Towing a barge with an XC wagon

[BlackBart]

Just doing some rough math at the possibility of towing a sweet old sailboat home 1200 miles with my wagon, and being able to move it around or transport to the lake 80 miles seasonally, and maybe out to Seattle 500 miles.

I learn the P2's have a 3300lb towing limit. That means tongue weight should be between 330 and 495 lbs.

The boat is just under 2300lbs, 27' long, and sits high on the trailer with a fixed keel. So, a 2300 lb boat and a single axle 500(?), 700lb steel trailer. That makes 3000lbs, with an allowable tongue weight between 300 and 450lbs. This assumes no storage boxes and gear on the trailer. Unloaded car weight is 3827 (wow, really? My 850 is 3400) I don't know what the combined gross weight limit is, is that on the door jamb tag?

That makes 300 lbs breathing room on the towing limit. I'm assuming finding the factory frame-mounted hitch assembly, which fits recessed up tight to the chassis, not hanging down. That's a Class II hitch, right, at 1 1/4"? A weight distribution hitch seems smart.

This specific trailer has a surge brake unit on the tongue. I've done a bit of reading on retrofitting electric disk brakes on a trailer - I like the idea of that because of instant response reducing fishtailing.

So the weight on a boat like this is all in the keel, down low on the trailer over the axle, not up high or hanging off the back the full length. I'm told it isn't bad to tow (unless you get a trailer flat on an LA freeway at night (this happened).

I would probably need to install a auxiliary transmission cooler up front. I'm thinking new tires and maybe wheel bearings before I brought it home. The seller hoists the boat off the trailer and it never gets dunked in salt water.

Anyone have experience with this, close to these numbers?

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[volvolugnut]

I don't know boats, can you remove anything to make the boat lighter? The mast and sails?

I would want actual weights on everything.

volvolugnut

[BlackBart]

Nope, actual weight. Boat is 2280, single axle trailer at...700lbs? Mast & rig included. No gear, no motor, no fuel.

I'm reading some discrepancy between owners manual max tongue weight of 180 lbs or so (I haven't looked yet), and the recommended tongue weight between 10 and 15% of max towed weight. If you're outside that 10 to 15%, you can get dangerous swaying. Not sure if the Volvo number is for an unbraked trailer?.

https://www.volvoxc.com/forums/showthre ... gue-Weight

As I understand it, that 3300 max is for a braked trailer only.


I should also say - If I have to buy a truck, I'll skip the boat and stick with dinghies.

[BlackBart]

Here's an Alberta guy on the VolvoXC forum -

"Towing capacity is 1,500 kilos or 3,300 pounds. Our '04 model regularly tows a 3,000 pound sailboat/trailer combo through the Rocky mountains (9,000 foot elevation) for about 1,000 kilometers in each direction. No problems whatsoever.

"You DO need to be cautious about the weight on the trailer tongue which is recommended to be only 160 pounds. Not a problem with my boat, but the rule of thumb in North America is a tongue weight of 10% of the towing capacity. That would work out to 330 pounds theoretically, not the 160 pounds max recommended by Volvo. The rear end does sag at 160 pounds so I would not risk doubling that weight level to 330."


So there's a max tongue weight conflict.

[volvolugnut]

RENT a truck or van. Be sure it has trailer hitch you need.

As local boat dealer advertises, "You know you want a new boat."

volvolugnut

[BlackBart]

Some Swedespeed posts:

"Depends on the total weight of your boat and whether it has brakes. I have towed up to 3,000 lbs (a 2 wheel box trailer) with my 04 XC 70. The XC 70 will pull up to about 2,500 lbs lke it is not even there, with no problems stopping, turning or accellerating. Above that weight, as the load increases you began to feel the trailer trying to control the car while turning and stopping, but the XC 70 will still have no trouble accelerating with that load, even up hills. The 3,000 lb trailer had no brakes, so I had to be very carefull. (YIKE - BB) I will never again and would never have pulled that heavy a trailer w/o brakes with my XC 70 had I not had a lot of experience pulling trailers, and had the time to drive slowly. During that trip I also unloaded the car completely except for my self and my son. That said, if your trailer has brakes, you're go to go up to 3,000lbs in my experience."



"I've put electronic brake controllers in many of my vehicles but not my XC70. It shouldn't be a problem. I'd suggest running the hot lead directly to the battery through a circuit breaker. You will have to modify/replace the factory trailer connector.

"Still, every trailer I've seen with brakes, that the XC70 could tow, had surge brakes and thus would not need a controller."



"While the trailer light harness (if you buy the unit from the dealer) plugs right into an existing connector, there is no provision for an electric brake controller. While Volvos are in fact designed with towing in mind (and are very capable), European trailers all use surge brakes, not electric."


BB again - I've read some about European towing, and their trailers are often balanced over the wheels with lower tongue weights. Not sure how that's stable on the highway when the tongue starts swaying.

[BlackBart]

Haha!! This looks fixed!

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[abscate]

Europeans run lower tongue weights for one simple reason, they drive slower. If you can keep at 55, tongue weight of 200 pounds will be ok. Measure it, don’t guess.

Surge brakes in good shape are better balanced than electric and are lower maintenance

I’ve pulled Both a 3000 pound BOAT AND A 2500 high keelboat with my p80

I would rent a truck for the 500 mile and 1200 mile one off tow

You don’t need a trans auto cooler. Just drive like an adult, keep it at 55, and go to 15,000 mile 3 liter ATF GIBBONS SWAPS

[BlackBart]

I’ve pulled Both a 3000 pound BOAT AND A 2500 high keelboat with my p80

At the same time, that is one tough car!

I've read that about Euro trailers - they're light in the front, balanced on the wheels. You can even see it in photos. We're told 10 to 15% on the tongue is ideal for stability. Plenty of videos of fying trailers and flipping trucks. I don't know if a weight distribution hitch changes that calc? I don't know yet if the owner knows his specific numbers.

Interesting about surge brakes, that's good to know. Are they normally drums? (which aren't great when they're wet) And a small issue if you have to back the trailer uphill...

I looked into a real truck to rent - most are Colorados or lightweight half tons - no towing please. It was going to be in the thousands for a week?? (different drop-off location) Enterprise has a separate page with 3/4 and 1-ton trucks for towing. That's more like $300 to $500, but they want the truck back where you got it. Bit of an issue. U-haul pickups are in-town only.

Note, for context, this is only a $2000 boat.


Thanks for the input, very useful.

[BlackBart]

These guys pulled one across South America for a major championship. No info on engine or if rental car or life expectancy of this car.

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