Towing a boat? April 20, 2021, 10:59:33 pm Planning a summer trip close to home and wondering if anyone ever towed a boat with trailer. Towing a trailer behind an RV is considered a double tow which is legal in Ohio. The lake is only one hour away, and being in Ohio, very flat with two lane highway. The boat is 19 ft inboard weight of 2200 Lbs. Trailer is new double axle. (2001 Mid Bath) The Ohio State Camp (Indian Lake) has 15 sites where you can park your RV right next to a boat dock. I plan to call office and enquirer how other campers handle logistics. The idea is my wife would drive down separately with our truck to launch boat (lots of logistics engines and gas). I’ve reviewed site on Google Maps, and the boat ramp setup looks like I could even launch boat from RV. The ramp is not steep and it would be a lot easier if we did not need to drive down my truck to launch. Is this a totally crazy idea, or do I have a fighting chance for success? I’d certainly revise game plan along the way if I thought risk was too high. My search for trailering boats resulted in a big zero so I’m thinking no one else has attempted?Larry D
Re: Towing a boat? Reply #1 – April 21, 2021, 12:27:58 am Do I have this correct?With your LD, you want to tow a double axle trailer and behind it, another trailer with a boat on it?If so, this will be interesting, I will have a few questions. Larry 1 Likes
Re: Towing a boat? Reply #2 – April 21, 2021, 12:49:30 am "you want to tow a double axle trailer and behind it, another trailer with a boat on it?"I don't think that's what Larry said. He just wants to tow a double-axle boat trailer. (And possibly launch/retrieve the boat while towing with the LD. That part makes me a little nervous.) 1 Likes
Re: Towing a boat? Reply #3 – April 21, 2021, 01:15:16 am "Towing a trailer behind an RV is considered a double tow which is legal in Ohio”That was the statement that confuses me, AFAIK, towing a boat behind a RV is legal in all states and shouldn't be a problem if properly setup with lights and brakes and not exceeding the GCVW. We see it done often, especially in the summer. A 2200-lb boat, plus the trailer, will weight much less than 4000-lbs, the rear bumper’s rated tow capacityLaunching with a LD?, it depends on the ramp’s steepness and how much water is needed to float the boat off the trailer.A shallow ramp will require having the LD go deeper than steeper ramp, in return, steep ramps can be difficult to pull up, even worse when covered in algae.Here is how they launch in Shelter Cover, in Northern California. The beach has a very shallow slope 3 Likes
Re: Towing a boat? Reply #4 – April 21, 2021, 08:27:50 am I wonder what the GCWR is of a LD/ boat/ John Deere combo is? 😉
Re: Towing a boat? Reply #5 – April 21, 2021, 08:32:01 am Thanks for the inputs. I’m more comfortable towing boat, and for launch I just need to use caution. I’m just towing the double axle boat trailer behind the RV. Apparently this is described as a “double tow” from what I have read on this topic (RV + Boat Trailer = Double Tow). (Triple Tow = Truck + Camper + Boat Trailer). I’ve just watch too many “boat launch fail” videos and have visions of my RV floating down the lake (the boat ramp is right next to the camp sites for a watchful audience). Indian Lake is only an hour down the road so I’ll drive down, scope out the boat ramp, and talk to a few of the campers using these boat sites. Golden Buckeye Card lets folks camp at site with a boat dock for $17 a night, $25 on weekends so it would be a nice. With backup video, I should be able to pull this off. Lots of weight on RV back wheels and I don’t think wheels will even end up in water but I cannot dunk the back end. Just depends how steep the ramp is as noted above. I thought a forum search would have a few posts on this topic. I’m just going to go for it. Worst case my wife will need to drive the pick up down separately. Larry D
Re: Towing a boat? Reply #6 – April 21, 2021, 09:51:55 am Hmmm, what I assume is a double-tow is two hitches. A triple tow would be three hitches. A semi tractor with two trailers would be a double tow.Steve
