Smallest tow vehicle?

[bret]

So what is the smallest tow vehicle anyone has used to take their boat in/out of the water? I have a AWD pontiac torrent that can haul 3500 lbs and was thinking of using it to periodically work on the boat next season but am worried about what will happen when I exceed my towing capacity. (public landing is only about 2 miles away from garage)

The boat is a 2000 mobius v.

[kaneboats]

Heat is the big enemy. If you are careful and only going 2 miles you probably won't hurt it. But, you also have to STOP it. Keep that in mind.

[keehr22]

kaneboats makes a good point about brakes.

We've towed with our S15 Blazer plenty of times, has a tow rating of 5000lbs; towed back and forth from MI to TN multiple times as well. Also have to keep your tongue weight in mind, if you're not level you may be looking at up to 15% tongue weight, if boat and trailer is right at 3500lbs you're looking at a possible max tongue weight of 525lbs.

[bergermaister]

Yup - Agree with both. I'd say tongue weight would probably be your killer on the littler SUV since the trailer most likely has surge brakes. Just because it may have a tow package rated for XXX pounds on it doesn't mean the suspension is going to hold it up!

It's amazing what some people get away with though. I posted pics before of this guy I ran into earlier this summer that blew me away...

Really big boat...


Really NOT so big tow vehicle...


Talked to him and he admitted it was stupid/crazy but he was only going a few miles up the relatively flat road.

[zabooda]

Think about liability also. Going a few miles should be ok on side roads but have an accident at highway speeds and you may be looking at a law suit and other legal issues.

I use my S-10 for around town with 5K towing but I still managed to burn up a tranny. Make sure you have a tranny cooler for any vehicle that tows a boat.

[ryan_8099]

I don't think the brakes will be an issue, there are no stop signs

Just measured it out on google maps and it is .6 miles launch to garage(maybe we could just push it).....Boat is 3250 lbs dry + 1000+? lbs for the trailer. It really doesn't make sense for us to have a tow vehicle, but it also sucks paying someone to pull it out of the water if we want to give it a mid-summer wax.

[NCSUmoomba]

Just remember, the hardest part is launching and retrieving the boat. On the incline of the ramp, the boat may drag you down out of contrtol. Or, you may get stuck with the wheels spinning for enternity try to get the boat up the ramp. My Outback would drag my Ford Ranger down a wet ramp, and without 4 wheel drive, it would have never gotten the boat up the wet ramp.

[viking]

I just use my Chevy Trailblazer. Pulls my 5th wheel too!

[rsinger]

I just use my Chevy Trailblazer. Pulls my 5th wheel too!

Pretty good car jack if you need to change a front flat tire.

[bret]

Yea I'm thinking we need to buy a sub 5k beater truck to just keep at the lake.