Long tow this winter

[dnifedem85]

This January I will be towing my 18.5' bowrider from Cleveland, OH to Salt Lake City, UT. Its a 1750 mile trip. Am I crazy? It will be flat most of the way, hitting some mountains once I get closer to Colorado. Also, what extra precautions should I take to protect my hull from the nasty, salty roads and any rocks that fly up? Any other things I should be prepared for to protect my nautical baby?

 

[zach103]

Re: Long tow this winter

im not sure you really have to worry about rocks flying up. if you kick them up with your car tires it'll hit the bottom of your car... the salt be find but if you get picky you can look for car washes on the way down so you can spray it down... make sure you have a spare tire.

 

[Mwp909]

Re: Long tow this winter

I would make sure the trailer is in tiptop shape. Bearings and hubs greased, lights all working, good spare tire etc. I would also take an extra set of bearings and even an extra spring with hardware, along with light bulbs and fuses. All this you could fix on the side of the road in an emergency with the basic tools.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Long tow this winter

trailer in tiptop shape, bearing, air pressure, spare tire, jack, wood block to put under jack, 4 way tire tool that fits trailer, transom saver for motor or outdrive, spare light bulbs.

the salt will be no worse than a day in the ocean. wash it down when you get there. you can try a towable cover, but i find them a pita.

the main thing is to be aware of any strange noises. set your mirrors so that you can see around the boat, but also see the tires.

every stop, walk around the trailer, fell the hubs, warm OK, hot, do something then. every morning check your lug nuts and lights. stern straps are a must.

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: Long tow this winter

I would make sure the trailer is in tiptop shape. Bearings and hubs greased, lights all working, good spare tire etc. I would also take an extra set of bearings and even an extra spring with hardware, along with light bulbs and fuses. All this you could fix on the side of the road in an emergency with the basic tools.

I agree on the extra bearings for sure.And the tools to change them.A good jack and a 4-WAY lug wrench.
Zip ties,electrical tape,some wire connectors,grease gun and a good stocked tool box.Wrenches to fit the bolts on the trailer suspension,like the axle U-bolts,spring hangers ect...
Those things can vibrate loose and need to be checked every so often.

 

[Irv964]

Re: Long tow this winter

This January I will be towing my 18.5' bowrider from Cleveland, OH to Salt Lake City, UT. Its a 1750 mile trip. Am I crazy? It will be flat most of the way, hitting some mountains once I get closer to Colorado. Also, what extra precautions should I take to protect my hull from the nasty, salty roads and any rocks that fly up? Any other things I should be prepared for to protect my nautical baby?

I would go over the trailer really good before you leave, check all fasteners for tightness, inspect the wiring, lights, welds, bunks/rollers, winch & winch strap etc. Do you have a safety chain that goes from the trailer tongue to the front of the boat? Also check your tow vehicle hitch bolts and overall condition.
Definitely carry some extra bulbs, fuses, a bit of wire, tape, wire strippers, crimpers.
I would also give the boat a good coat of wax especially the bottom if your afraid of the potential damage to the bottom. Also a good set of mudflaps on your tow vehicle would help, you never know what road construction you may run into? Have a safe trip.........Irv964

 

[AZMinyard]

Re: Long tow this winter

Not sure if it is an issue or not, but you might check to see if there are chain requirements for trailers in any of the states you are travelling through. I can't imagine that there would be, but is is better to know for sure. They have requirements for commercial vehicles, but no idea about noncommercial.

Have a safe trip!

 

[marquette]

Re: Long tow this winter

i was raised in western pennsylvania only a 100 miles or so from cleveland. but until i lived in colorado and now minnesota i had no idea what a winter storm on the prarie would be like. so watch the weather and allow for extra travel time. there is a reason why there are gates to close I-80 and I-90. blowing snow can create ground blizzards on perfectly clear days, roads glaze when snow from fields blow across the road, and in below zero tempertures plastic breaks. there is no reason not to make the tow but don't force it if the weather turns bad. in colorado depending on what pass you are going through they may not let you tow a trailer on some days because of wind or snow. and it is hard to understand that when they wave you over and tell you that you have to turn around when the road is perfectly dry but that 3000ft up the mountain it is blowiing and snowing like a blizzard. if you can travel with an open schedule so if you have to get off the road early one day or wait a day in a motel if need be then it will no big deal to make the trip. just remember you are crossing 3 time zones and typically 3 different weather patterns in the dead of winter so your chance of hitting some bad weather is pretty good.

