Need to ship a small boat... advice ?

Drdogface · Drdogface's Garage

I live in No. Ca but am buying a 13 foot Boston Whaler from a guy in Dallas. I need some recommendations of a shipping company that will either deliver to my home in Ca. or to Phoenix where I'm willing to go to pick it up... I expect car shippers would do this as well and many of you guys have shipped cars so gimme your best referral. It's on a trailer but I'm not sure it's up to towing all that distance...especially at high speeds.

Danny_Ocean · 07:18 AM

4 yrs. ago when I bought mine, the going rate was $1.50/mi. Not sure what it is today, but I imagine it's more due to fuel prices. How special is this 13' whaler that you had to have it shipped? Dallas - SanFran = 1734 mi. x 1.50 = $2600...

Drdogface · Drdogface's Garage

Yeah, that's about what I expected....way too expensive. This is a model they only made for about three years and I really like it....13' Dauntless. They are hard to find. This one has been stored inside and covered most of it's life and looks almost new. There are newer 13' Sports around but they want huge bucks for them and seating is cramped. I may just fly there, rent a truck one way and drive slower.

Drdogface · Drdogface's Garage

Here's a pic....tires are radials but look small for high speed...at least to me.

stomachmonkey · 08-03-2008, 07:32 AM

Call moving co's. You might find a partial load going your way.

Danny_Ocean · 08-03-2008, 07:41 AM

Or someone local coming back empty might tow it for the cost of gas. Looks like there's room to upgrade the wheels/tires to 15". Don't go cheap and be sure to get tires rated for trailers.

Very nice specimen!

Tim Hancock · 08-03-2008, 07:53 AM

Mark, I just towed a small motorcycle trailer that I converted to a double Jet Ski trailer 1200 miles and had ZERO problems. My average speed was 70 mph and hit 80 for awhile.

My 5.30x12 "C" load rated tires are rated at 1045 lbs each at 80 PSI. I weighed my trailer and it was 850 on one side and 800 on the other. I kept the tires at 80 psi and checked temps of tires and bearings religously with a digital gage and tire temps never went over about 115 degrees and bearing temps never went over 95 degrees and it was 88 degrees outside the one day.

I did install new wheel bearings and pressurized grease cups prior to the trip (about $40 total).

Check the condition and load rating of the tires vs the weight of the boat/trailer and if well within limits, maybe pull the wheels and inspect or install new bearings packed with marine wheel bearing grease and you should be fine. Make sure you have a good inflated spare and tools to change.

Drdogface · Drdogface's Garage

Danny,

I had the same thought about getting larger wheels...also adding boat tie downs for more security. Yeah, I know about getting tires especially for trailers. Maybe the standard trailer/RV white spoke wheel would fit it. My first bid using uship.com was $2100.

The seller said he had towed it behind a Suburban from Illinois to Dallas with no problems. Dunno if he went slow however.

I do have a friend in Kerrville Tex who drives to Phoenix to see his folks. He's willing to tow it there and I could meet him. If this trailer will take the speed I think that would be the best way to go....and I get to see him in Phoenix and maybe shoot a silhouette match at Ben Avery

dhoward · dhoward's Garage

Tie the trailer down on a larger flatbed.
Sheesh.

Drdogface · Drdogface's Garage

Yeah, I thought of that too. Don't own one and have not found one to rent as yet...at least not one way. My friend has one but not sure he'd want to tow it....he is doing me a favor afterall.

stomachmonkey · 08-03-2008, 09:22 AM

How bout this? Have it towed down to Galveston, shot SE thru the Gulf to Panama, take the canal and then skirt the coast back up.

That'd be an adventure for sure.

Drdogface · Drdogface's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

How bout this? Have it towed down to Galveston, shot SE thru the Gulf to Panama, take the canal and then skirt the coast back up.

That'd be an adventure for sure.

Sure would be an adventure in a 13' boat

Funny post though

Danny_Ocean · 08-03-2008, 09:39 AM

Well, actually...shipping "freight" might be cheaper. Heck, you can send a car to Europe in a shipping container for $1200.

pwd72s · 09:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drdogface

I live in No. Ca but am buying a 13 foot Boston Whaler from a guy in Dallas. I need some recommendations of a shipping company that will either deliver to my home in Ca. or to Phoenix where I'm willing to go to pick it up... I expect car shippers would do this as well and many of you guys have shipped cars so gimme your best referral. It's on a trailer but I'm not sure it's up to towing all that distance...especially at high speeds.

Go for new tires...be sure the bearings are well packed...cruise about 60-65, and you'll be fine. I towed a small sailboat for years. tiny wheels on the trailer. This one looks light enough that you could tow with a compact pickup...nice boat!

(edit) Tim's pressurized grease cups suggestion is a good one..."bearing buddy" is one brand...you can grease your bearings with a grease gun. A ditto on the marine grease as well...every time you launch, the wheels are under water, so it's good to add the extra protection.

nota · 08-03-2008, 11:56 AM

thats a very small boat and lite
any car should pull that fine
no need for a truck or flat bed

just stay south to avoid the worst ups and downs

Tim Hancock · 08-03-2008, 12:27 PM

After searching many forums and talking to many people prior to my long trip last week, I am pretty sure the majority of small trailer towing issues are the result of either running too low of air pressure for the load being hauled and old rusty bearings (and of course one needs to keep a proper tongue weight... around 10%... to avoid swaying issues). With these small tailer tires, low air pressure causes excessive sidewall flexing which increases the heat generated. Most trailer tires are rated "high speed", which if you search the trailer tire sites, means 65 mph max, but my recent trip proves that one can get away with a bit higher if load and pressures are within limits. (As stated above, I did 70-75 mph for much of my trip on hot days on some pretty crappy pieces of Michigan pavement)

Drdogface · Drdogface's Garage

Tim,
Thanks again ! Most people have said that the wheels/tires will do the trip OK. That should make my friend feel more comfortable. He can do 60-65 and still get there easily. He has a large Ford pickup so I may suggest he take off his tailgate so as to keep a better eye on things thru the Rear View mirror.

I'm sure this trailer is equipped with Bearing Buddies so keeping them lubed is not a problem. I have him get the bearings checked before though, and spring for new tires just because it's cheap insurance.

Drdogface · Drdogface's Garage

After all this the damn seller just changed his mind. I had spent two days online getting bids, contacted a gut to look at the boat, nearly bought stuff for hauling it, many calls to my friend in Texas about helping out and this guy took the boat out yesterday and had too much fun to part with it. We had struck a deal and had agreement to sell/buy.

I'm pissed and I just told him so...