Hauling a Boat. Need Advice

[AZMark]

OK. I would just loosen the winch, push back boat a tad and then add the towel and then winch back the boat. Does this sound right.

You can probably just pull the towel in there without moving the boat if you want to do that. I think most roller damage comes from loading the boat from the water.

 

[dgfreeze]

You're getting a lot of good advice here... If the boat is tight to the roller, there shouldn't be much if any rubbing, but at the same time, with a brand new boat, I'd probably at least try to insert a small towel or something, knowing how these original rollers can mess up the gelcoat. As @AZMark said, you don't want to fill the hubs COMPLETELY with grease. As it heats up, the grease expands, and has to go somewhere. You want some air in there. There are two standard light plugs, RV 7 prong and the flat 4, plus the less common flat 5. You shouldn't have the flat 5 since it's basically only used on boat trailers with brakes. Chances are, if you have a flat 4 and RV 7, you're good to go.

 

[traderfjp]

Dont overgrease either, it expands when hot & can damage your seals.
Honestly unless someone made a major assembly mistake on your new trailer you shouldn’t have to touch it at all until after the coming season.

I just bought a new tractor and there were bolts loose so you never know.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

Hi,
I was lucky enough to find a 19ft yamaha 195S but it's 600 miles from my house. I have a practically new GMC Canyon that could easily tow the boat. I've towed huge uhaul trailers loaded with heavy stuff when we moved to NC. Anyway, I've never towed a boat. I'm buying from a dealer who will lower the tower and secure it with factory transport brackets. They will also strap the boat to the trailer. This is an expensive boat and I want to make sure it doesn't get damaged. I'm worried that the boat might bounce on the roller? Not sure that is even possible just something to worry about. The dealership wanted 1800 to deliver it which I think is insane. I have quotes from 1k to 1200 which sound about right but while they all might have a few reviews and websites I really am taking a chance. It's not all about the costs. I also would have to wire money into the dealer's account and hope that everything is done right with the boat. I'm thinking I should just take the ride, hand the dealer a certified check, let him show me the boat and drive off with it. I'm thinking even getting gas will be an adventure towing the boat but I can be selective where I go and I did it with several large uhauls. Am I being stupid or should I hire a pro to haul the boat. Also, can I trust that the dealer will strap the new boat down for transport?

Congrats on the new boat!

I bought my boat from a dealer that was 650 miles away. Here is what I did.

I had an electric trolling motor and Solix control head installed by this dealer. When I went to pick the boat up I had them take me out on the boat for an hour long shakedown cruise and made sure that everything worked before I left. My suggestion would be to have them take you out on the boat for a test drive, for an hour, before you sign papers. I got to test drive my boat on the Mississippi river which was cool!



The one thing I did not check was to make sure the bearing buddies had some grease in them, be sure to use marine grease. Bearing buddies are pretty intuitive as far as how much grease goes in them, just make sure the springs are not compressed. I’m sure there is a you tube video about them..

Your trailer should be a shorlandr which comes with a spare and a seven pin trailer connector cord. Your trailer brakes if the trailer has them have are surge brakes with an electric bypass that is actuated by the back up light circuit so that the trailer brakes don’t actuate when you back up a hill. Your boat may be light enough that brakes are not required.

I checked the straps on the transom, the bow strap, checked the bow safety chain, lights and I drove home without incident.

You have towing experience.... read your truck owners manual and you should be fine!

 

[Betik]

@traderfjp i have towed Coast to coast. You are definitly stressing too much over it, but that is a good think. If I were you I would make the trip myself. 600 miles is a 2 Day trip with lots of time to spare. you leave on Friday morning, check in a hotel and Saturday day show up at the dealership at 8 am. By 10 am you are driving and by midnight you are home with 60 to 65mph tow which is a rather safe paste.
as long as you tires are properly inflated, you have some ( not full just some grease), and you use front and rear straps you should be fine. The 190s are really easy to tow.

i will be glad to answer any questions but $1,800 for 600 miles in on the high side. I would say $1.5 per mile is on the average ballpark. If you make the trip yourself you should get away with $0.75 or so.

aside from the fact that COVID is everywhere, I do not see why you should not take the trip yourself.

