Tow Vehicle

Just wondering what you guys that launch your boat each time you go fishing use to tow it. Looking at getting a boat for next year, hopefully will have about 10,000-16,000 to spend on a boat. I already have a 1996 Mercedes 410D Van 2.5lt 5 cylinder diesel to tow it with, should be ok as he's got a payload of 2400kgs so it'll probably tow more. Anyone else use a van to tow there boat, launch and retrieve it. I have towed trailers before so towing is no problem, have launched & retrieved my mates bayliner in the states a bunch of times but that was with a Chevy 4X4 at the time. Has anyone had any trouble with slippy rams or anything like that. Any info would be great.

Thanks
John

John,

The golden ruler for towing is to make sure the weight of the trailer is less than 85% of the car/van/4X4, if the trailer is near or over the weight of the car then the tail can quite literally start to wag the dog. Vans are good for towing, you shouldn't have a problem, unless the boat is the Queen Mary :shock: .

I know someone who launches and retrieves a fairly big speed boat using a 1.6 petrol car, he lives very near the slipway so he doesn't have to tow it far.

Van weighs in at 2260kg's so a boat of over 2200kg's I don't think I could afford really.. :( ...Thanks for the advice.

John

No problem, The greater weight difference the better, the danger arises when the trailer starts to wobble, if the trailer is too heavy it will start to pull the car out of control. This can still happen with a light trailer if you travel too fast, but it's easier to regain control, usually by just slowing down again. I've had it happen and it's a scary experience.

No problem, The greater weight difference the better, the danger arises when the trailer starts to wobble, if the trailer is too heavy it will start to pull the car out of control. This can still happen with a light trailer if you travel too fast, but it's easier to regain control, usually by just slowing down again. I've had it happen and it's a scary experience.

Have towed some big trailers when I lived in the US, biggest was a 24ft enclosed with 7 race motorcycles and gear inside with a big Chevy Pickup...Have seen the after math of a trailer getting out of shape right infront of me. Traveled allot towing a trailer, going to races in the US.


John

I tow our boat with a basic SWB diesel transit van from the local hire garage. With the boat/engine/trailer and bits we're probably pulling approx 1700kg. It's admirttedly a bit slow on the hills but in terms of stability feels a lot better than a car - have run it behind our Mondeo - a bit scary...!

PaulH

It is important to get enough weight imposed on the pin to give good traction but not too much as to flatten the van suspension. You may find you have to shift your trailer axle to get the right setup. If you're mindful of where and at what stage of tide you launch then you should not have any problems with the van. Braked trailers are an advantage but as you probably know a pain in the t*ts to keep right. Is there not regs that all twin axle trailers must be towed by a 4x4? This is something to consider when buying your boat.
Jim

I use an X-Trail 4x4, 2.2 diesel with switchable 4 wheel drive and it does the job great. The boat and extras weigh in at about 700kilos while the roller coaster trailer can take up to 750kilos. I used to tow it with a 1.9 diesel S40 Volvo saloon but found problems while on the slipways, with the weight on the back of the car the front wheels were inclined to spin and a number of times I had to get 2 people to sit on the front wings to get the wheels to bite. I have seen many boats launched with Transit vans and they always seem to handle the job well.
The only problem to watch out for on a number of slipways is the seaweed that grows on the lower half of the slip, this usally shows on a low tide and can be a real pain. At times it's even hard to stand on this slime never mind drive on it. When faced with this problem the only solution is a very strong rope tied to the trailer at one end and the car at the other with enough space in between to get over the seaweed.
Damien

i towed my boat from Newry through Castlewellan to Downpatrick with a 1600 megan and the boat/trailer/engine weigh 1.5 tonne the hill out of Annsborough was great fun first gear foot to the floor and just about made it!! for launch and retrieve i use a winch mounted on a bar with a ball hitch, park the car in gear connect up and just winch the boat in or out - never had a problem.

I use a Transit LWB box van, with roller coaster single axle trailer and a 19' fastliner, it really tows well, can just see the wheels in the mirrors, it did take a while getting used to reversing it though as i had a old short wheelbase landrover before moving to Kerry, that was ok for traction off gravel beaches, but the travelling on the road is a damn site more comfortable in the van, handy for all the gear in the back as well, i have not reversed onto the green stuff to test the traction yet, its safer with a long rope. One place I launched at this summer is a fairly firm gravel slope, would have been wary reversing right down with a 4wd, but the long rope trick worked well, maybe 30yds, positioning the boat so that it is centrally balanced taking the wieght off the jockey wheel also helped to pull up the beach on the rope, then winch onto the post for towing keeping some weight on the towball, if you've got the van don't be in to big a hurry to get a 4wd.

Regards Sean,

Thanks for all the replys sounds like my van will do the job perfect. It's the heavy duty twin wheels 2.5ton van so it'll not have a problem with a boat that I can afford.

I like the trick about the long rope, anyone use an electric winch mounted to the back of the tow vehicel as I have one sitting at a mates place in the US that I used to pull my 4x4 out of the mud with..Had it mounted to the front of the 4x4 and pulled 2 ton + no problem..

Thanks
John

Yeh, one of my friends has one on his trailer and it works great providing you have the correct sized one. I have heard it said that with an electric winch if the boat is not correctly allinged up on the trailer you can cause some damage to the boat (if you were winching by hand you would feel the resistence against the boat and stop to see what the problem was, where as the electric winch would just keep pulling causing problems) I personally don't think this to be true as you would be watching the boat coming up on the trailer carefully and would spot a problem straight away.
p.s. if you don't want that winch I would gladly put it on my trailer.
Damien

H i Lads just thought i would throw me twopennorth in.I currently work for a survey company in th uk as askipper, we launch and tow a 7.5metre niadd ribb with twin 100 h.p yamahas on her bum, the boat fully loaded with feul 400 ltrs trailer is 3 tonne weight weigh bridge verified, this is being towed with a longwheel base 110 landrover, no prob luanching and recovering on a slipway but you wouldnt have a cat in hells chance with that weight on a beach, oh by the way someone will ask shes capable of 44 knts cheers Rod.

We use a "Lazy winch" it's a superwinch 3500. Wouldn't part with it for the world. It makes thing so slick and takes the grunt out of retrieving. Certainly theres no problem with damaging a boat winching onto a rollercoaster.

A good friend of mine has had a tow-hitch fitted to the front of his Nissan truck. Gives you a birds eye view of all that's going on. He also uses the rope launching method to great effect.

Colin