How to trailer 2 boats

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May 3, 2013
3
Hunter Joanne Marshall Spruce Run
We have a Hunter 18 and a Sunfish. Is it possible to trailer both boats with one car?
 
May 24, 2004
7,164
CC 30 South Florida
It's possible I have done it. With the help of a friend I got a Sunfish on top of the roof rack of an SUV and then hitched a trailer to pull a 22' boat. I guess you could build a rack to sit on top of the h18 and seat the Sunfish on top and strap well to the trailer. If your questions is, if you can hitch one trailer behind another I would say forget it. The word "jacknife" comes readily into mind. Boat trailers are not designed to be used in tandem mode and are totally inadequate for the task.
 
Nov 23, 2011
2,023
MacGregor 26D London Ontario Canada
A member at our club tows 3 at once. A 16' Wayfarer with a lazer on top of it and a lazer on the roof of his Caravan!
He races with his sons. (There last name is on almost every trophy at the club!)
I don't know about the weight restrictions of your roof rack. But a Sunfish weighs [FONT=Arial, Helvetica]Disp.[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica] 129 lbs./ 59 kgs.
That is form sailboatdata.com It seems kind of light.
I would build a wood frame to attach it to the top of the Hunter you have.
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May 27, 2012
1,152
Oday 222 Beaver Lake, Arkansas
Depends on the state your in. Minnesota only allows towing of an additional trailer behind a 5th wheel (which is odd). When we moved down to Arkansas I checked the laws in Iowa, Missouri, and Arkansas, and all three allow triples with almost no restrictions. I really didnt want to make an extra trip just for the boat, so I hooked it behind the Jeep Cherokee that I towed behind the Motorhome. I had my wife following so figured if Minnesota made me park it somewhere, we would just stop across the Iowa border and go back for it. I passed several Minnesota LEO's and they just looked the other way...

Just for clarification, it was a 18 foot fishing boat with a 80 hp outboard. I didnt even know it was there and no one gave me a second look. Just make sure the tow vehicle is heavier than the combined towing weight by a factor of at least 1.5. Brakes on at least one of the trailers would be wise. But if your state says no to triple tow, I probably wouldnt try it. As the MH was over 20K pounds, I never had brakes on the Jeep, and none on the boat either, but the MH stopped about the same regardless.

P.S. You see a lot of trailers in the south with a trailer ball. Guess it just depends on how how restrictive your particular state is at keeping a thumb on you. I was on the fire dept here and never heard of a wreck (or read of any either). It might be that anyone willing to attempt it is a safe enough driver to drive accordingly. Cant say what MN's deal is other than the thumb thing. Its curvy and hilly as hell here, and flat as a pancake there.
 
May 4, 2005
4,062
Macgregor 26d Ft Lauderdale, Fl
fyi, never try to back up 2 trailers.... have to unhook last.

I would look at roof racks for the sunfish.

maybe some kind of 'easy up', erector setup (think nested tubes) that you put the sunfish on, lift it up above car, then drive car under then lower to roof rack.
 
May 27, 2012
1,152
Oday 222 Beaver Lake, Arkansas
Well, you can back up a little bit. I had to ease back some at a fuel pump once. But it does start going wonky pretty quick and there is absolutely no way to control it.

I noticed the boat, behind the jeep wanted to sway a bit during minor course corrections, and I took advantage of it. Whenever some bonehead wanted to hang out too close back there, a little jiggle of the steering wheel up in the MH would be magnified back at the boat. Seeing the boat suddenly wander 2 or three feet across its lane and the gawkers would back way off real fast. Made it real easy to get back in the right lane after passing someone as they would generally slow down as they saw the boat come by and give her a lil wiggle.

I dont have an actual picture of mine, but this is pretty close.
 

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Nov 19, 2011
1,489
MacGregor 26S Hampton, VA
When I was an engineer in the army, we had left over WW2 scrapers that had two articulation points, they were hard to back up long distances. I recall losing control down a hill and jackknifed it. The last section kissed the cab I was sitting in. Scary! Had to get a dozer to untie the mess.
 
Mar 8, 2009
530
Catalina 22 Kemah,Texas
You can back two trailers just takes practice.
The rule in most states is no doubles with ball and ball, fifth wheel and ball is OK.

It is very difficult to back any vehicle on a towbar unless the towed vehicle does not have power steering. This is because they do the alignment different on cars with power steering.
 

DJN51

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Oct 26, 2009
377
Hunter 23.5 East Chicago In
I trailer my sunfish and minifish on same trailer.I scribed 3/4 plywood to bottom of mini and top of sunfish at front and back of both attached 2x6 at bot of both ,covered with carpet and stack boats.Been doing it for 20 yrs.
 
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