MacGregorSailors.com

I just purchased a 26M (on a single axel MacGregor trailer) and need to put it on a barge to move it to Alaska. Can anyone tell me the dimensions of the boat and trailer together - from the front of the tongue of the trailer to the very furthest part back, the height from the ground, and the width. I saw an image a while ago with all of these dimensions written in, but cannot find it again. Thanks in advance for any information.

34 ft long
8 ft 6 inches wide
9 ft 8 inches tall

Thanks for the great pic Neo.

I have recently had a second axle fitted to my trailer. I have my loaded pretty much to these dimensions; possibly 0.1m / 4" further forward. Using some 2x4, 4x4, and a bathroom scale, I've determined that my current tongue weight is ~375lb. I'm pretty happy with this for now. I might consider moving it back to get to ~350lb. This is not too serious as I keep the boat at the Yacht Club and so am just moving it between the ramp and the parking spot.

What I do need to consider is longer towing alternatives. I have a Jeep Wrangler which has a max tongue weight of ~350lb and a max towing capacity of 3,500lb - 5,000lb. My long tow would be from Texas to Florida (so no mountain passes or elevation changes). Does anyone here have experience with using a Wrangler for a long distance tow? Interested in your views but this is not urgent as the long tow trip is FAR in the future.

A friend of mine has a Wrangler and he said the towing capacity was 3500 lbs. That's not enough. I'm sure different years have different capacities. So please look this up. I usually look up the vehicle on kbb.com in the used cars section. There's a specifications and features section. From there you need to click on "See All Specifications". I looked up a 2015 Wrangler and it says the towing capacity is only 2000 lbs!

I've towed my on the original single axle trailer a total of over 3000 miles with a 2006 ML500 that has a 5000 lb towing capacity. It has electronic stability control and tows really well, but I don't think I would tow with anything smaller. I know you aren't planning on going over any big hills, so towing power isn't a concern. However, when the wind is up, and you are passed by a big rig, you really need something that can keep everything stable and straight. A heavier vehicle helps and that stability control on the Mercedes helped too.

Jeff

As a general rule, the longer the tow vehicle's wheelbase, the better it tows at highway speeds, from a stability POV, or white-knuckle perspective.

You can't get much shorter than a Wrangler.

Jeff / Tom - thanks for the replies. For now I'll stick to the short drives between my parking spot and the boat ramp.

I bought the as a reasonable entry level overnighter - if it turns out I need to buy a bigger towing beast (and then a house with a bigger garage to house the truck) this may not have been the most frugal of boat choices ...

Jolly Dodger wrote: ↑Tue Jan 12, 2021 3:10 pmI bought the as a reasonable entry level overnighter - if it turns out I need to buy a bigger towing beast (and then a house with a bigger garage to house the truck) this may not have been the most frugal of boat choices ...

Yep I know where you're coming from but believe me a regular yacht can cost a fortune to maintain compared to a Mac

If you just need a bigger tow beast for a once or twice a year vacation, look into renting a truck. I thought about it before we purchased the boat and the ML500. I remember Enterprise being one option.

Jeff

Jeff you are a man after my own heart.
I have an old ML270. It's a great tow car but a lot of things are starting to go wrong with it. So instead of looking to buy another SUV I've been considering renting a UTE for the day to get me to the lake and then another day to get me back .... might work for me because our lake is not so far away.

Jolly Dodger wrote: ↑Mon Jan 11, 2021 8:39 am Thanks for the great pic Neo.

I What I do need to consider is longer towing alternatives. I have a Jeep Wrangler which has a max tongue weight of ~350lb and a max towing capacity of 3,500lb - 5,000lb. My long tow would be from Texas to Florida (so no mountain passes or elevation changes). Does anyone here have experience with using a Wrangler for a long distance tow? Interested in your views but this is not urgent as the long tow trip is FAR in the future.

This really depends on which Wrangler your talking about. If it is a recent model 4 door you could probably make the trip just fine. They have a significantly longer wheelbase than the 2 door. I would still want the boat to be largely empty to keep the way as light as possible. If your talking about a 98TJ like mine they are blast on the beach. I can launch the boat but with it there is no way I would go down any public street with that set up. No matter what you decide there still a rule that you can't sell your Jeep isn't there?

by the way: Does anybody know the max total weight of the stock alu trailer you can get in the papers?

Actually I have 2 axles and 2500kg / 5500lbs.

Was it possible to get more with the frame?

Thanks - kurz

I noticed that some posters have thought about renting an SUV, or a truck for the occasional long distance tow. To the best of my knowledge, no rental company allows their rentals to be a tow vehicle.

This link
at Enterprise specifically mentions towing:


3/4 Ton Pickup Truck Features

Up to 4,000 lbs payload*
3-6 person seating - Extended or Crew Cabs
2-wheel and 4-wheel drive available
6'-8' truck beds available
Gas or diesel engines
Towing capable - trucks have receiver hitch for easy towing

Standard Features

Air Conditioning
Automatic Transmission
Power steering/power brakes
AM/FM Radio;some models available with audio input jack

NiceAft wrote: ↑Fri Mar 19, 2021 5:13 am I noticed that some posters have thought about renting an SUV, or a truck for the occasional long distance tow. To the best of my knowledge, no rental company allows their rentals to be a tow vehicle.

I rented a truck to tow my boat home from purchase. Told them exactly what I was doing. No problem at all. Had a hitch, and towing light connectors already on the truck.