How Far do you tow

[Bigplumbs]

Just got home from a 700 mile round trip (17 hours on the road in total) towing our 17 foot bow rider sports boat from Suffolk UK to Cornwall UK and return. Stayed in Cornwall for a week and managed to use the boat 5 times and we count ourselves very lucky with the weather.

The cost to keep the boat in the marina was £110 mind you we had to keep the trailer at our accommodation or that would have been a further £70.

I was wondering for those that tow their boats about by road what sort of distance you cover and with what boat and tow car. I have a Land Rover Discovery 2 TD5 which has now done 170,000 miles so like me getting on a bit

Dennis

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?352593-JTB-amp-MRC-go-trailer-boating!&

 

[Seastoke]

The furthest we towed to lake maggior in Switzerland a long way but worth every mile , also sof

 

[TQA]

Loughborough to Troon 330 miles one year. Loughborough to Pula on the Adriatic 1200 miles the following year. Plus trips to the Solent Rutland Water and Pinmill.

 

[DavidJ]

We towed our Sealine 195 for several years to Yugoslavia (that dates it) Would love to go back there...not the towing bit though. Car was a 1.6 Sierra

 

[5teve]

Different over here (western Australia), but I have a defender td5 (with engine work) and so far 1700km (just over 1000 miles) is the longest tow... Perth to Denham (shark bay) for a week. Boat is 18ft aluminium loaded with fuel and stuff for the week, 4 adults and weighing around 5t all up car trailer boat and stuff. Car has 280,000ks on it and I wouldn't hesitate to do it again, or go further, to Coral bay or Exmouth. Like I say things are different here as people have to drive big distances if they want to get out of Perth.

We regularly tow 300+km each way though even for a weekend...

Steve

 

[QBhoy]

Hi
Firstly, I'd say you won't find much of a better tow vehicle. I towed my old Sealine 218 with a LR discovery 2 and latterly my 18ft bowrider with my old LR Discovery 3. Great tow cars, but......
Although towing these boats on the motor way and decent A roads are pretty much worry free, I found that even with the above tow cars and attempting to tow around the country roads in Scotland...it was a constant worry. I was constantly worried about the boat and it security and the stress on the hull and tie down points.
More recently, I have the same 18ft bowrider (which is almost as precious to me as my children, haha) and tow it with a BMW 530d GT coupe. On normal roads, it's great. So much power and torque....but try taking the boat up a tidal or less than decent slipway with slippy surface....rubbish. The old LR was unbeatable at this and required no throttle in the low ratio.
I keep the boat in the marina and on a mooring for most of the year, but one of the reasons I bought the wee boat was so I could tow it, but in reality I haven't done it as much as I had planned. Just because it's a total worry, unless on the really good roads.
Long story short...the big discovery is the real deal for this task, but hefty on fuel compared to the BMW.
Just at the risk of rattling in a bit too much....the other year I took the boat to Loch Awe for a long weekend with the discovery...after taking my own boat out the water, I actually had to rescue another chap trying to take his 23ft boat out too.
He had a Volvo XC70 (great cars I understand) half submerged with the boat and trailer on a fairly greasy slipway. It wasn't going anywhere and he had passed the point of no return where he couldn't do anything.
I fired up the old disco 3, reversed down in front of him (despite his pride, his wife insisted we help) and attached a rope to the front of his car...the discovery pulled the 2t Volvo and the 2.5t boat and trailer right out the water with zero throttle in low ratio....incredible machine !

 

[BartW]

we towed our twin diesel 28ft Karnic from Belgium to
3 x Croatia Dubrovnik (1800km one way)
3 x SOF (1100km one way)
Newlyn and Landsend in Cornwall
Oban in Schotland

Alum trailer and boat "on paper" is 3500kg
towcar is Merc GL

before the Karnic we had 21ft and 23ft boats, and towed them also to Croatia,
that was with Merc ML

links to cruise reports are above in the sticky cruise report threat, but are now useless due to the photo's missing,
have to find a solution for that.

we still have the Karnic, just tow it a few times per season to zeeland (south Holland) 140km one way

 

[dpb]

Once a year to the South of France.......on the way back this year:

 

[CX54WEK]

We cheated and got someone else to tow ours this year. But it was a bloody long way. Lincoln to Inverness on the way up and then Oban to Lincoln on the way back. Even as a passenger it made for a couple of very long days at around about 11 hours each way.

We went up in a Toyota Landcruiser and came back in a Dodge Ram. Both very good tow cars but the Toyota was a far more comfortable ride.

It was a brilliant trip but the roads out of Oban and onto the A roads were a bit narrow and windy to say the least!