 

[traderfjp]

@traderfjp i have towed Coast to coast. You are definitly stressing too much over it, but that is a good think. If I were you I would make the trip myself. 600 miles is a 2 Day trip with lots of time to spare. you leave on Friday morning, check in a hotel and Saturday day show up at the dealership at 8 am. By 10 am you are driving and by midnight you are home with 60 to 65mph tow which is a rather safe paste.
as long as you tires are properly inflated, you have some ( not full just some grease), and you use front and rear straps you should be fine. The 190s are really easy to tow.

i will be glad to answer any questions but $1,800 for 600 miles in on the high side. I would say $1.5 per mile is on the average ballpark. If you make the trip yourself you should get away with $0.75 or so.

aside from the fact that COVID is everywhere, I do not see why you should not take the trip yourself.

I actually feel a lot better knowing I will be picking it up. I like to be in control and I know I will check everything and be super careful. I was figuring we leavin in the am, get a hotel and then pick up the boat the next morning. The only issue I just realized reading your post is that I won't be able to go over the boat. He doesn't have any in stock. He has to get the boar ready for shipping. If I let him go over the boat it is going to take a while for him to get the boat ready for transport. I guess I will probably just let him get it ready for transport and then trailer it home. There are a ton of videos to figure it all out. Thanks!

 

[traderfjp]

Congrats on the new boat!

Your trailer should be a shorlandr which comes with a spare and a seven pin trailer connector cord. Your trailer brakes if the trailer has them have are surge brakes with an electric bypass that is actuated by the back up light circuit so that the trailer brakes don’t actuate when you back up a hill. Your boat may be light enough that brakes are not required.

I checked the straps on the transom, the bow strap, checked the bow safety chain, lights and I drove home without incident.

You have towing experience.... read your truck owners manual and you should be fine!

If I was buying the boat in Florida - I would take your advice on take a test drive. That would be very informative. Unfortunately we are traveling pretty far north into very cold country so a test drive is impossible. I'll check with dealer about a spare. Good insurance. Aside from that - I love your fishing setup. Are you completely happy with the Solix 10. Is there a learning curve? Now that you have the boat for a while would you mount the trolling motor somewhere else or do you feel it's in the perfect spot? What size trolling motor did you get? How many hours can you get out of the trolling motor? Does it run off your stock electrical system? I was thinking it would be nice for fishing but also as a backup if the motor decides to die. I live in a small town so finding a tow might be hard. Hope you are ok with the barrage of questions. Thanks

 

[AZMark]

I actually feel a lot better knowing I will be picking it up. I like to be in control and I know I will check everything and be super careful. I was figuring we leavin in the am, get a hotel and then pick up the boat the next morning. The only issue I just realized reading your post is that I won't be able to go over the boat. He doesn't have any in stock. He has to get the boar ready for shipping. If I let him go over the boat it is going to take a while for him to get the boat ready for transport. I guess I will probably just let him get it ready for transport and then trailer it home. There are a ton of videos to figure it all out. Thanks!

There’s nothing to get ready aside from putting the shipping cover on.
You’re spending a lot of money on a product that routinely has fit & finish issues, I would look it over, it’ll be much harder to get those issues fixed after you’ve towed it home.

 

[traderfjp]

There’s nothing to get ready aside from putting the shipping cover on.
You’re spending a lot of money on a product that routinely has fit & finish issues, I would look it over, it’ll be much harder to get those issues fixed after you’ve towed it home.

The dealer was giving me some grief about getting the boat ready and not having another one. I'll insist that he shows me around the boat. What should I be looking for in defects. I guess that is why the Marina didn't have high reviews. The salesman is great it really his the owner that is a douche. Thanks

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

The dealer was giving me some grief about getting the boat ready and not having another one. I'll insist that he shows me around the boat. What should I be looking for in defects. I guess that is why the Marina didn't have high reviews. The salesman is great it really his the owner that is a douche. Thanks

Take your time looking at the gel coat for nicks or rub marks, have them rub out any marks.

Look in the battery compartment and other storage areas to make sure things look correct, take your time and it will be obvious if something isn’t correct.

