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Towing Help

Dahbull

Dahbull

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Antioch
Two questions on how to tow a Benny long distances.

1) tow with cover on or off? Are there special considerations for each option?

I have always towed my bow rider with cover on but dealer told me to always tow my new Benny with the cover off. I don’t want road grime or bug splatters in the boat at the end of a long trip.

2) Where to tilt the engine (Yamaha F300XCA)? Up or down. Is there a trailering setting for long distance?

Supposedly one can put the engine all the way down but I’m not convinced.
 
The factory cover is not meant for towing, so if you want it covered a canvas shop could make one for you. There's a few on here with some really nice ones.

Much less stress towing with motor all the way down. That's how I always towed my pontoons, never had a problem. I always checked the first couple times in and out of my driveway to see how close it was. The trailer had 14" tires and it was more than enough clearance.
 
What will be different about a canvas made for towing vs the current canvas from builder?
 
It goes down further and is more secure so there is no wind getting under it.
 
Cover off and motor trimmed down to where it is being supported by the trim rams. When I towed mine 1300 miles I had it shrinkwrapped but it started failing 1100 miles in.
 
So maybe I’m missing something. If that’s the only difference, why doesn’t Bennington just make the cover so it can be used to tow. We spend enough money on these beautiful boats. Seems counter intuitive to not spend the extra $100 in material to make the cover correctly. Instead we have to spend hundreds on third party cover makers to get a towing cover and find space to store another cover. I don’t have extra space to store spare covers for different applications.
 
Dahbull said:
So maybe I’m missing something. If that’s the only difference, why doesn’t Bennington just make the cover so it can be used to tow. We spend enough money on these beautiful boats. Seems counter intuitive to not spend the extra $100 in material to make the cover correctly. Instead we have to spend hundreds on third party cover makers to get a towing cover and find space to store another cover. I don’t have extra space to store spare covers for different applications.
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Good question ! My guess would be that about 90% of Benningtons probably only get towed to storage and back not out on a long road trip. I looked over my Spec sheet and there is no charge For a Mooring cover.
 
I don't tow our boat except when I borrow a trailer and tow it home for maintenance (5 miles). They do have an option to delete the mooring cover when you buy new. Just have your mooring cover modified by a canvas shop. Add some sides and a zippers. There's no need to bash Bennington since I personally wouldn't want a trailering cover. Just sayin'.
 
Our towing cover snapped under the deck. You would not have been able to install it at the dock. It also used a waterproof material. It weighed probably 3 times the mooring cover. Being waterproof, you had to make sure everything in the boat was dry before installing. The covers are for different applications. If you load the boat up for a long trip and want your stuff dry upon arrival, get a trailing cover from a shop that understands your needs.
 
If you're towing other than a few miles it's best to use one of the engine supports to take the strain off the rams. I use the Yamaha supports but there are other aftermarket types that do the same thing. I used them on my SW boat with twin Yami 150's and towed many, many times 100 miles round trip without a hiccup. I use two of them on my F350 and most of the time I'm only towing about 2 miles down to the ramp. They act like little shock absorbers and allow the rams to be retracted a bit so there's no stress on them. They really do work.

Yamaha support.jpg
 
Most of the engines have a little flip down tab. It's about 4 inches long or so. You just trim up a bit, flip it, then lower the engine on it. That's meant only for towing. As for the cover: when I bought my 2013 it was new from a respected dealer and the factory cover was on and it was towed 800 miles with no issue. The cover catching air and blowing off is NOT a myth though so beware that if the conditions are right, that is what could happen. Of course you should lower the bimini to the "trailer" position which is all the way down and tied. However, you should already have those little 8 to 9 inch tubular supports built in that hinge down and snap in place. Those are made specifically for trailering as well.
 
Havasu said:
If you're towing other than a few miles it's best to use one of the engine supports to take the strain off the rams. I use the Yamaha supports but there are other aftermarket types that do the same thing.
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I use the aftermarket ones. They look identical to the Yamaha sticks. I compared them side-by-side in the store and saved $30 on the pair.

Nautical said:
Most of the engines have a little flip down tab. It's about 4 inches long or so. You just trim up a bit, flip it, then lower the engine on it. That's meant only for towing.
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I was told by a dealer and another technician not to use that during towing. In fact, my F150 manual advises against it:

YMMV

Screenshot 2018-08-20 13.46.53.png
Screenshot 2018-08-20 13.46.12.png
 
That little "kickstand" on the motors is NOT for towing. It's for supporting the motor when working on it. It does nothing to take the strain off the rams or the transom.
 
Our previous pontoon had a mooring cover much like our Benny. We were NOT told not to use it for long distance towing and we had several snaps fail over time. We have had the boats in storage near the lake we are on and Used it for storing the pontoon. Mainly to keep bird stuff off and others in the buildings from seeing what was on it. We now have our own storage barn and have never even put the cover on our Benny. I would love to take my family to Lake Powell and do the houseboat thing someday and will have a towing cover made then. I will also get the devise that takes the motor weight off the trim rams.
 
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which trailer and which truck is suitable for towing benning? I have to tow a benning day after tomorrow, for that i am looking for the answer, basically we are providing a towing service of 24 Hour Towing in New York, so its my job which i have to perform.
 
Plan on towing a minimum 4000 pounds. We have a 20ft tritoon and tow it with a GMC Acadia (v6) and it handles it just fine, but anything bigger and we would need something with a V8.
 
When we had an Acadia with a 22' it was working on slight hills. My Silverado with the 5.3 pulls our 24 like it is a jet ski.
 
my eco boost V6 on the Expedition Max pulls great. 8.2 mpg though.
 
I have a 20' on a bunk trailer, pulling with SUV with a V6. It performs well when pulling through town and on other roads up to 50-55 mph. Once I am on a highway or freeway (60+mph) and for any significant amount of time(more than 15-20 minutes), it gives my truck quite the workout. It hasn't overheated, but you can smell that she's burning more dinosaurs than normal when towing at higher speeds. Even slight hills are tough to climb without transmission downshifting and running at 4500 rpm for long periods of time. My mpg decreases from mid 20's to 10-13 mpg pulling my pontoon.

If you are going to be doing this as a job or service, you'll want a V8!
 
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