Towing question -- maximum weight.

S

steveparker

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Hi, I want to buy a cabin cruiser that is light enough for me to tow behind my car. The maximum (braked) towing weight for the car model is 1300kg / 2866.50lbs. I'm looking at listings on brokerage sites, and not many ads give the weight of the boat. Some of them give the displacement, but I'm not sure if that equates exactly with the weight of the boat. So as a rough guide that I can go into in more detail when I find a likely boat, can anyone tell me what sort of size of fibreglass or plastic motorboat equates to what sort of weight typically. I know there are lots of variables, and I'm just after a ballpark idea so I know what sort of thing to look for.

Many thanks,

Steve.
 
Hi steve,

1350KG towing capacity is not a lot. You should allow at least 10% spare which would mean only 1200KG. A trailer to tow a boat of that size will be 200KG on it's own which leaves you 1000KG. This would mean most Cuddy style speedboats would be out of the question with Inboards. You are best to look at outboard powered boats as that will save you 150KG on the engine and associated outdrive.

Something like a Shetland would be Ok. To give you some idea a 20ft Cuddy inboard boat like a chapparal 205SSE or Bayliner 212 cuddy would weigh 1200KG without a trailer.

I have a 19ft centre console day boat with an outboard and the dry weight of that is 850KG. So most outboard powered small cuddy cabin type boats up to 20 ft would be OK.

What type of boat are you looking at?

Paul /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
Some of them give the displacement, but I'm not sure if that equates exactly with the weight of the boat

[/ QUOTE ] Yes displacement is the actual weight of the boat but is usually quoted without any gear or stores on board.
 
hi steve, to give you an idea i had a 18ft searay bow rider with a 3.0l petrol inboard and that weighed in at 1350kg with a few bits on board a small amount of fuel and a single axle trailer
 
Hi, folks, and thanks for the replies. I'm going to have to rethink this then, as I was hoping to get something more like 25ft. Maybe I need to look at a marina option instead then.

That's really useful information. Thanks again.

Steve.
 
Hi
From memory my Maxum 2300SCR, IE a 24ft cabin cruiser, weighs in at around 2000kg dry, so add the trailer, fuel, water & clutter and you get the picture.
Incidentally it's for sale and I am very negotiable /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif price-wise.
Let me know if you want the details.
Tim
 
I'm with covenanter on this one, buy a 4 x 4 as a 2nd car, they're cheap as chips these days but solid and reliable. Not a Susuki baby but one of the biggies like the Mitsubishi Pajero LWB 2.8 tdi that can easily handle whatever you want to tow plus have comfortable seating, good ride, air-con and all the other goodies.
 
[ QUOTE ]
I'm with covenanter on this one, buy a 4 x 4 as a 2nd car, they're cheap as chips these days but solid and reliable. Not a Susuki baby but one of the biggies like the Mitsubishi Pajero LWB 2.8 tdi that can easily handle whatever you want to tow plus have comfortable seating, good ride, air-con and all the other goodies.

[/ QUOTE ]
and will cost a helluva lot less than a marina berth /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
 
A Monterey 250 (a bit over 25ft) was more or less 3500kg as long as you took everything out.

So towable with a big landrover or similar, but I'd imagine a fair bit of hassle on a regular basis!
 
I think you would need specialist towing for 3500Kg, remember the trailer for something that big is going to be close to 1000Kg, so that's a combined of 4500Kg, not even a Landy is rated to tow that legally.

T
 
http://www.ntta.co.uk/
Have a read here. Its complicated; too complicated.
But its not just the towing capacity of the car you need to think about.
You can often keep boats on trailers at the marina , that sort of gets you round the on-road laws, but you ll still need a competent car to pull the rig out of the water and up a possibly slippery slipway.
You can indeed buy a old jeep or something that will pull anything, but tax, mot, repairs and insurance does add up a bit.
However, one thing you do get with the boat in the marina, is being able to use it for sleeping on, meals etc etc; that isnt so charming if its on a trailer. But there is no doubt, the marina bill is very high for the priviledge.
Some marinas have dry stacking, as another possibility.
 
[ QUOTE ]
I think you would need specialist towing for 3500Kg, remember the trailer for something that big is going to be close to 1000Kg, so that's a combined of 4500Kg, not even a Landy is rated to tow that legally.

T

[/ QUOTE ]

Sorry should have said that was with trailer, boat is around the 2700kg dry on its own, so if your careful what trailer you buy it can be "on the road" at 3500kg

I'd be happy to tow that for the odd holiday (i.e. down to the med) or for bringing home for winter storage, but it would be a real faff to be launching and recovering before and after every use!!
 
Some marinas have a tractor or similar for launching, so if you could transport the boat there initially, get the marina to launch/recover/store the setup as you want to use it. Perhaps a bit less convenient depending on how promptly they act, but would save the cost of a second vehicle and a marina berth.
 
Thanks very much for all the replies, people. I've actually got some idea what I'm talking about now. Still haven't made a decision, but at least I might be capable of making a semi-sensible one now!

Thanks a lot.

Steve.
 
My boat is 3.5 ton,a four wheel drive landrover towes it no bother and I use a very slippery steep slope to get it in and out of the water twice a year.
 
Don't know what car you have, but Front wheel drive is not a good option to slipway launch a boat.
 
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