Preparation for towing

[KingFisherJohnson90]

Hello all,
I am new to the site. As you can see my user name, I am picking up this boat at my Dad's place in MO. Its been sitting on its trailer, on blocks with the tires stored in a shed for 10 years. I arrived today and we've assessed the condition to tow. We replaced the winch rope with steel cable, and aired the tires (which seem to be in very good condition). Tomorrow, plan to check wheel bearing, install tires, hook it up to my truck and check the lights and such. I'll be towing with a bumper rated at 2000 lbs. My truck can haul up to 3500 (Nissan Frontier). I estimate, boat/trailer/motor to weigh in around 1500 pounds. Its a 17 foot boat. Does this sounds about right? Any other things I need to check? Thanks for any advice and looking forward to using this site for help restoring this old boat.

 

[NYBo]

Re: Preparation for towing

Welcome to iboats!

A few concerns here.

1. The grease in the bearings has been sittings around a long time. If you will be towing this from Missouri to Virginia, I recommend replacing the bearings and hubs. Not very expensive. Clean and repack the current ones to keep as spares for the trip.

2. Similar advice for the tires. You're going to need a couple of spares for the trip anyway.

3. Towing from the bumper is likely to result in the tongue being too high/the rear of the trailer too low. In addition to the risk of scraping the rear on the ground, the handling of such a setup can be a little squirrelly.

 

[Mi duckdown]

Re: Preparation for towing

If the bearings feel smooth just repack them. If the tires have no cracking on the sidewalls Go for it. Just buy a spare tire with rim for the trip.

Here is a tip. Drive 20 miles. Stop and feel the hubs near the wheel bearing if they are not hot, you should be good to go.

Make sure you have the right paper work for boat and trailer.

 

[Scout 175]

Re: Preparation for towing

All the suggestions above sound good to me. Also make sure your tow ball is tight and the size matches your boat coupler. I like to add a short length of galvanized chain bolted to my winch support with a large hook on the other end attaching it to the boat bow hook. This is cheap insurance in case your bow strap breaks. If you don't tow with a lock on your boat coupler put a bolt through it to lock the coupler from unlatching on its own. These are all things I have witnessed from my Highway Patrol days.

 

[JimS123]

Re: Preparation for towing

Has it been sitting outside all that time uncovered? Better check the transom for rot. That's a pretty big motor. Whatever you do, don't drive with it tilted up like that. Get a transom saver or build a tilt bracket with a 2x4 and strap it down real tight.

 

[KingFisherJohnson90]

Re: Preparation for towing

All,
Excellent advice and I'll address all those concerns. I don't leave for a couple days so I have some time to test the bearings/replace or repack for sure.
Transom is solid and the motor is held up by a tilt bracket and not just hydraulic pressure, however, I will still check it and reinforce as needed.
Good advice on locking the boat coupler, I do have a lock to keep the boat coupler on the ball. Also I replaced the tow strap with some steel cable but a chain is a great idea for additional peace of mind. Lighting: I'll have to replace some bulbs in the rear proper light operation, but wiring is solid.
Bumper towing: Its hooked up and appears to be level. Smaller truck does not quite have the height as full size, so this worked out well on that.
Well, gonna go for a test run in a bit and will post results later. Again, thanks.

 

[KingFisherJohnson90]

Re: Preparation for towing

1200 miles later and some very high engine revs up through the Mountains in West Virginia I've made it back to Virginia with no issues. After 4 days of prepping the trailer and replacing all of the Trailer Lights to find out it was a grounding issue, fixed this by running a direct wire to the rear of the trailer with metal to metal contact. We did not realize the trailer is one of those adjustable ones and that the rust was preventing a proper ground between the front of the trailer and rear. Now I get to make a list of everything required to get this boat sea worthy again, starting with getting the titles transferred over. I have the title on the boat/motor but none on the trailer. I'll have to run a lost title on it to get one.

 

[Josh P]

Re: Preparation for towing

trailers dont usually have tittles (at least in ohio) usually just a bill of sale, if you dont have that, just need a weight slip to get tags, and if thats how VA works weigh the trailer with out the boat on it. good luck

 

[gozierdt]

Re: Preparation for towing

Congratulations on the successful trip. Looks like you fixed all obvious problems, took all reasonable precautions and everything worked well. Lots of luck with the boat!!!