Biggest sea ray trailerable

[Gunn]

It takes an electric master cylinder and battery powered emergency stop system. About a $1000 bucks. My surge coupler was welded shut rather than by one as you do not need any part of it. I suppose it would look cleaner without it and a sleek new coupler, but it is a trailer. MM

Ouch. Add to that I bought a new surge coupler this spring...I think I'll live with it. I don't know more than 8 or so miles one way in any case...

 

[Captain Morgan]

I trailer my 2006 320 Sundancer. I use an aluminum 1501 Shorelander trailer. The boat sit 14'6'' on the trailer. I use a 2008 megcab Dodge dually with a 6.7 Cummins. I special ordered the truck with a 410 rear-end. The best thing about the trailer is that it uses electrically actuated hydraulic brakes, I can stop the boat on a dime. I had to upgrade my reese hitch to a class-5 with a 10 ton receiver and ball, yes this is a special hitch.

 

[bigblockcutlass]

I trailer my 2006 320 Sundancer. I use an aluminum 1501 Shorelander trailer. The boat sit 14'6'' on the trailer. I use a 2008 megcab Dodge dually with a 6.7 Cummins. I special ordered the truck with a 410 rear-end. The best thing about the trailer is that it uses electrically actuated hydraulic brakes, I can stop the boat on a dime. I had to upgrade my reese hitch to a class-5 with a 10 ton receiver and ball, yes this is a special hitch.

How did the truck handle it? What is the Weight of the boat and trailer?

 

[poormonkey]

Well, we tow our 2001 - 290 dancer. We have a tri-axle trailer with electric brakes on all three axles.

This is my thoughts/experience on towing:

- I couldn't imagine towing a boat this size or bigger with surge brakes. Electric is the only way to go.
- My tow vehicle is my excursion with the 7.3 diesel in it. My excursion has no problems towing the boat.
- We trailer it about 3-4 times a season, we do have a full time slip. If I haven't been to a ramp before or some where new we are going, if possible I drive the route a head of time without towing the boat.
- Height on the trailer is 13'4"
- With fresh water tank empty, and gear on board and usually half a tank of fuel, the boat weighs in about 12-12.5k lbs
- 10"2 beam, but with trailer side guides, the largest width of the trailer is 10'8"
- Retrieving is one of the most difficult parts, if on a river with current, or a steep ramp. Or ramp not wide enough or long enough.
- I load and unload the boat from the trailer I would say 95% of the time by myself. I do not power load it, it has bunks on the trailer so I float it on.
- 4 wheel drive is a necessity unless the boat is put on and off by a sling or a fork lift
- I don't travel with any canvas on the boat, so the biggest pain for me is taking down all the bimini tops and storing them before traveling, then repeat to put back up.



Anything taller than 13'6", I could see being a bit PITA unless you have a hinged radar arch. I think anything less than 12 foot wide is could be trailer without too much of a headache. We have some friends who trailer there 2000 340, which has a hinged radar arch, and they tow it with F250 diesel.

 

[annie]

You should get someone you trust to follow you with your canvas up... I was surprised how little it moves even at 60 mph. It moves less fully enclosed than just the Bimini up.

 

[Captain Morgan]

The truck pulls the boat very well throughout the hills of Bloomington, IN. I figure with the boat, trailer, full fuel/water tanks, along with all the stuff you need on the boat it is close to 21K lbs. I pull the boat about 55-60 mph. Since the boat is 11.5 ft wide and 14'6'' tall I have to get an oversize load permit if I take it on state or federal roads. As long as I stay on city and county roads no permits are required, at least in Indiana. In Indiana as long as you are pulling you own stuff a CDL is not required. Since the boat is as big as it is I typically have my wife in a car helping me get into lanes or ride ahead of me verifying the way. The only problem I have pulling the boat is once you choose a path you are committed so you better make sure that you can get through because it is very hard to find a place to turn around.

 

[2005SR300DA]

I tow my '05 300 sundancer with a dodge ram 2500 with a hemi. Its easy to get out of the water, nerve racking putting it in, it drags the truck down the ramp sideways till it hits the water.

 

[Red Horse]

I have looked into this and been researching towing a large boat for some time. When I upgrade my current boat to something in the 28-32 foot range the ability to trailer will be a large factor. I like the fact that if I am not going to use my boat that month I don’t have to pay for it. Slip, storage etc.

I think at the minimum you will need a 3/4 ton 4X4 and electric over hydraulic brakes. Once you get 10K moving down the road the ability to stop or change directions is going to be based on weight of tow vehicle and brakes.

The largest boat that I think practical to tow over any distance would be a 2008 290 Sundancer.

If you are close to your favorite body of water, tow what you can. When I lived in Virginia I was about 1 mile from the private ramp in my neighborhood. There, larger would not have been a problem.

 

[garryowen]

gerry and i tow this all over the colorado, utah, nev

this isn't our tow truck. it was easier to have marina pull than shuttle and walk as was by my self at the time

we tow with a 2500 hd 4x4 dura max 2010 chev

we have ele over hyd and have plenty of brakes for the mountain towing we do

13ft high and 11.5 ft wide. do have to have over size load permits

 

[bigblockcutlass]

I'd like to see a video of this

I tow my '05 300 sundancer with a dodge ram 2500 with a hemi. Its easy to get out of the water, nerve racking putting it in, it drags the truck down the ramp sideways till it hits the water.

