Ease of towing larger boat

[Stonehauler]

This is a bit of an open ended question, but hoping to find some loose guidance and direction.

My wife and I own a 19ft ~4000 lbs boat. I tow it with my 2007 Lincoln Navigator without issue and I'm comfortable with it.

We're looking at selling our boat and we have our eyes on something larger. We're thinking in the 25-28 ft range. One we almost bought came in around 8000lbs with the trailer - twice what we're used to towing, plus much longer as well.

From what I gather, to start, I'd need a better truck to tow something like this because it is beyond my trucks towing capability.

Aside from a bigger truck, how reasonable is it to tow a boat like this to and from a lake or the river on a somewhat regular basis? We live 30 minutes away from both. I want to make sure I'm not getting myself in a situation where the boat is so large that it is unreasonable to not have it in a slip on the water.

During the summer, we find ourselves boating 2 - 3 times a month which would mean 2 - 3 times of towing it back and forth. Again, I have no issue with doing this with our 19ft boat.

Thoughts?

This is a bit of an open ended question, but hoping to find some loose guidance and direction.

My wife and I own a 19ft ~4000 lbs boat. I tow it with my 2007 Lincoln Navigator without issue and I'm comfortable with it.

We're looking at selling our boat and we have our eyes on something larger. We're thinking in the 25-28 ft range. One we almost bought came in around 8000lbs with the trailer - twice what we're used to towing, plus much longer as well.

From what I gather, to start, I'd need a better truck to tow something like this because it is beyond my trucks towing capability.

Aside from a bigger truck, how reasonable is it to tow a boat like this to and from a lake or the river on a somewhat regular basis? We live 30 minutes away from both. I want to make sure I'm not getting myself in a situation where the boat is so large that it is unreasonable to not have it in a slip on the water.

During the summer, we find ourselves boating 2 - 3 times a month which would mean 2 - 3 times of towing it back and forth. Again, I have no issue with doing this with our 19ft boat.

Thoughts?

I own a 24' boat (26 with swim platform) and while it's not as big as the one you are looking at, it's certainly bigger than your first one.

YES, you need a bigger truck. I would suggest an F350 or equivalent in Dodge or GM. I find that 4WD is extremely useful at the ramp, so think about that as well. A wet slick ramp can be a bad thing when hauling your boat out. Consider getting a diesel powered one as well if you like fuel economy.

You are hauling it 30 minutes each way, so while a dually is not necessarily required, you might want to consider it. You already have a pretty wide trailer, so having the extra wheels on the back isn't going to be an issue when you are towing, but it's horrible at the local mall.

However, if you go SRW, or F250 or equivalent (3/4 ton), make sure to check your ratings. It's not just the weight of what you are towing, but everything else as well. How much tongue weight? If properly balanced, that's probably 800 lbs. If your vehicles GVWR only has 500 lbs of extra when fully loaded but before the trailer (suitcases in the back, family of large adults in the seats, cap, etc), you will be overweight. I know, because I ran those numbers and found I am 8800 lbs empty with no fuel. Add in all the stuff we want to haul and we are just over 10k on the truck tires. (400 or so in people, 100 in dogs, 200 in goodies, 160 lbs of fuel, and 700 lbs of trailer tongue weight

I just got back from a longer haul (1600 miles or so) and I really wish I had bought the dually. Yes, the SRW is a heck of a lot easier to use around town, and it allowed for a short 6.5 ft bed, but a blowout on the rear wheels when pulling the trailer would not have been fun.

If you are going up and down lots of hills, make sure your vehicle has the torque to do so. I had a Yukon for my tow vehicle prior to my current F350. Trust me, going up and down hills is a LOT easier in my diesel than my gas Yukon. If you are on mostly flat roads though, you are okay.

Make sure the trailer is big enough for the boat and it allows you to get the boat into the water with ease. Nothing worse than putting too small a trailer under your boat. Spending money on a good trailer makes recovering a bigger boat much easier. Make sure you get brakes on all axles, and I HIGHLY recommend electric over hydraulic setups for larger boat trailers. I use one and will never go back to surge brakes.

Last thing to think about, is your local ramp/lake big enough for that boat? A boat that big needs a bigger/better ramp than one you can put a 19' boat in on. You also need to be sure your lake is need enough for your boat. If your local ramp is already iffy, you might want to reconsider.

