Trailer weight

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Maverick5207

Maverick5207

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I have an old houseboat that I'll be bringing to Wahweap early next year. My only question is if it's towable with my F-150.
My truck is a 2018 4x4. 2.7 liter, 325 hp, 400 ft lbs of torque. 7600 tow capacity, 12,600 gvwr. It's a supercab, 6.5 ft bed. 10 speed transmission.
The houseboat is a 1972 Land N Sea. 28 ft. Dual axle trailer. Claimed empty weight on the boat is either 5200 or 5600 lbs but I have no clue to what the trailer weighs.
Would anyone have an educated guess what a 28' steel trailer would weigh? It's the original trailer. Tires that came with the trailer are 14.5" mobile home tires. That's how it came from the factory so the normal ways to figure out loads doesn't really apply and the sticker on the trailer that has the specs on it, long ago faded into history.
I'd like to keep the gvwr below both the 7600 tow rating and the 12,600 GVWR.
The bottom picture is not my boat but a photo of one coming out of the factory. Just a better image of the trailer.
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I would guess approx 2500 lbs empty trailer weight. Hopefully it has brakes on both axles, good WORKING brakes. Stopping will be the biggest issue.

The blog below documents a trip from the east coast to Powell with a boat like yours. He stopped at the scales along the way, the boat/trailer weighed in at 10,780 lbs. But he had four spare tires stowed in the boat so it’s likely he had a lot of other gear on board. He had to replace a broken trailer leaf spring (probably because it was very overloaded)

Your empty boat on the trailer will likely scale in around the 7,500 lb tow capacity of your F-150. It’ll definitely be a lot to ask of a 2.7L motor and you’ll need to take special precautions not to put yourself in a panic braking situation.

The good news is four-wheel-drive low will provide excellent gear reduction when hauling out at the ramp.

Houseboat - 2,000 Miles to Lake Powell
 
Interesting looking boat! I’d guess about 1800lbs for the trailer. I’ll second rivergoer that good brakes are crucial. I own a Suburban with tow package, it claims it’s good to tow our ~7000lb boat. And I take my 2500 Chevy every time. The brakes on the bigger trucks make a really huge difference. We lost fluid in our trailer one trip, it’s a surge brake, it was a noticeable push in corners, but we made it home. Would have been pretty hairy in a lighter rig. I drive a Chevy 5500 utility bed truck for work, and even though my 2500 will pull my backhoe, I take the biggest truck available every time.
 
Rivergoer said:
I would guess approx 2500 lbs empty trailer weight. Hopefully it has brakes on both axles, good WORKING brakes. Stopping will be the biggest issue.

The blog below documents a trip from the east coast to Powell with a boat like yours. He stopped at the scales along the way, the boat/trailer weighed in at 10,780 lbs. But he had four spare tires stowed in the boat so it’s likely he had a lot of other gear on board. He had to replace a broken trailer leaf spring (probably because it was very overloaded)

Your empty boat on the trailer will likely scale in around the 7,500 lb tow capacity of your F-150. It’ll definitely be a lot to ask of a 2.7L motor and you’ll need to take special precautions not to put yourself in a panic braking situation.

The good news is four-wheel-drive low will provide excellent gear reduction when hauling out at the ramp.

Houseboat - 2,000 Miles to Lake Powell
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I've talked to that guy. He had that WAY overloaded in my opinion. He weighed it and emailed me the results.
He told me he had 100 gallons of fuel in the tanks, another 100 gallons in cans, probably 100 gallons of water plus food for something like 8 people for a week or two, food for his dog, pots, pans, dishes, silverware, everyone's luggage, bedding, etc. Also, he has the fly bridge that mine doesn't. That adds 400 lbs from what I gather.
Great guy. He did tons of work on that boat. I wish mine was half as nice as his but at least I have a boat to stay on.
Unfortunately, he had so much stuff on there that it's difficult to figure out a dry weight for that boat and trailer.
 
VikingRanch said:
Interesting looking boat! I’d guess about 1800lbs for the trailer. I’ll second rivergoer that good brakes are crucial. I own a Suburban with tow package, it claims it’s good to tow our ~7000lb boat. And I take my 2500 Chevy every time. The brakes on the bigger trucks make a really huge difference. We lost fluid in our trailer one trip, it’s a surge brake, it was a noticeable push in corners, but we made it home. Would have been pretty hairy in a lighter rig. I drive a Chevy 5500 utility bed truck for work, and even though my 2500 will pull my backhoe, I take the biggest truck available every time.
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The brakes are almost new. The guy I bought the boat from just replaced the brakes and bearings.
I bought this in northern California. I wanted this specific kind of trailerable houseboat for many reasons I won't bore you with here.
I towed it home with a buddies 1 ton Dodge dually. It towed fine. Hardly knew it there.
If I tow it with my truck from my home in Mesa to Powell, I'll do it early morning on a weekday. Limit myself to 60 and on those long down hills, probably limit myself to 50 or less. I'll be in no rush.
A 2 wheel drive version of my truck has a 9900 lb tow capacity so I'm not too worried about the drive train. Much like you guys, I'm more concerned about stopping.
 
