Do you need a permit to tow 26ft boat?

[Steve]

In process of purchasing 26ft trailerable boat. Getting conflicting info that a permit may or may not be required each time you trailer. Looking for clarification on this.

 

[Jim A]

NO!

The beam is waht requires a permit! The 26 was designed to be towed!

 

[George Kobernus]

Towing a 26 Foot boat.

There is quite a bit on this subject in the archives. The width is more critical than the length. If you are talking about the H26 or H260 I think you'll find the answer is "depends". The Hunter 26/260 is just slightly over the legal width for towing in many states. When they invent a radar gun that measures the width of our boats to the inch, then maybe we're in trouble.On the other hand there is lots of discussion about what would happen if you were in an accident and you had not tied your boat down properly or did not have a permit for an over width boat.

 

[Pete]

legal width to tow

without a permit is 102 " wide.Getting caugth is another story. I would not worry but everyone has there own limits. Good Luck !p.s. call your state police and ask

 

[Ashley]

check with DMV

I looked into this before buying our 260 as I kept seeing this issue popup. The legal limit in some states including mine is 8 feet not 8.5. Getting a permit here is a trivial matter, its a 1 page form you can do it online. NC is supposedly one of the more expensive states, it is $15 for a one way permit good for 10 days or $100 for an annual permit, tow all you want for a year.Having said that, I have yet to meet anyone who actually gets the permit. It is more for piece of mind than anything. I most likely get an annual permit if we start towing on a regular basis, IE 2 or more times/month. Oh yeah, the permits are usually only good for state/fed roads.

 

[Mark Burrows]

It's not the boat, its the trailer

The H26 is a little larger than what is legal. However the trailer is outboard of the widest part of the beam by 6"-12" (fenders and guide posts). That puts the width between 9' and 10".Watch those narrow two lane bridges. *popMarkdb

 

[Reinhold Fussle]

check the archives

This has been discussed before. The consesus seems to be that yes you do need a permit, but nobody ever does. No one ever reported any problems with police. I have towed my 260 extensively sometimes even with a Dodge Caravan! (Don't do this at home, this is defenitely a couple pounds over the recommended max towing weight for this vehicle) Never had any problem!