Tow Vehicle

[SailAway1]

I am considering moving up to a Hunter 26 next year. Would anyone know if a Toyota Tacoma 4WD TRD with the heavy duty towing package is sufficient to pull a Hunter 26? The hitch is rated at 6500 lbs but I'm not sure if the V6 engine is powerful enough.

 

[fasttalker372]

I tow my Precision 23 with a double cab 4x4 tacoma. I does great, but the whole rig weighs about 4000 lbs with gear. Don't know what yours weighs. Also make sure you have good working trailer brakes.

 

[justsomeguy]

The towing capacity of my Tacoma V6 4x4 is 5000 lbs. per the manual. The hitch is rated the same.

I tow a Mac 25, approximately 2/5ths the displacement of the Hunter 26.

When going up a 6% grade, I have to gear down to 3rd, making about 35 MPH.

I suppose it depends on the hills you might encounter, but with a displacement of 5000 lbs., plus the weight of the trailer and accoutrements, you're really pushing the envelope, IMO.

In fact, you'd be outside the envelope.

 

[fasttalker372]

 

[SailAway1]

Thanks for the quick replies!
I have the optional "V6 Tow Prep Package" that ups the weight to 6500 lbs. I'm just not sure I want to push it that close so I might need to reconsider a Hunter 23.5 or 240. I really like the room inside the 26 though!

 

[Ray Bowles]

I pulled my 1995 H260 with same truck with the only difference being that mine was a 2WD. We had the tow package. I had an equalizer type of hitch but never used it. Be sure that your tonque weigth is good and hitch/ball height is correct. You can buy different stingers that will raise or lower the ball height at Wal-Mart for around $25.
Ray

 

[John23883]

It should work

George Koburnus weighed his Hunter 260 and it came in at about 5800 lbs. if I recall correctly. I tow my Hunter 26 all the time with my Nissan Pathfinder rated at 6000 lbs. with no problem. I do two things: 1. I added airbags to the rear coils from Airlift company because you cannot use an equalizer hitch with surge brakes. 2. I stay at around 57 mph when pulling the boat. I find this to be the maximum speed to keep the truck from down-shifting on every grade. You need to keep the truck level. You need to minimize shifting because it is constant shifting that causes damaging heat in the transmission not towing a heavy load. You need to make sure you have time and distance to stop. If it is indeed rated at 6500 lbs. it should be ok.

 

[nola2172]

Another thing you may want to consider are the legal tow limits on width. In most states it is 8'6" (part of the reason we got a Hunter 240 - it is just under this width). While you may be capable of towing something wider, and probably won't get pulled over (you can get a special wide load permit, but those are a hassle and limit towing times), if something bad does happen, you are going to be in a whole lot of trouble for exceeding the legal towing limits. Both the Hunter 26 and 260 have a beam of essentially 9', so that will be over the limit. Another boat to consider (since you already have a Catalina it appears) is a Catalina 250. There was one here in town that we looked at, but it was a bit too tall on the trailer for our personal taste, but the beam was 8'6", so still legal to tow without a permit.

 

[Chief RA]

iBoats towing recommendation says not to tow over 75% of max tow rating of your truck for any appreciable distance. Surge brakes work fine with load levelers as long as your hitch is at correct level to allow sufficent chain length on rear of levelers so they can swing. Catalina 250 wing keel and trailer weighs about 6k empty. Check with your insurance carrier to see if they cover you at that load weight as it could be illegal to tow that weight with your vehicle in your state or other states you might tow to. Sorry for bad news but these things must be addressed for your safety! Chief

 

[SailAway1]

Yeah, I have a Catalina 22 now and there is absolutely no problem with pulling that. It doesn't even have breaks on the trailer. I took it to Kentucky Lake for the first time and after 4 days on the boat, the Admiral said to me "we need a bigger boat." So, who am I to argue? We were with another couple who were on their Hunter 260 and the she really liked it. I like the idea of a water ballast so the Catalina 250 doesn't really interest me. If I were just pulling a Hunter 26 five miles to and from storage twice a year, I probably wouldn't be worried. It's the longer trips to bigger lakes that scare me. Greg

 

[Sailm8]

OdayFun, you bring back memories. Had a C22 we towed from St Peters to the Keys several times a year. Wife taught at Fairmount and had 3 weeks off every nine weeks. We had a huge old Suburban with a 455hp engine. Towed like the 22 wasn't even there and would hold 75mph all day. Broke down too many times to count, lost a trailer wheel, hitch ball, all of the turn buckles vibrated off, flat tires, etc. Ahhh the good times but well worth it. Now we live in Florida with the boat in the backyard canal.

