How Big would you tow

[Bigplumbs]

I have a Land Rover Discovery 2 which should pull 3.5 tonnes. I recently towed my 19 foot Fletcher GTS (2 Tonnes all up) back from Wales to Suffolk UK. It was quite a trip and we had some excitements on the way. One day I am sure like so many I will upgrade to a larger boat. I think I will want to stick to one engine (due to cost) and would want to take the boat to a piece of land we own for the winter which is about 40 mins travel from the mooring. Roads are quite good.

So my question is how big a boat would you feel happy towing yourself

Dennis

 

[Murv]

I have a Land Rover Discovery 2 which should pull 3.5 tonnes. I recently towed my 19 foot Fletcher GTS (2 Tonnes all up) back from Wales to Suffolk UK. It was quite a trip and we had some excitements on the way. One day I am sure like so many I will upgrade to a larger boat. I think I will want to stick to one engine (due to cost) and would want to take the boat to a piece of land we own for the winter which is about 40 mins travel from the mooring. Roads are quite good.

So my question is how big a boat would you feel happy towing yourself

Dennis

There's a legal maximum size for towing behind a car. Can't remember what it is but should be easily found on google. 7 metres maybe? but excludes the length of the drawbar.
Our 23' is trailerable, but with the weight of boat and trailer, it must be getting close to the 3.5T maximum weight anyway.

 

[BartW]

we have been towing our Karnic from Belgium to:
Croatia (x3)
Sof (x4)
Cornwall
Schotland

boat is 28ft, twin diesel
on "on paper" the total weight is 3500kg
I realise we are rather the exception than the rule,
towing car is Merc GL

somebody knows where this pic is taken ?

 

[dingdongs]

the working braked trailer would be the only limiting factor upto gross weight as well as good working brakes on the car too as there do tend to be some idiots on the road who think they own it.

 

[Bigplumbs]

How about something like this behind the disco just to get it to and from storage

http://www.boats.co.uk/boats-for-sale/glastron-gt249-381

Dennis

 

[DavidJ]

We used to tow a Sealine S23 down to Spain every year behind an 3l Izuzu Trooper and 2.8 Pajero. We did have a lot of trailer punctures so I suspect the wheel size was on the edge. If again I'd go for a six wheel for that kind of journey.
One piece of advice, load the car not the boat.

 

[mlines]

We have a Range Rover Sport (towing rated to 3.5 tonnes) .

Our boat and trailer is 2900kgs on a weighbridge. The RRS copes fine with towing but you certainly get the feeling that you would not want to tow more on a regular basis. Above this we feel it would be a "once per season" tow (ie. tow to the summer mooring) rather than a trailer boating experience.

 

[benjenbav]

We have a Range Rover Sport (towing rated to 3.5 tonnes) .

Our boat and trailer is 2900kgs on a weighbridge. The RRS copes fine with towing but you certainly get the feeling that you would not want to tow more on a regular basis. Above this we feel it would be a "once per season" tow (ie. tow to the summer mooring) rather than a trailer boating experience.

Rownham Services, parked on westbound side?

I agree with you entirely.

 

[CX54WEK]

We have some friends who used to tow their S23 around with their Land Rover. They claimed it was just that bit too big and heavy for towing on a regular basis. They have since bought a smaller and lighter Merry Fisher.

We are paying someone to tow our S23 to Scotland and back next year.

 

[dpb]

We towed our old Sea Ray 250 to the south of France a few times and otherwise launched it regularly most summer weekends.

Having dropped down in size to a 21 fter for five years followed by a few years with a larger marina berthed boat we have just gone back to a Sea Ray 240 sundancer that will be trailer sailed (all up about 3.4T), we have the boat and the trailer, just not the tow car yet!
To make it work you have to have everything set up right to make life easy and decide how you will deal with trailer brake and bearing issues. But it is a very subjective and personall call as to wether it is for you or not.

 

[Bigplumbs]

I would not be planning to 'trailer sail' it It would be a once at the start of the season and once at the end of the season tow

Thanks for the info. More pics of peoples rigs would be nice

Dennis

 

[BartW]

 

[symondo]

in the process of sorting mine out - trailer too from previous threads

its a bayliner 2655. i plan to take it to launch and retreive maybe once a year

Ive got a 3.2l d-d lwb Shogun

ive gone n sat my trailer test as i wasnt allowed the B+E part on my license without a fresh test. Im not looking forward to towing something of this size but thinking as long as its all secured and correct - just take it steady.

I'm about 25 minutes from my preferred launch point by car - so maybe 40 minutes with boat in tow to allow for an easy pull?

 

[Paul_S123]

We have a Range Rover Sport (towing rated to 3.5 tonnes) .

Our boat and trailer is 2900kgs on a weighbridge. The RRS copes fine with towing but you certainly get the feeling that you would not want to tow more on a regular basis. Above this we feel it would be a "once per season" tow (ie. tow to the summer mooring) rather than a trailer boating experience.

I have the same Range, and the same trailer. I was hoping my set up would be around 3,000 kg's. My boat is 1796kg, 150hp engine is 206kg, trailer I thought about 500kg's and about 500kg's for the crap I have in it. But if your 2.9 on a weighbridge...I am going to have to get mine weighed.

 

[wipe_out]

We tow a Merry Fisher 695 with a 3.0 VW Touareg and it's not an issue at all.. I would think fully fuelled and loaded we would be at about 2800kg gross.. Towing is a breeze and the car handles it effortlessly.. Narrow lanes are the only nightmare when you are skimming the hedge on one side and lorries are coming at you like they are in a race for the finish..

 

[mlines]

...I am going to have to get mine weighed.

Trailer is 700kg
Boat is 2,260kg with half fuel

 

[Medway Mudlark]

Draco 2000. 60's boat, They made 'em heavier then. Behind Nissan X-Trail 2.5 petrol. 1760Kgs boat and trailer. 2000Kgs max tow weight recommended by Nissan. Trailer length 23foot. Agree that if towing you have to get your set up right for you. We have 2 speed winch on trailer so that the wife can pull out dead weight on her own, it just takes a bit longer. Will tow fine in conventional 2WD mode. Just use locked mode those iffy slipways

 

[aquapower]

This was mine when I collected 2-1/2 years ago, it tows much better than a caravan we had of similar size.

 

[aquapower]

Here's also my Falcon 22 I briefly owned last year.

 

[benjenbav]

@aquapower - I find four wheel trailers are a dream to tow compared with two: just get the weight reasonably distributed either side of the axles and you're away. At the risk of sounding like a correspondent of "trailers and trailermen" I did notice that the axles are much further apart on your second trailer than the first. I wondered if that made a noticeable difference either way to the tow?