Do your homework and take a hard look at the numbers. If you don't know the numbers, get someone to help you that does. If you ever get in an accident, your insurance company...and the insurance company of the person that you hit/hit you...will want to know if you were exceeding your limits. If you get pulled over, some cops will want to know your weights (so take it to a scale and keep the numbers) Finally, bigger trucks have bigger brakes. Nothing worse than finding your brake line failed due to vibration halfway though an 800 mile haul. Been there, done the laundry from that. It would have been a lot worse if it had failed 200 miles earlier when I was in the mountains.

 

[bruceb58]

The biggest problem with towing a larger boat with a 1/2T like an F-150(which is what I have) is tongue weight and payload.

Using the stock receiver on my 2018 F-150, the max tongue weight without a weight distributing hitch is 500#. Since my tongue weight was over 600# I use a WDH instead of upgrading the receiver to a higher rated hitch.

I have seen some people tow 27' plus boats with Toyota Tundras that have close to 1000# payload so by the time they add a boat that may have 800# of tongue weight, they are close to their payload limits. Passengers(including the driver) need to be added in

 

[444]

It's not that big of a deal. I helped a friend tow a 25' cabin cruiser on a roller trailer and that thing was a cake walk to launch/retrieve from a normal ramp. Another friend had a 27' cabin cruiser with a bunk trailer and that one was no big deal either.

Many half tons have a high enough tow rating but you would have to check into tongue weight to make sure the truck is rated for it as well. That may put you into 3/4 ton territory. There's lots of guys who will say you need a 1 ton dually to pull a 350 pound utility trailer.

 

[Stonehauler]

I've seen truck makers make claims on tow capacities that they could not back up for decades. Yes, the manufacturer says it can tow 7,500 lbs in the commercials. What they don't tell you is that is the stripped down truck with a single cab, short bed, no accessories, no options, and a 110 lb woman sitting behind the wheel.

Here is the key. Do you want to be able to tow it, or do you want to be able to tow it legally? Remember, if you are in an accident and you have overloaded your truck, don't count on your insurance to cover it.

You have a GVWR (Gross Vehicle weight rating) on your truck and on your trailer. This is the maximum weight your truck (or trailer) can carry on it's axles...including itself. That means when loaded full of fuel, luggage, people, tonneau covers etc. it should not weigh more than that.

Then there is the GCWR (Gross Combined Weight Rating) This is the maximum that your truck and trailer(s) can weigh when added together.

There are also tire and individual axle ratings.

Now, to be sure that you can actually tow it (legally). you need to be sure that when the truck and trailer are attached to each other, none of these are violated.

Now, the only way to know how much your truck weights is to actually put it on a scale. Load it full of all the stuff you ever think you will tow your boat with. All the toys, people (remember, kids don't stay little, so be sure to account for their growth), pets, luggage, snacks, and be sure it's fully fueled and then place it on the scales.

when properly positioned, you will get a weight for both front, rear, and combined.

Subtract that number from your GVWR. Subtract the rear weight from your rear axle rating and from your tire ratings (independently). Find the lowest number. That's the maximum your tongue weight can be.

Tongue weight is about 10-15 percent of your trailer weight. So for a 6000 lb trailer (loaded), figure about 6-900 lbs. You also need to check the weight carrying capacity for your receiver, ball, and your draw bar. You may find yourself needing a weight distributing hitch.

Let's go through this exercise with my truck (Ford F350)
GVWR is 11,500 and a GCWR of 19000 lbs
Front Axle is 5600lbs and a 7000 lb rear axle rating.
My tires are Michelin Defender LTX M/S with 3750 capacity each. This means my axles are more limiting than my tires.
My hitch can support a 20,000 lb trailer and 2,700 lb tongue weight, by draw bar can support 18,000 lb trailer and 1,800 lb tongue weight, and my ball can support a 10,000 lb trailer.

Now, assuming an even distribution of weight from people, luggage, etc, I usually add in about 800 lbs of stuff I am hauling on a long trip, including people.
With just my wife and I, my truck weighs 8560 lbs with fuel.
4840 on the front, 3720 on the rear.
Add 100 lbs of dogs and 200 lbs of cargo to that, and we will evenly distribute that across both axles.
That gives 4990 on the front, and 3870 on the rear.

