trailer

[tsr6500]

Hi everybody,<br />I am currently debating over buying a trailer for my boat or leave it in the marina. I have a 28ft bayliner fly-bridge, not easy to trailer I assume; Any of you has input on the pratical side of trailering, launching etc...<br />Thank you.<br />

 

[11 footer]

Re: trailer

I'd just leave it there if you can.<br /><br />The biggest boat I've ever taken part in trailering was a 25footer. I don't think anything over 27feet would be practical to tow.<br /><br />Not to mention what it would cost to buy a trailer that size.

 

[Spidybot]

Re: trailer

28 takes a lot of practice to handle, trailerwise.<br /><br />A trailer that size comes with a large price tag.<br /><br />It is not a one-man task, especially not if it's windy. If you're always doing the launch/load with friends or family you're better off. <br /><br />Both trailer, winch, straps and all must be in excellent condition and rated for the load.<br /><br />Pulling the whole car & trailer train up a ramp takes quite a powerful car/truck and will work only on ramps with a good surface for optimum traction. Even cruising/braking takes a proper size car/truck. On the vehicle side one should check insurance as well.<br /><br />With a boat your size you'd have to make sure any ramp you wan't to visit copes with your weight and space requirements.<br /><br />Personally I'd moor a boat of that size because trailering should be easy and fun so you enjoy taking your boat to different places.

 

[lilthundr]

Re: trailer

And don't forget, with the money you save on the trailer, you can have the marina put your boat in and out of the water and store it for a number of years.

 

[Bondo]

Re: trailer

Ya, 28 Feet is No Doubt a Slip Boat........<br /><br />Legal Height,+ Width Limits are,(Without Permits)<br />13'6" high,<br />8'6" wide...<br />With a FlyBridge, you Might be well Above the 13'6" mark........<br />What's the Beam of this Barge ??????<br /><br />You'll Also Need at Least a 1 ton Truck to haul it......<br />You should be able to find a Tri-Axle Trailer in the 3 to $6000. range....

 

[CCrew]

Re: trailer

I'd go with Bondo and the others, although there are still several states where the legal width requirements are 8 feet. <br /><br /> Towing Laws/regulations <br /><br />I have 34' of RV trailer, and go 56 feet nose front bumper to rear of trailer, and I'd be darned if I can ever get any relief when driving!<br /><br />-Roger

 

[18rabbit]

Re: trailer

There is a lot to be said for not leaving your boat in water. It could hold some resale value. If you use her frequently, you’re probably not as concerned with resale as with convenience. Leaving her in the water might be better.<br /><br />If you buy a trailer, I recommend you do not get one with a tube steel frame if exposing it to salt water. It costs a little more but I-beam is easier to wash down. Salt water sits in little pockets inside the tubes and crevice corrosion starts immediately when exposed to salt water. It’s not obvious at first, but it’s all down hill from the first use<br /><br />Used boat trailers have almost no re-sell value. Trailers for big boats appear on Ebay in waves. There’s none up for bid, then a week later there is 6 up for bid. No one bids on them so you might be able to talk off-line with a seller and get a good trailer at a huge savings over the cost of a new one. Obvious cautions implied.<br /><br />Pulling heavy loads is going to require a beefy engine, upgraded transmission with cooling, upgraded electrical, and probably an oil cooling system be added to any vehicle not manufactured specifically for hauling heavy loads. If you are only going a few miles, no hills, you can go slow and forget all that stuff.<br /><br />Alternatively, you might be able to find a marina that rents deck space. You don’t need a trailer; you can leave your boat on a yard dolly (not approved for hiway use) and only move it over to the lift/crane. Lifting should be included in the deck/yard rental fee. Some marinas let you lift your boat yourself, some won’t. It is a lot easier to maintain a boat this way.

