Help me select a new river boat

Will be buying a used boat to use on the river near me, my car will tow 1,000 lbs, I don't mind stretching that a little as I have a short 1/2 or 2 mile ride on flat lad to the ramps nearest me.

I confess to loving speed, so the faster the better. I know with my weight limitation I'm looking at something 10'-16' long most likely aluminum with 15-40 HP. The only way around that would be for me to buy a modded out jet boat with a seadoo engine. I need a seat with back rest for me but don't mind if it's tiller or console steering.

I'm considering a jet ski but not having a backrest is a major drawback and most likely a deal killer, so unless you have a compelling argument for a ski that option is most likely out.

I prefer 4S but would not turn down a good condition 2S. Anyone else use a rear wheel drive car to tow and drop in at the ramp? I don't want to have to add a hitch to my AWD car if I can help it.

So what brand is the fastest and would you prefer all weld over rivets, I'm leaning that direction.

The heavy pulling load is when you go to pull the boat out of the water, just my opinion.

I would get a modified V jon boat, with 25 or so hp engine. Nothing wrong with rivets.

Keep it simple, maybe just have couple backrest seats & no floor to keep weight down.

Do you have a good place to store it? Boats can get in the way if you don't.

Until recently i pulled my Alumacraft NCS 16' and a 20 hp 4 stroke Honda with a Chevy HHR that also had a 1000 lb towing capacity. Never had any problems with that. The rivets aren't really a problem I've had several over the years. Welded most usually weigh more not much sometimes but more. I get about 27 mph with the 20hp. That's me, large cooler, 2 batteries and trolling motor. Could be faster but fast enough for me and VERY fuel efficient.

Thanks, my current boat is 18' w 115 pwr, might be selling the shore house and boat so will have to trailer from my main house. I know a smaller boat will give the feel of faster being closer to the water and all. I can store her in my side yard under wraps without a problem. Am even thinking about a Dux style boat, light weight and pretty quick set up.

I may yet suck it up and drop down to a 15-25 hp but would like to have the power to get my girls out on occasion.

My worry about the weight of the boat is my car only weighs 1,800 lbs. If I have to rig up the bigger car I will, just like to use the hitch I currently have. I'll hit the local ramps in a few days to see how steep they are and what kind of traction I can count on.

Any other opinions, I'm open to ideas.

A 14' riveted Jon with a 25 hp will do close to 30 mph. The combo will come in under a 1000lbs. With the trailer.


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What car are you looking to tow with? 1800 lbs is not going to want to tow too much comfortably so you would probably be looking at a 12-14' at best and that wouldn't leave much room for multiple people and stability. I used to have a 15' Hobie Powerskiff and towed it with my 2000 Camaro SS. Our ramp is not the easiest and it flattens out in spots where my exhaust would be in the water to be able to get the boat off the trailer. I only had trouble one year when I forgot to bring a shovel to clean the mud off the ramp in the spring. I couldn't get back up the ramp even with the empty trailer and had to unhook the trailer to get the car up and then walk the empty trailer up. In this picture, you can see I remembered the shovel and cleaned off the ramp pretty good. The car towed the boat easily but with 320 hp and SS springs it helped a lot.

JL8Jeff said:

What car are you looking to tow with? 1800 lbs is not going to want to tow too much comfortably so you would probably be looking at a 12-14' at best and that wouldn't leave much room for multiple people and stability. I used to have a 15' Hobie Powerskiff and towed it with my 2000 Camaro SS. Our ramp is not the easiest and it flattens out in spots where my exhaust would be in the water to be able to get the boat off the trailer. I only had trouble one year when I forgot to bring a shovel to clean the mud off the ramp in the spring. I couldn't get back up the ramp even with the empty trailer and had to unhook the trailer to get the car up and then walk the empty trailer up. In this picture, you can see I remembered the shovel and cleaned off the ramp pretty good. The car towed the boat easily but with 320 hp and SS springs it helped a lot.

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Car is a Plymouth Prowler, 2 seater all aluminum, 225 HP so power to weight ratio is fine, I'm more worried about the car not stopping/traction on the ramp. The car is very even 50/50 weight distribution so not much weight over the rear wheels.

