Best buy diesel legally trailerable motor boat to buy?

[frankym3]

Hi all,

Am currently having my current boat repaired in the hope that I can get her out again for the summer!

Will be planning on selling her in the Autumn and if she sells would be interested in something a little larger and diesel.

Have a budget of between £20 and possibly up to £30K to spend and am not a boating expert! Have looked on Apollo duck and am really confused as to whats worth having! Some old boats are as dear as newer boats, some old boats are even damn close to the price of a new boat! Totally lost and would appreciate some advise!?

What I want is something with as much living space as possible to make the boat possible to stay in whilst still being legally trailerable in the UK with a car licence.

Ideally powerful enough to pull skis and diesel, my preffered would be 240hp volvo with duo prop.

Also something as modern/ luxurious as is at all possible... some stuff for sale looks very dated, but then maybe that comes with my budget I dont know!

Thanks all and I really appreciate your advice!

 

[andy59]

I dont think there is much choice for that kind of spec . Sealine S23 would be the ideal candidate but if you want 240hp with diesel that means a six cylinder engine , and that would probably take it over the max trailable weight , ( i`m sure they only came with KAD 32 - 170 hp ) happy to be proved wrong though .

 

[frankym3]

I dont think there is much choice for that kind of spec . Sealine S23 would be the ideal candidate but if you want 240hp with diesel that means a six cylinder engine , and that would probably take it over the max trailable weight , ( i`m sure they only came with KAD 32 - 170 hp ) happy to be proved wrong though .

170 would prob be ok I guess. I would just worry about the punch of the diesel in comparison to my current boat (300hp VP 5.7 gi dp). Obviously the extra size and diesel will mute performance a bit, but would the 170 hp be liveable with i.e. getting onto the plane, hole shot, cruising speed?

 

[neale]

My Bayliner is about the biggest boat you can legally tow. 25ft and about 3 to 3.5 tons loaded with trailer. It has the 170hp Volvo diesel with duoprop, but would almost certainly come under the 'Dated' category. It does achieve 30 knots but you don't get the same oomph as you do with a petrol. If you wants sports performance for skiing etc, you might be best to stick to petrol boats. If you want economy for cruising, def go diesel. With a £20 to £30k budget I thing the Sealine range (S23/S24/S25/240) is where to look for a small cruiser. If you decide performance is more important and choose petrol, you will get a great US sportscruiser for that money. Look at Regal, Maxum, Searay, Bayliner, Monteray etc etc.

 

[old_salt]

Just watch out though if you go for an American package.
American Trailers are built a lot different to ours they are much higher weight rated and the trailer regs are different to ours.

 

[Whitelighter]

There are boats out there, but you might have to buy a little off the beaten track for what you want. I had a quick look around targeting a few of the boats I know and came up with the following:

Option 1

its on for over budget (36k), but you can deal down to your max I reckon.
Beam is 2.35m so OK. Engine is a diesel Merc


Option 2

Ok, so its a big one. It is within legal towing width )though only just, in fact its cock on) and you would need a big 4x4 (Disco or RR) but its a proper boat and has a KAD44 (s60Hp). On for £32,500 so late £20ks should buy it


Option 3

Good spanish buildwer. 250Hp steyer so should be quick again. £34k though means my preference would be No.2, though this is well inside the towing limit at 2.5m

 

[Whitelighter]

Option 4 (I like this one as well)

Nice well build boat. Beam 2.61m and a good powerful 4.2l Merc with around 220hp. On for £31k which is pretty good

 

[lovezoo]

There are boats out there, but you might have to buy a little off the beaten track for what you want. I had a quick look around targeting a few of the boats I know and came up with the following:

This post is useless without LINKS.

 

[gjgm]

Hi all,

Am currently having my current boat repaired in the hope that I can get her out again for the summer!

Will be planning on selling her in the Autumn and if she sells would be interested in something a little larger and diesel.

Have a budget of between £20 and possibly up to £30K to spend and am not a boating expert! Have looked on Apollo duck and am really confused as to whats worth having! Some old boats are as dear as newer boats, some old boats are even damn close to the price of a new boat! Totally lost and would appreciate some advise!?

What I want is something with as much living space as possible to make the boat possible to stay in whilst still being legally trailerable in the UK with a car licence.

Ideally powerful enough to pull skis and diesel, my preffered would be 240hp volvo with duo prop.

Also something as modern/ luxurious as is at all possible... some stuff for sale looks very dated, but then maybe that comes with my budget I dont know!

Thanks all and I really appreciate your advice!

