Trailering BIG boats!

Sundancer

Well-Known Member
Jul 20, 2005
2,909
Prosser, WA
Boat Info
34 year old CLASSIC 300 DA, towed almost anywhere behind the Duramax Dually Crew Cab.
Engines
16 cyl, 700 cu. in./Alpha I's
I want to see how many of you out there trailer boats requiring an overwide permit? Are there a bunch of just a few? And this thread will be worthless without pictures!!!

We're considering a larger boat and my only concern is moving it during holiday weekends. In the State of Washington and the other seven states with reciprocity, you can't move it during a holiday weekend or in the dark. Beyond that, I don't see any huge problems, but figured I'd check in and see if the larger boat limits your flexibility at all. Where I live we have three major lakes to boat on. Depending on the weather, friends etc., we may hit any of the three on a whim's notice. Lake Roosevelt, Priest Lake and Lake Pend Oreille are the lakes of choice. We avoid Coeur d'Alene at all cost, but might go in the late fall or early spring.

Let's see the pictures and does the size of the boat ever get in the way?
 
I only trailer a few times a year and have not got a permit. Can you get a permit online? I live in Missouri. The boat is a 1995 290 Sundancer 9' 8" beam. I would post some more pics. But for now I don't have the add attachments option. :huh: :huh:
 
I met a guy from MN with a '06 280DA and he trailers it almost every weekend without a permit and without any issues.
 
I know a lot of guys that trailer boats with a 9 foot beam. It's close enough that most patrolman won't notice or bother you. Trailering a 280 - 330 with it's 11.5 foot beam is a little tougher to hide. An annual over size permit is only $90 (I think?) in the state of Washington and the ticket is a lot more than that! I see a lot of boats trailered around here that have the overwide flags. An extra step to put it on, but that could be easily solved.

Any recommendations or other things to think about before we take the plunge? We considering a 30 and a 33 that are for sale in our area!
 
Sundancer, I think that for something as large as you are considering, you would do well to use a 5th wheel trailer, not a conventional trailer. They pull much nicer, are easier to hook up to, and you can get quite a bit more trailer weight applied to the tow vehicle over the rear axle where it ought to be.

You also need mirrors on the tow vehicle that are wide enough to let you see back down the road behind you. Unless they are quite large, it is good if they are adjustable from inside the vehicle.

Disadvantages are that they cut in more on sharp corners, and at least for me, are harder to back up.
 
We have a gooseneck hitch in the bed of the truck. We just have to find the right boat!! Hopefully it will have a REAL trailer hitch (fifth-wheel or goose-neck) so we won't have to mess with all of that! We're heading out to look at a 30 footer tomorrow. My wife can't stand the cushions, so it's already gonna cost me some upholstery and we haven't even looked at it yet! We'll see if it's worth surveying and go from there.
 
yessir... we trailer our 280 each and everytime we use the boat.... need a oversize load permit as it is over the legal limit of 8'6". In California we simply pay a $90 annual fee for the permit, carry the permit, carry weekly road restrictions list, and display signage. In California the restrictions for night and holiday travel only apply for things wider than 10'.

Signage takes only a minute to put on (think soft bungee).

I would not tow without a permit and risk having to leave the boat on the highway until I can get get a permit if I were caught.

In my opinion when towing larger boats like this great care is needed to ensure each part in the towing puzzle is rated to tow the weight you are going to carry. This includes truck, receiver hitch, ball mount, ball (if towing from receiver hitch) and any applicable weight distribution equipment for your truck and equipment to reach or exceed the capacity for the weight in tow. Also ensure you have a properly tuned brake controller if eqipped with electric/hydraulic brakes................................... If towing with a gas rig you may find your tow vehicle challenging your boat for the GPH title.... diesel in my opinion is the only way to fly.

Trailering a decent size cruiser is not bad at all if done correctly with the right equipment. The flexibility to visit a great number bodies of water is amazing. Be safe.


71473788-L.jpg
 
Jeremy,

Where do you keep your boat? Think my neighbors would get a little peeved if I were to trailer anything bigger than the 240 Sundeck... Although I really want a 280 Sundancer :wink:

BTW, in that picture, where does the boat end and the trailer begin and the tires begin? Looks great!
 
Thank you for the nice comments!! I will send you a PM with where the boat is kept as it is a bit off topic. No worries... just dont want to bore everyone else with my long winded info :smt001
 
I guess there aren't that many that really tow big boats? I must be on the wrong website! I know somewhere I saw thread like this and it was packed full of huge boats on trailers? Oh well! We'll probably join the oversize rank. We Looked at a boat that might be OK, but found another one that should be even better. We just have to find one now before folks start winterizing them!
 
Sundancer said:
I guess there aren't that many that really tow big boats? I must be on the wrong website! I know somewhere I saw thread like this and it was packed full of huge boats on trailers? Oh well! We'll probably join the oversize rank. We Looked at a boat that might be OK, but found another one that should be even better. We just have to find one now before folks start winterizing them!

There are other members from our forum who tow big boats most notably BOLTMAN who tows a 320. Keep in mind when you tow bigger boats like this the height of the radar arch is also an issue. Boltman had to modify his arch so it could be folded down.

