Dacon62

'14 Sierra pulls great and the '13 TXi drives and skis awesome

Thanks guys for all your thoughtful comments. Be interesting to see what Bryant's Ski Tractor looks like this spring.

Thanks @Wayne for the info. @Jody_Seal , why did your several kicks at the front/center drive never make it to the water? Lack of perceived market? Unconventional looks? Lack of funds to experiment?

@escmanaze , hey my friend optioned his factory order 2014 TXi with the wakeboard style mounted tower. He loved the longline wake and never intends on skiing competitively but wanted the tower to hang the kids toys on and likes the way it looks.

A Response can be optioned with either the tubed tower you have shown or the type that Malibu puts on their wakeboats. The wakeboat style tower they offer mounts in approx. the same location as the pictured Nautique. Never seen a factory Nautique tower were the mounts go no further than the windshield.

Had the same thought about driver isolation when drawing this out. If the passenger seats on either side were moved another foot forward essentially the heads of the driver and 2 passengers would all line up for easy conversation. The drivers seat with built in headrest mesh for handle pops would also need to swivel 180 degrees for when your just floating and chilling. Would be the best seat in the house then.

Had a '08 VTX diamond hull. Not bad wake for free skiing but if you want to ski the course not so good especially longer line lengths. Mostly slalom and couldn't take it anymore. Sold it. Have a Response TXi now.

Storage definetly improved. No impaired vision by spotters making left turns back into the course. Room for 6 in front of pylon if needed. Agree with @DW that it would be a different driving and reactive experience.

@ozski , @escmanaze , Am not trying to necessarily move away from a mid engine to a V-drive...the reason it went that way was the need to move some weight to the rear to keep the boats running attitude and tracking close to what is now being considered ideal. Consider how much weight (all approximate) is being moved forward and how far in both configurations, 1) Driver with helm, throttle, seat and windshield - 250 lbs 5' forward. 2) Lets say 2 spotters - 350 lbs 3' forward. 3) Fuel tank, filler hose and 10 gallons of fuel - 75 lbs 9' forward. So lets estimate that there is 675 lbs that has been moved on average 4' forward. To keep the boat balanced the motor would need to be moved back approx. 2'-3' which is probably very close to configuration #1 above thereby necessitating a V-drive configuration. Have never had the privilege of skiing an Infinity, why did it just fade away if it was such an awesome boat?

After reading the Wake Tractor thread my mind couldn't help but explore how a center/forward drivers position slalom boat might be configured. @Edbrazil mentioned he had approached Rob Shirley with the center drive idea way back. Don't know what his version would have looked like but I'm guessing not like the one below? Benefits...moving the driver, passengers and fuel load forward should allow the engine mass to be moved backwards to keep everything balanced. This would also allow more passengers in front of the pylon and be a more social arrangement. I am not an engineer or much of an artist but before you reach for your barf bags consider how strange a crew cab short box truck looked when they first came out. Now it is a long box regular cab truck, that used to be the norm, that looks odd to the eye. Could be easily optioned with ballast for other large wake sports.

Been lots of discussion lately about ski weight and difference in core material. What does a PVC and a PU core weigh on say a 67" ski? @eddie_roberts_jr , @savaiusini or anyone else? And for us longer line (34 mph 15-28 off) skiers would a PU ski, assuming the same lay up with the only difference being the core, be a better choice?

Is the case possibly hitting anything as it jiggles around when pounding through your own wake or rough water? The water filter suppliers for regular tap water in our area have all gone away from a female threaded canister to a male threaded type because of cracking.

Anyone used this with a black trailer? Any clouding, streaking or other paint damage? I could see how someone with a white trailer as in the videos may not notice paint damage as easily as someone with a black trailer.

@horton...PEBKAC error. Problem exsists between keyboard and chair. Lol. Used B2 at first now A3. Will try some others next season.

He's got to have someone hidden in a storage compartment...can anyone really be that stupid!?!?!

Just tell her your going with the agreement that she gets to spend as much as you do on clothes/purses or whatever her weakness is. That's the way this will shake out anyways.

So instead of the manufacturer installing a large, costly screen for instrumentation the manufacture gets the buyer to supply his own iPad/Tablet and just sells the buyer an inexpensive instrumention app? Genius!

Got carried away. Just stick with mirror then.

Imagination my friend...giant video screen in front of driver as camera with be following skier on this new model. Already happening with wake boats. This new boat will not have the windshield in the same location as current boats. It will start at the nose and wrap around the sides with a bow wave deflection ridge in place to keep occupants and the interior dry. Can always find a place to locate a mirror if needed.

Driver in center pushed right up into the nose with observer behind him. With a seat on either side of observer. If you have 1,2,3 or 4 people you can always balance the load. With the extra bow weight this creates you may be able to get away with a (gasp) v-drive configuration as the added bow weight would balance the boat more front to back for tracking.

Cheaper rope will stretch more making it tougher to ski. Cheaper rubber handle will make it harder to hold on and wear more quickly. If you invest let's say 25k into a boat, 1-2k into a ski, vest and gloves and save $25/year on a cheaper rope and ski like crap all year with a rubber band and a slippery handle just doesn't make sense.

Cool...can't wait to see what creative "Ski Tractor" Bryant comes up with. Hope it's something unique, functional and affordable.

Oneill Slasher rocks. Super flex and stretch. Well padded with no padding exactly where your arms lock into the sides of your chest when in pull mode. Arms get in nice and tight to chest. Neolite super light foam does not absorb water so vest stays lighter and dries faster.

Billabong Platinum, Rip Curl Mirage, Hurley Phantom, O'Neill and others 4 way stretch, all thin, dry fast and last.

Center line drive is something I, and I'm sure other ballers, have pondered many times as well. I applauded Bryant for not only thinking outside the box but actually have the balls to produce this. Could lead to current tug manufacturers revisiting what is practical and possible.