My ideal boat will be 14' I'm thinking

Its sad to see such a rare and beautiful car be used as a tow vehicle. Id go buy a cheap clunker or a 4 wheeler to pull with since its only a very short trip.

Wyatt said:

Its sad to see such a rare and beautiful car be used as a tow vehicle. Id go buy a cheap clunker or a 4 wheeler to pull with since its only a very short trip.

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Living where I do a 4 wheeler isn't legal on the street and they are all streets. a clunker isn't an option, you have to reg, ins. and keep it, we have 3 cars now. I'd sooner add a hitch to my daily driver. I get the thought though, not even sure how I feel about backing her down a ramp, not looking to dunk the car by any means, looks like I'll have to hitch up the DD.

Put a hitch on the AWD car. No way I would pull a boat with my Prowler.

Pull a 2014 G3 1548 VBW behind a 2009 VW TDI (diesel) Jetta that has a 1000lb tow capacity,,,has 25hp etec and a custom built aluminum trailer built by myself ,,, boat motor and trailer is about 650 lbs add TM and batteries gear comes in just about 900 lbs,,,, have no trouble pulling it out of the water or 250 miles to the river across the 110* desert getting 35 mpg,,, boat is a all welded .100 hull,, owning a weld/fab shop wouldn't ever own another riveted boat but that's me,,,,no way would i be using a Prowler, one of the other 2 cars I would be looking at for a tow car or trade one in on something that would be a better choice,,, really doubt you would find a hitch for the prowler

Funny thing is, the Prowler has a hitch, it holds a luggage rack because trunk space is so limited. Prowlers have custom made travel trailers for overnighters that you can carry a weeks worth of stuff for 2 in. (no sleeping inside, just stuff)

Having never really trailered before, how deep do the rear wheels have to go into the water? I guess that depends on the ramp and drop off. Nice rig by the way, would love to be able to weld anything, aluminum would be even better.

Crazyboat said:

Having never really trailered before, how deep do the rear wheels have to go into the water? I guess that depends on the ramp and drop off. Nice rig by the way, would love to be able to weld anything, aluminum would be even better.

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If you compare the picture of my Hobie which sat very high on the trailer to clear the fenders (I don't think it was the correct size trailer for the boat) to his homemade where the boat sits nice and low, I had to back into the water to where the exhaust pipes were just hitting the water, partway up the wheels. He probably doesn't need to get his wheels in the water at all to float the boat off the trailer. So the trailer can obviously make a big difference. If you get a trailer with a drop axle, the boat will sit a lot lower. My old Sprint boat trailer had a drop axle which kept the boat pretty low.

A tilt trailer would be an option to keep all your wheels on dry ground

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdXL8W4RYTo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-tTyZr6wtA&t=1s

misunderstood said:

A tilt trailer would be an option to keep all your wheels on dry ground

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdXL8W4RYTo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-tTyZr6wtA&t=1s

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Thanks great idea. With an outblard on back you may take on some water though, that "ramp" is pretty steep.

Crazyboat said:

misunderstood said:

A tilt trailer would be an option to keep all your wheels on dry ground

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdXL8W4RYTo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-tTyZr6wtA&t=1s

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Thanks great idea. With an outblard on back you may take on some water though, that "ramp" is pretty steep.

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Outboards should not make a difference. Personally I like one with the electric winch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7y-tTqBCzM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ob8n8xOXdEs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSSF0aNX1vQ

Crazyboat said:

Funny thing is, the Prowler has a hitch, it holds a luggage rack because trunk space is so limited. Prowlers have custom made travel trailers for overnighters that you can carry a weeks worth of stuff for 2 in.

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I have built a couple of teardrop campers that get pulled behind Prowler. I would just hate to see that car get screwed up at the boat ramp. You could always order your trailer with a longer tounge. I am ordering one for mine that's 2 feet longer because of issues at a few ramps I use.

Thanks for the help, am enjoying the window shopping right now. Have to sell the shore house and boat before I buy one for the river. As I have questions I'll be sure to have them find there way here.