Here is another thread I found on towing. http://www.clubsearay.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1715&highlight=
 
anything larger than the 300, 290, 280 range starts to hit height problems. I know in California the max is 14' for height. I think you really start to run into problems as some of the lower underpasses I have passed are 14' 3". You will see lots of 35-40 foot go fasts on trailers..... but they are not very tall.

You will notice boltman has had his arch hinged (allowing it to lean forward) to make it short enough for overhead obstacles.

To be honest... the width (only reason I need permit) is not what I worry about... it is the height.... even though I am within the CVC limits
 
Sundancer,

I think the 14 ft height restriction applies in almost all states. Anything over that and you need to take a close look at any planned routes.

I just returned from a trip to Sidney, NE, and down to Sterling, CO. I was pulling just a horse trailer, moving household goods for my daughter. I can tell you that pulling a 10' wide boat would have been a real challenge.

At Ontario, OR, a bridge had a 12 ft width restriction. I think the clearance was literally 12 feet between the concrete barriers on each side. One foot clearance on each side with a 10 ft beam boat would have been tedious in traffic.

In Odgen, UT, there was a lot of freeway construction. In several places both north and south bound traffic was routed onto one side of the freeway, yet with two lanes marked off each way. It was crooked, bumpy, speed limit at 65 MPH as I recall. I was initially in the right lane, with trucks in front and behind in the left lane. The one in front could not keep his trailer on his side of the white line, the lane was too crooked and narrow. I finally moved over into the left lane too, leaving the right lane for the small cars.

There was a lot of other construction, in Idaho and across Wyoming, but those two locations were the most difficult to drive. You may want to take scenarios like this into consideration, depending on how far and how often you want to travel with the boat.

I did find that I could travel long enough to make Lake Powell or Katherines Landing in two days.
 
I'm aware of the 14' height. Around Spokane we have some old railroad underpasses that are only 11 to 12 feet. I'd hate to get home and find my arch missing!! Most of the time it would be to the lakes in Northern Idaho. Two lane roads that are not real busy. The other time would be on I-90 over to Seattle and the San Juans. I don't think that would be a problem knowing I can't be on I-5 during rush hour. I wouldn't want to be anyway! I avoid it like the plague when I have to drive over there anyway!

I know I read something about RV's not being allowed in constructions zones in Indiana! It's not marked and folks from other states get tickets all the time while passing through these zones with their trailers and fifth wheels because there are no signs stating they CAN'T drive there. What a pain! Construction zones would be tight and around here boating seasons coincides with the non-winter construction period we call Summer. :) I hadn't thought about the construction zones, so that will take some route planning! Good point Dave!!

I still think the biggest drawback is not being able to trailer during Labor Day and Memorial day weekends. We always take the week of July 4th off, so I don't think that will be a problem. The other weekends, we might have to take the boat the week before and park it at a marina or borrow some transient moorage.
 
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I travel 11 miles each way every time I use my boat, and wouldn't want to tow it much farther very often. It can be done though. Definitely get the correct permits and follow the laws. Excellent advice from Jeremy as always.

300da-05.jpg
 
Looks like we'll be moving up. Made an offer, test drive tomorrow and survey next week. It's a 30 footer with an 11 foot beam. Nice BIG boat! Finally, I think there will be room for all of us. And we even get the OVER SIZE LOAD SIGNS thrown in!! WHOOOOHOOO!!!

It's good to see some pictures of big boat as proof that it is done! Most of our trips will be to and from local lakes that are all about one hour away.
 
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Hope all goes well with the test drive and the survey. Does it come with a 5th wheel or goose neck trailer?
 
The trailer is the weak point. It was built by a friend of the current owner. It's overbuilt and my wife and I will probably sell it and replace it. I'm worried that since it's homebuilt there might be some insurance issues there. It's a traditional hitch, so if we can upgrade to a fifth wheel or gooseneck, this will be a good opportunity to do so! The boat was about 10,000, the trailer 2,000 and then gear, fuel, batteries, water and I'm guessing we're pushing 14,000 pounds. I guess the other option would be to have a local shop check it out and see if they can adapt a gooseneck to it. It does have electric over hydraulic, so that's good, but they are drum brakes not disc. I just don't know what the insurance company is going to say about it. It's one stout trailer with 8 inch channel down each side. It looks very well built and the welds are first rate. I'll get some pictures tomorrow and I'll be checking with the insurance company!
 
Dave,
That's going to be great for next year's trip!

I'll be watchin' all of your guy's advice as now that I have my tow rig, we hunt for a bigger one. Jeremy's 280DA sure looks enticing
 
Todd, I think you meant Sundancer when you said Dave.

Sundancer, I think with a gooseneck or 5th wheel, you would be well off with about 2000 lb riding over your rear axle. You probably don't have that much now in the hitch. This suggests you have have to rebalance the load on the trailer by either moving the boat forward, moving the axles back, or just adding weight in the trailer extension up over the PU bed.

With that heavy a boat, your engine is going to have something to work against, and your turbo will spool up nicely. I assume you have the Allison, and you will be putting a LOT of torque on the pavement at low speeds, in low gears. It is a problem I have with my setup, I need more rear axle weight. Dry pavement is OK, on wet pavement I can get unexpected wheel spin, and on grass 4WD is required for anything that is uphill.
 

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