Towing boat

[One_Tracc_Mind]

My Polaris ranger 400 tows my little 14 ft Tin with 5hp honda, boat loaded with TM, battery, gas and gear. Back of utv with cooler, and 2 guys in it. This is on gravel roads and atv trails. I think the Mazda will be ok with the light rig.

[Marker]

I would be more concerned with the brakes than the pulling power, your car will pull the weight but if you do not have trailer brakes your stopping distance will be much greater.

Also, you NEED tongue weight to prevent trailer sway. I almost rolled my truck with an excavator on the trailer due to the machine too far back on the trailer. Going down the QEW the trailer was veering uncontrollably from the fast lane to the slow lane as I was driving in the middle. All the traffic behind slowed right down, luckily for me and my passeneger the trailer straightened out and I adjusted the tongue weight by moving the machine up towards the front of the trailer. That was a cheap lesson for me in having tongue weight on the trailer, better too much than not enough.

[DJB]

I have done a lot of towing over the years as I grew up on a farm where you tow everything with many different tow vehicles. Currently, I tow a 26' 5th wheel RV with 2 or 3 trailers behind it. Yes it is legal ! One year I made a grave error loading the trailer. I filled the 50 gal. water tank which is at the back. I loaded 4 20L water cans at the back along with 3 coolers and a heavy tool box. All this weight was behind the axles and with my experience, I should have known better. Everything was going smooth with no issues until the downhill grade on the 400 north approaching the Holland Marsh. My engine was breaking the load of 3 trailers when the 5th wheeler started to sway. The brakes were not helping the situation, so I accelerated hard and pulled it out of the sway, pulled over and reloaded the trailer. This was the only time I was ever terrified towing anything. Thank God I had enough truck to hold it down. I don't believe in undersized tow vehicles. If you can't tow a properly loaded trailer safely at the speed limit, you are undersized and should upgrade your tow vehicle.

[trimmer21]

I have done a lot of towing over the years as I grew up on a farm where you tow everything with many different tow vehicles. Currently, I tow a 26' 5th wheel RV with 2 or 3 trailers behind it. Yes it is legal ! One year I made a grave error loading the trailer. I filled the 50 gal. water tank which is at the back. I loaded 4 20L water cans at the back along with 3 coolers and a heavy tool box. All this weight was behind the axles and with my experience, I should have known better. Everything was going smooth with no issues until the downhill grade on the 400 north approaching the Holland Marsh. My engine was breaking the load of 3 trailers when the 5th wheeler started to sway. The brakes were not helping the situation, so I accelerated hard and pulled it out of the sway, pulled over and reloaded the trailer. This was the only time I was ever terrified towing anything. Thank God I had enough truck to hold it down. I don't believe in undersized tow vehicles. If you can't tow a properly loaded trailer safely at the speed limit, you are undersized and should upgrade your tow vehicle.

It's lucky you had the smarts to accelerate to take the whip out. Most folks panic and hit the brakes. C-R-A-S-H!

[captpierre]

Not positive but if you get in an accident and you are towing beyond the manufactures recommendation, insurance is void.

[Pat32rf]

It's my understanding that he wants to tow a boat/motor/trailer combination that weighs in at about 400lbs---the same weight that he might put in his trunk. I might not feel good about hooking this behind his car that is loaded for a weeks holiday, but if he just wants to go to Simcoe or Rice lake for the day then it sounds fine to me.....