First Tow of the Boat!

One of my big motivations for switching to the Model Y from my EV6 was the ability to tow my boat. I have a 2011 Larson LX850 that I bought new, and I’ve towed it with about a dozen different vehicles over the years I’ve had it. It weighs between 3,400-3,500 lbs depending on gear and fuel, so it’s at the upper end of the Y’s capacity. For the last four years, I’ve kept an old 2004 Expedition in the garage to tow with, and today was my first experience towing with my new Model Y.

The boat had to come out of storage today, so my inaugural tow was an 45-mile trip home in 43º F weather. All I can say is, “wow.” Handling was rock-solid, and it felt more comfortable to drive than anything else I’ve pulled with. Better than the F150s, minivans, SUVs, and my old Expedition did with it. As expected, I had gobs of power at all speeds and it was too easy to go a lot faster than needed while keeping up with rush hour traffic. My trailer has well-functioning surge brakes, and the regenerative braking was strong enough to rarely use the brake pedal. I had to stop fast from 70 MPH for a traffic light and the car handled it great.

My overall efficiency was 595 wh/mi. That included a fair amount of stop-and-go for the first fifteen miles, but the last 30 were mostly cruising at 68 MPH. My 30-mile average for the higher-speed portion was over 600 wh/mi, so I’ll have to watch my speed over the 120-mile trip to the boat ramp and back.

The Model Y feels great with a trailer. I’ll update this thread with more efficiency numbers and thoughts as I put on some more miles this summer, but I’m very impressed with how it did this time.

 

[Hunt3r]

Nice. We're 5 mins from our lake and pull the boat with the Tesla about half the time (20' Ski/Sport boat). It does great and the looks on people's faces is hysterical.

To some of the other comments, if you back into an algae covered ramp, you're liking going for swim. Other than that, it's very rare (if ever) to have to put your rear tires under water, or even near half underwater under normal circumstances. Somethings probably wrong in the set up if that's someones 'norm'.

 

[TomB985]

Today was one of the last times it’ll probably tow this boat. I bought another boat last weekend and it’s a bit larger than this one, so I won’t put it behind my Y. I towed my old boat to the lake this afternoon for a good shakedown run after sitting all winter. I would be just my luck for something to break when I’m showing it to a buyer.

As with before, it did an amazing job pulling. Efficiency wasn’t great, but it handled just great. This is one of the shallower ramps I use, and this is about as deep as I’ve ever had a tow vehicle before. Zero issues at the ramp; it went in and out of the water with plenty of power and never broke traction.

 

[TomB985]

I’m gonna miss towing with it. My Model Y towed the boat to its new home this afternoon. Like always, it did an impressive job despite a slight headwind.

My new boat is a 22’ Monterey that weighs just north of 5,000 lbs. I think the car would handle it fine, but I‘d be concerned about tongue weight on the hitch as well as accusations if any kind of accident were to happen. Having to argue why overloaded towing capacity wasn’t the cause of an accident isn‘t a situation you can win.

I’ll still pull my utility trailer with my Model Y, but I don’t use it very often. I’ll post up photos and efficiency stats when I do to keep this thread updated. I struggled to find good data on towing efficiency before I bought my car, so I hope to provide a bit of perspective for anyone who considers pulling with theirs.

 

[mark02115]

I would advise also not using an access ramp during low tide because
the bottom of the access ramp is often covered with algae and it is very slippery.

See this 4x4 who ended up in the sea with his trailer.

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This is a really good point....without low range (2 speed x-fer case) and real 4 wheel drive / locking differential you may need a tow. Ocean boat ramps often have marine growth / seaweed.

 

[TomB985]

Welp…I said I wasn’t going to, but I just had to try.

OPEC is cutting output again, so I wanted to top off the boat before prices started to rise. So I hooked up the Model Y for a short run to the gas station, and couldn’t resist jumping on the highway after seeing how well it behaved in town. Just like before, it was rock-solid and felt better handling this 5,100-lb boat than my Expedition does. It had tons of power and it felt better braking than my Expedition, which weighs 1,100 lbs more than my Model Y.

