Towing a Boat

Anyone towed a boat with their TDI? The towing will not be an issue ( weight considering ) Just wondering how it does pulling it out of the water.
Looking at getting a RIB ( Rigid bottom Zodiac ). They are pretty light, maybe 1200-1400lbs including trailer MAX.

I had a really tough time getting traction on some boat ramps with my A3 Jetta and an old john boat I had. Power was not the problem. FWD + boat ramps can be tricky if they are wet/slimy/steep.

Sweeps said:

Anyone towed a boat with their TDI? The towing will not be an issue ( weight considering ) Just wondering how it does pulling it out of the water.
Looking at getting a RIB ( Rigid bottom Zodiac ). They are pretty light, maybe 1200-1400lbs including trailer MAX.

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I have no problem pulling my tent trailer (1500lbs) out of an underground garage, 15% slope (auto tranny).

oilhammer said:

I had a really tough time getting traction on some boat ramps with my A3 Jetta and an old john boat I had. Power was not the problem. FWD + boat ramps can be tricky if they are wet/slimy/steep.

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Oilhammer is dead on here...Yep, seen this a few times in person. Usually goes something like....zzzzzzzzzzzzsshshhshshssh "Oh Sh*&"...zzzz....zzzz..zzz. "UNHITCH IT NOW"...."Oh CRAP"....blub blub blub as the tailpipe goes under... Haven't seen a car get pulled in yet, but it makes for some good entertainment.



I saw a nifty setup somebody had to solve this issue. They would back the trailer so that the trailer wheels were basically at the waters edge (car still on totally dry beginning of ramp). Then the would unhitch the trailer and use a hand held come along winch attached to the car hitch safety chain loop. They would then slowly lower the boat/trailer down the ramp and into the water. This way the risk of the car getting pulled in, or stuck on the ramp was pretty low.

To get the boat out it was just the reverse. They would then just use the 25' or so of come along cable to pull the trailer up out of the water by hooking it to the hitch mount and driving the car away from the ramp. Once on level ground they would then just hitch up as usual.

Not very elegant at a busy boat ramp, but I thought it was a great way to deal with the smaller trailers and boats that you can tow with a car of this size....and risk of a fwdcar slipping in or getting stuck on a ramp. I've also seen folks unhitch similar small trailers and just wheel them by hand over 100yards or so of beach.

just link the trailer to the hitch with a chain or rope long enough to keep the wheels dry...

I used to pull a 18 foot work boat up a fairly steep ramp with my old diesel rabbit. Boat, motor, trailer probably topped 2000 lb. It was hard on the clutch to pull it up (love that smell!!), or the wet tires spun. So we came up with a novel approach.

I would get boat on the trailer and pull it partially out. Put strap on boat so it was firmly secured to trailer. Then a helper (necessary) jumped in the boat and got behind the console. I would back the whole rig down til back tires were getting wet (but not brakes). The trailer would float under the boat, attached. Helper fired up outboard and trimmed it partially up. He would put it in gear and give it a few revs. When I beeped the horn he firewalled it, I let out the clutch and hit the accelerator. When the prop caught air, he shut it down. By then I had enough inertia to finish the climb up the ramp. People at the ramp actually cheered.

The rest of the tow was just on neighborhood streets so handling and braking were not too unsafe.

I had to know how high to trim the motor to keep the skeg from hitting ground. The first time we got it wrong. Second time on, no problem.

-Eric

oilhammer said:

I had a really tough time getting traction on some boat ramps with my A3 Jetta and an old john boat I had. Power was not the problem. FWD + boat ramps can be tricky if they are wet/slimy/steep.

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Exactly what I am worried about.

RWD vehicles have the same issue.
My Chevy LUV (read ISUZU) pickup slid down a boat ramp in Hawaii. It was parked on the ramp, wheels locked. Then it started sliding down the ramp. Wet algae on the ramp, spring low tide. (My boat was a Zodiac with a 40 hp motor.)

If two Samoan's -about 900 lbs worth - had not grabbed the truck and pulled it out, the whole blasted thing would have gone under the Pacific.

As it was the waves were breaking about even with the bottom of the front seat.

Full size 4x4 are best for boat ramps.

DanG

My Golf was pretty good with a 1200# boat and trailer combo. But the trailer was the kind that bent in the middle, and there were one or two times the tires spun, and I had to throw shells on the ramp and under the wheels to get out.

If the boat ramp is wet and slippery, and the angle isn't right, or your trailer needs to be deep, caution may be the better part part of valor, and deciding not to launch may be the best move.

I suspect Golf is better than Jetta (hitch closer to rear wheels, so more weight on front wheels).

I've put the boat in and out a couple times with the TDI to try it out. Skiff with honda 50 on galvanized trailer. Works OK with no tire spinning but I'd think twice at our ramp if it were low tide due to exposed slime.

Used to carry two cheap rubber doormats for emergency traction, I never needed them for my old 2X4 p/u but did save a 2x4 fullsize Dodge by throwing them under the rear wheels and joining the group of people sitting in the guy's bed. I think boards wrapped in rope would be even better for traction.

No real problems with my rig on various ramps, but the boat and trailer are under 500-600lbs combined wet & rigged weight.

You can see a few links in my sig. I have been pulling our seadoo jet boat all around with my passat TDI now for 2 years. I've tried all manner of hard surface launches with no problem.

There was one I was worried about that had a steep hard packed dirt road that descended to a concrete launch pad. It was the dirt access road I was worried about. I have nokian WR tires and the passat TDI yanked it up the hill no problem.

High tide low tide, wet ramps, steep ramps, concrete pads with sand...I have not had a problem....yet...but I am very careful, slow and smooth about it.

I regularly tow a 12 foot fiberglass boat with 9.9 horse motor attached. I guess the whole rigs weights 12-1500 pounds or so. When I bought my trailer, I made sure to buy one with a long tounge. There's a good 4 feet between the hitch and bow of the boat. This allows the boat to get all the way in the water, and the rear car tires remain well above the waterline. The front tires are still on dry boat ramp, therefore slipping on slimy concrete ramp is no problem. I have put in at fairly steep ramps, and power getting out never has been a problem.

How about adding another hitch to the front of the car to get the boat in and out of the water?!?! You will be the envy of everyone! ;-)

With an 06 Jetta it was horrible, there is so much hopping and if you don't have somebody sitting on the hood and the ramp is steeper than usual you need to go really low, the muffler is in the water, boat is still floating and you gotta set the boat just right so when you get a little run up it will pull it out but you need to do it couple times, the boat never seems to land perfectly on the trailer ramps. With my Golf it's a little easier since it's shorter and trailer can go deeper in the water by at least a foot. Wish I read this before we put the boat in the water for the first time

Make yourself a tounge extension like the guys with fixed keel sailboats use. It lets them extend the tounge several feet to allow the boat deep enough to float off. The extension is stored until ready to back down the ramp then put into proper position. I've seen some of them as long as 8 feet.

The other thing is to get yourself a couple of good, rubber or plastic chocks that can be used to prevent backslidding down the ramp if you loose traction.