Guys, what is the max size of Yamaha boat people are towing and launching/retrieving with the BMW X5 ?

[shnknapp]

I'm just waiting for the follow up thread....."I got the 25' boat and the seating capacity says 12 people but I'm sure I can get 15 people on instead...."

 

[HangOutdoors]

I'm just waiting for the follow up thread....."I got the 25' boat and the seating capacity says 12 people but I'm sure I can get 15 people on instead...."

+10

and... "How many life jackets do I really need???"

 

[fatboyroy]

When i was in my 20's I have an old 22' cuddy cabin that i bought for few grand (its a tank probably over 7K lbs), had my mechanic friend fix the motor. I was towing it with a 2 door chevy blazer in NJ/NY area, at times few hundred miles to checkout lakes etc. Can it be done, for sure. But now that I make a few more dollars, my tow vehicle is heavier than my TT or my boat, all the safety discussion aside, just the comfort of not feeling anything behind when you hit the brake and most importantly you can relax, spending a few more $$ is well worth it to me.

 

[Coult45]

This thread went from crazy to annoying to fantastic. I can't look away.

 

[jthackman]

+10

and... "How many life jackets do I really need???"

gotta be the funniest thing i've read on this site

 

[Jim_in_Delaware]

This thread went from crazy to annoying to fantastic. I can't look away.

Just wait until a video ends up on “Bonehead Boaters of the Week”!

Jim

 

[anmut]

I'm just waiting for the follow up thread....."I got the 25' boat and the seating capacity says 12 people but I'm sure I can get 15 people on instead...."

Capacity stickers are optional

 

[drewkaree]

it tells me right away that they lack the ability to do their own research

I gotta wonder if this is just a bad turn of phrase. If the capability exists to post this question, the necessary tools and ability are shown to exist to be able to do their own research.

I think I can bring it around in my mind though. . "I know the sticker said 12, but they were all skinny, so 15 should be acceptable. I don't have cell service to check my theory, but I'm pretty personable, and should be able to convince the DNR guy if I bring a scale on board"

 

[drewkaree]

"that's like, what, 12,000 pounds? I'm only hauling an 8,000 pound load, I should be fine pshhh"

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

My law firm/attorneys will work that angle and have successfully in civil suits when towing, boats, equipment, towing cars, etc. They advised me not to do it and do so at my own potential risk, when I brought up the topic when I was buying my boat and again last year when I spoke with them, when trying to figure out if I could swap out into an explorer for the Mrs., since her Acadia can't tow shit And use the Explorer if we needed to in case the Expedition wasn't available or if I bought an F-150 and needed to take more than 5 people.

I have great insurance coverage, BUT, i was counseled that an insurance company will try and find every angle they can not to pay out or minimize their total exposure. After that it is on me, my counsel and my dime. I don't plan on giving any excuse to anyone to go down this path.

Each to their own. If people don't want to believe it, or think it is right........ That is fine. Speak with your own attorney's is the best way to approach it and take their advice..... Since if they indicate it is cool to do, they will be defending you if the situation arises anyhow and you would have recourse on them. If they do say dont' worry about it...... Have them put it in writing so you have that for your records...... I am fairly certain they won't.

Thanks for that post, just got in from a 400 mile round trip tow, towed my boat over to Lake Oahe, awesome 5 days of boating.

 

[HangOutdoors]

Thanks for that post, just got in from a 400 mile round trip tow, towed my boat over to Lake Oahe, awesome 5 days of boating.

I don't understand.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

I don't understand.

2Kwik asked for an example and you provided it.

 

[2kwik4u]

2Kwik asked for an example and you provided it.

I'm not seeing an example.

@HangOutdoors have your lawyers presented, defended, or argued a case (civil or insurance suit) based on the premise that negligence was evident due to an overloaded tow vehicle?

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

I want to see one example of this. Just one. I'll wait. This rhetoric is exceptionally common and I've yet to see/hear/read anything other than conjecture. It's another example of verbiage that might be prudent for this person, but is largely grounded in "I heard someone else say it once, and it kinda makes sense so I'm going to repeat it" as best I can tell.

I found this quote a while back......It's very prudent in this conversation "Towing over legal DOT weights is illegal. Towing over manufacturer warranty, or recommended capacities is not. Always have to remember. Manufacturers do not write law. "

Here is your example.

I contacted a Judge friend of mine and posed the question; what would happen to a person if they were towing a trailer that exceeded the manufacturers tow rating, and there was an accident that resulted in a fatality? The response was immediate, the Judge told me that in Napa CA in 2005 this very situation happened and the DA charged the driver with murder and various other charges. While the jury did not find the defendant guilty of murder, the driver was convicted on other charges, and the Judge decreed that the driver, having spent a year in jail waiting for and going to trial, had served his sentence as time served in jail. That person spent a year in jail, had to pay for all of their legal expenses and fines, if they had a house they lost it because they lost their job, they also lost their apartment, and unless they had some famil or friends that handles their affairs they lost all of their stuff too, ergo, their life as they knew it ended.

Manufacturers may not write law, but they do design, test and rate their vehicles for what is safe, and have to conform to federal safety standards=law, exceeding those limits is beyond the design envelope and is therefore a felony, just like removing smog emissions equipment from a car is a felony. A GVWR, is the gross vehicle weight rating, not gross vehicle weight recommendations. Just as we have a sticker in our boats that limits the amount of cargo weight, and more stringent is the weight and number of passengers, exceed those limits and there Is a fatality and the captain is going to be facing some serious legal trouble.

Here is the load limit sticker on the B pilar of my truck, “should never exceed” is not a recommendation, it is a hard limit not a recommended limit.



This is the other sticker on the B pillar. The GVWR is 11,500#, that is the limit of what the vehicle can weigh with the aforementioned never exceed 3436# cargo / persons limit. Cargo in the spirit of this thread would include tongue weight as well. There is also the GCVWR or the weight of the truck and trailer which for my truck is 30,000#. 11,500 - 3436# is a curb weight of 8,064#, take 30,000 - 8,064# = max trailer weight of 21,936#, it is lower in the chart but that is how this math works out, however if the tongue weight of the trailer plus cargo and persons in the truck is at 3,436# the max trailer weight can only be 18,500#



Here‘s the tow rating for my truck for a fifth wheel, but is limited by an 18,000# hitch rating. Interestingly the conventional is the same rating, but is only limited to the Class V hitch.

 

[2kwik4u]

I still think "A judge friend of mine" isn't a great example, although better than "Just what I think".

I'm done arguing, tow what you want, tell others what you want. Be safe out there.

 

[HangOutdoors]

I'm not seeing an example.

@HangOutdoors have your lawyers presented, defended, or argued a case (civil or insurance suit) based on the premise that negligence was evident due to an overloaded tow vehicle?

Yes they have. That is what I was informed, and I wasn't surprised really. In today's litigious world, it appears that the blood sucking legal civil system will use everything and anything they possibly can to get more money or a proper verdict.

Hopefully I am not on the wrong end of one of those in my lifetime...... knock on wood.

 

[Jim_in_Delaware]

I don’t think it is to far fetched to see how negligence with disregarding tow capacities could contribute to an accident. Not towing related, but I once had a roommate who‘s brakes failed and he ran a stop sign and ended up in a ditch. He got a ticket for failure to stop at the stop sign, didn’t matter that the car had mechanical issues. I could easily see how disregarding tow capacities could lead to an accident, even if one is cited for something else.