Big Tow

[toppop52]

My Z25 Donzi with a single BBC/Bravo weighed 4270 lbs with 20 gal's. of fuel and typical life jackets, etc. It had a state of the art for the time (1988) stereo system, power driver's seat, tilt wheel, stand up bolsters, etc... My Donzi Z33 Crossbow with twin 540 BBC's and SS III's weighed 8400 lbs. with 50 gallons of fuel, some water in the tank, etc... A lot of how much a boat weighs has to do with layup schedule and materials. If a hull is choppered or laid up heavy with cheaper materials to gain strength but save cost, then it's going to weigh a lot more. My 33 was well more than a thousand lbs lighter than a comparable Formula. As for towing them, my 25 was towed with a diesel Suburban with 3.42 gears. The 33 needed bigger so it was towed with a Crew Cab Dually with a 454 and 4.56 gears.

 

[JDgreen227]

You guys always ask so here is one. We have pulled and winterized about 20 boats so far.

This one is a 34' Sea Ray with a 13' beam. I have been pulling and launching this one since 2003. She sits on a tri axle 25,000# Eagle trailer with 3 8,000# axles. It has electric over hydraulic brakes. I have weighed this rig at 21,000# empty and right at 25,000# with fuel, water, and personal stuff. Today it was about 24,000# I guess.

Being pulled by a 06 F350. Needed a little tug mid way up the ramp from my 08 Titan once the weight fully transfered to the trailer and the truck was hopping in 4 low

Chris

Assume all towing you do with that boat is local, because of the height and width...do you ever have to tow big boats on Interstates and go thru the required headache of getting overwidth permits, etc? I know you couldn't do it with that pictured craft as it is too high, but what about other boats? Sigh...I couldn't even afford the gas to run that thing for a day...a buddy of mine who had a big boat told me you don't calculate mpg, instead its gpm (gallons per mile)...:laughing:

 

[Diamondpilot]

Yes, do over width stuff here and there. I can get that boat down to 14' its been towed to Cincy from Florida.

Not a real big deal to do it. As long as its under 14' there is no issues. The width is a bigger issue than the height.

Chris

 

[sandman2234]

In Florida width definitely out permits height. I have a Ford 7710 that is a royal pain to move because of it's 13' 3" width. Requires chase cars too. Most times I just drive it, but that is hard to do in your case.
David from jax

 

[dstig1]

Here's a Big Tow that is going on right now for a bridge replacement over the Mississippi in the region:
8 Axle Hydra-Steer -- Hastings Bridge 2 - YouTube

 

[crazyal]

A coworker bought a 36' Carver down in Arkansas and had it brought up. He flew down to take the bridge down and to be there when they pulled it out of the water. He got it for a real good price because the owner didn't know how to take care of it, for a 5 year old boat it looked like about 10. Also it was on a smaller landlocked lake with very limited access. He had a semi bring it up with a case car because it was over 12' wide.