 

[nolasafari]

The tow rating listed in your manual and for your truck are not the same. You have to use the rating listed on the door plate. For example a 4 X 4 has a lower tow rating than a 2 wheel drive. You also have to deduct the weight of any gear and passengers carried in the truck. Camper top weight would have to be deducted and so on.

Trailer brakes become an issue. Some states require them if you are towing over a certain weight. More than likely you will have surge brakes. Your truck may also need a weight destitution hitch.

What is the HP and torque of the engine, the torque is what you are looking for.

The one page I could find with the H26/260 had the trailer and boat listed at 6000 lbs. If that is the case you are a no go. No matter what you do bring the rig to a Cat scale and weigh the boat and trailer.

Still a lot more about towing you need to know this is just for starters.
The link below will help you sort it out.
http://kobernus.com/hunter260/travel/travel.html

BTW I have towed Airstream Trailers for years and towing is a mixture of art and science, be careful it can bite you.

Because you have already asked for opinions you are ahead of about 90% of those dragging stuff down the road.

 

[SailAway1]

I'm convinced. I don't want to take any chances with me, my wife, my family or my boat. If I get a Hunter 26, I'll need to get a better towing vehicle and I don't want to do that. So, I'll start looking for a Hunter 240 . Thanks for all the advice everyone!

 

[John23883]

Get the 26!

We have towed the 26 every summer for hundreds of miles each way and have never had a problem. Our lake of choice is 150 miles away. Is it over-sized? Yes, but we stay in the right lane and roll along without any worry of the cops stopping us and measuring the boat. The Pathfinder doesn't even know it's back there. In fact, sometimes we forget it's there! Adjust the surge brakes and it WILL stop when you need it to. Do we get crappy gas mileage? You bet we do! But I will tell you that my wife will spend a week every month all summer and two weeks in July on the boat and she would not do that on a smaller boat.

If your wife likes the 26, she won't be happy on the 240. My wife has standing headroom in the 26 and if she was whacking her head in the 240 for a week, it would be the last week!

Mine is rated at 6000, yours is rated at 6500. I don't see a problem. If you are still unsure, go look at one and ask to tow it around for a bit. With the dual axle, it tows very easy.

 

[Chief RA]

Jerri: I forgot to mention that Catalina does have a water ballast 250 model and it is much lighter than my wing keel is. Your wife would love it! Chief

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

Odayfun;

Dry weight of the Hunter 26 is 3,000 pounds and trailer is about 1500 lbs. without anything else on. When you add motor, equipment and so on, the totol package can weigh anywhere between 5000 to 6000 lbs but generally around 5200 to 5300 or less. The trailer comes with 1 set of surge brakes on the front axle. Make sure you maintain the brakes and store gear in the V berth. If you have a 2wd truck, you will have to add weight over the rear axle in the bed to pull the boat and trailer out of the water. As for tow vehicles, I had customers with 6 cylinder engines but the larger 6 cylinder tow the 26 and 260 for long trips but remember to accelerate and brake slowly as if driving on snow and you will be fine. Most were 4wd. Going up mountains, go slow and do not allow the tow vehicle to go fast down the mt. either as I use the lower gear in addition to the brakes. It sounds you may have the higher performance engine with the towing capacity. Make sure to strap the back of the boat down to the trailer and the winch strap and trailer tongue chain are strapped or attached to the bow. Generally go 20 miles and pull over and retighten as things become loose while the boat settles down in the trailer initially.

Both the 26 and 260 are 8 feet and 11 1/4 inches wide and in most states, the legal width is 8' 6" which legally require a wide load permit. However, the sillowette of the boat on the trailer looks like 8' 6" and most folks do not worry about that at all. Never knew of anyone getting a ticket either. Some will say if in an accident that automatically will place you at fault which is bunk because what caused the accident determines who is at fault.

I was heavily involved with the boats from the ground floor up and outsold every dealer who sold both boats which I base my response on from experience.

dave condon