Easy Set-Up Instructions

Please Note:
Follow and adhere to all warnings and cautions as outlined in the instruction manual. Failure to do so may result in serious injury or even death. Boat driver assumes full responsibility for any and all misuse of the Insanity Pylon.

Lay the two main sections of the Insanity Pylon’s mast on the floor of the boat and bring them together by inserting the exposed aluminum (shiny) tube of the bottom section into the opening of the top section (the end with the thumb screws) in the direction of the arrows in Fig. 1.

Align the seams of the fabric cover of both the bottom and top section (see arrows), push the sections together tightly, then tighten the two thumb screws with only your fingers.

At the top of the Insanity Pylon, locate the three stainless steel rings (see arrows, Fig. 3). Connect the long section of the ratchet tie down strap (the side that does not have the ratchet assembly with the long padded tube) to the ring that’s by itself (white arrow) at the very top of the Insanity Pylon by using the carabiner at the end of the tie down strap. Connect the long section of the two cambuckle tie down straps (the ones with the short padded tubes) to the second ring (black arrow, the one just below the one opposite of the one the ratchet tie down connects to) by using the carabiners attached at the end of each cambuckle strap.

Insert the exposed aluminum tube on the base into the opening at the end of the bottom section of the Insanity Pylon’s mast in the direction of the arrow, then rotate the mast so that the single stainless steel tow ring at the top of the pylon will face forward when raised.

Tighten the thumb screws, and remember,

DO NOT USE TOOLS TO TIGHTEN THE THUMB SCREWS AS THIS MAY CAUSE DAMAGE TO THE SCREWS!

With help of an assistant, raise the Insanity Pylon’s mast and push the base (the horizontal section) firmly against  the rear-most immovable part of the boat (such as an engine compartment). With the Insanity Pylon’s mast in the vertical position, move the pylon into the middle of the boat and perpendicular to the direction of forward travel, then check to make sure the angle of the Insanity Pylon’s mast is between 80 to 90 degrees to the floor facing the front of the boat (the white arrow points to the rear of the boat in this case). When downward pressure is applied from the top Insanity Pylon’s mast, it must be at an angle where the motion will not cause the base to move. This 80 to 90 degree angle is performed to cause the base of the Insanity Pylon to “wedge” into the corner when pressure is applied from the top of the pylon.

With an assistant holding the Insanity Pylon’s mast in the correct position (from the previous step), snap the carabiner of the end of one of the cambuckle tie downs (with the cambuckle end) through the closed section of one of your boat’s rear rope cleats located on the passenger side of the boat.

If your boat’s rope cleats are too small or won’t work with the carabiners, remove the carabiner from the stainless steel delta quick link (the triangular metal object that joins the carabiner to the loop) and try using the delta quick link to join the loop of the cambuckle strap to the rope cleat and close the link completely. If this doesn’t work, fasten the loop of the cambuckle strap directly to the rope cleat in a manner that will prohibit the loop from coming off the rope cleat if slack should become present in the cambuckle strap. If this doesn’t work, then discontinue setup immediately.

WARNING! DO NOT CONNECT THE CAMBUCKLE STRAPS TO THE U-BOLTS (METAL LOOPS ON THE BACK OF THE BOAT) THAT ARE USED TO FASTEN THE BOAT TO THE  TRAILER UNLESS THEY ARE AT LEAST 4 FEET APART! THEY MAY NOT PROVIDE THE ADEQUATE SIDE-TO-SIDE SUPPORT FOR THE PYLON’S MAST AND MAY CAUSE THE PYLON TO MALFUNCTION WHEN SKIERS SKI OUTSIDE THE WAKE!

With the assistant holding the Insanity Pylon’s mast in the correct position (from the previous steps), grab the end of the cambuckle strap closest to the loop and pull most of the slack out of the cambuckle strap in the direction of the arrow (towards the Insanity Pylon’s mast). Do not pull too much or it may cause the forward angle of the Insanity Pylon’s mast to move out of tolerance and to one side. Have your assistant move the angle the Insanity Pylon’s mast toward the front of the boat to take all the slack out of the first cambuckle strap.

With tension on the first cambuckle strap, pull the slack out of the second cambuckle strap (in the direction of the arrow and towards the Insanity Pylon’s mast) so that the two straps are the same length and tension. This will ensure that when the ratchet strap is tensioned, the Insanity Pylon will stand straight and not off to one side. The cambuckle straps help keep the Insanity Pylon standing straight as well as support the side-to-side motion under load.

Tie up the excess webbing around the cambuckle strap as indicated by the arrow (Fig. 11).

WARNING! DO NOT CUT THE EXCESS WEBBING OFF AS THIS MAY CAUSE A DANGEROUS SITUATION WHICH MAY CAUSE SERIOUS INJURY OR DEATH TO SKIER, BOAT OCCUPANTS, OR PROPERTY!

Slide the padded cover (in the direction of the arrow) over the buckle all the way down to the loop or carabiner.





After this initial adjustment of the cambuckle tie downs, they should not need to be readjusted and will save time on future uses. Always check that the cambuckles remain the same length before and during each use.

