Who's feeling creative? Bridle lifter

rjbathgate · 22 October 2009, 04:05

Hey,

Get your creative juices going...

See my great drawing attached...

Basically, bridle and tow rope for biscuitting etc are quite low due to transom mounts and get caught in water/wake, which while is fun to watch the biscutter get spun around as it slacks, it's not ideal....

I don't want to spend any money (so one of these expensive steel runners that sticks up high isn't really an option)...

So I was wondering how creative and engineer-able everyone is...

Best idea gets a prize... (glory)...

Cheers

bedajim · 22 October 2009, 08:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by rjbathgate

Hey,

Get your creative juices going...

See my great drawing attached...

Basically, bridle and tow rope for biscuitting etc are quite low due to transom mounts and get caught in water/wake, which while is fun to watch the biscutter get spun around as it slacks, it's not ideal....

I don't want to spend any money (so one of these expensive steel runners that sticks up high isn't really an option)...

So I was wondering how creative and engineer-able everyone is...

Best idea gets a prize... (glory)...

Cheers

Bungee rope off the top of the aframe connected to the bridle would also take the slack on the rope and reduce the stresses on the rig

rjbathgate · 22 October 2009, 21:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by bedajim

Bungee rope off the top of the aframe connected to the bridle would also take the slack on the rope and reduce the stresses on the rig

Reckon the bungee would signifactly reduce the stress on the arch/rig?

Quite a bit of force on the tow rope sometimes hey...

bedajim · 23 October 2009, 08:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by rjbathgate

Reckon the bungee would signifactly reduce the stress on the arch/rig?

Quite a bit of force on the tow rope sometimes hey...

could you use the arch and run a line forward from it tied off to something solid to help ?

m chappelow · 23 October 2009, 09:29

mount a fishing rod outboard or a springy g.r.p pole of some sort and fix it to that ,

Ian M · 23 October 2009, 12:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by bedajim

could you use the arch and run a line forward from it tied off to something solid to help ?

If you can arrange for some sort of guide on your 'A' frame, just run the bungee or even a rope over the top of your 'A' frame, and tie it off to a hard point in the boat. That way your 'A' frame, arch, or whatever you want to call it, will have very little stress on it.

Downhilldai · 23 October 2009, 13:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ian M

If you can arrange for some sort of guide on your 'A' frame,......

How long do you reckon that would take to rig up?

camtheribman · 23 October 2009, 14:17

is it an inboard or outboard? i think i have a plan

codprawn · 23 October 2009, 16:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by camtheribman

is it an inboard or outboard? i think i have a plan

Is it a cunning plan???

camtheribman · 23 October 2009, 18:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by codprawn

Is it a cunning plan???

it is indeed but engine may get in the way so i'm thinking of how i can adapt it

rjbathgate · 23 October 2009, 18:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by camtheribman

is it an inboard or outboard? i think i have a plan

Outboard... see attached... i like cunning plans...

camtheribman · 23 October 2009, 23:02

hmmmmmm well thats my plan original plan stuffed, however me being me has a solution.

You could fix two eyes to your deck then run a bridle over the transom and around the engine. this would keep the bridle out the water, and give you extra advantage of a fixing point for luggage. it would look something like my drawing ( which isn't the best)

this should work.

camtheribman · 23 October 2009, 23:10

the pic

rjbathgate · 24 October 2009, 01:36

humz interesting... so by putting to new eyes in above transom, it's effectively raising the whole thingie...

will give it some thought and stare at my boat a bit more..!

cheers!

camtheribman · 27 October 2009, 16:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by rjbathgate

humz interesting... so by putting to new eyes in above transom, it's effectively raising the whole thingie...

will give it some thought and stare at my boat a bit more..!

cheers!

your welcome

9D280 · 27 October 2009, 17:39

I'm probably going to regret starting this without the aid of a diagram.......

If I'm reading this right, you just want to reduce the slack - tension of the tow line when bouncing over waves? Bungee will stretch a certain percentage of it's overall length for a given load, so, if you have a long bungee tied (say) halfway along your towrope, for a given extension of it you'll need less force to extend it, therfore reducing the load on the a- frame. Alternatively you could tie it to another bridle at transom level, which will reduce the bending load.

The fun bit ids going to be setting it up so that it takes enough slack up without ripping the frame off the transom....... Could also add a short length of thick- ish bungee to the tow line itself to prevent "snaps"? (although if you get that wrong, it could be amusing to watch!

)

jyasaki · 28 October 2009, 17:39

I thought he just wanted to get the towrope up higher to avoid the wake. Assuming I was correct about that:

How about dropping a loop of line from the upper corners of the A-Frame, and running the towrope through a pulley attached to the low point?

Should keep most of the force pulling down on the tower, rather than back, and you can adjust the height by adjusting the length of the loop.

jky

camtheribman · 28 October 2009, 18:13

attaching ropes to the a frame is a real bad idea cause it will either bend out to shape or snap off.

jyasaki · 28 October 2009, 18:27

Hence the suggestion to alter the direction of the force applied...

jky

9D280 · 29 October 2009, 13:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by camtheribman

attaching ropes to the a frame is a real bad idea cause it will either bend out to shape or snap off.

Errrr it looks like 2" stainless tube! Bending it towing a donut I would question - ripping it out the transom is a possibility, but we donlt know how it's fixed in....... if the forward legs are anchored properly to the floor, it will probably survive.

OK, here's a halfway thought - At the mo, you have at least one bolt each side fixing the frame to the transom. You presumably have either an eyebolt & nut, or bolt & Eyenut. So, replace the non eye'd one so you have an eye each side (means you can still tow boats where the rope in the water isn't an issue) then fix the tow bridle to the inside eye, route it up over the transom & round the outside of the frame, & job done. Only possible problem I could see is the bridle fouling the engine casing.......