Re: Towing a boat? Reply #7 – April 21, 2021, 09:52:30 am Quote from: Larame SRT - April 21, 2021, 08:32:01 amI’m just towing the double axle boat trailer behind the RV. Apparently this is described as a “double tow” from what I have read on this topic (RV + Boat Trailer = Double Tow). (Triple Tow = Truck + Camper + Boat Trailer). Some states allow towing trailers behind a truck and fifth-wheel. This may be what Ohio is referring to. As Larry W stated, towing any type of trailer (within LD's weight limits) should be legal in all states. There may be state specific length limits or braking requirements. Many states distinguish between "trailers" and other vehicles under tow.Art 1 Likes
Re: Towing a boat? Reply #8 – April 21, 2021, 10:52:02 am "I don’t think wheels will even end up in water but I cannot dunk the back end."That right there would make me very nervous! That lower rear end is very prone to water damage so I would be quite cautious in that respect. 2 Likes
Re: Towing a boat? Reply #9 – April 21, 2021, 11:48:42 am If you're going to do this often, I would look into putting a front hitch on. Would make launching and retrieving a piece of cake. 6 Likes
Re: Towing a boat? Reply #10 – April 21, 2021, 02:01:40 pm Hi Larry D.; There is a way to launch using a winch to allow the trailer to slide away into the water, in order to launch the boat. Here is a youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWXdi4pplRM . I think I would have a firmly attached tow strap as a backup to the winch cable. Wouldn't want the trailer with boat to take a swim! RonB 1 Likes
Re: Towing a boat? Reply #11 – April 21, 2021, 02:48:16 pm "I would look into putting a front hitch on."I second that thought! I had front hitch balls on two different vehicles hauling two different trailers and was exhilarated at how easy it was to dock the trailers exactly where I wanted them. 1 Likes
Re: Towing a boat? Reply #12 – April 21, 2021, 08:35:32 pm A front hitch has another benefit for midbath owners: you can add a spare tire carrier and get the spare out of the rear storage compartment. It's just visible at the far right of this month's Photo of the Month. 1 Likes
Re: Towing a boat? Reply #13 – April 22, 2021, 10:29:03 am I towed a 18’ boat from Yuma to Lake Havasu in my RB. Super easy and smooth ride. The only thing I would do different, get a rear camera for the LD to check on the status of the boat while on the road. Ugh, the trailer light connector. I had to splice into the LD manufacture 4-pin connector. I couldn’t find the other half of the connector anywhere! Double check your LD connector with your boat trailer. Launching and recovery was a breeze. The boat trailer has a winch on it and the long rear-end of the LD prevented the wheels from getting wet. I look forward to another trip soon.
Re: Towing a boat? Reply #14 – April 22, 2021, 02:48:25 pm Would not want to see an LD in a pic like this: 1 Likes
Re: Towing a boat? Reply #15 – April 22, 2021, 04:35:01 pm I can’t unsee this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sk7wzeFnoks 1 Likes
Re: Towing a boat? Reply #16 – April 24, 2021, 10:53:09 am Quote from: Larame SRT - April 21, 2021, 08:32:01 amThanks for the inputs. I’m more comfortable towing boat, and for launch I just need to use caution. I’m just towing the double axle boat trailer behind the RV. Apparently this is described as a “double tow” from what I have read on this topic (RV + Boat Trailer = Double Tow). (Triple Tow = Truck + Camper + Boat Trailer). I’ve just watch too many “boat launch fail” videos and have visions of my RV floating down the lake (the boat ramp is right next to the camp sites for a watchful audience). Indian Lake is only an hour down the road so I’ll drive down, scope out the boat ramp, and talk to a few of the campers using these boat sites. Golden Buckeye Card lets folks camp at site with a boat dock for $17 a night, $25 on weekends so it would be a nice. With backup video, I should be able to pull this off. Lots of weight on RV back wheels and I don’t think wheels will even end up in water but I cannot dunk the back end. Just depends how steep the ramp is as noted above. I thought a forum search would have a few posts on this topic. I’m just going to go for it. Worst case my wife will need to drive the pick up down separately. Larry DLarry the number of units behind the "prime mover"= single tow, 2= double tow 3= triple tow. 1 Likes
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Topic: Towing a boat? (Read 411 times)
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