Trailering

[Brian Hofler]

Just a few thoughts and words of advice to those trailering their
boats. If you have an automatic transmission make sure you have an
additional trans cooler installed to save your trans from overheating
and burning out. Most of the people who are trailering their boats
have only a two wheel drive vehicle and must be extra carefull if and
when they use a ramp to unload their boats, as the weight of the
trailer and boat exceeds the towing vehicle by far. It could be
pulled into the water!! A four wheel towing vehicle is almost a must
when pulling the boat and trailer from the water up the ramp as the
rear wheels will almost certainly be immersed in the water at the
ramp and will slip. On a ramp you are not pulling a rolling load but
some of the actual weight of the boat and trailer due to the incline.
Some people say "bigger is not always better" but in this case a
bigger engine and vehicle loading applies. I use a Ford F350 4X4
diesel with a stick shift to get my extended tongue trailer and boat
out of the water, and never had any problems putting the rig in or
out. Walt

 

[spragueatsaltspring]

Greetings all,
Lots of people trailer vegas long distances. Not too bad if you have good brakes on the trailer. We took ours on three trips of about 4,000 km across most of Canada including the Rocky Mountains. One learned how to pull over and let people pass. Some sweat at times. Blown radiator in the mountains. Worst was 3 hours of stop-and-go in packed lanes of traffic on a hot day during the active repaving process of a highway past Chicago. On the other hand there were many delights. We camped out in the boat as we went, and awakened to look out from the cockpit on prairies or sage-brush, and once with elk wandering around the trailer in rutting season. We pulled into one campsite in a canyon of the dinosaur badlands in Alberta and the guy at the next campsite asked "Do you know something that I don't?". The last time, we enjoyed exploring byways so much that it took us 27 days to make the trip. So dont't hesitate to use a trailer if you get the chance.
John
John Sprague, Salt Spring Island, B.C., No. 1492.


Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2003 10:39:35 +0100
From: "Steve Birch" steve@...
Subject: Re: Trailer

Hi All

Just towed a Vega 30 miles form my farm in the New Forest to SOuthampton. Not a pleasant job and kepy below 30mph the whole way. Must admit I would sooner pay someone to do the towing.......Regrads

Steve Birch

 

[theluckyfrogannandaleva]

i would love to trailer a VEGA problem is... where to find the trailer..
anybody have one i can borrow for a few days in the DC area?

dan
theluckyfrog@...

 

[peterjmaud]

John, As Brit., who goes back home somewhat regularly, I can assure you
that pulling a boat in the U.S. is a lot different from doing it in the
U.K. British motorways (interstates) are usually very crowded and the other
roads often very narrow with poor visibility due to sharp curves etc. I
have pulled a 22ft. Rhodes with no problems here but would hate to have to
do it in the U.K.
Peter
At 10:42 AM 06/06/2003 -0700, you wrote:

 

[mocap1]

I just arrived in Nova Scotia after trailering my Vega from Tucson Arizona,
a distance of about 3,400 miles. I was able to maintain 65 mph most of the
time on the interstates. The trip took seven days. Not many problems, but I
wouldn't do it again.

Mort