boat and motor weights

shetland536

shetland536

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25 Jan 2005
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poole,dorset,england
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hi
my 4x4 has gone to the scrap yard in the sky and i have bought a citreon berlingo.

i am worried about the towing weight now, it can tow 1100kg.

i need to find the weight of a picton 150 gts.
and
1985 75hp mercury.

any info gratefully received on these weights or any towing stories related to berlingos.

thanks

lee
 
i have only had it for a couple of days,all my mates taking the mick out of me but i love it,its massive inside, i reckon there is more room in it than my old trooper. and 1.9hdi engine im gonna see some better mpg too. i have not got a clue how it will tow though, i still need to get the tow bar fitted.
 
there's a bloke in Plymouth who fits towbars. The most meticulous and careful car electrician I have ever seen working. All connections soldered; any drill holes anti-rusted and foamed. Lifetime warranty.

PM me if you want the contact.


Yes, I love our Berlingo to bits; you can stuff dogs, dead sheep, hay bales in the back, and it cleans up easily. I have gone back to DIY servicing as well, as it is so easy.

I bought a few square metres of exhibition rubber backed carpet, and cut it to shape for the back - it stops a lot of reverberation, and I change the two pieces every so often; hose them off, and let them dry.
 
Dont know the exact weights, but I dont think the Picton will be more than 300kg, a 2 stroke Mercury about 100kg and another 200 for an unbraked trailer. You are well within the towing limits of the car, even with gear and petrol on board.
 
I have a 60hp Johnson vro on a RYDS 475 GT and that all weighs about 600 kg inc. trailer, I know the engine is 110kg as i am now swapping it for a 50hp four stroke which is approx same weight. When I bought this package new in 1995 it came on an unbraked trailer (I have since swapped that for a Roller Coaster) and I used to tow it with a Fiat Uno or Suzuki SJ413, neither struggled but launching was interesting with the Uno.
 
i know what you mean. i used to have a micra to get the boat to the slipway(cant remember what boat now). i think it was the 14ft dory with a 20hp yamaha--the front would get very light,skippy and pretty vague around corners, i think a speed hump would of sent me into a wheelie! pretty dangerous really and dont want to end up like that again.
 
In the mid 90's I used to tow a fletcher 155 GTO with a merc 80hp on the back. The trailer had no breaks. The tow car was a Cavalier 2.0 petrol SRI we had no problems.

Glory days.
 
The big difference is the slip. No car's rating takes slips into account.

True 4x4's with a proper low range gearbox are extremely capable on the slip. They'll pull way more than rated for and with 4wd engaged even keep traction on bad surfaces.

FWD cars fight the laws of nature since the weight leaves the driving wheels. One trick is to pull it out with the boat not fully on the trailer as weight on the trailer aft will lift the car rear, hence put load on the front wheels.

High torque and a reinforced clutch helps (standard with diesels). A good procedure will help a lot too.
 
Lakesailor said:
Interestingly the specs for the new ones say 1300Kg braked and 740 Kg unbraked (the unbraked limit is not always as high as the maximum legal of 750Kg)
Click to expand...


interesting, i must be getting near that 740kg limit.

the trailer is quite a well built heavy duty one and was braked originally, i have just removed the old suspension and hubs as they were so corroded and falling apart. the whole thing is sat on blocks at the moment and to be honest i was going to put new unbraked 750kg suspension units and hubs on as that would be sufficient to carry the boat and motor but the boat/trailer/engine may be too much for the car, this is going to take more investigation into the actual weights.

i am only planning on keeping it for a season and then selling to fund a newer/bigger outboard for the 14ft dory which is lighter-probably!

the braked units are looking near on £300 by the time you replace all the corroded cables too.
unbraked looks more like £80-£100.

this is why i am hesitating on the braked suspension.

i still have £300-£400 i need to throw at the throttle/steering and motor so it starts to look like an expensive project.

huufff-if only the 4x4 had gone through one more MOT i wouldnt have this predicament! lol
 
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Find out where your local weighbridge is and take it there, put in all the stuff that would normally be in there in too, the only way to be absolutely certain, plus you will have a ticket to prove it and speed things along should plod take an interest at any time.
 
Mymobo said:
In the mid 90's I used to tow a fletcher 155 GTO with a merc 80hp on the back. The trailer had no breaks. The tow car was a Cavalier 2.0 petrol SRI we had no problems.

Glory days.
Click to expand...

We had the same boat, but with a Yamaha 90, I used to pull it with mu Ford Fiesta, at least it was an XR2 ! Towing on the road wad fine, but slipways were a nightmare.:eek:
 
David2452 said:
Find out where your local weighbridge is and take it there, put in all the stuff that would normally be in there in too, the only way to be absolutely certain, plus you will have a ticket to prove it and speed things along should plod take an interest at any time.
Click to expand...
Problem......
i have just removed the old suspension and hubs as they were so corroded and falling apart. the whole thing is sat on blocks at the moment
Click to expand...


Slipways may be do-able with a front-mounted towball. Reversing up the slip would put the nose weight over the driving wheels and weight transfer on the vehicle would help. Reverse gear is also the lowest gear so clutch wear would be less. But not ideal.
 
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i have been towing the dory to the slip but unhitching on the road and pushing it into the water over the small bit of shingle and hard packed beach by hand! by myself sometimes! this can be a struggle but generally its not steep and if you can keep moving and avoid the bait diggers holes im okand i keep about 100 ft of rope for long distance recovery. i think 2 adults should be able to get this picton in/out.
i have always launched from lake road, hamworthy in poole. free parking and free slip/beach.

i agree with the idea of getting a ticket from the local weigh bridge, that at least tackles the legal side then its down to me to struggle with the rest.

grrrr i like watching other people struggle but not me!!! lol
 
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