Tubing Troubles NEED HELP

[ItZAllSunShine]

Hey there im new to forums n such so i hope im doing this right and someone reads and helps me out, i have a 1980 somethin 4 winns boat its 185 hp open bow seats 8 and runs awesome, my problem is tubing, we have a normal tube and we have a SportsStuff MixMaster skill tube which u can steer and spin n whatnot, at first the rope spray and the inability to steer the tube made me buy the booster ball which keeps the rope out the water and assists steering and it helped alot but when riding in the tube the water under ur knees feels way to rough like its gunna rip the bottomn of the tube out, we go anywhere from 25-35 mph, we still have a hard time steering with the tube and i have a feeling the rooster tail or wake coming from the propellar of the boat is making it too rough to ride in and steer, so my question is how can i make my tubing experience better and if the boat roost trail is the problem how do i fix it, trim? faster? slower? longer rope? my rope is 60 feet long. so please if theres anyone out there who can help or comment please do!!! any help would be Greatly Appriciated

 

[blifsey]

Re: Tubing Troubles NEED HELP

Personal opinion, 25-35 is too fast for tubes. I try to stay around 18 to 22.

Where are you running trim when pulling tube? I've always kept mine all the way down or a bump up (maybe "1/8" on guage where 1/2 is fully trimmed up).

 

[metriccrescentwrench]

Re: Tubing Troubles NEED HELP

Yup, way too fast. If you've ever seen your own child skipping across the water like a rag doll after wiping out at 35 you'd understand. 20 or so is plenty.

 

[ItZAllSunShine]

Re: Tubing Troubles NEED HELP

i see, we did slower at like 20 and it seemed a little too slow but either which way slow or fast it still seems too rough its like im riding on a third wake in between the two wakes and allows for 0 steerability on the tube, but ne ways your saying i should trim all the way down or possibly a little above all the way down? i read somewhere you should trim all the way up until it gets choppy then trim down a little bit, is this right? if so do the same rules apply for tube pulling? and one more question what does trimming it down while tubing achieve?

 

[ItZAllSunShine]

Re: Tubing Troubles NEED HELP

oops forget to tell ya im running with my trim at about 3/4 of the way up the gauge, also we arent riding any little kids on the tubes just adults eventually the nephews will come out and we will go way slower for them, im content driving a slower speed i just want my skill tube to perform the way its supposed to, if you go on youtube and search sportsstuff mixmaster it should be the first video, thats how the tubes supposed to ride, ur supposed to have complete control of the steering and whatnot and like i mentioned before we do not have the control as in the video because of the rough water coming from the prop under the tube is what im thinkingf, so thats what brought me to the forum lol im a noob to boating and forums so you must forgive me if i sound stupid

 

[metriccrescentwrench]

Re: Tubing Troubles NEED HELP

Personally, for pulling a tube I can't see where trim makes much difference - I always just go to my normal trim position for cruising. For pulling wakeboards it can make a difference in the wake, quite often (depending on your boat) at wakeboard speeds trimming down will make a somewhat larger wake because more of the hull is in the water.

As far as your steerable tube, while I've never seen the one you're using I can't imagine how it could be very maneuverable at all. You might try a little longer rope to get the tube further away from the boat, but other than that just play around with different speeds to see if it makes a difference.

 

[blifsey]

Re: Tubing Troubles NEED HELP

When I've trimmed up pulling tube, the prop angle seems to make a little hump or something in middle of wake. When son was younger and lighter, the tube rope would get caught in this hump.

When we tube, we're usually making sweeping S's or circles so the tubes can go much faster than boat when they swing outside wake. With the one you are trying to steer, speed might be different situation???

 

[chomamma]

Re: Tubing Troubles NEED HELP

Never been able to steer a tube. At least not much. The pull of the boat will want to keep it center until you make turns.... Then.......... Wait for it .... wait for it.......... HE's DOWN !!! Tubing is as much fun for the driver as it is for the tuber. Also the driver much use extreme caution in driving. More so than just pulling skiers and wakeboards.

 

[ItZAllSunShine]

Re: Tubing Troubles NEED HELP

i understand u cant steer a normal tube, mine is a skill tube ment for the boat to drive straight and the rider to control the tube you can see what i mean on this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgWDKMrP4pk&NR=1 thats my tube and how its supposed to work, u will see him glide on his own left to right effortlessly, when i use it the water in the center of the two wakes is like a third wake n is extremely rough and im wondering if thats the problem and if so how do i reduce that so i can use my tube how its supposed to be used

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Tubing Troubles NEED HELP

Boy, they say you coming, when they sold you that. that bald headed guy has years of practice on that thing.

 

[koberlee]

Re: Tubing Troubles NEED HELP

We've got a couple guys that can tube like that guy on the flat round tubes, they know how to do flips will leap frog each other from tube to tube guite fun to watch.
I have tried but I just don't get enough time on the water these two have been doing it for years.
I think you just need to keep going out and keep falling off until you figure it out.
Looked like that guy in the vid was using a lot of upper body strength to make that tube move that way.

 

[calvinman]

Re: Tubing Troubles NEED HELP

Wow, way cool tube, gonna get one fo those for next year! I pull tubes(up to three at a time) with my trim all the way in/down, this should be all you need, at 18 to 20 mph or even faster, there is no reason to run a boat with the trim at 3/4 up unless you are trailering it or coming in to beach it or in shallows. running a boat with the trim up this high can damage your drive(inboard).

How much air are you running in your tube, they need to be very solid or they just seem to "stick" to the water causing a lot of drag.

Calvi

 

[a70eliminator]

Re: Tubing Troubles NEED HELP

That looks like a fun tube if you have a wake tower, one of the most annoying tube towing issues is the rope drag, especially with a the tow point being underneath the tube like it is.

 

[ItZAllSunShine]

Re: Tubing Troubles NEED HELP

i read that the tow towers are not for tubing, but i took the boat out today and adjusted the triim down and it fixed my wake problem now it rides smooth and does just what the tube is supposed to, thanxx for the advice everyone this boat forum thing worked out great for me i will deff be checkin back in and asking more lol

 

[blifsey]

Re: Tubing Troubles NEED HELP

Glad you got it worked out! That tubes looks pretty wild.

 

[BigBadJohn86]

Re: Tubing Troubles NEED HELP

Never been able to steer a tube. At least not much. The pull of the boat will want to keep it center until you make turns.... Then.......... Wait for it .... wait for it.......... HE's DOWN !!! Tubing is as much fun for the driver as it is for the tuber. Also the driver much use extreme caution in driving. More so than just pulling skiers and wakeboards.

Yes it is
My uncle would take sharp turns to force me out of the wake and watch me fly out and hit the water