Weight CD 25 Real Life.

A Fishin C · Guest

What is the weight of a 25 with everything with a galvanized dual axle trailer.

The C-Dory website say 3602 pounds for the hull, and 4800 with trailer,motor and fuel. Not likely if a motor is 450 pounds, a trailer is 1400 lbs and fuel is 700?? pounds

Any real life numbers, my pathfinder will tow 6000 and I don't want to buy another vehicle.
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journey on · Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2010 8:24 pm Post subject:

The short answer is you're towing/hauling about 8500# which includes the trailer, kicker, household goods, some water and gas. We carry about 300# in the truck when we tow such as the kicker, inflatable, etc and try to leave the boat low on gas and water. V-8 time, plus electric/hydraulic brakes.

In the water, dry is 5000#. With 2 people, kicker, gas and water and our cruising gear it's about 7400#

Here's a detailed weight breakdown:

JamesTXSD · Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2010 8:41 pm Post subject:

Nice chart, Boris! And, if you want to hear it from another owner, our CD-25 runs just over 8,700 pounds on the trailer, according to the truck scale. We don't travel light, but this is over a TON more than what we were told the boat would weigh (by the factory folks). Like Boris, we try to be low on fuel when we trailer, but often have over half a tank of fresh water. We carry most accessories in the truck. The dual axle galvanized King trailer is closer to 2,000 pounds.

We trailer with a HD2500 diesel pickup, and it is well suited to the task. We have towed our CD-25 over 35,000 miles. A vehicle with a 6,000 pound tow rating would not be safe (IMHO) towing this kind of load. I am aware that others do tow these boats with 1/2 trucks and SUVs; it would be interesting to hear their perspectives. One thing we did to our tow set-up is eliminate the surge brake controller and go with electric over hydraulic... wish I would have ordered it that way.

Good luck with your decisions. The CD-25 is a great towable cruiser, and not an inexpensive way to go. Having enough tow vehicle is part of what makes it so workable.

Best wishes,
Jim B.

Matt Gurnsey · Posted: Mon Jan 18, 2010 12:30 pm Post subject:

Based on these numbers the recomended 5400 capacity trailer is undersized.

I'll be updating our information and pricing 25's with larger trailers.

The 26 Venture we were already putting on a 7000 capacity trailer.

Dora~Jean · Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 12:57 am Post subject:

My boat/trailer combo might be lighter than most because I don't have the marine-style toilet (and holding tank), nor the water heater, nor the AC electrical system. Back in late 2002 when it was first outfitted onto a trailer at Pacific Trailers in Newark, they couldn't fit it on a standard 96" axle. So they went one size up to a 27 ft trailer and extended the axle to 102" so it would sit down between the fenders. I believe it is a 9,700 lb gross weight rated trailer. The extra tongue length turned out to be wonderful for shallow water launches.

I don't know what the trailer weighs separately, but I did weigh the whole rig on a calibrated scale. It weighs 7,400 lbs total, including the tongue. That was with a full tank of gas (100 gal), 10 gal water, 8' 6" West Marine raft, 3 hp raft motor, ice chest with food for 2 on a weekend cruise, 2 people's worth of gear, fishing gear, 2 anchors w/30 and 20 ft of chain, windlass, twin F80 Yamaha outboards, 2 batteries. Normal kitchen, tool, safety and emergency supplies on board.

JamesTXSD · Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 8:59 am Post subject:

Surprising difference in weight, Steve. Generally, a boat gains weight as the production run progresses... but that's quite a lot. The 8,700 pounds on ours was with less than 1/4 tank of fuel, making the difference even more significant. I haven't weighed the trailer separately, but took the weight from King. When we put new tires on the trailer, I went up one weight rating from stock. While trailering, we do try to carry as much as possible in the bed of the truck (solid tonneau cover) both for the weight and the liveability in the boat while land traveling. The head in our boat, according to Sealand specs, weighs 41 pounds; the waterheater is less than 25 pounds. We pack for 2 and a cat; the fridge would about offset the weight of a cooler full of ice; when I weighed the boat, the dinghy and motor were in the truck bed.

Best wishes,
Jim

journey on · Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 11:06 am Post subject:

Matt,
I'm surprised that you're using that light a trailer. When I bought Journey On from Marben Marine/factory they sold me a 7000# GVW E-Z Loader trailer. This was S/N #1 in that style, and was supposed to be a C-25 specific trailer. That's probably why it weighs 1980#. It hasn't failed yet, and I think a lighter one would have. I suppose if you stay close to home a 5400# would work, but those interstates are ROUGH.

Jim & Steve,
That weight from Dora Jean is somewhat reasonable. Just remember, the trailer he describes is what we have, so we can subtract 1900# from his gross scale weight, which gives him about 5600# of launch weight. The chart above estimates Journey On's basic boat weight as 4930. He has two engines, I have heavier batteries, more anchor, he has no head, I have 50" of shore cord, he has water/gas. I have an enclosed aft lazerette and access hatch to the fuel tank and both add weight; so I'll accept that his boat wet is ~5600#.

