So, you have a pontoon boat. That’s fantastic! Even if you don’t accessorize, pontoon owners have all sorts of options when it comes to entertaining family and friends.
Of course, there are accessories pontoon owners can add that will make your pontoon even more versatile, with one popular option being a Pontoon Ski Boat Tower! If you think you might want one, this short piece is for you.
In it, we’ll outline exactly what ski towers are and showcase some of the best ones on the market today. If that sounds good to you, read on!
What Is A Pontoon Ski Tower?
There are all sorts of accessories you can buy for pontoon boats. This is one possibility. At the root, a ski boat tower is simply a metal structure you can affix to the back end of your craft. A scaffolding, if you will, that allows you to tie a ski line to it, which then enables you to pull a skier behind you.
If you’ve been doing some research on your own before finding this piece, you’ve probably run across some products listed as “pontoon boat ski towers” and others listed as “wakeboard towers.” Functionally, there’s very little difference between the two. You can certainly tow a skier with a wakeboard tower and vice versa.
The only real difference is this: The whole idea of wakeboarding is to leave the water. To go airborne. To assist with that, wakeboard towers tend to be slightly taller, which facilitates this. The height doesn’t matter nearly as much for a skier, who may not leave the water often, if at all.
When wakeboarding first began increasing in popularity, wakeboarding towers didn’t exist, so wakeboarders had no choice but to tie onto ski pylons.
The problem was, these pylons generally rested much lower to the water, and the way the line was angled, it had the natural tendency to pull the wakeboarder down, which often resulted in faceplanting in the water behind the boat. Ultimately, that’s how and why towers came into existence.
A Few Basic Facts To Consider
Naturally, if you decide you want a pontoon ski boat tower, you want to make sure you get one that will fit your boat. The critical measurement here is the beam, which is the measure, in inches, from one side of your boat’s hull to the other. Take that measurement and compare it against any tower you’re considering buying to make sure it’s a good fit.
It’s also worth mentioning that if you’re hauling your boat to the water via a highway, 102” is the magic number. That’s the legal limit width for towing a boat on the highway.
Pontoon boats rarely exceed this value, but if you happen to have one with a beam wider than this, the odds are that you’ve got it docked somewhere permanently, though, so you don’t have to worry about towing it.
Where materials are concerned, you’ll find pontoon ski tow bars and ski towers that run the gamut from stainless to aircraft aluminum, and depending on what you buy, there may even be a few color options available.
In terms of installation, there are two basic roads you can take. If you treat it as a DIY project and are fairly proficient with tools, you can expect to make a day of it, completing the installation in four to six hours.
If you pay a professional to install it for you, you can expect to pay as much as the unit itself for the installation, and perhaps slightly more!
Finally, if your plan is to tow people on a tube or other sort of inflatable, you don’t want or need a ski tower! In fact, towing tubes behind one of these structures can be dangerous. In that case, what you want isn’t a tower so much as a ski tow bar.
A ski tow bar tends to sit lower and closer to the water, which makes the tow point friendlier to tubes and other inflatables. Not to worry, there are lots of pontoon tow bars available on the market too, and we’ll list one we recommend in this document to help simplify your search.
With all that in mind, let’s take a closer look at some of the best options available on the market today:
Pontoon Boat Ski Tower Options
The Godfrey Pontoon Boat Ski Tow Tower
This is a tremendously good, versatile ski tower offered by Godfrey Pontoon Boats. It’s made from polished stainless steel with a mirror finish and features 1.5” diameter tubing, with overall dimensions of 50” W x 26.5” D x 40” H, and provides an exceptional, versatile platform to tow from.
There’s also plenty of extra space here for speakers, lights, or other accessories you might want to mount on it, so if you’re looking to really trick your pontoon out, this may be the option for you.
Best of all, despite being delightfully low-priced, it’s got a 500-pound towing capacity and comes with a five-year manufacturer warranty. Unfortunately, the hardware is not included, so you’ll need to purchase it separately, but this doesn’t add much to the total cost.
The Universal Pontoon Ski Tow Bar
This one is somewhat less expensive than the Godfrey we mentioned above, and its chief distinction is the fact that it’s got a delightfully small footprint (measuring 40.5” W x 21.125” D x 46.36” H), which makes it somewhat faster and easier to install than larger models. As a DIY project, this one isn’t bad.
Crafted from polished aluminum with a mirror finish, this one utilizes 2.25” diameter tubing and comes in three pre-fabricated pieces, so there’s not much to put together prior to mounting. It also has a 500-pound towing limit and comes with a five-year manufacturer warranty.
Also note that this model is crafted with aircraft aluminum. That’s critical because aircraft aluminum is both lighter and has increased durability, which makes it an excellent option here. Like the Godfrey, this one does not come with associated hardware, which will need to be purchased separately.
The TurboSwing Ski Tow Bar
The pontoon ski tow bar is a bit of a departure from the other two, with this one mounting directly to your outboard motor bracket. Also, as this is a simple ski tow bar, rather than a tower, it doesn’t sit as high off of the water.
Since it has a lower tow point, it can be used to pull tubes, and other inflatables, where the two other products we’ve talked about to this point can’t be used for that purpose.
The TurboSwing pontoon ski tow bar is billed as a universal ski tow bar, but that comes with a couple of caveats. First, given the way that it mounts, it requires that you have an outboard motor. Second, there’s no “one” TurboSwing model. There are a whole range of them, each designed to work with a different motor.
The best way then, to ensure that you’re getting the right one, is to go to the company’s website:
And enter in the details (number of motors, motor manufacturer, and horsepower), and the site will make a specific recommendation from there.
Given the way the TurboSwing is mounted, this product lends itself very well to DIY installation. Also note that the company sells all of the hardware separately (not at all uncommon), including their EZ Pull pulley system, which you’re almost certain to want to add. Finally, note that all Turbo Swing tow bars are backed by a five-year warranty.
Conclusion
Pontoon boats are as different and varied as their owners, so there are no “right” answers here. Each of the items we mentioned above is fairly different and will appeal to different segments of the market. The only real question is ‘which one would work best for you, based on how you plan on using it?’
If you’re planning to entertain skiers, then any of the three will work splendidly. If more people in your circle are interested in wake boarding, then gravitate to one of the towers rather than the ski tow bar.
On the other hand, if your primary interest is in pulling tubes or other inflatables, the pontoon ski tow bar features of lower tow point and easy installation will make it your new best friend! Whatever you decide, any of these products would make a splendid addition to your pontoon, and all three are from well-respected brands.
However you plan on using it, we hope that this article has helped refine your search!
