Towing your boat

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QBhoy

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Hi all

Just interested to hear of others experience of towing their boats.
I am aware that with the right vehicle, a fairly hefty boat can be towed, perhaps up to 24/25 ft and a gross weight of 3.5 t
Now...this is where I get confused.
Having previously had a Sealine 218 weighing in at around 1.8-2t and a twin axle trailer of x weight...I towed this with my discovery 3 (surely the best tow car available across here in the uk) and found it an absolute nightmare from start to finish. One of the most unpleasant and stressful journeys I have ever made. (This includes paying off a ship in hurricane conditions off Durban down a rope ladder and off a super tanker into a nelson type pilot boat)
Fair enough, it was round country roads in Scotland from Loch Lomond to Loch Tay, but even still it was horrible.
More recently I towed my 18ft speedboat on the same journey. Conditions were perfect with a superb trailer and surely a boat that is designed to be towed. Still horrible and a worry from departure to arrival.
Is it just me ?
Also I think many (including me) are comfused by what they can tow. Many think they can tow 3.5t of boat and trailer, but I'm sure it goes by what is stamped as gross train weight under the bonnet. So much confusion. There must be an expert out there ?
 
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Two elements to what you're allowed to tow.
First is licence category. Broadly, if your licence dates from after 1 Jan 97, you're limited to a maximum train weight (i.e. tow vehicle, plus trailer and load) of 3.5 tonnes. A licence gained before that date allows for a maximum weight of 8.25 tonnes. See here https://www.gov.uk/towing-with-car for details.
The maximum train weight for a vehicle can be found both on the plate and in the manual. Getting close to that weight will make for difficult to control combinations which I'd avoid.
You don't mention what it is you find difficult when towing. Is it close work, parking and launching for example or is it on the open road that you feel stressed? Might be an idea to get some training with a good instructor to help you understand the problems involved in towing loads?
 
This is a puzzle. Discoverys will take enormous loads without problem, so I'd start by having the air suspension checked. It may be that it drives perfectly well when not towing but a load sensor /control valve is playing up when you have a trailer on.

You don't say what it is that makes your towing experience a nightmare.

Is it the trailers which aren't 'behaving' properly (tyre pressures, wheel and axles alignment, uneven braking, anti-lock reverse issues, or most commonly, incorrect load on the tow bar.)

Or is it your own experience and skills, or expectations ?

Nothing wrong in being fazed by a loaded trailer, it is a daunting experience especially when you have a boat on the back. Key to having things under control is confidence in the car and trailer mechanics, and then a really good pair of mirrors, and possibly a mini CCTV camera on the back of the car or trailer (wifi ones are pretty good). Mirror extensions are essential, and with bright reflective patches on the front will give oncoming traffic an idea of how wide a load you have.

If it is control of the trailer when rolling, then practice in trailer management is a good idea (as suggested). Seeing how the trailer cuts in to a corner as you turn can only really be learned by someone else driving it while you look on from outside. Reversing drives me nuts even after probably thousands of goes with tractors and Landrovers of all types. There are a number of "mind systems" to make sure the trailer backend goes where you want it to; again mirrors are key. Practice without a load is the way to build skills.

I have loads of sympathy for you. I trailer something at least twice a week probably more; from a single axle box trailer with tonne of firewood, a 28ft three-axle trailer and a 28 ft boat, a horse trailer with two nags, to a small caravan. I can still make a mess of corners and reversing :)
 
I have towed 2.5 tonnes behind a shogun with no problems. Getting the balance of the trailer correct so there is about 60-80kg downward force on the ball is important. I used a bathroom scales under the jockey wheel to estimate this. Also the height of the ball and the height of the trailer socket in normal travelling position should not be excessively different. Getting the weight on the ball wrong can make for a scary ride. I had my boat shift back slightly once in a trip and it all became a lot less stable.
 
Hi guys

I didn't find it difficult, so to speak. I've been doing it for long enough over the years. Just not pleasurable around these kind of roads and question the worth of it overall. It may be my mechanical sympathy or just worry around the health of the boat ? Perhaps it's the thought of holding people up ? Knocking the mast light off on a tree didn't help either.
The motorway and similar roads are fine, but these A and B roads through central Scotland are so tight with a fair sized boat.
 
When I was a kid my father had a Triumph Herald and a Sprite 400 - and he built me a caravan to tow with my car!
2Caravan.jpg

When my legs got too long I had to move up to the real thing. I did a fair amount of towing dinghies, which wasn't a big deal. I'd done the reversing simulator when I was wee! It still isn't a big deal.

I towed my Sadler 25 a few times on a braked trailer, always on A-class roads I was familiar with - Kip-Rosyth-Glasgow-Kip. Always with hired Land Rovers. I don't remember any issues, other than when I stopped at traffic lights on a moderately steep hill. The handbrake wouldn't stop the whole lot heading backwards so I had to keep my foot on the brake! The crew got out to advise the car behind of the dilemma, they did the decent thing, and I managed to get going with a bit of heel-toe on the brake/accelerator.

If the OP is familiar with it, it was the junction of Corkerhill Road & Mosspark Blvd. I could easily have turned left at the previous set of lights then right onto Paisley Road West, so a bit of planning (and a fully functional Land Rover) would have been good.

Unfamiliar, or B-class or single track roads, would have been more stressful...
 
That's pretty much how I feel about towing. It's the state of the roads/potholes that's the problem for me anyway (and I'm in Scotland too). No matter how slow you go it feels too fast when looking at the boat/trailer in the mirror but at the same time you know that you are holding everyone else up. The roads are in a terrible state especially right after winter and some parts are so bad that you just can't avoid potholes.