 

[Betik]

having it shipped will still make you unable to inspect. You can always take the cover off and put it back on ( 10 minute job).

i am not sure if this you first boat or if you are paranoid about all you vehicles, but please remember that you own the bot not the other way around. Granded this comment cones from a guy who remodeled a 8 month old house to have the boat parked 5 feet from my bedroom, but still scratches and shit will happen. boat is meant to be for fun not for the museum.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

If I was buying the boat in Florida - I would take your advice on take a test drive. That would be very informative. Unfortunately we are traveling pretty far north into very cold country so a test drive is impossible. I'll check with dealer about a spare. Good insurance. Aside from that - I love your fishing setup. Are you completely happy with the Solix 10. Is there a learning curve? Now that you have the boat for a while would you mount the trolling motor somewhere else or do you feel it's in the perfect spot? What size trolling motor did you get? How many hours can you get out of the trolling motor? Does it run off your stock electrical system? I was thinking it would be nice for fishing but also as a backup if the motor decides to die. I live in a small town so finding a tow might be hard. Hope you are ok with the barrage of questions. Thanks

Yeah kinda hard to boat on ice!

The trailer should come with a spare.

I bought the Solix because I wanted better graphics and the best functionality, yes I’m very happy with the Solix! It’s a very configurable device that has a ton of flexibility, I have barely scratched the surface on its capabilities. Yes there is a learning curve, you can go to the Humminbird website and look at the instructions, lots to read. I’ve learned the hard way to just get the best products in The first place, and not think oh I’ll upgrade later-life is short, get the good stuff.

The Ulterra trolling motor I have is fantastic! I’m very happy with where it is mounted. There are so many awesome features with that trolling motor. being Able to deploy and stow tge motor with the remote is great. It integrates with the Solix control head and you can operate it from the Solix or the Ipilot remote. Go to the Humminbird site and look at the IPilot for Solix instruction manual for its capabilities. I love the anchor lock feature, depth contour following, auto pilot and the cruise control function, those things make fishing by yourself easy. Or with the contour following you can pick a depth contour to follow, set it and the troller will take you on a nice cruise following depth contours without you have to steer it, making plans to use that for social cruising on the lake.

The Ulterra troller needs 36v so it has its own separate battery bank of three group 27 batteries with an onboard charger that gets plugged when I get back from fishing. My battery bank is in the center console hold..along with the onboard charger. To answer your question, no it does not run off the boats electrical system. I have been out trolling with the Ulterra for 10 hours at a time and the lowest I’ve seen the battery indicator, it’s on the IPilot remote, is about 1/3. It is pretty dependent on how hard you run the troller as to how long the batteries will last, lots of wind or current is going to use a lot more amp hours than a calm day. Based on what my usage has been I’d say 12-14 hours of use and still have plenty left over. And yes, it will take you a long ways if needed, should you run out of gas or something. I’m not sure if your boat comes with one or two batteries, dedicated start and a house battery,..that’s something you can add later.

Id suggest installing a MinnKota on board battery charger for your boats start and house battery as well. When you get home from the water just plug it in to a flush mounted plug in the boat and your batteries will be fully charged each time you take the boat out..

You’ve got yourself a cool boat! I’m sure you will have a lot of fun with it! This site is a great resource for info!

Hope that helps!

 

[SCP1]

Hi,
I was lucky enough to find a 19ft yamaha 195S but it's 600 miles from my house. I have a practically new GMC Canyon that could easily tow the boat. I've towed huge uhaul trailers loaded with heavy stuff when we moved to NC. Anyway, I've never towed a boat. I'm buying from a dealer who will lower the tower and secure it with factory transport brackets. They will also strap the boat to the trailer. This is an expensive boat and I want to make sure it doesn't get damaged. I'm worried that the boat might bounce on the roller? Not sure that is even possible just something to worry about. The dealership wanted 1800 to deliver it which I think is insane. I have quotes from 1k to 1200 which sound about right but while they all might have a few reviews and websites I really am taking a chance. It's not all about the costs. I also would have to wire money into the dealer's account and hope that everything is done right with the boat. I'm thinking I should just take the ride, hand the dealer a certified check, let him show me the boat and drive off with it. I'm thinking even getting gas will be an adventure towing the boat but I can be selective where I go and I did it with several large uhauls. Am I being stupid or should I hire a pro to haul the boat. Also, can I trust that the dealer will strap the new boat down for transport?

