Cheapest tow vehicle - suppositions, guesses and maths

If you want an old tug, just for towing, then I fancy an OLD landie (probably series II, series I are stupid money) that's been rebuilt on a new galvanised chassis. A guy down the road has one, and if it's ever for sale I might well buy it.

You get a long life vehicle, that's tax exempt and very cheap insurace (my BIL used to pay £10 per year to have one on a limited mileage insurance) and when you decide to sell it, you will get what you paid for it.

And being old technology they are mostly DIY repairable.

I wouldn't want to drive it every day, just have it for rough work and towing.
 
Things to consider:
If you don't need to launch/recover, anything with an appropriate towing capacity would do.

If you do need to launch/recover 4x4 is best bet but something rear wheel drive would probably do ok (BMW 3 series diesel?). Any petrol 4x4 will cost a fortune in fuel.

Land rover products have a reputation for poor reliability (read expensive to own), Japanese stuff has a reputation for good reliability. If you can stand the fuel bill I would suggest a Subaru.

A commercial vehicle (rwd Transit say) would probably be fine but watch the gross train weight and bear in mind that speed limits are lower than for cars.

Might be worth considering something like a Mazda Bongo, 4wd diesel mpv but converts to a reasonable van and is designed to be used as a camper van (easier to sell to other half?). You can get them as campers, kitchen etc but tend to be expensive.
 
neale said:
That V8 nearly broke me :eek: And that was back when fuel was only around £1 per litre. I can't imagine driving something like that now. In fact I am considering getting another Rangie, but a diesel this time, and I am wavering over the 25ish mpg. Think I have got to used to my 50mpg Mondeo :D
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You will only get 25mpg on the motorway at just under legal speed, the moment you come off, even for just a bit, it drops to 20mpg.

Steady towing on the motorway with 3500kg on the back and a car full gives 16mpg at 55mph.

Bits of running about is when it really gets painful, expect 12-14mpg :eek:

But it doesnt matter, its a Landy, its part of the family just like the cat :D
 
gordmac said:
Things to consider:



Might be worth considering something like a Mazda Bongo, 4wd diesel mpv but converts to a reasonable van and is designed to be used as a camper van (easier to sell to other half?). You can get them as campers, kitchen etc but tend to be expensive.
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A looked at one of these a few years ago, lots of stories about over heating under load. Most people felt they struggled towing small caravans let alone big boats. Shame cos it looked a perfect solution for me at the time.
 
landlockedpirate said:
But it doesnt matter, its a Landy, its part of the family just like the cat :D
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Dead right, but we don't have a cat.

My Disco 300TDi did 33MPG on the trip to Tarbert and back 2 weeks ago, I stick to 65-70 on the motorway. It cost about £160.

I just filled it up to go back up tomorrow and it has done 280 miles on exactly 10 gallons so 28 MPG going to work and back and some local traffic, Oh and a trip to Goole on M62 @ 70.

I got 28MPG towing the boat.

The 406 could do 55-60MPG on the Tarbert trip, and about 37MPG to work and back where it barely got warm.

Still it's 'orses fer corses, I can't thoil paying for a walk ashore mooring.
 
Several pionts. probably all duff.


I remember towing a 10 ft caravan with a Mk 2 1300 Cortina with 100+k on the clock. Hard going and regular stops to let the entourage past. Power/torque is king.

Until recently I frequently towed a kayak trailer. It carried as default two very heavy sea boats and at least one plastic one together with a kit box containing at least five paddles, two wet suits and standard day trip kit etc.

It was essentially constructed of two box sections, one as an axle, with the square section superstructure on top. Two braces between the sections triangulated it for rigidity. No suspension apart from the tyres. No plates whatsoever.

The original builder had the axle too far forwards and clearly had it moved a couple of feet back to increase the hitch load.


I had no problems at all as per getting stopped towing it. It failed me once when I had five heavy sea boats plus five sets of kit on it. The weld to one of the uprights failed. No prob I tied the uprights down to the chassis using my boat as a buffer (Told you it was built like a brick outhouse it just bounced off rocks) and drove the 150 miles home.
 
landlockedpirate said:
A looked at one of these a few years ago, lots of stories about over heating under load. Most people felt they struggled towing small caravans let alone big boats. Shame cos it looked a perfect solution for me at the time.
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Bongos are good tow vehicles as long as you have the diesel one, my current 2litre petrol could pull the skin of a rice pudding. My last diesel dragged our 1.5 ton van all over the country very very well. The big trick was keeping below the speed limit. The overheating problem is more that the engines do not tolerate overheating, so coolant loss can cause problems. There are however good alarms that can provide warning.
 
We bought our boat in 2001. Trailer plated at 2000kgs gross.
Weight of trailer plated at 175kgs. Large double axle galvavised trailer. Worked out could legally tow (just) with Renault Espace.
It towed home where I was glad I serviced trailer and up to Windermere fine. I transferred as much weight as reasonably possible to the Espace. Boom sails, battery, ropes, fenders etc.

Put it on a weighbridge and it weighed about 2200kgs. Trailer weighed 450kgs. Trailer company Aquaride Wrexham not in business.

Had to buy large 4x4 and got an Isuzu Trooper, it is an expensive option and most years we only move the boat twice. I changed the Trooper for a Nissan Pathfinder in 2010 and wish I had not in many ways . Good vehicle but £750 for my local non franchise dealer service. I serviced the Trooper myself.