Unless you have a massive 4*4 (and I mean the hardcore ones) you arent going to be able to tow much. Hardly anything can tow 3.5tonnes,certainly not a car, and not many 4*4s. So, do you have a big 4*4, or do you intend also to have the cost of a new vehicle?
BTW, different specs within the same car/model range have different tow capacities. Magazines often just note the biggest capability;dont rely on that- check your exact model.
Given you can buy petrol at Tescos etc if the boat is on a trailer, I think I would go petrol. The boat will be cheaper to buy, lighter to tow, more boats for sale. Typical use is about 50 hours of engine running a year. Its really only when you get up to covering some more serious distances that diesel comes into its own. You can move the boat from A to B on the trailer

 

[wakeup]

Unless you have a massive 4*4 (and I mean the hardcore ones) you arent going to be able to tow much. Hardly anything can tow 3.5tonnes,certainly not a car, and not many 4*4s. So, do you have a big 4*4, or do you intend also to have the cost of a new vehicle?
BTW, different specs within the same car/model range have different tow capacities. Magazines often just note the biggest capability;dont rely on that- check your exact model.
Given you can buy petrol at Tescos etc if the boat is on a trailer, I think I would go petrol. The boat will be cheaper to buy, lighter to tow, more boats for sale. Typical use is about 50 hours of engine running a year. Its really only when you get up to covering some more serious distances that diesel comes into its own. You can move the boat from A to B on the trailer

Also note that you probably have underestimated the boats weight with gear and fuel. I know that the leader 805 is 3.5 tons empty. Put 300litres of fuel in and 200 litres of water plus any gear and you will be well over 4 tons.

 

[landlockedpirate]

Option 4 (I like this one as well)

Nice well build boat. Beam 2.61m and a good powerful 4.2l Merc with around 220hp. On for £31k which is pretty good

I agree with you, the pick of the bunch is the Doral, but its far too heavy. Looked at them at SBS 1999, think it was over 3000kg dry.

You are going to struggle to get a trailable boat with a 6 cylinder diesel. Lots of choice if you look at the 4 cylinders, Sealines are excellent (S23, S24, S25), but a little on the small size. Good choice of American boats but their extra size and weight mean you get less than sparkiling performance with the KAD32.

IMHO the biggest trailable boat is a Bayliner 265, but go for the 5.7 petrol with duoprop.

 

[frankym3]

Thats interesting info, Could the gut who posted the options put up links? thanks!

The Doral looks tidy, wheres it for sale?

I have a Shogun 4 x 4 and also (As im a building contractor) a number of large vans with a 3500kg gross weight, not sure what the train weight is though.

Have towed small digger regularly with the vans, 3.2 tonnes plus trailer with no probs in the past and find my current boat as light as a feather to tow (Find the boat one of the nicest things to tow.. must be the aerodynamics or something!).

Am I right in saying 24ft is the limit in length? Does this include swim platforms?

Thanks again guys!

 

[lovezoo]

The Doral is in Alicante. Bit of a long tow back...

 

[landlockedpirate]

Thats interesting info, Could the gut who posted the options put up links? thanks!

The Doral looks tidy, wheres it for sale?

I have a Shogun 4 x 4 and also (As im a building contractor) a number of large vans with a 3500kg gross weight, not sure what the train weight is though.

Have towed small digger regularly with the vans, 3.2 tonnes plus trailer with no probs in the past and find my current boat as light as a feather to tow (Find the boat one of the nicest things to tow.. must be the aerodynamics or something!).

Am I right in saying 24ft is the limit in length? Does this include swim platforms?

Thanks again guys!

The length is limited on the trailer. Law says the trailer can't exceed 21 ft, but this excludes draw bar and rear overhang, in real terms that means you can easily tow a 30 ft boat. You are much more limited by the width, this is 7ft 6 but you can overhang 6" either side giving a max boat width of 8'6" (you can go to 9'6" but you need wide load signage)

The max weight is 3500kg but the boat trailer weighs approx 700kg on its own, this means your max dry weight for the boat is only 2500kg.

Be careful about the Shogun, lots of different models with tow weights of between 2800kg and 3300kg, very few are legal to tow the full 3500kg.

Towing with works vans opens a whole new can of worms, including max train weights and the requirement to fit a tacho.

There's lots of us on here who have towed stupidly big and illegal rigs over the years, but these days I just don't think its worth the risk.