 

[Solittle]

Re: trailer

tsr6500 - Frist a big welcome. And as for your question - Been there - Done that!! And never again.<br /><br />Years ago I bought a 1977 Bayliner 27 1/2' Victoria Command Bridge Flybridge cruiser. I also bought a used triple axle galvanized trailer with surge brakes. I was towing it with a 1985 Bronco 4 wd with the 351 in it. Total weight of the boat and trailer was 10,000 lbs and the overall length from the tip of the tongue of the trailer to the back of the outdrive was 35'.<br /><br />I had always wanted that particular boat as I wanted a large flybridge & cabin which this boat has. The boat was powered by a 350 chevy & Volvo outdrive.<br /><br />Now to my experience & I'll skip the Bayliner bashing (actually this boat was not bad & fairly well thought out). The boat was way under powered. After a couple of months of sorting out the motor and trying various props I managed to get it up on plane. I was the only one on board, had maybe a 1/4 tank of fuel and it was working it's guts out. I doubt that I could have gotten it up with a full fuel load and my family aboard. It needed a big block in the worst way. That was not a braker problem for me as at the time I was interested in putzin out to some island for the weekend. It was important from a safety standpoint should the weather go to pot or other emergency.<br /><br />As for pulling the sucker. Yes I did launch it from the trailer a few times and I think I could have done it by myself under the best of conditions but I always had someone with me. I ended up keeping it in rack storage on Key Largo where I was paying them to get it in & out of the water. Every time I pulled it IT SACRED THE CRAB&%# OUT OF ME!!! I probably should have had at least a F350 but with the Bronco I usually felt like I was about to become a wrestler at the wrong end of a body slam. I could pull it and stop it alright but never felt completely safe or comfortable.<br /><br />I had it for about three years and sold it six weeks befor hurricane Andrew ripped through our neighborhood. The buyer lived 60 miles outside of Stockholm Sweedan and had it shipped via a freighter from here in Miami, Fl.<br /><br />You gotta due your own thing but as I wrote at the start of this - - never again. I now run a 23' CC and am very satisfied with it.

 

[POINTER94]

Re: trailer

You are a little sketchy on the info. But tailering a flybridge will require a dually truck 4x4 3/4 ton min. in my opinion. The additional width afforded by the rear tires will aid greatly in control. <br /><br />You will need to get your load on a trailer correctly or you find out your truck doesn't float. With all that windage you will have a hard time trailering at speed and therefore distance will be limited.<br /><br />Bondo is right on the mark with trailer regulations by state, size (height, beam, weight, etc....) I can't think of a more difficult load to trailer. Launching will not really be any more difficult than any other 28ft, 8500lb boat. I would not like to do this more than once a year if that.<br /><br />Sorry but this is not a great idea...

 

[tsr6500]

Re: trailer

Thank you all very much for your answer. I had my mind set on a trailer, but reading your personal experiences makes me realize ahead of time what desaster it could have been... I will stay with the marina.

 

[ThomWV]

Re: trailer

Well, of course boats that size get towed around all the time, and I've very happy that I'm not the one towing them. It wouldn't be bad for just a couple of miles on a route well scouted out beforehand, but long distances, in traffic, on unknown roads.<br /><br />Anyway, what I wanted to say that while the legal limit on width is 8 feet in some states and 8.5 in others that there really isn't any towing limit on height. That, however doesn't mean that its not a much more serious problem. You could tow a 9' boat from one end of this country to the other and never get stopped, but that 13' 6" is a minimum clearance for bridges, tunnels, traffic signals, and overhead highway signs that have been funded in any part by Federal funds (which means virtually all of them). So you can tow a 9 foot-wide through a state with an 8'6" width limit but you aren't going to tow a 13'8" boat through a 13'6" tunnel no matter what.<br /><br />There is another thing too. I drive a F250 with the Power Stroke Diesel. I'm not saying its the most powerful, or the least, but that its about like each of the others. My boat fully loaded with fuel, gear, ice, bait, the whole 9 yards, on the trailer backing down the ramp weighs just over 8,000 pounds. You would have to be twice that weight. I would not want to be towing anything much heavier than what I am already, and certainly not twice that amount. I know there are guys who do it, but it would make me feel very uncomfortable.<br /><br />Thom