 

[tmcalavy]

Re: Long tow this winter

Do you really like your boat? Will Mr. Murphy be riding with you? I know the answer to question one, but if you really like it I would not trailer across the Rockies in January. Go south, then west, then north. Mr. Murphy always rides with me, even when I take all necessary precautions...and he is generally a ruthless passenger...expensive to travel with. Factor that into your plans.
Might also consider leaving your nautical baby at home and renting a comparable rig when you get there.

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: Long tow this winter

Consider too that I-80 and I-90 can close due to heavy snow for days at a time. They have metal gates out there and just shut the highway down.
Whatever little town you are near you are stuck there.
Been there done that several times.
Have the tow vehicle well supplied with food and water.

 

[reelfishin]

Re: Long tow this winter

While I'm not sure why you need to tow your boat, moving, going fishing or other, if your really concerned about the boat on the open road you could rent an enclosed trailer and back the whole boat and trailer inside, secure it and tow it that way. It will be out of the weather, protected from prying eyes, etc.
The only drawback might be the added weight of the larger trailer or the added fuel used.

I was on my way back from Iowa several years ago towing an empty 28' car hauler towing with a 1 ton truck, it was late winter, so snow wasn't to much of a concern. By the time I got home, the trailer was full, two small tractors, a boat, and some antique furniture. A couple of side road detours and some trash picking all but filled the trailer. If I hadn't been running empty with that trailer, I would have had to pass on those deals, those big empty boxes are real nice to haul with.

You could run farther south but the added mileage and fuel would be substantial. I'd guess a warmer or southern route on that trip would add about 500 or so miles to the trip.
I've towed enclosed trailers all over the country, I've often run many miles out of my way to avoid either steep mountain passes or snow storms. It's no fun being stuck in a small town with nothing to do while you wait for the roads to open. (It's even worse when your running late or losing money).

Watch the weather, plan for the worst, take two spares, spare hubs with bearings and spare lugs. Grease, extra tie downs, etc. Plenty of food and drink too if you run in snow bound areas.

 

[dnifedem85]

Re: Long tow this winter

Thanks for the ideas. I will be sure to be prepared for the worst. Where the heck would I rent a trailer long and wide enough for my boat? I am moving to Utah, so leaving my boat isn't really a option. I really don't want to leave my boat and have to drive all the way back and get it next spring. Oh well, it will surely be an adventure. Thanks again!

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: Long tow this winter

It may be well worth checking with a trucking company.
There are ones that will transport on the trailer loaded on an auto transport rig..
http://www.1staboard.com/boats/add.php

http://www.boatmovers.com/

http://www.expresstransporters.com/

 

[reelfishin]

Re: Long tow this winter

Call one of the moving companies, sometimes when they have extra room on a truck, they will take all sorts of cargo. I've shipped things as large a small farm tractor that way.
The car trailer I was hauling was 108" wide so a 90 some inch boat trailer fit right in. The widest boat trailer I've had was about 96" wide and that was an odd ball. Most of my single axles are 86" wide, and my one tandem is 93" wide.

Try calling the bigger truck rental companies, they should be able to point you in the right direction. A lot will depend on what you are driving. If I was trying to make the move in one trip, I'd be tempted to just rent a full size truck and load the boat in that at a loading dock. I'm sure you could find someone local in both places to let you use their dock to unload. I bought a conversion van and a motor cycle online in LA, I rented a Budget rental, (formerly Ryder), a 24' box truck to haul it back in, it was the cheapest way to go on a one way rental. I flew down, rented the truck, found a place willing to let me use their dock to load, and headed home. Their trucks have floor anchors so tying it down wasn't a problem and the box is 8' wide inside so space wasn't a problem either. I tied the van down up front, then the bike at the rear sideways. Nothing moved the whole way home. I had a buddy here who let me use his dock to unload.
I did the same again when a buddy bought a pickup truck in Texas online, it was cheaper than paying a car hauler and in that case, a buddy flew me down for free since he normally travels that route for business.

