How not to tow a boat.

Most Brownell rigs support the boat with a keel block and 4 pads on the end of hydraulic arms. Thousands of boats moved every day with these rigs.

The right way would have been to lift the boat, and then put it on an adjustable boat trailer. That would have taken some skill though. Much easier for the local tow guy to drag it up on a flat bed and strap the h3ll out of it.

A sailboat as is pictured is best hauled in a keel cradle with the proper trailer. The cradle is typically built with heavy lumber (6X6, 4X4, and such). The keel is not so much supported as is shown with the DIY trailer but the hull takes most of the weight onto the cradle.

The cradle trailers are simple, two (or more) steel cross supports that are slid onto parallel rails. The parallel rails comprise most of the trailer. The trailer I used had active hydraulics to lift the cradle from the ground for transportation.

My longest sailboat haul was from coastal NC to St Paul, MN and was an adventure. Weather and the small truck I had, made for a treacherous ride. Also, I was over height, over width, and was permitted for the entire haul.

free radical wrote:

Fizz wrote:
Unbelievable...
Boat trailer

Crazy,,wonder why raise it so high up..IF he left it down low on the trailer it couldve been ok..maybe

Heres another one for the lols

https://soranews24.com/2015/03/16/chinese-trucker-hauling-huge-boat-on-highway-attracts-police-32-fine-and-a-lot-of-laughs/

Sailboats have a keel with ballast that extends into the water to counter balance the wind. Can't tell from the photo, but some can be lowered once launched, some are fixed in place, some are a little of both.

Chum lee

People can be innovative, BUT sometimes their ideas are not fully thought through.

blow boters are cheap, why buy a trailer when one can be built with pallet wood and duct tape :D

Fizz wrote:
You can be sure once it was secured that trailer was escorted all the way.

John&Joey wrote:

myredracer wrote:
...The RCMP said "The load was too unsafe to dismantle roadside. It was pulled onto a lowbed tractor trailer then chained/strapped down as a single piece. Once it was secured and met all Motor Vehicle Act standards it was towed away."

IMO, that would have been unsafe also if a person was splitting hairs. It would have been safer, but not safe. Thinking it's the old "do as I say, not as I do" for that providence.

So you're saying that they also stopped all the traffic from coming down the other side of the road? I would think the original tow had someone behind them with their flashers going. Like I said it was safer, but not safe.


The right way would have been to lift the boat, and then put it on an adjustable boat trailer. That would have taken some skill though. Much easier for the local tow guy to drag it up on a flat bed and strap the h3ll out of it.

Fizz wrote:
Unbelievable...
Boat trailer

Crazy,,wonder why raise it so high up..IF he left it down low on the trailer it couldve been ok..maybe

Heres another one for the lols

https://soranews24.com/2015/03/16/chinese-trucker-hauling-huge-boat-on-highway-attracts-police-32-fine-and-a-lot-of-laughs/

fj12ryder wrote:
You just can't fix stupid.

Sure you can,,
I think that big fine is a start.. :)

fj12ryder wrote:
People can be inventive, but nobody said they had to also be smart.

well i think it takes 'smarts' and 'ingenuity' to be inventive
but that doesn't make the result 'wise' aka 'good idea'

pnichols wrote:
l agree ... the way to tow a boat showing in the OP's link was unbelievable on a whole bunch of levels!

Here's a couple photos of correct ways to tow a boat on RV trips :B :

:B