What can fit in my garage? And what can tow it?

[tazrox]

I'm thinking about getting a Boston Whaler Montauk 170 or something comparable, and was wondering if the boat and trailer would fit in my garage. The dimensions are approximately 20' long, 9' wide, and 7' high. If I remove some shelving on the back wall, that would make it 23' long.

I know that there are variations in trailer length and height, but does this seem workable?

Also, would a 4 cylinder Tacoma or Frontier (or insert other smaller truck here) be sufficient to tow it ~120 miles, from San Francisco to Monterey?

Thanks in advance!

 

[dannobee]

Look in the owner's manual of the vehicle for its towing capacity.

As for the boat and trailer, you can have the trailer modified for a "swing-away" tongue, that'll usually save about 2-3 feet in trailer length.

 

[Chuck Tribolet]

I had a body who had a Montauk 170 and towed with a 4-cylinder Toyota PU,
I think a Tacoma. He crashed the 4-banger and replaced it with a 6-cylinder
version. He said the 6-cyl was MUCH better.

I think there's a reasonable chance a Montauk 170 would fit in your
garage. If it just misses, check out used 16' 7" Montauks, they are about
six inches smaller in each dimension. I have one.

Take a 25' tape measure over to the Outboard Motor Shop in Oakland
and start measuring. Measure your garage first.

 

[Chuck Tribolet]

My 16'7" Montauk weighs in at just over 2000 pounds, boat, motor, and
trailer. The 170 will be more like 2500.


Chuck

 

[herman]

Odds are it will not fit. Add another 3 ft to the rear for the motor and another 3 to (most likely) 4 ft for the trailer tongue. That puts you in the 23 to 24 ft range. For a tow vehicle it somewhat depends where and how you tow. For long haul high speed towing you need a V6 as a minumum, add hilly terrain and a V8 is a must. Also the vehicle really needs some curb weight as well. A 3000 lb boat pushes back when stopping and without some beef in your tow vehicle it can get shoved all around. Cars these days are totally out, no one makes a large V8 powered one and pickups MUST have 4wd, you can usually get way with SUVs that are 2wd. Pickups, even full sized ones, are too light in the rear for effective towing up a steep, slick ramp with just 2wd. I have been towing boats a long time (and distance) don't go light on the tow vehicle.

 

[Glock Diver]

I'd be scared to tow with a 4-cylinder, if I encountered any hills while driving.

Is it a single car garage? It *MIGHT* fit if you remove those shelves. Most of my neighbors with boats in that size range put the boat in their 2-car garage at an angle.

I have a 22.5' Aquasport, and when I had it measured at my storage facility, the trailer +boat measured 29' from the coupler to the prop. I was shocked!

 

[deepwater]

Something to consider in a towing vehicle is, towing is only half the battle. An object in motion tends to stay in motion unless you have the brakes to stop it. I had a Ford Exploder, v6 power, that could tow my 18ft flatbed, with 6 Harleys, just fine, until I tried to stop it and it pushed me trrough a stop light. On the other hand I tow my 25ft toon with my F150 4x4 @ 70mph without issue, except the 10mpg.

 

[dannobee]

Something to consider in a towing vehicle is, towing is only half the battle. An object in motion tends to stay in motion unless you have the brakes to stop it. I had a Ford Exploder, v6 power, that could tow my 18ft flatbed, with 6 Harleys, just fine, until I tried to stop it and it pushed me through a stop light. On the other hand I tow my 25ft toon with my F150 4x4 @ 70mph without issue, except the 10mpg.

Trailers over 1500 lbs gross weight are required to have brakes in California.

The law used to be 3000 lbs gross weight, so there are some older trailers that are not equipped with brakes.

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

There are very real concerns with the life expectancy of the different systems when towing with a small 4 cyl vehicles. Typically, the transmission and brake system are so overloaded they will die quickly. The engine will overheat, shortening its life. The cost to repair will exceed that of replacing the small vehicle with something more reasonably sized (V6 SUV or truck).

Boating stands for Break Out Another Thousand. Its fun, but requires an investment to do it right, just like scuba.

 

[Nemrod]

My Outrage 190 does go in my garage, I have to let the air out of the tires and drop the windscreen and rail. The swing away tongue is very useful, I think the newer boats come with a trailer with this feature.

I tow with a Toyota Tacoma, it is rated to tow 6,500 pounds and hardly knows the Outrage 190 is back there, yeah, a long steep hill or crossing the Rockies, we slow down. We tow hundreds of miles. A newer 4 cylinder Tacoma will easily pull a Montauk 17 footer though the V6 would be a better choice. If slippery ramps are a concern, 4WD is important.

In Trailer Boats and several other towing comparisons for midsize vehicles including the V8 Dakota, the Tacoma comes out on top in acceleration and braking and everything else actually.

N