Towing question

[tmicocci]

I'm considering getting into a 26' Venture. Can owners advise if this boat can be reasonably towed by a strong F150?

[thataway]

Although many do tow the C Dory 25 and Venture 26, with a 150, I strongly advise a 250. If you do any hill towing, electric over hydraulic brakes are desired. Your tow weight will be in the 8,000 lb category when loaded for a trip. You also want a trailer up to the weight. Many come with lighter trailers. I have towed with both a 3/4 ton and 1/2 ton truck.

One consideration, is that many 150's require a weight distribution hitch if the tow weight is greater than 5,000 Lbs.

If you have not seen a both C Dory 25 and Venture 26, I would suggest that you to look at both. You are more likely to find a 25 for sale, since there are significantly more built. There are some minor differences in both boats--and the layout/construction in one may be more desirable for your use.

[Peter & Judy]

I tow my 22' with a F350 Super Dudy Diesel and I hardly know that the boat is behind me, even if I have my truck camper on the truck. The 26" is a bigger and heavier boat and I would personally want to pull it with something more powerful than a F150 or similar. Unless you are just doing short haul towing on terrain that is not to hilly. I have towed my boat from the Yukon to Lake Powell in Utah and made several trips to Vancouver Island from my home in Alberta. Driving through the high passes of the Rockies I am always happy to have much more power than just enough. Diesel engines also have so much more pulling power and this would be my vehicle of choice for the task.

[srbaum]

Timcocci,
I have a 26 and it is a heavy boat. My tow vehicle is a 2500 Suburban and I would not want any tow vehicle smaller. Years ago, my Suburban was a 1500 series and was truly a dog on the highway, when towing my Mako 23.
As to comparison of towing my past C-Dory 22, verses a 26, there is none. A 22 tows behind the Suburban like a john boat.
I've owned over 75 boats and have towed boats for...well I'm 68 and I was 16 when I started. My first 4 years in the USCG, required me to tow a boat for a lot of the near shore rescues in SC and GA. Unfortunately we were not always issued a vehicle rated for the boats being towed. Most of the time we ended up towing larger aluminum boats with I/O drives that were far too heavy for the trucks we were issued Many, many times, I though that I would die on the highway, not in the surf.
On a different note, feel free to reach out if you would like a ride on a 26...

[DayBreak]

Ditto on what others are saying here. I am sure Colby will chime in soon because he seems to be doing fine towing his 25 Cruiser with his new F150.

We have a 23 Venture and tow with a F-150. I feel that it only does an adequate job in towing. If we move up into a 26 Venture, we will buy a F-250 or F-350 for towing. The beefier suspension in the heavy duty trucks is what makes for a safer tow in these heavier boats with larger trailers.

Electric over hydraulic brakes are nice even on a 22 Cruiser or 23 Venture for better control while braking and work well if backing down a steep grade.

[Foggy]

I hauled my CD 26 Venture with a Ram 1500 5.7L V8, rated for 8500 lb tow, all
up and down the East coast and up into Canada. It did it but struggled uphill in
the mountains which I did not like as sometimes too slow in the right lane is too
slow. Bottom line, I often wanted more hauling power and would not recommend
a 1500 for towing a CD 26 unless you plan shorter ventures.

One feature I really appreciated was the air shocks. They automatically leveled
the rig, no need for an equalizing hitch.

Aye.

[journey on]

Yes, you can tow a 26 Venture with a Dorf (Ford) 150. I've even towed Journey On, a 25 with a 63 Chevvy 350. Those above all have 3/4 ton (or better) trucks and of course that's what they recommend.

Just get into a lower gear by pulling the shift lever down when you're going uphill and allow for the downhills. Accept you'll be going slower that perhaps you'd like and keep going. BTW, the smallest engine I'd use is the turbo V-6. My daughter tows her travel trailer with one and has no problems. Her sister tows her large travel trailer with a 2000 Chevvie 350 with no problem.

Get an equalizer hitch for the truck and electric over hydraulic for the trailer and you're set.