I did have a nasty experience a couple of years ago which didn't help, one of the struts supporting the boat collapsed (corrosion, my fault, should have been more worried about the bubbled paint as it had corroded through from the inside) on a nasty bit of bumpy road. Luckily nothing really bad happened, a bang and the boat dropped down a foot on one side, it was only a couple of miles from home and I was able to temporarily lift/support the boat to get it back, but since then I've found that I'm frazzled with stress after an hour or two of towing and I think I would rather go down a rope ladder in a hurricane too (maybe I should try it first before saying things like that however!)

There's not much I can add by way of advice but just to say I sympathise. I don't think any car/trailer combo will be easy to drive on bad roads regardless if is the perfect outfit for the job.

Chris
 
Hi A1 sailor, I'm not familiar with that particular area, but have sympathy haha.
The Glasgow/Kip/rosyth route would be managble. Try the A82 north of tarbet, heading to Ardlui and the trossachs ! Horrible thing.

Chris...totally agree with you. Jet skis, dinghies, small boats are manageable. Anything heavier than a few tonnes on these roads and potholes...horrid ! Can only imagine the multiplied strain and pressure exerted on the tie down gear and what it's attached too. Boats are designed to float...not sit on a trailer over these crappy roads.
 
Going Down university Ave in a land rover towing a 22ft Hurley type sailing boat and having a Darwinist student stepping of the kerb produced both brown trousers and a V in the hardtop.
Going up Baker st (in Greenock left at the fire station) and negotiating the 90' right turn at the top after a hill start halfway up ensures better map reading whilst towing a portocabin type caravan.
Best long distance vehicle for towing the caravan and a RIB was Sherpa minibus worst was a short wheel base Land Rover after you got it on the road
 
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Came a cropper last week towing a friend's 30' sports boat (about 3.2T all up) back from West Highland Yachting Week.... Went up with my Discovery 3 which I had used for taking it up from the Forth but on the way back one of the bearings in the front propshaft failed (and not in a good location on the road) Recovery guys took the boat to a safe location and the Discovery back home. Dug out my old Isuzu Trooper and went back up to collect the boat and complete the mission.

What I found is that towing on the A84 and other similar roads is much easier in the middle of the night - even in a slightly less capable towing vehicle - when there is next to no traffic on the road. Much less pressure thinking you're holding up the traffic and you can see any other traffic coming by their lights. Night time towing for me!!
 
I tow my Corribee a couple of hundred miles a year, usually using a defender.

Same boat, same set-up, same position on the trailer, yet sometimes it tows badly, sometimes easily. I therefore conclude that there's nothing fundamentally wrong with the setup or combination, but relatively minor differences in weight distribution and possibly tire pressure can make a huge difference - not just nose weight but also weight in the ends of the boat and the amount and placement in the towing vehicle.

Sometimes 'tis just a mystery!
 
What is it you dislike about towing? I used to work at a trailer place (sales, hire and repair) and have driven loads of combinations.

You are lucky to have a Discovery. It is a great tow car and takes a lot of beating. It's heavy so the trailer doesn't boss it around much and powerful. However nothing is ever that simple at it does have its weaknesses. I have heard a number of people complain that the air suspension doesn't seem to adapt to the extra load when towing very well amd is crashy over bumps and potholes. Others say its fine, it depends on the rig. Also, as is common now, it has an electric handbrake. These put extra strain on the clutch (or viscous coupling if its an auto) compared to a normal handbrake. Discos are a great car and I'd love one myself if I could afford one, but there always disadvantages to everything so if you are having issues, it's proably worth trying another car for comparison. I can't afford a car like that so have to hire a van to tow something really big.

Then we move on to the trailer itself. The setup can make a massive difference and a lot are not setup correctly. The more nose weight you have, the more stable it will tow at speed and this is why trucks have the wheels right at the back. Too little nose weight and it will snake at lower speeds. Too much nose weight and the trailer see-saws and bounces too much over bumps. Generally you want as much noseweight as possible without over loading the cars rear suspension. The towbar will have a max nose weight on it so look it up and measure yours. The noseweight can be adjusted by moving weight in the boat or by sliding the axle on the trailer.

When you get to big trailers you start pushing the limits of what is practical to tow with a car so loading is really important. When you set your nose weight mark where the boat is on the trailer. Even an inch can make a big differemce to balance when its a 2ton boat!

The legal limit is 3.5ton for a reason. You couldn't safely tow much more unless you use a much bigger tow vehicle!
When I tow big loads I leave EARLY! You will have to go slower, you will hold people up, so try to drive at a quiet time and take it steady. Enjoy your nice disco!
 
I tow my little boat to and from the harbour every year, bringing it home for winter storage. I do find the twin axle boat trailer pulls and jolts the car a whole lot more than any other trailer or caravan I have towed. But I know the route well, and know all the rough bits so I just slow down on the poor bits of road to give the car boat and trailer an easier ride. I think it's a twin axle thing, as the first axle falls into the pot hole there is a massive transfer of weight onto the tow hitch, followed very swiftly by the opposite as the rear axle drops into the hole.
 
Towed a half tonner from Portsmouth to Italy, a little stressful through the French villages with tree lined streets and that over hanging mast and a bridge that was quite tight and then the wheel that fell off, but a fun trip and some great sailing from Porto Ercole. We did have three drivers.
Not sure if photo bucket still allows you to share I'll try.
 
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