 

[CLB]

We towed our Sealine 195 for several years to Yugoslavia (that dates it) Would love to go back there...not the towing bit though. Car was a 1.6 Sierra

were you not overweigh? Even the big engine sierras only had a 1200kg capacity from memory.

 

[CX54WEK]

were you not overweigh? Even the big engine sierras only had a 1200kg capacity from memory.

The towing limit on our 1985 XR4i (2.8 V6) is 1600kg.

 

[Portofino]

Towed a seadoo ride on jet ski behind a C class merc in 1992 from Hull ( Zeebrugge ferry ) to Marseille .
I was competing a " raid bleu "
This is a 200 entry multinational race on jet skis from Marseille to St Trop and ----- erh and back - yup return .
Over various legs .
Fiancé ( now wife ) had to follow the route on land and fill up the Gerry can and like F1 be there when I shot up the beach to refuel 5 x times each day .
I had a snapped throttle cable on one leg ,the works professional seadoo team from Canada fixed it I lost a bit of time .
Black tie wards ceremony at the end @ hotel California Plage Parado Marseille at the end .
Finished I the top 50 .
Bit of a story later , related to the Op we rented an app in Golf Juan to relax and recouperate ,short story I got done for speeding @ sea on the seadoo -fined Fc 200 .
Paid on my card -- bit 9issed off I phoned the bank explained and they cancelled the payment .
French said pay now or go to court in the morning :disgust:

Later that Pm we skipped country went over the border it Italy ( pre Eu days remember :encouragement and made our way back to Zeebrugge later without entering Fr .
The return tow journey was far longer than the outbound .

 

[CLB]

The towing limit on our 1985 XR4i (2.8 V6) is 1600kg.

Are you sure.

According to this 1987 brochure the Sierra tow limit ranged from 1100 to 1350, inc 2.8i models
https://www.flickr.com/photos/61090099@N04/31675146984/in/album-72157675269839274/

This 1985 specific brochure indicates your 2.8i XR4 was 1350kg.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/61090099@N04/8120535565/in/album-72157629167468274/

The Sealine 195 brochure weight was 1200kg light, ex trailer.

 

[Bigplumbs]

Some very interesting stories. Keep them coming

Dennis

 

[CX54WEK]

Are you sure.

According to this 1987 brochure the Sierra tow limit ranged from 1100 to 1350, inc 2.8i models
https://www.flickr.com/photos/61090099@N04/31675146984/in/album-72157675269839274/

This 1985 specific brochure indicates your 2.8i XR4 was 1350kg.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/61090099@N04/8120535565/in/album-72157629167468274/

The Sealine 195 brochure weight was 1200kg light, ex trailer.

According to the paperwork we have which is all original paperwork, the towing limit is 1600kg.

The XR4i wasn't made in 1987 which is why it doesn't feature in the 1987 brochure. It was only made from the back end of 1983 to the beginning of 1985. A bit of a flop really!

Not sure why the XR4x4 has a lower towing rate again on that 1985 document!

 

[CLB]

According to the paperwork we have which is all original paperwork, the towing limit is 1600kg.

The XR4i wasn't made in 1987 which is why it doesn't feature in the 1987 brochure. It was only made from the back end of 1983 to the beginning of 1985. A bit of a flop really!

Not sure why the XR4x4 has a lower towing rate again on that 1985 document!

How about a 1984 brochure, showing 1350kg for the XR4i
https://www.flickr.com/photos/61090099@N04/13948221092/in/album-72157644179296684/

Are are getting mixed up with the GVW of 1650kg.

Anyway, I think it is safe to say that towing a Sealine 195 on a trailer to yugoslavia behind a 1.6 Sierra was a bit of a risk.

My interest in the is because I had a 2.8 Ghia estate 4x4 in the early 90's and wanted to buy a 195. I didn't because it couldn't legally tow it.

 

[CX54WEK]

How about a 1984 brochure, showing 1350kg for the XR4i
https://www.flickr.com/photos/61090099@N04/13948221092/in/album-72157644179296684/

Are are getting mixed up with the GVW of 1650kg.

Anyway, I think it is safe to say that towing a Sealine 195 on a trailer to yugoslavia behind a 1.6 Sierra was a bit of a risk.

My interest in the is because I had a 2.8 Ghia estate 4x4 in the early 90's and wanted to buy a 195. I didn't because it couldn't legally tow it.

I will dig out the paperwork we have tonight. It certainly says 1600kg and is original paperwork for this car.

 

[DavidJ]

were you not overweigh? Even the big engine sierras only had a 1200kg capacity from memory.

Indeed yes
The boat alone was 1200kg (just looked it up)
At the time I was young and stupid
Now I'm old and sensible and life is still fun

 

[Jasoncp]

just a small point xr4i and the xr4x4 are different cars

cheers