Houseboat help

[birdsnest]

Pretty much everything has been covered but I just want to reiterate cause I've worked on the lake and seen a lot. Would highly recommend a two cable system. And when attaching the two cables use a shackle for each cable attached to the buoy. Doesn't do much good to have two cables going to the same shackle...then your backup system is irrelevant when the pin backs out and you go floating to the beach. I've never seen a newer cable snap so the only worry with breaking a cable is after a couple years. Inspect your cables and make sure they aren't rusting or fraying. This can be hard if you have the plastic cover over the cable but you can still check for kinks in the cable/plastic or see if you see any signs of rusting on the parts of the cable that are showing at either end. Like others have mentioned, use some nice bailing wire and wrap it through the hole in the pin and around through the inside of the shackle a few times to keep the pin from backing out. In my experience it's about 50/50 old broken cables or a shackle pin that's backed out. Give me a bit and I'll see if I can't find some pics of the hardware and buoy setups we used. It's also a good habit to check the bailing wire everytime you are at the boat and check your shackles and other hardware of the buoy to make sure nothing is getting worn through. Years and years of metal rubbing together takes it's toll!

Also boat poles can be nice if it's decently calm and you have time to slowly approach the ball and haul up one of the cables and attach it while still drifting, but in many cases, especially when doing it alone, we would just attach a 10' or so rope to the front of the boat and loop it through the shackle/eye of the buoy and then tie it back off on the boat. That way you are somewhat secure to the ball while you mess with attaching your hardware.

Harbor Freight sells a roll of stainless steel wire for under 5 bucks. A little stiffer than bailing wire but would work well.

 

[Lake Bum]

While not technically "legal" per Aramark's rules, on Mondo's boat Shadisfaction, he also ran a chain to the buoy, basically side by side with the cable. His cable was actually broken, and the chain was the ONLY thing holding the houseboat, all held by the strength of one bolt. That was quite the rodeo for us replacing the cable in the wind!

 

[Tim Fortier]

I wish our marina had anything like that. They told me to search the internet and go here to ask...

I can get the pintle installed easy. Just need to find the cable. Any help with that (where and who)? I’m in Durango, CO. Not really in houseboat country here

I have the cable they supplied me from exec. Services . I also bought a very large 8 foot long stainless steel chain for back up

 

[Brett Craig]

Well I got it all done except for the final paint. Thanks for all the help!
I got the new black water tank installed as well, that was a chore doing it by yourself!
I included a picture of a third pontoon I had built and installed to help with the 8 foot swim platform I extended and installed jet ski lifts.

You guys (and gals) were awesome!!

 

[Jammer864]

Remember too, that that cable hanging off the ball is going to be heavy. The longer it is, the heavier it is. A boat hook is invaluable. Keep the weight of the cable down and its much easier to raise in a hurry.