Plus high fuel costs.

Had to hire a large 4x4 once when Trooper off road. Nearly new Shogun or similar, very time consuming expensive and stressfull as had to go to Stockport to collect vehicle, return, collect boat, drive to Windermere, launch boat, return vehicle next day and catch train to Windermere. Difficult to hire vehicles for towing IMHO and makes 2 weeks trailer sailing very expensive.

For me I would like a boat of the O.Ps weight 1500kgs and tow it with a people carrier rated for 2000kgs towing with a good train weight. I would probably do some transference of load e.g food, clothes, etc in tow vehicle.

With the boat I have at the moment I wish I had gone down the older low tech 4x4 route for towing with maybe an economical car for every day use. My wife also has a car.

I like you am freelance and I do find the high fuel cost if I have to drive a long way painful. However I do have to carry equipment or ladders some times and do use a box trailer with it.
 
economics are quite interesting if you have space for another car. Keep your Polo for normal life and only use the 4x4 or Van for towing and other appropriate journeys.

We have a petrol 4x4 Merc ML. Fuel bills matter less if annual mileage is very low and insurance is very cheap if you limit mileage and take a large excess.

Depreciation = £ nil now
 
I agree

EuanMcKenzie said:
economics are quite interesting if you have space for another car. Keep your Polo for normal life and only use the 4x4 or Van for towing and other appropriate journeys.

We have a petrol 4x4 Merc ML. Fuel bills matter less if annual mileage is very low and insurance is very cheap if you limit mileage and take a large excess.

Depreciation = £ nil now
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the economics are right on the edge

at my age insurance is low

clean license

road tax - could do just 4 months

certainly keep the polo and the micra

if it has a year of MOT and costs between £500 and £1000

I reckon that there is an excellent chance of getting a volvo that would give me a problem free year

transit ... ditto

disco..... dunno

mrs winter does not want a transit for sure

I think a volvo might attract the attention of the police - what with train weight and all the junk there will be on the boat

behind a disco they would ignore me

Dylan
 
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dylanwinter said:
I reckong that there is an excellent chance of getting a volvo that would give me a problem free year

...

I think a volvo might attract the attention of the police - what with train weight and all the junk there will be on the boat

behind a disco they would ignore me

Dylan
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If you're thinking Volvo: Go for a 940 (or 960 if you can afford the fuel) - 1900 kg towing capacity (with appropriate tow bar), and rock solid with it. 740 may well be similar, but I haven't looked at the figures.

I had a 940T that towed 1300kg boat + 450kg twin axle trailer with no problem whatsoever (and no unwanted attention) - I wouldn't recommend it for launching (our boat was craned on/off the trailer), but as RWD it would be a better bet than any of the FWD equivalents. I changed it for a newer V70 2.5T which was nowhere near as good a tow car, was expensive to maintain & had less usable space (it did have an auto box which really helped reversing the boat/trailer up the hill and round the corner to its winter home, though). The V70 got scrapped because of an ABS light :-/

Have also had a CRV, and although I have only towed a sailing dinghy with it, it didn't inspire confidence. I doubt it would cope as well as the Big Volvo with a heavy twin axle trailer.

Plus the 940 was the most comfortable car I've ever been in, and could sleep 2 in comfort with the seats down :)

Andy
 
Do think about old people carriers as well.

I'm currently towing a 1700kg setup with a Ford Galaxy (rated to 1800kg towing) and given I've never towed anything heavier than a dinghy before, was surprisingly easy to drive. I'm just in the process of ordering an electric winch to do the slipway bit, which is costing me £120. Can report back on how that bit works.
 
I don't suppose this idea is a runner, but I picked up an old PBO while waiting at the dentist. In it was an article about a boatownwer who had bought a 7.5 ton merc truck and fixed a flat bed to carry their boat around.

Apparently they spent £1500 on it - £150 license fee and drive it on an ordinary license.
 
Quote: Originally Posted by Cymrogwyllt
Several pionts. probably all duff.

Until recently I frequently towed a kayak trailer. No suspension apart from the tyres.


__________________
Lakesailor said:
Absolutely duff. :eek:
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It's a tirade I go into about dinghy trailers, the indespension units are way too hard and don't really work for a boat that weighs 100kg, plus 100kg of trailer. Particularly when the rubber in the units ages. So the tyres do indeed do most of the suspending!
Legally you have to have suspension, but it seems OK for it to be rock solid and designed to shake your boat to bits. A lot of dinghy sailors upsize the wheels to 520*10 and run them fairly soft for this reason. Bit of fred drift I know.
 
lw395 said:
It's a tirade I go into about dinghy trailers, the indespension units are way too hard and don't really work for a boat that weighs 100kg, plus 100kg of trailer. Particularly when the rubber in the units ages. So the tyres do indeed do most of the suspending!
Legally you have to have suspension, but it seems OK for it to be rock solid and designed to shake your boat to bits. A lot of dinghy sailors upsize the wheels to 520*10 and run them fairly soft for this reason. Bit of fred drift I know.
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For Serendipity I bought some of these. A 50 year old clinker dinghy doesn't deserve to be bashed about. The boat and kit and trailer weighed about 210Kg and that gave me a bit in hand at 250Kg total capacity for the pair of units. (I could carry the outboard and fuel can etc)
The boat rode beautifully on them. Gliding, in a stately way.
 
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