Now my trailer. It has a GVWR of 6165. Assuming I do not overload it, that gives me a tongue weight of 617-926 lbs. max.

That gives me a max weight on my truck of 4990 and 4796 or 9786 lbs with the people we normally travel with (wife and me). Add my brother and his wife in the back, and that shoots us up over 10,000 lbs. So I better be sure to register it for it's full GVWR at my DMV or I could be overloaded. Also, a F250 would not cut it as it maxed out at 10,000 lbs. in 2011.

truck weights are good, now check my GCWR. That's 6165 for the fully loaded trailer, and 9786 for the loaded truck and that's 15.941, 3059 lbs under by GCWR.

Now, let's check what size trailer I could tow maximum. Let's assume 10 percent tongue weight to maximize capacity and that I am NEVER going to be hauling luggage, just maybe 3 other full sized adults (+600 lbs)

that's 9160 truck weight. 11500-9160 is 2340. So by tongue weight, I can pull a 23,400 lb trailer....but I am limited by my hitch to 20,000. I am further limited by my ball to 10,000 (buy a new ball, yes)
BUT, by GCWR is 19,000, so my max trailer is really at about 9840

If I had registered the truck as a 10,000 GVWR vehicle, then it would be 10,000-9160=840. That puts the trailer at 8400 for a 10 percent tongue weight, or 5,600 lbs for a 15 percent tongue weight.

 

[bruceb58]

Tongue weight is about 10-15 percent of your trailer weight. So for a 6000 lb trailer (loaded), figure about 6-900 lbs. You also need to check the weight carrying capacity for your receiver, ball, and your draw bar. You may find yourself needing a weight distributing hitch.

I agree with 95% of what you said. The reality is that boat trailers don't need anywhere close to 15% like a travel trailer does. A boat trailer is stable at between 7% and 10%. My 6500# boat has a tongue weight of a little more than 600# with no fuel measured with a Sherline scale.

 

[Stonehauler]

I agree with 95% of what you said. The reality is that boat trailers don't need anywhere close to 15% like a travel trailer does. A boat trailer is stable at between 7% and 10%. My 6500# boat has a tongue weight of a little more than 600# with no fuel measured with a Sherline scale.

that may be true, but I was using an average and something that could be looked at across any trailer. Note, my tongue weight isn't the limiting factor the way my current truck is registered. My weight is limited by the GCVR. Had I registered it as a 10,000 lb truck, it would be a lot more restrictive on tongue weights.

My brother has found out to his sorrow that his F150 wasn't the best choice when it came to towing his horses. Horse trailers are heavy by themselves, and his horses are BIG (Clydesdale size) All he read was 11,000 lb towing capacity and didn't run the numbers (yes, I offered).

 

[bruceb58]

that may be true, but I was using an average and something that could be looked at across any trailer. Note, my tongue weight isn't the limiting factor the way my current truck is registered. My weight is limited by the GCVR. Had I registered it as a 10,000 lb truck, it would be a lot more restrictive on tongue weights.

My brother has found out to his sorrow that his F150 wasn't the best choice when it came to towing his horses. Horse trailers are heavy by themselves, and his horses are BIG (Clydesdale size) All he read was 11,000 lb towing capacity and didn't run the numbers (yes, I offered).

Yep...you run out of payload WAY before you hit GCVWR.

I have a friend pulling a 29' travel trailer with a Jeep Grand Cherokee. His trailer weighs close to 7000# but he seems to think he can tow it safely since its at the max towing rating. I have tried to explain to him that his 1000# payload is likely exceeded just from his tongue weight without passengers! He just bought two 65# electric bikes and he is going to be putting those in his truck too! He is probably 700# over his payload rating.

 

[25thmustang]

I've seen truck makers make claims on tow capacities that they could not back up for decades. Yes, the manufacturer says it can tow 7,500 lbs in the commercials. What they don't tell you is that is the stripped down truck with a single cab, short bed, no accessories, no options, and a 110 lb woman sitting behind the wheel.

Here is the key. Do you want to be able to tow it, or do you want to be able to tow it legally? Remember, if you are in an accident and you have overloaded your truck, don't count on your insurance to cover it.

You have a GVWR (Gross Vehicle weight rating) on your truck and on your trailer. This is the maximum weight your truck (or trailer) can carry on it's axles...including itself. That means when loaded full of fuel, luggage, people, tonneau covers etc. it should not weigh more than that.

