Towing Advice? (First Sailboat)

rfm1992 · Post by **rfm1992** » Thu Aug 23, 2007 3:31 am

I've been reading post here for a while now. I decided the Mac is the boat I want.
I'll be picking up my 26X, this weekend. I'll be trailering it about 150 miles home. Is there anything I should really watch out for trailering this far?

thanks,
Rick

Catigale · Post by **Catigale** » Thu Aug 23, 2007 3:43 am

If the bearings havent had any attention paid to them stop after 15 minutes on the highway and check your wheel temperatures near the hubs - they should be warm, but not hot, to the touch. I stop every hour on the hour and do the same check.

Have a spare tire or join Boat Us with trailer club option (about 30 USD) - your car roadside assistance program (like AAA) wont cover your trailer btw.

Set your tire pressures at the max pressure allowed (written on the tire sidewall)

Your trailer tongue weight should be something like 10% of your trailer weight ..something like 400 #...this means load stuff into the front of the boat, not the rear.

James V · Post by **James V** » Thu Aug 23, 2007 3:48 am

Tie off everything so that it does not rub. Tape all rings. Disconenct the gas hose. Make sure, if you leave anything inside, that it does not rub. Disconnect any propane tanks. Empty the head and flush.

Make sure the safety chain is tied and the lights work. It would not hurt to put a flag on the mast end. Go slow.

As said before. Check often.

opie · Post by **opie** » Thu Aug 23, 2007 5:06 am

use a tie-down. It will go over the stern and rachet down tight on the trailer there.

Catigale · Post by **Catigale** » Thu Aug 23, 2007 11:04 am

Forgot that last one - thanks Opie...an alternative is to use dock lines from the rear cleats to the trailer metal...just get them nice and tight so your boat isnt bouncing around.

DAVEWVU86 · Post by **DAVEWVU86** » Thu Aug 23, 2007 1:05 pm

Catigale wrote:Your trailer tongue weight should be something like 10% of your trailer weight ..something like 400 #...this means load stuff into the front of the boat, not the rear.

This is a very important point. When I trailered my M from WI to VA I ended up moving just about everything in the boat up front. It improved the stability dramatically.

rfm1992 · Post by **rfm1992** » Thu Aug 23, 2007 3:18 pm

Thank you all, good advice!

Looking forward to getting it in the water!

bastonjock · Post by **bastonjock** » Fri Aug 24, 2007 2:26 pm

best of luck on getting the boat in the water

i bought my mac 26x three weeks ago,i trailered it for the first time and took it from south west England to Mid east England,it was a journey of about 350 miles,some of it through towns,up and down country roads and motorways.I took the advice from the excellent site and used a "strop" to hold the back of the boat down,i put some old carpet under the strop to stop it marking my boat.

i followed cats advice and stopped to check the wheel temps on a regular basis.

Its taken me 3 weeks to work my way through the legislation and various licensing but tomorrow i shal be putting her in the water

for the first time

my heads doing overtime trying to figure out if ive forgotten anything

RHC · Post by **RHC** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 1:27 pm

rfm,
Don't know how much trailer driving experience you have. I had zero when I picked up my 26X. I had a couple of minor mishaps:
1. pulling into a gas station, trailer fender ran into pump guard post, partially ripped bracket. I was mentally turning wide, but my instinct was wrong in thinking what the tower clears, the towee will clear.

2. Did not have a pin to defeat the surge brakes, so was locked in (could not move forward nor backward). Long story short, unhitched, rehitched, THEN drove forward w/ landing gear down, shaved off 1/4 of the rubber.

Looking back, biggest mistake was being flusterred. Needed to be calm and carefully think things thru.

For what it's worth,

Bill Earnhardt · Post by **Bill Earnhardt** » Tue Sep 25, 2007 9:46 am

Don't forget to check lug nuts, before you start, and down the road aways.

Bawgy · Post by **Bawgy** » Tue Sep 25, 2007 10:05 am

For those who dont have a pin to put in the M trailer to bypass the brake system I have a very cost effective system It only cost a nickel. Thats right a nickel will fit right in there.

tangentair · Post by **tangentair** » Tue Sep 25, 2007 10:37 am

A couple of only snug wire ties around the light wires in the general area of the place you put the lockout nickel, can be slipped over the nickel to hold it in place when backing up and will keep the wires out of the way.

I had experience trailering but not that long of a trailer, my left fender is also customized a tad. Make wide turns at first.

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Towing Advice? (First Sailboat)

Towing Advice? (First Sailboat)

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