For a steel trailer I'd also estimate that the trailer would be somewhere in the 1800 - 2200 pound range. And my experience on boats themselves is that the published weight data on them always seems to be very low.

I'd also caution you about your truck. Not as much the engine as the 10 speed transmission. That is going to be your weak link. Those trannys don't have a very good reputation. I just went rounds with Ford for my 2019 Expedition with the 10 speed, and ended up with a new transmission. I had to call 3 dealers before I could get an appointment in less than 3 months time. The dealer that fit me in before my 5 year warranty expired told me that they had something like 35 trucks in queue for transmission work. The technician that I worked with told me that he is on his 3rd transmission in a 2018 F-150 with the 3.5.

My symptoms started with rough shifting, and I always have had to worry about high transmission temps (I saw 265* before they gave in and replaced it).

We use my Ex as a secondary tow vehicle for my 7000 pound Malibu. At the advice of the service tech, I bought an extended warranty. I wouldn't keep it as a tow vehicle without one.


IMG_1303.jpeg
 
My advice, find the nearest cat scale and get its weight. Know for sure what you are pulling.
As mentioned above your biggest hurtles will be overheating climbing the mountain grades and stopping.
I would also recommend a weight distribution hitch, it will aid considerably in handling. Screenshot_20240831-114243_Samsung Internet.jpg
It's well worth the $13.50 to know and not guess when towing over the open road.

I stopped by love's in Cordes lakes on the way home from lake Mary earlier this summer just to satisfy my curiosity and found my total weight was over 15k ,never would have guessed it.
Screenshot_20240831-115337_Gallery.jpg
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Cool house Boat!!! Yes to all of the good advice above and I wouldn't sweat towing it. You are coming out of Prescott, right? I'd leave very early in the morning on an off day (mid week) and take my time. Once you top out from the climb to Flagstaff I'd give the truck a well deserved rest at Dennys off Butler (big lot) parked into the wind with the hood up, enough time for a Grand Slam and a pot of coffee. Then after an hour or so I'd finish onto Page. Those "Reservation Rapids" are lumpy so I'd take care to not go over 50 and to make sure my ball and chains are really hooked up. That awesome Ford V6 with turbos is the least of your worries. That's the architecture that they beat Ferrari with again at Le Man in the manufacturers class a few years ago, it's sturdy and I'm not a lover of any particular brand, just sayin. It's just about the height of what you can get out of small displacement combustion engine to date. I think you'd be fine even pushing the tow limits. The biggest safety device in any operation is always the operator. I'd just take me time, leave a lot of rooms between me and guy up front.

I have two 10,000 lb towable houseboats and I run between Page and Flg a lot. I tow with an 06 Duramax HD 2500 and my tow rating is around 10,000 as I recall. It's not a problem but I try to be a careful operator
 
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Maverick5207 said:
I have an old houseboat that I'll be bringing to Wahweap early next year. My only question is if it's towable with my F-150.
My truck is a 2018 4x4. 2.7 liter, 300 hp, 400 ft lbs of torque. 7600 tow capacity, 12,600 gvwr. It's a supercab, 6.5 ft bed. 10 speed transmission.
The houseboat is a 1972 Land N Sea. 28 ft. Dual axle trailer. Claimed empty weight on the boat is either 5200 or 5600 lbs but I have no clue to what the trailer weighs.
Would anyone have an educated guess what a 28' steel trailer would weigh? It's the original trailer. Tires that came with the trailer are 14.5" mobile home tires. That's how it came from the factory so the normal ways to figure out loads doesn't really apply and the sticker on the trailer that has the specs on it, long ago faded into history.
I'd like to keep the gvwr below both the 7600 tow rating and the 12,600 GVWR.
The bottom picture is not my boat but a photo of one coming out of the factory. Just a better image of the trailer.
View attachment 29469View attachment 29470
Click to expand...
great boat how about more pics and info?
 
Meatwagon said:
My advice, find the nearest cat scale and get its weight. Know for sure what you are pulling.
As mentioned above your biggest hurtles will be overheating climbing the mountain grades and stopping.
I would also recommend a weight distribution hitch, it will aid considerably in handling. View attachment 29478
It's well worth the $13.50 to know and not guess when towing over the open road.

