I’m soon going to be getting a small sailboat from my cousin, and I’ll need a way to haul it around. Alas, the Miata won’t cut it.
The boat and trailer only weight about 500 lbs. total, so I don’t need much of a trailer hitch. Pretty much anything that will take a hitch will work.
My budget tops out around $5K, so don’t bother suggesting anything new. I’m looking for something reliable and with decent power. I’m leaning toward a hatchback/wagon sort of car, but I’m not opposed to small truck or SUV.
MGBs have been known to haul small (very small) caravans. Are you sure you can’t make do with your (presumably more-powerful) Miata?
My dad had a '74 Toyota Hi-Lux pickup with which he pulled our motorcycles. The trailer had a plywood box on it that fir between the bike rails, and carried out camping equipment. The Toyota had a four-cylinder engine with a four-speed manual transmission. The hitch was just a ball that bolted into a hole in the rear bumper. I’m sure newer Toyota pickups would be fine, although there sure are a lot of old ones out on the roads that would work.
Nearly all small SUVs will pull up to about 3,000 lbs. Almost any vehicle will tow 500 lbs, but I’m wondering what kind of trailer weighs so little. We generally estimate about 1500 for a trailer.
Weight
Distance to travel
Manual or auto tranny
Ability to hook up the trailer
Ease of hooking up lights
How much other load are you going to be taking
If a manual tranny and something like a sunfish board boat, I would save the $$$ and use your car.
If a small boat and you will always use it in the same place, many places will let you store the boat on site, even launch and pull it out, so just get a friend to pull it there and then leave it there.
Check you operators manual and see what the tow limits are, it should be noted in there someplace.
You might consider a used Jeep Cherokee. It’s inexpensive, pretty roomy and will easily handle the towing load. A Wrangler will look cooler but is probably in higher demand (so more expensive) and isn’t quite as roomy for gear.
But I’m really curious what kind of boat you are getting. Need crew?
My Cherokee can haul 5,000 pounds. It can certainly handle a small boat. Cherokees are fairly comfortable and can carry a decent internal load. One thing about the Wrangler is that it has a short wheelbase. This could be a problem when hauling longer, heavier trailers.
It’s a 12’ sailboat. Any equipment it needs is stored in the boat. My weight estimate may be off. The boat itself only weighs about 350-400 lbs. Do trailers really weigh 1500 lbs.? Anyway, let’s adjust the weight up to 1000-2000 lbs total to be safe.
Johnny, I suppose it’s possible. But it would make me nervous to be hauling something considerably bigger than my car.
Quicksilver, it’s basically a 1 or 2 man boat. If you want to go sailing sometime, let me know.
Oh, man. I wish. Keeping it in the water in Santa Barbara costs a minimum of about $130 a month, and that’s if you could get a spot. Which you can’t. I hear the waiting list (which it costs $50 a year just to stay on) is over 10 years long.
I tried calling storage lots near the water. The guy didn’t exactly laugh at me, but I could tell from his tone of voice that he was trying really hard.
Thanks for the Cherokee recommendation. There’s one listed on cragslist right now and I’m going to check it out.
You should be able to tow that with an older Ford or Chevy. An LTD or Caprice with the big V8 (351 for Ford, 350 for Chevy) is rated for 2000 pounds and can be had for less than $3K.
