How to Build a Tow Rope

The water sport of wakeboarding utilizes a tow rope that has been fastened to the back of a weighted speed boat. The tow rope allows you to maintain control while performing aerial flips and spins. Wakeboarders often utilize a lengthy, portable tow rope while riding in bodies of water not large enough for a conventional skiing boat. These specially designed tow rope systems utilize a pulley system known as a winch. According to Wakeboarding Magazine, these specialized gas-powered winches can cost as much as $3,000. Building your own tow rope system can be much more economical.

Things You'll Need

  • Used winch
  • Socket or Allen wrench
  • Wakeboard rope
  • Utility knife
  • Cinder blocks
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Instructions

    • 1

      Locate a used, gas-powered winch. Examine the rope fastened around the rotating wheel of the winch. Spin the wheel to find the hook secured onto the end of the winch rope and loosen the bolt of the hook using a socket or Allen wrench.

    • 2

      Remove the hook from the loop of the winch rope and unfasten the old wakeboarding rope from the hitch of your boat. Use a utility knife to free the rubber handle from the end of the fiber rope.

    • 3

      Insert the end of the winch rope into the opening found at the base of the rubber handle. Fasten the winch rope around the handle by tying it in a secure knot. Transport the newly created tow rope system to your desired wakeboarding location.

    • 4

      Place one cinder block over each of the the metallic legs to secure the winch to the ground. Pull the rubber handle to extend the rope away from the winch. Sit in the body of water with your feet fastened into the boots of your wakeboard. Hold on to the handle of your tow rope system as a fellow wakeboarder cranks the engine of the winch that will quickly pull in the rope that can be 600 to 1,000 feet long and pull you across the water.