Tubing and pontoon boats go together like peanut butter and jelly. For decades, these family-style vessels have been putting smiles on the faces of tubers and with the increased performance capabilities offered today, those smiles have never been bigger. It’s not uncommon to see a pontoon equipped with a ski/tow bar, ski pylon or maybe even a full wakeboard tower. However, despite all of the different ways you can pull a tuber, skier or wake boarder, there is still room for improvement and that’s where the new TurboSwing comes in.
What’s A TurboSwing?
The TurboSwing is the ideal option for pontoon and deck boat owners looking for the ultimate water skiing, wakeboarding or a fun tubing experience. It’s a tow bar that can be installed on the motor bracket without needing to remove the outboard motor. The tow rope is attached to the EZpulley that runs smoothly around the motor cowl. As a result, the pull force acting on the tow rope and the propulsive thrust force of the motor converge at the point of rotation of the boat.
The TurboSwing offers perfect directional stability and response, a tow rope that always remains above the wake, a lower planing speed and a higher top speed. Simply put the driver has full control and greater comfort and the skier's movements and tricks are much smoother too.
Providing an additional 10 to 20 horsepower of pulling power, with the TurboSwing this pulling power is no longer lost due to the zigzag movements of the boat caused by the sideways forces created by the skier like with stationary tow bars. Due to the TurboSwing, the driver hardly needs to make steering corrections.
Another added benefit is the lower fuel consumption as well as the increased safety of keeping others away from the motor.
Install
After reading up on the TurboSwing, PDB magazine decided to see just how easy it really was to install.
All of the parts you need to properly install the TurboSwing come with the complete package in the Giant version offered that we ordered for our install. Besides basic tools that most people should have in their garage, we did have to purchase some marine sealant as well as a new drill bit, but that was it.
For the majority of outboards you just use the existing original motor mount bolts and drill one additional hole on each side. But with the Mercury motor, which was on our test boat, the manufacturer recommended that we drill a total of four new holes. We simply left the motor mount bolts alone and just drilled our own new ones in the transom to stabilize the bracket.
Using the marine sealant, we inserted the provided bolts through our new holes, and then added the base plate and the nut and washer.
Next we tightened the nuts and repeated this same process on the opposite side.
Adding the tube holder was as simple as adding the friction plate and then tightening the bolts. Keep in mind the YouTube video takes you step-by-step through the entire process, but it really is a simple process that almost anyone with basic tools can do in their driveway.
One nice feature to the TurboSwing as far as long-term enjoyment is the ease with which it can be removed when needed. Using the provided clip will allow you to quickly remove it when not in use. For those wanting it to be more permanent, you can either bolt it on or purchase a stainless steel marine-grade lock if you don’t want to use the provided clips.
The video refers to these small black clamps as stoppers and basically you crimp them tightly in your desired location so the EZpulley has a stop to keep it from going too far.
The TurboSwing tow bar fits compactly around the outboard engine. TurboSwing’s patented technology elevates the tow rope above the wake like a wakeboard tower or ski pylon, only without using up valuable real estate inside the boat. It also provides smooth, consistent pulls, and can improve towing power and fuel efficiency.
Testing
After the easy install, it was time to put the TurboSwing to the test. Obviously with a Mercury 250 Pro four-stroke we have plenty of power to spare, but we did notice how much less of the throttle was needed with the TurboSwing as we were able to effortlessly swing tubers back and forth across our own wake with just a small turn of the wheel.
The kids who were anxious to give it a try on our test run loved the additional range and could tell a difference right away with the elevated position compared to a normal ski/tow bar. It’s also nice to have the EZpulley on the outside of the outboard, which helps keep the tow rope away from the prop. But because it is so far back there we do recommend using a boat hook to retrieve the rope between pulls each time so you don’t have to reach to get the end of the rope.
Overview
The smallest TurboSwing is the XM model and it retails for $485. For our test we went with its largest one available, the Giant, that retails for $875 and feel you get a lot of added value for the price with this version of the TurboSwing lineup. Don’t let the install scare you; it really is quite simple and it’s a must for those active water sports families who are looking for the “next big thing” to hit the market.