Boris

[T.R. Bauer]

If I had an new crewcab ecoboost or 5.0 F150 I'd tow it with it as it they are rated to do the job. "1/2" ton gets tossed around a lot on here. The F150 hasn't been anywhere close to a half ton for long time. With that said, you will need to set it up as the manufacturer recommends - don't cut corners in safety.

[colbysmith]

I don't know what a 26 weighs, as I've only owned the 22 and 25 in the C-Dory world. Currently I tow the 25 with an 2019 F150 with the 5.0 L and a 10 speed tranny. It has a high rear end which is better for mileage than heavy towing, but it seems to do fine. (3:31?) It also has the tow package. My boat and trailer weigh in between 7,100 lb and 8,300 lbs, total weight, depending upon load. Tongue weight between 615-644 lbs. That's all scaled weight. I've made several round trips over the Rockies and able to maintain 60mph uphill. (A little faster if I wanted, but the truck jumps down to 2nd on the steeper grades, and 65 is too close to red line for me.) Down steep grades I gear down and run a little slower. I suppose you could buy a semi to tow it and have all the additional power you need. (Nothing wrong with using a bigger truck, but I also use my pickup for a local runner and prefer not to have anything bigger than the F150. ) But I do just fine with the F150, and electric over hydraulic brakes. (Last trailer just had straight electric brakes and it worked just as well.) Nor do I tow over 65mph, and will go slower if more appropriate for the roads, weather or other traffic. Nor do I use an equalizing hitch as I believe they put more stress on the boat trailer tongue than necessary. (And some boat trailer manufacturers warn against them.) I do have the Tembren bump stops on my truck which help with the added weight. If you can afford and don't mind having the larger pickup, go for it. Nothing wrong with having plenty more pulling power than what you really need. But my F150 performs the job at hand just fine, and safely. Just understand you have more tail to the dog. But the dog is capable. Colby

[tmicocci]

Thank you all for your very helpful and informative thoughts on tow vehicles for a V 26, which is what I have in mind. I look forward to being in the 'owner' category in this great group!

[Nwheeler]

Last year I towed our CD25 from Maine to South Florida on a 2 axle trailer, using our 2019 Ram 1500. It’s equipped with the 5.7L engine with a tow package……and the larger rear end gearing. It’s rated to tow a max 16,200 and we had no problem on our trip back home.

[journey on]

A few comments on equalizer hitches. I would hope that it will remove some fears about using them.

First of all they consist of 2 bars in tension between the truck and trailer. As such, they are a spring between the truck and trailer designed to off load the weight on the trucks rear axle and transfer it to the front axle, Nothing more. The spring torque is transferred through the hitch and frame, unloading the rear and loading the front. This reduces the rear sag and thus the load, it's only purpose.

I've used them on a 63 Chevvy C-10 with coil springs with no ill effect. I assume modern 1/2 ton trucks are built stronger. If your hitch and frame are sketchy, don't use them.

Now, I have a 3/4 ton truck. I tried equalizer bars, which unloaded the rear axle to the point that I lost traction. I removed them and all went well. The point is: if you don't need them, don't use them. Their only purpose is to unload the weight from the rear axle.

Some trailers use surge brakes, which uses the weight/inertia of the trailer to apply the trailer brakes, which require relative movement of the trailer to the hitch. Standard equalizer bars tend to resist this movement, so they are not recommended. A special type of equalizer hitch, using a roller mount to allow the relative motion is required.

Electric over hydraulic brakes can use standard equalizer bars, because they don't require the relative motion. Another advantage of EOH brakes.

Boris

[colbysmith]

[journey on]

I'm not trying to make this a public debate, so I'll give a short answer to your questions.

First, as Newton said, for every action there is a reaction. You're right, there's a torque on the trailer as well as the truck. I've used equalizer hitches for years, both boat and travel, and never noticed a problem. I have an E-Z Loader and the center pole is braced with side rails and seems to be able to resist the spring load.

Next, one has to understand why a trailer manufacture would recommend against equilizer hitches and I think I've advanced a reasonable rationale which agrees with the quote you made, above. Following that rationale, EOH brakes and equalizer hitches are compatable. If you have come to a different conclusion you can follow that idea.

Boris

[colbysmith]