tow a Douglas 32?

[wumhenry]

Guy's got a Douglas 32 for sale in Nova Scotia that's mounted on a 2-axle trailer. Is it possible & feasible to tow it from there down to Maryland with a rented vehicle, assuming the trailer's up to it?

[hellosailor]

IF the rental vehicle allows towing
IF the insurance for the rental vehicle allows towing
IF the trailer is properly registered (must be in the US)
IF the trailer is in working order
IF you have a spare for the trailer
IF the tires on it aren't rotted out
IF you don't mind driving at perhaps 50-55mph, since there are often lower speed limits on trailers and that's to prevent their wheel bearings from burning out

Sure, it's feasible. Might be 800-850 miles or more, two long days on the road. Take a friend and some audio books, settle in for the long haul.

And that's assuming the brakes on a rental car can stop that trailer, it might use a hookup for electrical auxiliary brakes on board or something else.

[Jeff_H]

With a roughly 20,000 lb tow weight this is not something that you will be able to tow with your average pick-up truck or SUV. There are professional towing companies that do this kind of thing, providing a driver, insurance, bonding and a tow vehicle, perhaps for not all that much more than you would pay to rent an adequate tow vehicle, puty the trailer in shape, obtain proper insurance and do it yourself.

Either way you would need be certain that the boat and trailer is set up for long hauling which would be pretty rare for a boat like this. I would sooner suspect that this was simply a rig to get the boat home for winter storage which is far more common in that part of the world.

Frankly it would not be al that expensive to simply load the whole thing on a roll on tractor trailer.

Jeff

[Faster]

Agreed. I was involved in a couple of boat transfers from Oregon and California to BC last year, and for the approx $2000 each involved it was a much better, safer, secure deal than trying to get it done "on the cheap". The boat movers have the right equipment, know the better routes, deal with the permits and insurance daily.
We also towed a 2400# race boat 500 miles on a (very heavy)trailer with a V-8 SUV, that was a long 13 hour drive during which it was difficult to ever relax. Steep hills and a winding highway didn't help.
All in all, the boat mover is the way to go.

[seabreeze_97]

Not quite, even with the trailer's weight, you're at more like 13,000 lbs. Any of the stout 3/4 ton trucks can handle this, especially the diesel units.

[seabreeze_97]

In fact, we towed my B32 on a 4-axle trailer with a 3/4 ton 360 Magnum-powered pickup....similar weight in the boat, with an even heavier trailer.

[Jeff_H]

The published weight on a Douglas 32 is listed as 11,900 lbs. This was the Douglas 32's CCA rated weight. CCA rated weights were a dry weight with minimal gear. This is a heavily customized version that has had its hull and deck beefed up, a volvo diesel added instead of the original Atomic 4, custom mast tabernacle, and additional addition stays and rigging.Even with the tanks empty it would not be hard to get up to 13,000 or 14,500 lbs with sails, gear, etc.

If I remember correctly the trailer for my Laser 28 weighed 2,300 lbs. This boat would obviously need a heavier trailer so lets assume roughly 2,600 lbs.

Your "average pick-up truck or SUV" weighs in at roughly 5,000 to 6000 lbs. So even at the low end of the numbers, we have an all-up tow weight (13000+2500+5000) of somewhere around 20,000 lbs or more, which is well beyond the towing capacity of your "average pick-up truck or SUV". It is true that you can buy a 3/4 ton and larger pick-ups that can handle this capacity, but even so most 3/4 trucks are not designed for long haul trailer capacities in the range that we are talking about here. William was talking about renting a pick-up and, at least around, here most rentals are half ton trucks.

In any event, I had a chance to look at the listing that William is considering. The trailer is listed as a "yard Trailer", which does not exactly sound like it is suitable for long hauling.

Jeff

[seabreeze_97]

In your initial reply, you stated 20,000lb "tow weight" which is not to be confused with gross combined weight. Well, to me, anyway, it seemed you were making reference to the towed package only. It would appear you have some inside info on that particular boat, as the question said nothing of additional upgrades. However, I said nothing about "your average pick-up truck or SUV." In fact, the whole V10/Turbo-diesel 3/4 ton Dodge truck movement started around "long-distance" high bulk haulers with trailer weights over 13,000 lbs, with gross combined vehicle weights pushing 20,000 lbs. They're even more powerful and capable now. Those, and other similarly capable makes are not the average trucks, which is why I specified 3/4 ton trucks.

Yard trailer? No, I wouldn't plan on hauling it with that either.

[sailingdog]

Definitely might be worth looking at getting it moved professionally.

The cost of renting a truck that is capable of moving the boat, and the time and cost in fuel are probably not all that far off of what it would cost to have it professionally moved.

If you figure that fuel is about $3.40 a gallon, and the truck and boat will get about five miles per gallon...both rough estimates... 900 miles, given that it won't be a straight shot, due to size of the trailer and other limitations, you're looking at about $700+ for fuel alone, not even counting the truck rental.

Also, moving a boat that size will require wide load permits in most states, and the use of wide load escort vehicles...which probably aren't all that cheap either.

[sidiag]

Originally Posted by wumhenry

Douglas 32 for sale in Nova Scotia that's mounted on a 2-axle trailer.

My HD two axle (2 years old) which I purchased for my G26 has 5k rated
axles. A yard trailer w/a 32 foot boat would probably need 3-axle (15K)
as a minimum most likely 4-axles (20K). Once you hit 26,001 lbs total
combination weight you are in the CDL zone.

Your best bet probably (IMHO) would be to have a commercial carrier
bring the boat down and you pull the empty yard trailer down.

Best of luck.