Thus, in truth it takes 2000# to go cruising as Jim and Boris do, vs the was Steve does. And we're all happy and the C-25 works both ways. And by the way, I've only been able to get 85 gal of gas in the tank.

Boris

Matt Gurnsey · Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 1:44 pm Post subject:

We haven't actually sold any 25's on the KB5400 trailer, but that was the capacity of trailer recomended by Fluid.

I've revised our price lists to show the larger trailer.

toyman · Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 7:40 pm Post subject:

Fan-C-Dory, when purchased, was sitting on a 5400# brand new aluminum trailer. The previous owner had just purchased it, and moved the boat ~40 miles on it. It was pretty obvious that the trailer was to small for my intended use, so I contacted the trailer dealer and made a trade for a 7900# aluminum trailer. Boat rides well, and the trailer seems to handle the weight on the rough interstates OK. I started pulling last year with a 1/2 T pickup - again to small for my use, I now I have a 3/4T diesel. I would really like to have dual wheels to tow with but didn't want the "hips" when running around parking lots. I feel that the 1/2T and light trailer would be ok for local tow, but not for lots of interstate running. JMOO

journey on · Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 8:49 pm Post subject:

It's raining outside, I'm through making new cabinet brackets for Journey On, and so here I am again. It's amazing what a couple of inches of rain can do in San Diego County.

As far as towing a C-25 with a dually, that's not the best idea in the world. And before a select group of very knowledgeable people spear me, let me explain.

I too have a 3/4 ton truck, which faithfully pulls Journey On around and has worked extremely well on launch ramps. On our last trip up to the Pacific Northwest, I thought about all the bumps and jolts between Mexico and Canada and used a set of equalizer bars. I figured that when we hit a biggie on I-5, some of that jolt would be transferred to the front axle of the truck. Everything worked well until we stopped to see one of Judy's friends in Marysville, Wa. This lady lived past a steep hill by a golf course and it was raining, making the roads slippery. Since the equalizer hitch unloaded the rear tires just a little, the wheels spun and I just made it up the hill. Took those bars off and never had any trouble as to traction, again.

So what's the moral of this story? If you're going to pull a C-25, especially one that weighs 9000#, you need traction, which is a direct function of the load on the rear driving tyres/wheels. If you're going to put 2 more wheels on the ground at the rear, you're dividing the load on the tires in half, the tries dot stick to the ground as well and things will get slippery. Be happy with what you have.

Boris

toyman · Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 9:09 pm Post subject:

Oh I agee about the traction thing Boris, a 2 wheel drive dually diesel will get stuck on level wet grass - BTDT. But I wouldn't want a boat launch truck without 4x4, just my feel good point. Dual rear wheels give better control over your trailer, especially when/if you need to rely on the truck for some of the braking - which we all do if using surge brakes. Smack the brakes when making a turn some time - ya, I know we shouldn't, buttttt stuff happens.

JamesTXSD · Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 9:14 pm Post subject:

I'm with Boris. A dually is designed to spread the weight carried in the bed (like a tag axel on a motorhome). If you're going to carry a pickup camper, haul bricks in the bed of the truck, or pull a 5th wheel with a high pin weight, a dually is the right tool for the job. When towing our boat, we may carry 500 pounds in the bed and have less than 1,000 pound tongue weight - well within the capability of the 3/4 ton HD diesel.

localboy · Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 9:57 pm Post subject:

Wonder if the [under]weight "estimate" from Fluid is a contributing factor to the snapped bunk brackets we've seen on King trailers w/ 25's loaded. Confused

Bess-C · Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2010 1:17 am Post subject:

Bess-C was on a 5400# King Trailer per C-Dory's recommendation when we bought her from EQ. It was the first 25 that they had sold. A couple of years later Les told me that he thought the boat was too heavy for the trailer, so he traded out the trailer for a new 7000# trailer. He didn't make any money on the deal, but wanted us to be safer. He's just that kind of guy.

Our boat started out at 7800 lbs and grew to 8500 lbs as we added stuff.
Lyle

thataway · Posted: Thu Jan 21, 2010 6:06 pm Post subject:

It may depend on how the trailer is rated. Most are rated, including the weight of the trailer, but some have a capacity, plus the trailer. I used an aluminum trailer with a rated capacity of 6500 lbs , plus the 800 lbs of the trailer (scale weight). We did find that the load on the axels was 6500 lbs, loaded, with about 700 lbs on the rear of the truck. The first 5000 miles we had tire trouble--and then went to an equalizer hitch and radial tires--another 12,000 miles were trouble free (except some brake problems due to "tie down" brakes, but minimal tire wear.

For some reason 95 % of trailers in Florida are aluinum, and most on the West coast are galvanized steel. The aluminum trailer makes more sense to me. They are much lighter, they don't rust, and they hold up better.