Towing Pontoon boat - too long?

[patmsp]

I have a 40' Dynasty and and a 25' pontoon boat in MN. I am contemplating towing the pontoon boat back from MN to TN this fall. The pontoon boat is 25' and my guess is that with the arm on the trailer it would be around 35' long. That would make my whole rig about 75' long going down the road. Am I asking for trouble if I do this?

Thanks for all your great advice in advance.

Pat

[Lukeaa]

We are probably the wrong group to ask. Call the Highway Patrol in the states that you will pass through and ask them.

Luke

[bigskymt]

Towingworld.com will advise trailer restrictions (length, width etc) by state. MN,ND,MT are 75', SD 80'. Remainder are less.

[FLYING BUTCH]

no you are not to long go to state towing regulations (or something like that) on the net and you will find a chart. I pull car and a motorcycle behind the car and have a 42 footer. Never had a problem. Most states that do have a regulation are 80 foot or over.

[Tarheel]

Pat-
You should have no problem towing it, but if has dual axles, it will track differently than towing your toad. My previous motorhome was 40' and I towed a dual axle 24' pontoon boat through NC, SC, VA, WV, GA, and KY. I had to be very careful in tight places and going around a curve in a parking lot, etc. Just be cautious when doing so, make a wider turn, and you should be alright. Prior to that, I towed a 26 ft. cutty cabin which was a little heavier and it trailed about the same.

My wife would follow me in our Jeep that we used to launch the boat when we got to a lake. It doesn't get much better than having a lakeside campsite and having your boat tied up at your site! Unfortunately, I thought I was through with the boating bug and sold it last year, but missed that life greatly and am casually shopping again.

Good luck!

Dick

[patmsp]

Thanks Dick. That gives me a little more confidence hearing that someone actually has done it. I am only planning on making a one way trip (one time) this fall. Although it is tempting to bring it along on our local trips, but I'll have to build up more experiance and confidence before I try something like that.

Thanks again for everyone's replies.

[cb5300]

Quote:

Originally Posted by patmsp I have a 40' Dynasty and and a 25' pontoon boat in MN. I am contemplating towing the pontoon boat back from MN to TN this fall. The pontoon boat is 25' and my guess is that with the arm on the trailer it would be around 35' long. That would make my whole rig about 75' long going down the road. Am I asking for trouble if I do this? Thanks for all your great advice in advance. Pat

Pat,
You are going to be to long to legally tow in TN. Their combine length is 65 feet as in most states...A few are longer but most are going to be in the 65 ft range....Now with that being said, will you have any problems??? Maybe not, of course you could run into that LEO that has had a bad day and you're going to pay for it...Also (heaven forbid) if you should be involved in an accident you would be in some real hot water. Some attorney would have a field day with you....Better to stay within the law then chance it.

[patmsp]

Good point. I forgot about the insurance part of it. That would be a MAJOR mistake to get into a hastle over wether the insurance would cover me if I was over lenght.

thanks for pointing that out.

Pat

[swamphog]

65 ft is the the lenght, anything over you would need an "over size" permit, at least in the trucking world, but yet out west there are states you can run a little longer best to be sure double check and all that you are 65 feet or below, as Tennessee as well as Georgia DOT are pretty strick on size, weight. and all vehicals are subject to be pulled over at any time or place ,or order you to a safe place for a saftly inspection just like a semi,

[JoeT]

Per the previous post. You might look into an oversize permit. However, you might need one for every state you drive through.
I think most states have a 65' combined length limit. I know Texas does.

[thomask]

Thanks for bringing up a good point.

Many of us are using our units to pull boats this time of year.

Yesterday I saw a fellow pulling a travel trailer behind his truck with a jet ski on a trailer tandem!

[swamphog]

a permit for each state you need to travel is required if you are over size in height, length or wide, but this is for semi's, pretty sure its not to much of a difference in the RV world.