Re: Cost Of Towing A 20'-40' Boat?
In my case, my 30 foot, 7500 lb steam launch is towed behind a F700. Running expenses have been the same as when it was towed by my old E350 van. Ten miles to the gallon of fuel, a quart of oil every 1500 miles and routine maintenance.
The F700 was a former city goverment truck that was picked up for $2600. I enjoy the fact that it has excess capability and air brakes. In our state, a commercial drivers license is not needed for it, though I do have one. If the trailer and combination went above 10,000 lbs or the combination of the truck, boat trailer and load went above 26,000 then a comercial ticket would be needed. Your state is probably different.
The only difficulties I have experienced is that of routinely pulling into weigh stations, occasional narrow roads (my rig is 100 inches wide) and the rough ride of the truck.
A point to consider is how tall is the boat above the road. There are a suprising amount of bridges that are only 11'6'' under the span.
One of the advantages of trailering the launch is that I have been able to cruise waters from northern Iowa to the Gulf Coast. That is hard to put a dollar figure on.