I stopped by love's in Cordes lakes on the way home from lake Mary earlier this summer just to satisfy my curiosity and found my total weight was over 15k ,never would have guessed it.
View attachment 29479
View attachment 29480
Click to expand...
nice rig I love our camper.
 
Marina Bum said:
Cool house Boat!!! Yes to all of the good advice above and I wouldn't sweat towing it. You are coming out of Prescott, right?
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I'm actually out of Mesa. I-17 is a pretty significant climb out of Phoenix, big downhill to Cottonwood and another big climb to Flagstaff.
Marina Bum said:
I'd leave very early in the morning on an off day (mid week) and take my time. Once you top out from the climb to Flagstaff I'd give the truck a well deserved rest at Dennys off Butler (big lot) parked into the wind with the hood up, enough time for a Grand Slam and a pot of coffee. Then after an hour or so I'd finish onto Page. Those "Reservation Rapids" are lumpy so I'd take care to not go over 50 and to make sure my ball and chains are really hooked up. That awesome Ford V6 with turbos is the least of your worries. That's the architecture that they beat Ferrari with again at Le Man in the manufacturers class a few years ago, it's sturdy and I'm not a lover of any particular brand, just sayin. It's just about the height of what you can get out of small displacement combustion engine to date.
Click to expand...
It's an incredible engine. The torque from it is amazing.
I love the engine but as stated above, there have been a few issues with the transmission that worry me. Just towing my fishing boat (2800 lbs) I've seen the tranny temp rise to 219. It was a sizzling hot day but I still didn't like seeing temps that high. The engine temps never budged.
Tranny temps of 220+ and I'll pull over and let it cool down.
Marina Bum said:
I think you'd be fine even pushing the tow limits. The biggest safety device in any operation is always the operator. I'd just take me time, leave a lot of rooms between me and guy up front.

I have two 10,000 lb towable houseboats and I run between Page and Flg a lot. I tow with an 06 Duramax HD 2500 and my tow rating is around 10,000 as I recall. It's not a problem but I try to be a careful operator
Click to expand...
I only intend to tow it once from here in Mesa to Page. I'll just store it at Wahweap during the off season.
I'll use my truck from storage to the launch but that's about it unless I decide to tow it down to Lake Mojave during winter. Not sure yet.
 
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4LOJO said:
great boat how about more pics and info?
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It is an interesting boat.
28 footer, legally towable, floatation rated to 9200lbs, fiberglass 1 piece construction. The entire hull up to the roof is a single piece. Extremely strong.
Mine has a 200 hp Chevy 305 engine. Old school. Points, condenser, single coil, 1 barrel carb. Simple as it gets.
Sleeps 7, full kitchen, full bath with shower and a very unique dining table.
It tops out about 30 mph on plane. Cruise is around 23.
I had a 37 foot houseboat on I-dock until 2 years ago. Absolutely loved it but I typically am by myself so I decided to get something a little easier to handle for one guy. My parameters were that it had to be towable, somewhat houseboat like as in big windows, full kitchen, full bathroom etc. I also wanted some cabin cruiser advantages, such as being able to get up on plane. This one fit the bill and more. If you can find one of these, they're typically not very expensive but they're just very cool boats. They do everything I want them to do and more. Being so simple, they are easy to work on.
They are designed for coastal Waters, in other words they are designed to handle some big water situations like Lake Powell dishes out. Most of the other towable houseboats are not designed for big water at all and that's one of the many things that sold me on this particular brand of Houseboat.
They only made 251 of these. The first 31 were handmade. Mine is number 29.
It took 6 weeks to make one until they started selling like crazy and then they modernized construction until they were producing something like 14 a month. Unfortunately the gas crisis of 1973 ran them out of business.
Anyway, I think it's the best houseboat for me. I'm looking forward to getting it in the marinalns41.jpglns41.jpglns21.jpglns11.jpglns51.jpg
 
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Rainbowbridge said:
What power is in your new toy? That great blog rivergoer posted showed the one V8 as a repower, but didn't most of these come with twin 4s?

Wishing you many fun safe memories with your new boat! (y)
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Standard engine was a 200 HP Chevy 305 with a single barrel carb bolted to an OMC outdrive but you could get an optional twin six cylinder configuration as well.
Mine is the single 305 Chevy.
I think I'll have fun with this boat.
 
Rivergoer said:
Congratulations, great purchase. Glad to see you’re getting back on the lake again. Looks like it’ll make an excellent all-season vessel, winters are the best!
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I never left the lake actually. The guy that bought my last houseboat allows me to use it when he isn't. I was there 3 times so far this summer and am planning another trip in a few weeks.
 
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