Measure your boat, have the length, width and weight specs ready when you call. A freight company will be the highest. If you rent a truck or trailer, then you will also have room for more items as well. It may even make the move easier.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Long tow this winter

doing the truck thing, besure to have the paper on the boat and trailer in the cab, for inspection stations. my cousin did this, got to an inspection station, the paper work was in the very front of the box. he had to climb over all the stuff to get the paper work out of the dresser drawer.

i have also seen moving companies, that move your furniture, load a car, at the very back of the box, so they could do it with a boat also.

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: Long tow this winter

1st get your truck and trailer serviced as stated
2nd, you don't go through Colorado or any real mountains until you hit the Utah border on I80 as you leave Wyoming. But when you get there, that mountain is real, and the grade is steep and it's long. And then you have to go down it to get into Salt Lake City. Be careful!
3rd, the topography is flat as flat can be, basically, until you get into Wyoming. Then it starts to gently roll. It's actually quite neat, if you are into watching the gradual change of topography. It's pretty hilly by the time to you get to western WY. With exposed rock faces on the hill slopes.
4th, there is a upward slope starting in Iowa somewhere and it will continue all the way until you come to that mountain at the WY/UT border. So if your truck seems to be working hard and running warm, it's because it's pulling something like a 3% grade for about 1000 miles!
I went from East Liverpool, OH to Salt Lake City with my dad in his 1981 International cab over pulling a 6000 gallons of Quaker State oil in a tanker trailer, when I was 10 or 11 years old. So it's been 25 years, but I remember all this from the trip.
I also remember that the caribou or deer or what ever the heck they are, are EVERYWHERE in WY. And they don't seem to mind jumping that fence and crossing I80. I wouldn't travel at night for this reason.
Lastly, the blowing and drifting of snow is a real concern. The wind blows pretty much west to east, but if it comes out of the north or south or when the road bends that way, drifting is a real possibility. Also, the constant headwind, along with the aforementioned grade, will cause your tow vehicle to work EXTRA hard. Be prepared.
If you make it to west of Chicago and the wind or whatever is just too much, I know an outside storage place in Peoria that you can rent for $20/mo on a month to month basis.

I will say, that at the end of your journey, as you come down that mountain, and see the city spread out across that huge valley and starting up the mountain slopes that border it, it is easy to see how a group of religious people could think that God wanted them to stay there. It is truly beautiful and if the sun shines off the golden dome, it's angelic!
Enjoy the trip!

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Long tow this winter

when you get there, you can go to the iboats center.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: Long tow this winter

I've made similar and much longer trips across the country with and without boats on trailers.

Salt is not an issue for the boat, just the trailer, but you most likely won't see much, if any of it.

Cold weather is better for towing than summer heat, so winter is good.

Like the others said, get repair parts, if you've never changed these bearings yourself, then at least change one of them before you leave so you know the exact way to do it.

Snow happens, just drive around closed sections and watch the weather reports to help prevent getting stuck in a small town. I travel through mountain passes in the west all winter and for the most part, it's uneventful.

When driving west through WY the wind can be terrible and most of the time is blowing right in your face, this plus the high elevation will make your truck feel gutless.

You didn?t say what the tow vehicle will be.

 

[Willyclay]

Re: Long tow this winter

I've noticed that some trailers have gaps between the fenders and trailer frame which allow dirt, grit, gravel, etc. to be slung off the tires into the hull. These gaps should be filled with sheet metal or plywood to prevent the type of damage you are concerned about. Good luck and let us know how it goes!

 

[dnifedem85]

Re: Long tow this winter

Again, thanks for all the help folks. I will have to look in to renting a truck. It was also great to hear about what I should expect along my 25 hour drive from those of you who have made the journey. Thanks again.