Just Bought A Boat, Questions About Towing

[smoak352]

I just bought a 18' Hewes with a 115hp Yamaha engine. It is on a aluminum single axel trailer. I have no clue how much the rig weighs. Should I put it in "tow mode"? Do I need to adjust the gain? Thank/

[Tdeaux45]

I didn't use tow mode for boats till I got bigger tires and it started to feel a little sluggish. You should be OK. I would pay attention to your trans. temp though. You shouldn't run over 180 degrees with that boat which is fine (>200 I'd start to get concerned). I pulled a 19 ft. blue wave the other day and didn't get over 180. I could have run it with the tow/haul off, but like I said I just prefered the "pickup" more with it on.

 

I have the 3.42 rear end with the 5.3L, I don't know what your truck has.

 

To answer your question though. NO, you don't need to put it on.

 

Awesome boat by the way. Wish I had one to Redfish out of.

[stormrider]

I have a 17 foot BassTracker wit a 45 hp. Weighs about 1200lb. The moment the boat is on the hitch the tranny is iin tow haul mode.

FWIW I figure they put it there for a reason so why not use it

[peteking]

I just bought a 18' Hewes with a 115hp Yamaha engine. It is on a aluminum single axel trailer. I have no clue how much the rig weighs. Should I put it in "tow mode"? Do I need to adjust the gain? Thank/

 

Feel free to, it's not gonna hurt anything. I use the T/H mode when I pull my 19' Crestliner ski boat, but not when I'm towing my 16' fishing boat.

[c4cruiser]

I just bought a 18' Hewes with a 115hp Yamaha engine. It is on a aluminum single axel trailer. I have no clue how much the rig weighs. Should I put it in "tow mode"? Do I need to adjust the gain? Thank/

 

Did you buy it new? You should be able to get weight information for the boat from a dealer or on the manufacturer's website. Same with the Yamaha motor. The trailer will have a small plate or decal on the tongue that shows the empty weight. If you have to get plates for the trailer, the empty weight will show on the registration and will also be on the certificate of title.

 

As far as the "gain", that's for trailers with electrically-operated trailer brakes. Boat trailers that have brakes will usually use a "surge" brake which is hydraulic and operates from a master cylinder on the trailer tongue. Electric brakes won't last long if they are exposed to salt water. Most single axle light duty boat trailers won't have brakes.

 

Once you have the boat, motor, and trailer weights, you need to add up all of the cargo that you will carry. This includes anything you take on a fishing trip like tackle, buddies, drinks, ice and chest, the dog, kids, etc. For the trip home, add in the weight of all the fish you will catch....

 

The chances are that you will be towing around 2000 to 2500 lbs. At that weight, there is no real need to engage T/H unless you are driving in hilly country. The truck's Owner's Manual describes when to use T/H and it's really for only heavy loads or towing weights. T/H raises the shift points and firms up the shift with more pressure. You might see a bigger reduction in gas mileage with T/H activated than without it when towing your loaded trailer.

[DEANEDWARDS]

I pull a 20' Ranger Z20 and always use tow haul mode here we have a lot of hills to climb around Tablerock Lake. This is my Denali it pulled the boat great have not pulled with the 5.3 yet

[MarkD]

That's what I was thinking. Loaded down you wont reach 3000 lbs. T/H mode wont hurt under any load though.

[TRCM]

That's what I was thinking. Loaded down you wont reach 3000 lbs. T/H mode wont hurt under any load though.

 

 

As has been said, tow/haul will only hurt your mpg with such a light boat.

 

You will not be using the brake controller with your boat, as it has surge brakes. The brake controller is only for electic brakes, which very, very few boats have as water & electric brakes don't play well together.

 

Owners manual says to use tow/hsul when towing @ 75% of capacity or more, or when in mountaineous terrain, or a lot of stop & go traffic.

 

My ~19' Nitro is ~ 3000 lbs, and I do not use tow/haul unless I am in hilly terrain. Now, my camper is ~ 5500 lbs, so I do use it then. When towing my camper, my transmission temp will get up around 180 deg in hilly terrain, but on level ground, it is down around 160.

[smoak352]

Ok, so here in FL it is pretty much dead flat so I will probably not use the tow/haul mode. Man that redfish looks nice!

 

I did not buy it new so it didnt come with any of that info. I looked up some info on it and the boat alone weighs 800lbs.

 

I have never owned a boat but the back up camera really helps!