are supposed to pinch. I never towed mine just because there is always someone volunteering to ride it.
I've got a 4 stroke seadoo. I just bought it last summer. We towed it all summer long and did not close off any water lines and never had a problem. At the same time though we basically only towed while traveling at or close to hull speed. Not saying this is the correct or incorrect way to do it- that's just how we did it all summer and never had an issue.
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We have a 4 stroke Yamaha VX-110. We purchased new and towed it behind our old Monterey up to 30 miles per hour. We did this for three years. Now we put it on the swim platform. Here is what we learned.
1. You must (even with a four stroke per the dealer) shut the water in flow. The speed will force water into the cylinders. We installed a shut off valve purchased from Home Depot. I just cut the intake hose and clamped in the valve.
2. You must keep the Waverunner quite a distance back. We used a weaker line (tinsel) and created a bridel (sp?) which kept the line behind out outdrives. If any of the lines were to break (they never did) I wanted the bridel to break first so that the line would not whip back into the stern or cockpit of the boat.
3. We used a very strong 100 foot line attached to the bridel and attached to the Waverunner tow eye with a bowline. This kept it far enough back that it would not cross our wake.
4. We brought our speed down to about 15 knots when ever we crossed another boat's wake.
5. I added some red flags every twenty feet or so after about a year because some Yahoo tried to cut in between our stern and the Waverunner.
We did not have any trouble towing for 3 years towing this way.
No matter what, if you are going to tow faster than an idle, you are going to need to shut the intake.
1. You must (even with a four stroke per the dealer) shut the water in flow. The speed will force water into the cylinders. We installed a shut off valve purchased from Home Depot. I just cut the intake hose and clamped in the valve.
2. You must keep the Waverunner quite a distance back. We used a weaker line (tinsel) and created a bridel (sp?) which kept the line behind out outdrives. If any of the lines were to break (they never did) I wanted the bridel to break first so that the line would not whip back into the stern or cockpit of the boat.
3. We used a very strong 100 foot line attached to the bridel and attached to the Waverunner tow eye with a bowline. This kept it far enough back that it would not cross our wake.
4. We brought our speed down to about 15 knots when ever we crossed another boat's wake.
5. I added some red flags every twenty feet or so after about a year because some Yahoo tried to cut in between our stern and the Waverunner.
We did not have any trouble towing for 3 years towing this way.
No matter what, if you are going to tow faster than an idle, you are going to need to shut the intake.
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I've towed a PWC for a few years now.
- Yes, a shut-off valve is needed if you plan to tow above idle. I plumbed in a valve just like missnmountains.
-To prevent engine damage, tie the PWC lanyard to the valve whenever the water supply is off. The engine can't be started without opening the valve.
- I made a rigid PVC harness which attaches to U-bolts on the big boat transom. The harness connects just past the swim platform.
- Towing with the PWC hooked directly to the harness didn't work above idle, so I threaded a poly line thru the snap and attached it to the PWC bow eye. When accelerating, we let out enough line to keep the PWC just past the wake (20-30 feet). This works fine for us at all speeds above idle. Normal waves/wakes are not a problem because the big boat flattens them. When slowing, we pull the line in until the PWC bow eye hits the harness. This keeps the line away from the props.
- The key to sucessful towing is to enlist a crewmember to maintain constant watch.
- Yes, a shut-off valve is needed if you plan to tow above idle. I plumbed in a valve just like missnmountains.
-To prevent engine damage, tie the PWC lanyard to the valve whenever the water supply is off. The engine can't be started without opening the valve.
- I made a rigid PVC harness which attaches to U-bolts on the big boat transom. The harness connects just past the swim platform.
- Towing with the PWC hooked directly to the harness didn't work above idle, so I threaded a poly line thru the snap and attached it to the PWC bow eye. When accelerating, we let out enough line to keep the PWC just past the wake (20-30 feet). This works fine for us at all speeds above idle. Normal waves/wakes are not a problem because the big boat flattens them. When slowing, we pull the line in until the PWC bow eye hits the harness. This keeps the line away from the props.
- The key to sucessful towing is to enlist a crewmember to maintain constant watch.
quote:
Originally posted by arks1
I've towed a PWC for a few years now.
- Yes, a shut-off valve is needed if you plan to tow above idle. I plumbed in a valve just like missnmountains.
-To prevent engine damage, tie the PWC lanyard to the valve whenever the water supply is off. The engine can't be started without opening the valve.
