Towing boat behind 5th wheel

your neighbor is right

Brian,

I have a Yamaha 242 and the tongue weight is 500-600 pounds. A good approximation is 10-15% of your total weight of the boat and trailer. If a tandem axle and long tongue, boats tend to be a bit lighter on the tongue than say a travel trailer. That's still a lot of weight for the back of a 5th wheel trailer. You will need to seriously reinforce the rear structure of your trailer to accommodate a proper hitch setup.

You will also need to be sure to have proper wiring for the boat trailer's electric brakes (hopefully it has them).

The whole thing is problematic and generally not a good idea, but probably legal where you live. That is not the case everywhere, so research the law where you plan to travel, as you'd not want to get pulled over where it's forbidden.

just for the heck of it whats the max length for combination ?

I have towed tandem behind my 5er for going on 15 years now, so I do have some experience on this.

In my experience, boat trailers are lighter on the tongue weight than a typical travel trailer. They seem to be closer to 7% - 10% of total weight. I have seen very few that are heavier, not saying that your's won't be.

My worst experience was my first set up, with a boat that weighed close to the weight of the 5er, and too little tongue weight. I fixed that very quickly.

My current set up is about 17,000 pounds over all. My boat is a 21' bow rider that weighs 5060 pounds. I would love to go up to a 24' boat, but I have no desire to tow more weight behind my 5er.

Personally, I think you are likely to have a very unpleasant towing experience. A poorly balanced 2nd trailer, and a 5er that is very light just doesn't seem like a winning combination. It may seem counterintuitive but I think you would be much happier with a bigger, heavier 5er.

For comparison, here is my set up. Photo taken this weekend.

Hi,

I know a current truck driver that tows tandems at work. So he has the correct license and current medical certificate paid for by the company. The problem is his wife does not have a commercial license, his dad does, so will limit their travel days to what he can drive at one time.

He is also a welder, and needed to attach a strong hitch to the trailer frame. By drilling a 7/8" hole into the frame tubing, then insert some 1/2" steel pipe, and then once he tightened the 1/2" bolt, he welded the tubing into place. This keeps the 1/2" bolt from crushing the frame tubing when tightened to 130 foot pounds.

Fred.

tn terry t wrote:
just for the heck of it whats the max length for combination ?

In Alberta 65' 7" or 20 metres for 5th wheel combination

23 foot boat and 25 ft 5er and only 7100 lbs. I question that, with fuel, gear, etc.
bumpy

Bumpyroad wrote:
23 foot boat and 25 ft 5er and only 7100 lbs. I question that, with fuel, gear, etc.
bumpy

What part of "my boat and trailer weighs 7100 lbs." dont you understand.

Brian Shack wrote:
I am biulding a hitch to tow my 23 ft jet boat behind my 24.5 ft 5th wheel.my boat and trailer weighs 7100lbs. I don't know the tongue weight but I can't lift it and it is very heavy. I thought of extending my boat trailer tongue a few feet but my neighbours thinks this will increase tongue weight? Thoughts please. I can't move the boat back farther on the trailer as this puts too much weight on the rear axle of the boat trailer.

Your not going to increase hitch weigh but a few lbs by increasing the length.
I towed doubles for 8 years with a 26' 5er and a 3500 lb 18' bass boat. The tongue on the single axle boat trailer was very short for pulling behind my truck so I increased it by 24". Weight gain was less than 20 lbs on the scales. Weight gain on a multi axle trailer would have been even less.

This is my 3rd 5er with a hitch that I had fabricated and welded to the trailers main frame rails and cross members. I don't mess with any type of bolted on hitch on the back of any trailer.

harold1946 wrote:

Bumpyroad wrote:
23 foot boat and 25 ft 5er and only 7100 lbs. I question that, with fuel, gear, etc.
bumpy

What part of "my boat and trailer weighs 7100 lbs." dont you understand.

I don't understand how your boat and trailer, both of which are longer then mine, can weigh that little fully loaded, fuel, water, gear, etc.
have you had them on a scale.
bumpy