 

[AKBASSKING]

Never had any issues unloading my 300DB on the boat ramp, float on-float off. In fact, loading and unloading is easier than my 20' river boat!

 

[2005SR300DA]

Next spring i will have to video tape this. The trailer we use is a yard trailer too, and it has no breaks. Not fun going down the hill to the launch.

I'd like to see a video of this

 

[Someday Lady II]

I tow my '05 300 sundancer with a dodge ram 2500 with a hemi. Its easy to get out of the water, nerve racking putting it in, it drags the truck down the ramp sideways till it hits the water.

18,000 lbs, surge brakes on two axles, 1,100 miles one way from Grand Rapids, Michigan to Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada towed by 2006 Duramax 2500HD (15 mpg overall) with no problems.
Goes down the ramp straight and out no problem. Permits purchased in 3 states and 1 province.
Oh, yeah, one speeding ticket in Michigan.
It may not be for everybody (or the faint of heart) but I am pretty darned happy to have the option of trailering even if it requires some planning and preparation.

 

[dpmulvey]

Like Someday Lady II,

http://clubsearay.com/member.php/17558-Someday-Lady-II
There was a fellow on the old Regal Owners site who had a 35 footer that he literally used as a trailer boat . He did the math and because of his life style trailering and all the costs were cheaper than taking her on the water. He had a custom garage for her and he said loading everything up at the house was less of a headache. Additionally, the boat got cleaned every time it came back. I saw pix and I believe he said he was close to 60' end to end. The boat looked as if it just came off the show room floor.

Not necessarily my cup of tea, especially with inboards, but I can see the attraction.

 

[HUMPH]

Towed my 410DA too... and did it with my Impala! :grin:

 

[Hellman Huddle]

Maybe we should rename the thread biggest Sea Ray practical to tow. You can tow any boat, but if it takes 2 hours to load and strap down and you need permits and have to take the long route around town to avoid bridges and etc, then I would consider it not towable. A towable boat is one you can hook up to, go anywhere, and you can load it as you would any bowrider and be on your way.

 

[dpmulvey]

Maybe we should rename the thread biggest Sea Ray practical to tow. You can tow any boat, but if it takes 2 hours to load and strap down and you need permits and have to take the long route around town to avoid bridges and etc, then I would consider it not towable. A towable boat is one you can hook up to, go anywhere, and you can load it as you would any bowrider and be on your way.

As I said, 60' end to end every weekend.

Do 40' go fasts count?

http://www.smithfieldstation.com/hotel-info/marina/

Check the lower video. All boats trailered.

 

[D9ever]

I have a 2000 Sea Ray 340DA Sundancer. It's 11'5" beam and weighs 13,000# empty. Add a few gallons of gas and a 2,850# 4 axle trailer and I'm at 17,000#. I tow it with a 2009 Dodge 3500 diesel dually. Living in N. Idaho on Lake Pend Oreille I tow the boat once a year to the San Juan Islands and spend 10 days-2 weeks. It's 380 miles each way with a climb over Snoqualmie Pass. The slowest I get in the pass is 48mph. The tow is pretty effortless especially downhill with the built in "Jake Brake". In Idaho I can go to 12ft beam on a 2 lane road before I need a pilot car. In Washington it's 11ft on a 2 lane but 12ft on a four lane. I'm 2 lane down to I90 in Idaho and 4 lane in Washington all the way to Anacortes. I have an annual oversize permit in Idaho ($42.00) and get a 5 month permit in Washington at $20.00/month. Make sure you have a Class 5 18,000# hitch and an 18,000# ball and stinger. For us the trip is worth the tow plus we go to Coeur d'Alene Lake and Priest Lake. No problems in and out of the water. Takes about 1 hour to get out and prepare.

 

[shuizen]

We tow our 1999 270DA behind a 2004 Excursion with a 6.0, 4:10 and 350 springs. It does very well going and stopping.

Incidents to watch or:

Surge brakes seized on when something came apart in the actuator. Almost full throttle to get it off the road. Surge brakes work well, but I would still prefer electric over hydraulic.

One ramp took all the truck had in the traction department to get the boat up the steep ramp. Same ramp backing in was dragging the front tires.

 

[Gofirstclass]

I towed our 330 Dancer all over the place. It had a 11'5" beam and on the trailer it weighed in at 17,500#. The trailer was a custom built that had electric brakes on all 3 axles.

We made two trips across the Cascade Mountains with it and several to Portland, OR. It needed oversize load permits and flags to move on freeways and we were supposed to have pilot cars when we hit 2-lane roads, but we didn't bother with those. I figured it was easier to play dumb if we got stopped.

The truck was an F350, automatic and towed it at 60mph on the flat but I dropped down to 45 going over the mountain passes. The only time we ever encountered any issues while towing was once going through Bellevue, WA the freeway was under construction (it always is!!!) and they had the lanes narrowed down to about 11'. A semi truck passed us and I could see in my mirror that we were within about a foot of touching. I had moved as far right as I could and he had done the same to the left. I slowed just a bit as he was passing to let him get by faster and fortunately we never touched.

The San Juans are a great place to go boating and that's why we towed over there.