Tandem towing

[3geese4me]

Driving home from fishing I saw a travel trailer tandem towing with a smaller (16' crestliner) aluminum boat. First time I had ever seen that up here and got me wondering if it was legal. Turns out it is but with some guidelines that need to be followed.

Has anyone on here ever done that? If so, did you have to take any extra precautions before heading out onto the road? I would be concerned about trailer sway in our ever changing wind patterns that we have.

 

[LBrandt]

Ever play crack-the-whip in grade school. Enough said. LB

 

[westwolfone]

Darwinism I guess.

Today would me a good day for it.

 

[SDMF]

Sit at any boat ramp for say 4hrs on a busy Saturday morning. Take note of the percentage of people who can't proficiently back up a boat trailer, then think, some of those folks are the ones pulling double off the bumper/receiver hitch. Toss in a long weekend of partying with a Sunday morning Bloody-Mary, a touch of remaining hangover, then hook up the works for a lazy 75MPH Sunday afternoon pull home with a 25-30MPH cross-wind like today.

What could go wrong?

 

[BrokenBackJack]

Don't forget they hit the cruise control at 75 and get on their cell phones. ;:;banghead

 

[3geese4me]

I would think if there was a decent anti-sway and weight distribution hitch and speeds were kept to 55-60 it wouldn't be so bad

 

[SlamminSalmon]

And stop doing it with a half ton please!!!

 

[Captain Ahab]

Must be more of a western thing. I don't really see it in the east.

 

[3geese4me]

And stop doing it with a half ton please!!!

It was an F150 with the ecoboost to be exact hahaha.

 

[shorthairsrus]

a newer f150 vs a 10 year old tree qtr -- i will take the sway on the newer f150. especially before they lighten them up.

 

[3geese4me]

If I had to guess I would say this set up was somewhere in the 9-10k pound range. He looked to have it under control and wasn’t going 70mph. Probably around 60 if I had to guess..

 

[1lessdog]

Some of you guy act like its something you see everyday. I can count the number of times I have seen a travel trailer bumper mount pulling a boat behind it on one hand and not a one was going over 60 mph. Now I can count stock trailers being pulled down the road at 70 to 75 mph fully loaded. I would much rather is a travel trailer with a boat a 60 mps then a stock trailer going 75. I don't give a shit if its a 250 or 350. If its a single wheel truck they bill not stop any faster then the F150.

I have been to stockyards and seen many pickup hooked to stock trailer and had a hard time backing up to the chutes.

There are piss poor backer in every way of life Don't lump all or blame it on the recreational boaters.

 

[westwolfone]

Must be more of a western thing. I don't really see it in the east.

I think it's illegal in Minnesota.

Over the years, I've seen about the same number in the ditch as moving.

 

[Davey Crockett]

I pulled tandem for a few summers in the 80s and it wasn't so bad . Pulled a 16' smokercraft behind a 16' a mallard camper with a 3/4 ton 6.2 diesel so I was underpowered but It pulled and trailed real nice , I mostly traveled at night so it was was comfortable at 60 mph with no wind. I put some shop built loading guides on the trailer with clearance lights so I had something to look at in the mirrors to make sure I still had a boat following me .

The worst trailing i've seen was a cement mixer behind a pickup . I followed one north out of Fargo and it was fishtailing so bad that it was moving the pickup around so I know he was aware of it. I passed him and put on gas in grand Forks and headed west on 2 and he came flying past me like he was late for work. I was sure I'd find the mixer upside down in the ditch or worse yet with a car wrapped around it but I didn't . Some guys have all the luck.

 

[riverview]

seems like I see a few leaving grahams island every weekend.

 

[Obi-Wan]

Pulled tandem with both travel trailer and 5th wheel both handled just fine.

 

[1850reata]

I pull tandem a few times a year. Dont even notice the boat is back there unless there is a bad cross wind. I have a live feed camera on the back of the camper. Makes hooking em up just like connecting you boat to the truck. Never go over 65 and havent had any issues

 

[SlamminSalmon]

I pull tandem 5th wheel and boat. F250 diesel never over 60-65. Couldn’t imagine doing it with a half ton had a 2014 F150 with the eco boost pulled fine but didn’t like the way it felt with just the boat on the back. Suspension felt really soft to me. The boat is a nitro zv21.

 

[Allen]

While I set the bar at a fifth wheel to pull a tandem, it's not like the news channels are full of bumper hitch tandem accidents.

Can they all just be that lucky, or is it just doable if you aren't a Nascar wannabe?

 

[SDMF]

Must be more of a western thing. I don't really see it in the east.

I think lots less common in E ND except for maybe Grahams Island, the vast majority of the camping spots are seasonal. Bismarck/Minot to Sak for weekend (non-permanent/non-seasonal) camping/fishing weekends are quite common.

I'm pretty sure that at least 5th wheel doubles are legal in MN, but, it's tough to stay under their overall length requirement of 70' IIRC.