Congratulations, in regards to the bow roller I'm not sure when you are going to pick up (but if you order one online you can probably just put it on while your there). The bow will rise on a 19' and give you enough room to replace the roller while the boat is on the trailer. Being a brand new trailer I wouldn't worry too much about towing just make sure your have the proper tire pressure (most likely 50psi cold) and check to make sure all the lug nuts are tight. Stop around 150 miles and just recheck the lug nuts to make sure they are still tight. Make sure the shipping cover and the tower is secure and tight. Get in your truck and tow this thing home! I truly believe there is more risk of this getting damaged by someone else transporting this then you, as you are taking all the proper steps to get your new boat home.

 

[mrcleanr6]

I have a 2020 canyon denali and haul my 275sd with it. It hauls that just fine. Its at the top limit of the tow rating but still does fine. I havent gone on a long distance trip yet but if it hauls a 275 fine then you wont even notice a 195 back there behind yours

 

[AZMark]

The dealer was giving me some grief about getting the boat ready and not having another one. I'll insist that he shows me around the boat. What should I be looking for in defects. I guess that is why the Marina didn't have high reviews. The salesman is great it really his the owner that is a douche. Thanks

As others said, gel coat bubbles/cracks/etc. Look at the drain hole inside the anchor locker that goes through the hull, that can be really bad on some boats.

I’d also just make sure gaps and things look correct on hatches and that the electronics all seem to work right on the stereo and connext.
Steering and throttles also shouldn’t have any binding or excessive looseness.

 

[Betik]

I have a 2020 canyon denali and haul my 275sd with it. It hauls that just fine. Its at the top limit of the tow rating but still does fine. I havent gone on a long distance trip yet but if it hauls a 275 fine then you wont even notice a 195 back there behind yours

Wow !!!!

 

[traderfjp]

having it shipped will still make you unable to inspect. You can always take the cover off and put it back on ( 10 minute job).

i am not sure if this you first boat or if you are paranoid about all you vehicles, but please remember that you own the bot not the other way around. Granded this comment cones from a guy who remodeled a 8 month old house to have the boat parked 5 feet from my bedroom, but still scratches and shit will happen. boat is meant to be for fun not for the museum.

Funny you say that . I always tell me wife I wish our cars were beaters so I didn't have to park at the back in strategic spots. We are going to enjoy the boat and not worry about the little things. They will work themselves out. I'm just happy that I even found a 195S after reading the horror stories about waiting. Thanks.

 

[traderfjp]

As others said, gel coat bubbles/cracks/etc. Look at the drain hole inside the anchor locker that goes through the hull, that can be really bad on some boats.

I’d also just make sure gaps and things look correct on hatches and that the electronics all seem to work right on the stereo and connext.
Steering and throttles also shouldn’t have any binding or excessive looseness.

Will do. Thanks

 

[robby76]

traderfjp, welcome to the forum and CONGRATULATIONS on your boat. As you can well testify the folks here are AWESOME and got your back.
As a new boat All warranty work has to be performed by an authorized Yamaha dealer. I am sure there is one closer than 600 miles to your homestead for those matters. You got the boat where there was one.
Do Open The Engine Compartment and check the oil level.
I agree on going over a day or two band checking your boat over good, address any issues so they can be documented for the next authorized dealer to fix.
Your return trip, set you up a couple of stops to check things out I.e. tires, straps, cover.

 

[traderfjp]

traderfjp, welcome to the forum and CONGRATULATIONS on your boat. As you can well testify the folks here are AWESOME and got your back.
As a new boat All warranty work has to be performed by an authorized Yamaha dealer. I am sure there is one closer than 600 miles to your homestead for those matters. You got the boat where there was one.
Do Open The Engine Compartment and check the oil level.
I agree on going over a day or two band checking your boat over good, address any issues so they can be documented for the next authorized dealer to fix.
Your return trip, set you up a couple of stops to check things out I.e. tires, straps, cover.

Thanks. Yes everyone has been very helpful and I will be giving back when I can. I did find a 190 close by but the wife wanted the extra seat and I wanted the tower. I searched everywhere and found the 195 in Yacht blue. I was very lucky to find this boat. I read all the horror stories of people waiting. Turns out the 195 cost me less than what the other dealer wanted for the 190. The nice thing about the 190 was that the dealer was only 70 miles away.