Then there is the GCWR (Gross Combined Weight Rating) This is the maximum that your truck and trailer(s) can weigh when added together.

There are also tire and individual axle ratings.

Now, to be sure that you can actually tow it (legally). you need to be sure that when the truck and trailer are attached to each other, none of these are violated.

Now, the only way to know how much your truck weights is to actually put it on a scale. Load it full of all the stuff you ever think you will tow your boat with. All the toys, people (remember, kids don't stay little, so be sure to account for their growth), pets, luggage, snacks, and be sure it's fully fueled and then place it on the scales.

when properly positioned, you will get a weight for both front, rear, and combined.

Subtract that number from your GVWR. Subtract the rear weight from your rear axle rating and from your tire ratings (independently). Find the lowest number. That's the maximum your tongue weight can be.

Tongue weight is about 10-15 percent of your trailer weight. So for a 6000 lb trailer (loaded), figure about 6-900 lbs. You also need to check the weight carrying capacity for your receiver, ball, and your draw bar. You may find yourself needing a weight distributing hitch.

Let's go through this exercise with my truck (Ford F350)
GVWR is 11,500 and a GCWR of 19000 lbs
Front Axle is 5600lbs and a 7000 lb rear axle rating.
My tires are Michelin Defender LTX M/S with 3750 capacity each. This means my axles are more limiting than my tires.
My hitch can support a 20,000 lb trailer and 2,700 lb tongue weight, by draw bar can support 18,000 lb trailer and 1,800 lb tongue weight, and my ball can support a 10,000 lb trailer.

Now, assuming an even distribution of weight from people, luggage, etc, I usually add in about 800 lbs of stuff I am hauling on a long trip, including people.
With just my wife and I, my truck weighs 8560 lbs with fuel.
4840 on the front, 3720 on the rear.
Add 100 lbs of dogs and 200 lbs of cargo to that, and we will evenly distribute that across both axles.
That gives 4990 on the front, and 3870 on the rear.

Now my trailer. It has a GVWR of 6165. Assuming I do not overload it, that gives me a tongue weight of 617-926 lbs. max.

That gives me a max weight on my truck of 4990 and 4796 or 9786 lbs with the people we normally travel with (wife and me). Add my brother and his wife in the back, and that shoots us up over 10,000 lbs. So I better be sure to register it for it's full GVWR at my DMV or I could be overloaded. Also, a F250 would not cut it as it maxed out at 10,000 lbs. in 2011.

truck weights are good, now check my GCWR. That's 6165 for the fully loaded trailer, and 9786 for the loaded truck and that's 15.941, 3059 lbs under by GCWR.

Now, let's check what size trailer I could tow maximum. Let's assume 10 percent tongue weight to maximize capacity and that I am NEVER going to be hauling luggage, just maybe 3 other full sized adults (+600 lbs)

that's 9160 truck weight. 11500-9160 is 2340. So by tongue weight, I can pull a 23,400 lb trailer....but I am limited by my hitch to 20,000. I am further limited by my ball to 10,000 (buy a new ball, yes)
BUT, by GCWR is 19,000, so my max trailer is really at about 9840

If I had registered the truck as a 10,000 GVWR vehicle, then it would be 10,000-9160=840. That puts the trailer at 8400 for a 10 percent tongue weight, or 5,600 lbs for a 15 percent tongue weight.

Not doubting you or anything, however your F350 can only haul 9,840 lbs legally? How do the professionals with F350s haul 15, 20, 30,000 lb loads day in and day out? An F350 only has a 19,000 lb GCWR?

 

[Stonehauler]

Not doubting you or anything, however your F350 can only haul 9,840 lbs legally? How do the professionals with F350s haul 15, 20, 30,000 lb loads day in and day out? An F350 only has a 19,000 lb GCWR?

mine has a SRW with a 3.55 rear axle ratio. Higher GCWR are available with Duallies and/or a 4.10 rear. Also, my Ford is made out of steel, newer ones are made out of aluminum, giving more payload. Finally, many of those are actually running 450s or bigger. If they are not, they may not be legally towing that big load.

Edit: All the information I gave was straight off the door jam, out of the owner's manual, the VIN plate, or off a CAT scale

 

[alldodge]

Sure hope were not getting into the 26T rating for cdl