With the assistant holding the Insanity Pylon’s mast in the correct position (from the previous steps), locate the tri-folded webbing strap with loops at both ends (it will not have any metal hardware attached to it). Insert one end of the strap through the opening on the rope cleat at the front of the boat on the driver’s side, then through the boat’s front tow ring (the U-bolt that usually hooks to the winch on the boat’s trailer), then back up through the opposite rope cleat on the passenger side of the boat as shown in Fig. 13, steps 1,2, and 3. The three layers of webbing is used to ensure that there will still be adequate support if one or both of the outer layers happen to become damaged or break, just as a safety precaution. This webbing has free replacement as covered under the warranty should it need replacement.

Fig. 14 shows the strap passing through the openings correctly. WARNING! THE STRAP MUST PASS THROUGH THE U-BOLT OR IT MAY CAUSE THE STRAP TO MALFUNCTION WHICH COULD CAUSE THE INSANITY PYLON TO BECOME UNRESTRAINED UNDER LOAD. If this were allowed to happen, it would cause the base of the Insanity Pylon to become dislodged and kick forward, and the top of the Insanity Pylon’s mast to move backward WHICH COULD CAUSE SERIOUS INJURY OR EVEN DEATH TO BOAT OCCUPANTS, SKIER, OR PROPERTY! Inspect strap prior to use to ensure that the webbing is not torn, frayed, or appears that it could break under load.

Pull the loops at both ends of the strap together over the middle of the boat as demonstrated in Fig. 15.

Then snap the carabiner of the ratchet tie down through both loops. CAUTION! DO NOT DIRECTLY ATTACH THE CARABINER TO THE BOAT’S FRONT ROPE CLEATS AS THE ROPE CLEATS ARE NOT DESIGNED TO WITHSTAND THE TOW LOAD! Note: the rear cambuckle tie downs keep the pylon from moving side to side, which is equivalent to approximately 1/5th of the tow load. The front strap & ratchet tie down straps help keep the Insanity Pylon supported properly, plus bear the tow load (they both have a minimum breaking strength of 1,500 lbs as labeled).

With the assistant holding the Insanity Pylon’s mast in the correct position (from the previous steps), open the ratchet of the ratchet tie down all the way (curved arrow, Fig. 17). Grab the ratchet tie down strap in front of the ratchet with one hand (near the carabiner), then pull out most of the slack in the ratchet tie down with the other hand in the direction towards the Insanity Pylon (straight arrow).

Hold the excess strap with one hand and tighten the ratchet tie down strap by using a reciprocating motion on the handle, and tighten as tight as your strength will allow. USE HAND POWER ONLY!

WARNING! USE HAND POWER ONLY! DO NOT USE TOOLS OR OTHER METHOD OF INCREASING LEVERAGE ON THE RATCHET! DOING SO WILL DAMAGE THE RATCHET ASSEMBLY WHICH MAY CAUSE IT TO MALFUNCTION, WHICH MAY MAY CAUSE SERIOUS INJURY OR DEATH TO BOAT OCCUPANTS, SKIER, OR PROPERTY!

Close the ratchet, and tie up the excess webbing by the same method as the cambuckle straps.

Slide padded ratchet cover over the ratchet (in the direction of the arrow in Fig 21) all the way down so it covers the carabiner.

Locate one of the stainless steel swivel snap hooks included with the Insanity Pylon. Hold the hook with one hand, then insert the loop at the end of the ski rope through the swivel eye on the snap hook in the direction of the arrow (Fig. 22).

Bring the loop of the ski rope over the entire hook, then pull the hook and the ski rope in opposite directions as indicated by the arrows in Fig. 24.

Pull the hook and the ski rope opposite directions (as indicated by the arrows, Fig. 24) so that the ski rope will not become unattached if there is slack on the ski rope.

USE ONLY OFFICIAL STAINLESS STEEL SWIVEL SNAP HOOKS DIRECTLY FROM INSANITY PYLONS, INC. THE SNAP HOOKS ARE DESIGNED TO GIVE OUT IF THE LOAD EXCEEDS THE MAXIMUM LOAD REQUIREMENTS OF THE INSANITY PYLON! DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES ATTACH A SKI ROPE OR TOW ROPE DIRECTLY TO THE STAINLESS STEEL RINGS ON THE INSANITY PYLON’S MAST. DOING SO MAY CAUSE THE TIE DOWNS AND/OR INSANITY PYLON TO MALFUNCTION, WHICH MAY LEAD TO SERIOUS INJURY OR EVEN DEATH TO BOAT OCCUPANTS, SKIER, OR PROPERTY!

Snap the ski rope to the top ring on the back of the Insanity Pylon (opposite the one secured to the ratchet tie down) shown by the arrow in Fig. 25. This is the 7’ (foot) setting. If the pylon is the 6 foot model, there will only be one tow ring.

Or if your pylon is the 7 foot model, you can snap the ski rope to the 6’ (foot) ring in the middle of the top section as shown in Fig. 26.

WARNING! DO NOT PUT A LOAD ON MORE THAN ONE RING AT A TIME! THIS MAY EXCEED THE INSANITY PYLON’S 250LB SAFE OPERATING LOAD LIMIT!