Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

Newbie question.... New boat on the way. I will be trailering (if that's a word) all of the time; 30 mins away is closest lake, but won't hesitate to tow wherever the urge hits. Matter of fact, we are planning a 'multi-state' vacation this summer, and will be towing the boat.

My question is, How fast do y'all drive on interstate while towing your pontoons? I'm not worried about my tow vehicle, I'm worried about the boat trailer.

I towed mine 65 mph and had no problem. Only thing I'd watch for is gusts of wind. When the wind gust get over 25 mph you can really feel it at high speeds.

Splittoe wrote:I towed mine 65 mph and had no problem. Only thing I'd watch for is gusts of wind. When the wind gust get over 25 mph you can really feel it at high speeds.

Pretty much the same. Increase the speed when approaching a hill, to keep the momentum up. On long hauls map the trip time wise to avoid traffic. Don't want to be pulling a toon through downtown Atl. during rush hour. Trailer without cover unless you get one that is trailerable. First boat I ever had, thought it needed to be covered while transporting. Ripped it to shreads. It was an older canvas type back then.
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Just depends on how much gas you want to burn as pulling a pontoon is like having a parchute hooked to the tow machine.

Oh and what size tires are we talking about on the trailer.

... and what kind of trailer?

How wide are the axles?

When I was towing behind a 351 V8 Econoline and a 350 Suburban the pontoon didn't really affect my mileage that much but it sucked anyway (13 on the Econoline, 14 on the Suburban). I figured out it towed better with the tongue low. I think the extra down force on the deck made it more stable. My boat is pretty light compared to some of the lounges but I hardly noticed it was back there.

Herb & Greg I beg to differ on tires and axle width. If the correct tires are used it don't matter as they are made for highway speeds. Same with width. If it wasn't safe for highway they wouldn't be on the trailer.

Just be sure and use rear tie downs and a safety chain on the front

I am not sure some of these 4' wide (between the toon) trailers were actually sold to be used on the highway. I know I have seen one upside down in the median.

Millions of toons until early 80's were under straddle trailers. My first was and after getting used to it it trailered just fine. Being so low it also didn't pull as hard as new bunk type trailers.

lakerunner696 wrote:Just be sure and use rear tie downs and a safety chain on the front

Sometimes you also need to strap the front down also. I found this out on my way home with my new boat. It seemed to bounce, well it was. My bow winch pulls straight forward, so there was no down pressure up front. I simply ran a strap down from the bow eyelet to the frame.

My trailer has a max speed warning of 45 MPH. I did do 60-65 the day we bought it and towed it back from Baltimore though

Now I tow 2x a year, in and out of the slip at highway speeds (55MPH).The drive to the slip from home is only 6 miles though.

From time to time I may hit 65, but for the most part I try and keep my speed around 60....

Welcome to the forums.......

1. If you're towing more than a few miles and you have a dual axle trailer, you should tow it as level as you can to keep from putting extra weight on the front or rear axle. Eventually, the overstressed axle will fail, which is interesting at highway speeds. Also, it's usually better to haul than to tow. Meaning, load you coolers, backup beer, wife's 4 suitcases, etc into the truck vs the boat. Looks as though you've got plenty of truck for towing.

2. Check tire pressure EVERY time before you tow any distance. Trailer tires seem to lose pressure more than any damn tire I've ever seen. Not sure why (cheap Chinese pot-metal rims?). An exploded tire on a pontoon boat trailer at 65mph will tighten your sphincter for several hours. You may loose you boat AND get to go to the ER just because you were too lazy to check the tires.

3. You will usually find a comfortable speed that you and your tow vehicle seems to like for any given trailer. I think the biggest thing I had to learn when towing was to take my time, don't be in a big hurry. Leave early, stop often, and enjoy yourself.

You can say enough about good tiedowns. I have a friend who had his 23' Rabalo pass him on US 41.
I use 3" ratchet straps over the toons and into 1/2" eyes on the trailer frame. (plus the winch and a safety chain on front)

This question always gets to me because I too tow to every lake I go to, with the closest being about 20 minutes drive away. The thing is, I logically know that 55-60 mph is the probably the best tow speed for towing a pontoon, but my truck (2001 Silverado 1/2 ton with the 5.3L v-8 and 3.73 gears) doesn't like to pull anything, including itself at that speed. It constantly shifts down to 3rd, then back to 4th, even in tow/haul mode. How do I stop this, I pull faster. Yea, I know, not the most logical solution, but it honestly works better that way. I ended up getting better fuel mileage and felt more comfortable towing at about 72mph with our rig. Hell, there was even one time where I had to pass someone, and I got her up to 80mph, and I'm not kidding you, she drove like a dream at that speed. That was honestly the first time when I couldn't tell the boat was behind me ( I guess that's where the power band is for my truck) but it still was, and it towed great at that speed. I won't however tow at that speed intentionally, as I don't feel that is a safe speed (for towing anyways).