How to NOT tow your boat to the lake..................

[Barry]

This man in South Carolina was towing his 16,000 lbs Cigarette boat to the lake. He just came over a hill going 35 mph in his 2012 F350 Ford. Just as he topped the hill, there was a 12 car pile up. He tried to lock 'er down but the weight of the boat pushed the truck, broke the tongue on the trailer and the boat climbed up over the truck. Truck and boat totaled. I asked him how long it took to get the upholstery out of his butt?... ... ... ... ... ..... He is coming to buy one of our Freightliners tomorrow.

"Tis better to have more truck than you need and not need it than to need more truck than you have and not have it. "
A very wise man.....

 

[BIGNASTY]

Common Sense isn't very common any more

 

[SSteilow]

Common Sense isn't very common any more

Agree. I guess the F-350 was not a Dually?

Scott.

 

[EDankievitch]

I'll put money on it that his trailer breaks did not function. I use to own a small trucking company. I shipped boats all over the East coast. That Cig boat is small compaired to what I use to move with my 89 Dodge W250. My rig would put you through the windshield when you hit the breaks if you hit them a bit too hard. I'll also bet that the boat was not secured to the trailer with much more than the bow winch cable. People just put too much faith in that one cable. And I use to wonder why my insurance rates were so high... ...

 

[NIsaacs]

in his 2012 F350 Ford.





Is that a typo? The picture looks like an F-150, six bolt wheels and about a 5. 5' bed.



Nick

 

[MChrist]

I think the tow vehicle was the white truck...

 

[Missouri Mule]

The ford is "heavy duty", you can tell by the cab. The silver truck looks like a toyota tacoma.

 

[NIsaacs]

Okay, yup 12 car pile up, so more rigs than just the boat.

Nick

 

[RVTRKN]

Barry, I know we've had our discussions about what truck you should pull safely with, but that 16K pound load is just below (18. 5K) what Ford says it can haul, with the properly equipped F350. I've seen idiots tow boats that size, with Toyota Tundra's. All summer long, they tow those boats to Lake Mojave, Mead and Havasu with 3/4 to 1 Ton trucks without incident. I've had to tow at my maximum weight allowed by Dodge without trailer brakes due to a new 5ver having a short from trailer lights to trailer brakes. I just cut the signal to all three axles so I could get it to its destination, left plenty of room in front of me and made it without incident. Its sad that, that gentleman lost both rigs, I hope he got everything settled through his insurance.

 

[BLNRAY]

it looks like it may have been more the fault of an mismatched trailer-boat combination and a lack of proper restraints, more than truck.

 

[Barry]

Perhaps all of you are right and I am sure the 7 P's of towing were not followed. I'm just sharing what the man told me as well as the pix he sent hoping it would benefit someone someday... ... ... ... ... ... ... . It could have been all over with except the sad singing and slow driving. Thankfully, no one was killed.

 

[Road Dog]

Don't most boat trailers come with surge brakes? I'd guess most never get checked. 16,000 pounds (plus trailer)? My OEM receiver says 10K max but I guess there are stronger ones.

 

[Barry]

Somewhere in the cobwebs of my mind, it seems that the class 3 is 500/5000 and the class 4 is 1,000/10,000... ... ... ... Tongue/Gross

 

[RVTRKN]

Now that I had time to think about the accident, I'm willing to bet that the boat and trailer had electric brakes due to GVWR of the trailer, and was victim of the inertia type brake controller that the Ford uses. The controller that Ford advertised on commercials that had loads, like the boat in question, stopping fast in a panic stop, well that gentleman found out the hard way its BS.

 

[BLNRAY]

if the tongue on the trailer broke,sounds like he spent an awful lot of money on a boat and cheaped out on the trailer.

 

[RVTRKN]

Didn't Ford change the body style in 2011, with that front grill, it should be a 6. 4 not a 2012 Ford Powerjoke

 

[RVTRKN]

if the tongue on the trailer broke,sounds like he spent an awful lot of money on a boat and cheaped out on the trailer.

The Boat dealer will sell the boat with the trailer included in the purchase, so the customer thinks the trailer should be up to the task. Not always does it go that way though, I was going to purchase a pontoon boat and give my boat in my sig to my daughter, and the trailer manufacture was going to be chosen by the dealer, and I was given the opportunity to buy a different trailer if I wanted to. On the other hand, with my boat in sig, the trailer was chosen by the manufacturer and sold by the dealer. I had the opportunity to pull the trailer with my 94 Ram 2500 Gasser, before the boat was delivered, because I questioned the tandem axle trailer for the weight of the boat, when a single axle trailer would handle the weight. BTW I didn't buy the Pontoon boat because nObama got re-elected and didn't want to go into debt with a communist in the oval office.

 

[RUSSELL5000]

There are lots of boats here in Erie, PA as we sit right on the lake.



Fairly typical at this time of year: walking back in the building from lunch a big old Bayliner cabin cruiser on a triple axle trailer being pulled by a Ram 1500 was coming down the street. Truck was dwarfed by the boat and trailer. Big V shape where the tongue of the trailer attached to the hitch - truck bed all squatted down - no weight distributing hitch. One strap at the front of the trailer from the ratchet winch to the bow eye - one small strap at the back at each side from the boat to the trailer.



I moved off the sidewalk and into the grass away from the street until he went by!



Saw a Toyota Tacoma pulling a big boat on a dual axle trailer on Sunday - boat looked three times the size of the truck. Same inadequate setup.



My money is on every aspect of the trailer set up being inadequate in the original post rather than the truck being inadequate. Seems to me few think about what the truck is capable of - and whole lot fewer think about what the trailer is capable of.

 

[EDankievitch]

Yup No sense being stupid unless ya show it... . It don't take much to set up your rig to be safe that boat coming off the trailer proves everything was wrong and not secured to the trailer.

 

[GAmes]

I used to secure the boats I tow to the trailer using the rear tie downs, but have become complacent over the last few years and haven't been doing it. Thanks for reminding me to take a little time to tie the rear down.