 

[frankym3]

The length is limited on the trailer. Law says the trailer can't exceed 21 ft, but this excludes draw bar and rear overhang, in real terms that means you can easily tow a 30 ft boat. You are much more limited by the width, this is 7ft 6 but you can overhang 6" either side giving a max boat width of 8'6" (you can go to 9'6" but you need wide load signage)

The max weight is 3500kg but the boat trailer weighs approx 700kg on its own, this means your max dry weight for the boat is only 2500kg.

Be careful about the Shogun, lots of different models with tow weights of between 2800kg and 3300kg, very few are legal to tow the full 3500kg.

Towing with works vans opens a whole new can of worms, including max train weights and the requirement to fit a tacho.

There's lots of us on here who have towed stupidly big and illegal rigs over the years, but these days I just don't think its worth the risk.

Cheers Mark.

Its a 2007 3.2 litre Shogun Diesel 3dr with auto box. Could keep the sign writing off 1 van if required I s'pose or maybe even buy something else cheap when the time comes, say a Landie Defender or sumnt or mayb even sell the Shogun and get a Q7 3.0D, but maybe not much better!

Ill keep watching for boats under 2800kg! It might take a policeman who got out on the wrong side of bed to do me on a journey which happens 3 or 4 times a year if I was marginally over!.. but then theres sods law to think about!

 

[enterprise]

Cheers Mark.

Its a 2007 3.2 litre Shogun Diesel 3dr with auto box. Could keep the sign writing off 1 van if required I s'pose or maybe even buy something else cheap when the time comes, say a Landie Defender or sumnt or mayb even sell the Shogun and get a Q7 3.0D, but maybe not much better!

Ill keep watching for boats under 2800kg! It might take a policeman who got out on the wrong side of bed to do me on a journey which happens 3 or 4 times a year if I was marginally over!.. but then theres sods law to think about!

Or an accident where your insurance would be void (overloaded).

We had a shogun for towing, we towed right on the Max 2800kg and that was for a Bayliner 2455, as already pointed out 700kg is not heavy for the trailer, (our SBS was 650kg), add to that fuel and gear and your nearly their.
Car had no problem towing, just if anything happened it would have voided the insurance had we been overweight.

Think at the time the Toyota amazon was the tow car of choice but you had to be under 7.5ton all up trainweight not to run into further red tape.

 

[frankym3]

Or an accident where your insurance would be void (overloaded).

We had a shogun for towing, we towed right on the Max 2800kg and that was for a Bayliner 2455, as already pointed out 700kg is not heavy for the trailer, (our SBS was 650kg), add to that fuel and gear and your nearly their.
Car had no problem towing, just if anything happened it would have voided the insurance had we been overweight.

Think at the time the Toyota amazon was the tow car of choice but you had to be under 7.5ton all up trainweight not to run into further red tape.

Good and obvious point! Bugger!

 

[Jim@sea]

Cheers Mark.

Its a 2007 3.2 litre Shogun Diesel 3dr with auto box.

I am on my third Nissan Patrol and I tow all the time. When I was buying my present one I was going to buy an Automatic when I remembered that Auto Boxes dont stand up to towing as the story was that the "Torque Converter" would overheat and the recommendation was that you should fit an additional "oil cooler" but that was from the days when mechanics actually did things to cars, like "de-cokes" etc., anyway I got a brochure from a Nissan Dealer and a manual gearbox will tow 3.5 tonnes but the Auto is restricted to 2.5 tonnes. Of course your Auto will tow much more but you will "cook" the auto box.

 

[landlockedpirate]

As mentioned, Shogun only tows 2800kg, Q7 2800kg, Defender will tow 3500kg. Of course these cars will pull more, but its not legal. I'm not preaching, I have towed plenty of over weight loads but the chances of getting caught these days are higher, invalid insurance, points on licence etc.

This is my boat 10 years ago, weight on return from Menorca was 5000kg, Disco TD5 towed it with no problems. The Nissan was also overweight by about 400kg, but it struggled on the hills, especially going over the Pyrenees.

Current boat was bought to be fully legal, dry weight 2200kg, with gear and trailer it comes in at 3400kg leaving some room for fuel left in tank.

It doesnt matter wether the vans are sign written, if they are registered to a company, plod will see them as fair game.

Stay legal, it will be less stress, and a bit safer.

 

[gjgm]

Boat trailering seems inpossible to get to the bottom of ! I did try traffic cops, but they sort of muttered they couldnt understand it all either !
Theres something like National Trailer Association or something that does have "the law" on the web site, but its interpreting it that seems complex.
AFAIK, the A frame doesnt count as part of the trailer length-given the shape of a boat, thats 1/3 of the trailer! Overhang..etc etc.
Good luck!