Trailer trawlers
Hi All
I have just been looking at the North Pacific Yachts 28 Trailer Trawler.
http://www.northpacificyachts.com/npy28.pdf
LOA 28ft
Beam 8' 6"
Dry weight 7000lbs
I have never considered this type of boat before.
What vehicle would be necessary to tow this rig?
What special authorisation/permission (if any) would be required?
Would there be different requirements in different states?
I have experience with a variety of very large vehicles so the
practicalities of driving are not a concern.
Thanks in advance
Roger Bingham
I tow an unusually big and heavy 26 foot cruiser (13' high, 8.5' wide,
33' long, 12,000 lb on the trailer) with a Dodge/Cummins 2500 pickup.
In the last ten years I've pulled it nearly 50,000 miles, in almost
entirely mountainous country all over the western US and British
Columbia, with no particular problems (although plenty of regular
maintenance on both truck and trailer).
I get 10-11 mpg at 60-65 mph, depending mostly on the amount of
headwind. I can climb all but the very steepest interstate grades
easily at 50-55 mph in 4th gear (of 5), as long as I don't get slowed
down into a lower gear by other vehicles.
If this boat really weighs only 7,000 dry and empty, and it's not too
tall, you should be able to tow it with a big long-bed diesel pickup.
Some think you shouldn't try this w/o a dually, but my SRW works just
fine, even in a heavy cross-wind. I tend to think long wheel base and
heavy springs are much more important than dual rear wheels.
If you're towing in mountains, I'd strongly recommend a manual
transmission. I'd certainly recommend 4-wheel disk brakes, 4-wheel
drive (for the launch ramp), and the most robust rear spring package
available (called "Camper Option" in my case).
I'd also suggest a very sound triple-axle trailer. If you go with only
2 axles, you may wind up with tongue weight so heavy that you want a
dually. Adjusting axle position so that you have plenty of tongue
weight (900+ lbs in my case) is important for stability.
I'm legal in the western US without any permit. I've heard that towing
over 10,000 lbs requires something special in British Columbia, but have
lots of experience there without any issue coming up.
Richard Cook
New Moon (Bounty 257)
Roger Bingham wrote:
I have just been looking at the North Pacific Yachts 28 Trailer Trawler.
http://www.northpacificyachts.com/npy28.pdf
LOA 28ft
Beam 8' 6"
Dry weight 7000lbs
I have never considered this type of boat before.
What vehicle would be necessary to tow this rig?
What special authorisation/permission (if any) would be required?
Would there be different requirements in different states?
Roger:
Thanks for the link. The North Pacific 28 is the first (semi) trailerable
boat I have seen with an interior layout that makes sense. Most have a
galley with a facing dinette. Have you ever been stuck in a camper on a
rainy day with two people with only a facing dinette to sit in. I much
prefer the settee.
I say semi trailerable because 8' 6" will be legal without a permit in only
a few states. Most are 8'. Somewhere I saw a table of trailerable limits by
state. Maybe the BoatUS site. For myself I wouldn't worry about a permit.
Beg forgiveness in the slight chance that you do get caught.
7000 lbs. dry will equal 8,000 or more loaded plus a 2000 lb trailer and you
are looking at north of 10,000 lbs as a tow weight. I am a former trailer
owner and have kept up with vehicle tow weights. You are talking about the
heavy Chevy Suburban, the discontinued Ford Excursion or any of the 1 ton
(250/0) series pickups to be able to tow this boat. A diesel would be nice
but not essential. You would definitely want the 8 liter engine though if it
were a gasser.
The choice of engine is pretty good. This is a 4 cylinder turbocharged
Yanmar JH engine. It should cruise at displacement speeds of about 6.5 kt
and burn only 1 gph. Or it could cruise fast at 12 kts and burn maybe 3.5
gph.
With the proper tow vehicle this would be a pretty nice rig for a couple who
want to travel and cruise.
David
I say semi trailerable because 8' 6" will be legal without a permit in only
a few states. Most are 8'.
8.5" is legal on all interstate highways and (sometimes?) off of them
as well. See
http://www.two-lane.com/widebody.html
for a confusing summary.
Steve
Here is the Boat US URL for the trailering laws of all 50 states:
http://www.boatus.com/trailerclub/laws.asp
It has width, length, weight, brake information and a lot of other useful detail.
Jim
(Jim & Mim McCrea, mcc272@aol.com, 2004 C-Dory 22 Cruiser "North Star")
I asked
LOA 28ft
Beam 8' 6"
Dry weight 7000lbs
What vehicle would be necessary to tow this rig?
What special authorisation/permission (if any) would be required?
Would there be different requirements in different states?
Thank you to everyone who answered my questions and added tips and
suggestions based on their own experiences of towing large boats.
To summarise
The weight of the 7000lb dry boat will increase with fuel, water, supplies
and kit on board and with the weight of the trailer a safe estimate of
towing weight would be 12000lbs
A > ton should do the job but a one tonner may do it better.
A van can do the job as well as a pickup
4WD is not vital if you have a locking diff.
The right trailer for the job is vital and a tri-axle is better than two.
The ability to stop is just as important as the ability to go.
It is probable that a 102 inch wide rig will go unmolested (by law
enforcement) on most roads throughout the US
I have looked at pickups and short listed these as suitable (unless you know
otherwise)
Ford F-350 Lariat Crew cab 4x4 Single rear wheels
Chevrolet Silverado 3500HD Crew cab 4x4 Dual rear wheels
GMC Sierra 3500HD Crew cab 4x4 Dual rear wheels
Dodge Ram 3500 Laramie Quad cab 4x4 Dual rear wheels
These all seem to come in around $54,000 before any deals and haggling - I
specified just about every option possible and all are diesels I love toys
and these trucks are awesome!
Now, does anyone want to buy a lovely group of buildings and 24 acres in SW
France?
Best regards and many thanks
Roger Bingham
France