- I made a rigid PVC harness which attaches to U-bolts on the big boat transom. The harness connects just past the swim platform.
- Towing with the PWC hooked directly to the harness didn't work above idle, so I threaded a poly line thru the snap and attached it to the PWC bow eye. When accelerating, we let out enough line to keep the PWC just past the wake (20-30 feet). This works fine for us at all speeds above idle. Normal waves/wakes are not a problem because the big boat flattens them. When slowing, we pull the line in until the PWC bow eye hits the harness. This keeps the line away from the props.
- The key to sucessful towing is to enlist a crewmember to maintain constant watch.
Can you explain a couple things?
Why is the PVC apparatus necessary versus just connecting to the two ring on the transom of your boat?
You are towing at 20-30', others are saying 100. It would seem to me that you want the PWC back only far enough to clear the main turbulence of the big boat. The closer the better otherwise. Agree?
What is the minimum tow rope thickness I should use assuming it's three twist nylon?
Thanks.
I need to correct my earlier post...not all 4 strokes are closed looped..The newer Sea doos that are closed loop cooling have a separate cooling system that uses a heat plate for cooling. These skis do not have to have anything done to them. The skis that use raw water to circulate cooling water thru the engine need the intake line pinched..I hope I did not miss lead anyone earlier...
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Well, I originally built the harness to resemble the Towdster but quickly discovered it didn't work well above idle speed. After experimenting for awhile I found adding a towline solved the problem. A towline by itself worked- but presented a new set of problems. Using both the harness and towline is the best combination I've found.
The harness serves some valuable duties- it keeps the PWC centered at all times, and at low speeds (when we pull the towline all the way in) the PWC follows along nicely, especially when turning. In addition, when slowing down it keeps the PWC from hitting the swim platform. I've even backed into a slip with the PWC attached. It worked surprisingly well (the ski just laid against the swim platform), but it hung past the corner of the boat by about 4'.
As far as towline length, YES I agree. We tried a bunch of different setbacks (up to 75') but found it works best as in the picture- just beyond the crest of the boat wake. I'm sure different boats would have different characteristics, so our way may not be correct for everyone.
Line- I did NOT use nylon for 1 simple reason- it doesn't float. I use 5/16" braided poly, use it ONLY for towing the ski, and keep it stowed below when not in use. When making the harness I used 3/8" poly line inside the PVC tubes, so I wanted the weak link to be the actual towline. It's worked fine for 3 seasons- no submarines or broken lines. I'm planning to replace the towline this summer just to be safe. Note that I tow a fairly large 3 seater.
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Sure, quite a bit. We anchor in calm water and tie the ski parallel to the swim platform with 2 or 3 fenders as protection. If the water were to get rough, I'd move it to the side of the boat-with the fenders- to eliminate the possibility of the ski getting under the platform. That would suck!
we anchor out with ou jetski tied up all the time. Usually we will tie a line from swim platfom to eye hook at the nose of the jetski, then either tie the back to our rear anchor line to shore or we also found a 5 lb anchor in the summer when water levels went down so we'll sometimes just tie front of jetski to a rope off swim platform and toss the small anchor out off the back of the jetski to keep it away from the boat. OR you can also just tie it directly to the rear anchor line and swim back to the boat and keep it off that way but then you gotta hop in the water before you get on it in the a.m. Our coves are usually dead calm though so never really been an issue.
dlong90210
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Ark : how long are your 2 tubes that make your V I am going to pull a sea doo sp 1996 I believe I will put a valve in there to cut off water supply
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Wow- resurrecting an old thread.
Each tube is 8' long and my boats beam is 12'6", so the center of the two joined tubes end up about 12" past the aft edge of the swim platform and just above the waterline.
Your application might be different.
Each tube is 8' long and my boats beam is 12'6", so the center of the two joined tubes end up about 12" past the aft edge of the swim platform and just above the waterline.
Your application might be different.
I made something similiar to the 'V' shaped towing item shown above. It was only about 2'-3' long. It was made with 2 different diameter pieces of PVC; so one piece would slide in and out of the other. It also had springs inside it so that as waves/wakes came in the jet ski could move freely without little to no jarring; one set of springs would allow the device to stretch out a few inches and another set to cushion it as it retracted. This device was attatched to the rear the jet ski so getting on/off of it was no problem while attached to the boat.
A friend of mine used mooring whips to tie up his jet ski to his boat.