I measured tongue weight against yesterday with a new Weigh Safe hitch, and it’s certainly less than the 350-lb limit for the factory hitch. The car never felt overwhelmed, but the efficiency hit means I’d never make it to the lake and back on a single charge. It was a great experience overall, and I’ll probably do it again if we go to the smaller lake that’s closer to the house.

 

[KevinT3141]

@TomB985 I'm sure having your Tesla at the gas pump got some looks. In the past we had the odd fuel stop with the old Santa Fe where the pumps lined up well enough that one of us filled the truck at the first while the other filled the Seadoos at the second.

I made the first pull with the Y (which replaced the Santa Fe) to drag our boats home from winterization last week; it went just fine. I included a highway run with an eye on the energy app to see what consumption was like, and I think we'll make it to our usual marina and back on a single charge. If not, a SuperCharger opened up 15 minutes from the marina last summer, so that's the backup plan if consumption is higher than expected on the way down.

Still hunting for a new double Seadoo trailer. The resort we spend a week at every summer has an extremely shallow launch, the lake has a max depth of 20' but is only just 3 or 4 in the bay with the ramp, and the Santa Fe often had all four wheels in the water just to get the boats off with difficulty. I'm not looking forward to launching with the Y in those conditions. Karavan has an aluminum double trailer with bunks 24" off the ground, about 2½" lower and 300 lbs less than our existing trailer, but I'd love to have something even better. In the past I've spotted an ultra low trailer or two in the wild, but didn't catch their brand names as they weren't a necessity for us back then. Unfortunately Karavan's is the only web site I've found that lists the bunk heights. Some claim that their trailers are low, but in their photos they don't look any different to our current trailer, which seems stupid high to me.

 

[Watts_Up]

@TomB985 I'm sure having your Tesla at the gas pump got some looks.

May be something to consider as next boat:

 

[KevinT3141]

@Watts_Up We can all dream...

My Seadoo is a 2003, and the winterization place told me that if anything on it breaks they won't be able to service it anymore. (No parts supply, as the recreation industry doesn't have to keep spares available for 10 years after the end of production like the car manufacturers reportedly do.) I'd love to replace it with the Taiga Orca, a Canadian built electric PWC, but that's not really in the budget. (Although if I'm honest, neither is a new fossil PWC...)

 

[Yeah]

Welp…I said I wasn’t going to, but I just had to try.

OPEC is cutting output again, so I wanted to top off the boat before prices started to rise. So I hooked up the Model Y for a short run to the gas station, and couldn’t resist jumping on the highway after seeing how well it behaved in town. Just like before, it was rock-solid and felt better handling this 5,100-lb boat than my Expedition does. It had tons of power and it felt better braking than my Expedition, which weighs 1,100 lbs more than my Model Y.

I measured tongue weight against yesterday with a new Weigh Safe hitch, and it’s certainly less than the 350-lb limit for the factory hitch. The car never felt overwhelmed, but the efficiency hit means I’d never make it to the lake and back on a single charge. It was a great experience overall, and I’ll probably do it again if we go to the smaller lake that’s closer to the house.

View attachment 944185View attachment 944186

Did you upgrade to uber's or are those wheel covers?

 

[ewoodrick]

I’m gonna miss towing with it. My Model Y towed the boat to its new home this afternoon. Like always, it did an impressive job despite a slight headwind.

My new boat is a 22’ Monterey that weighs just north of 5,000 lbs. I think the car would handle it fine, but I‘d be concerned about tongue weight on the hitch as well as accusations if any kind of accident were to happen. Having to argue why overloaded towing capacity wasn’t the cause of an accident isn‘t a situation you can win.

Probably a good idea since the Model Y is only rated to 3500 lbs.

Reminds me of a number of years ago when the trailer company that I worked for had someone trying to buy a 24ft trailer. They came in with a standard Jeep and sales told them that they wouldn't allow them to take the trailer with that vehicle. The couple said that the Jeep had no problems towing it.
But the sales went sure, The problem is that you don't want the trailer to throw the Jeep off the road. Which is something that everyone who has pulled a long trailer is aware of.

 

[TomB985]

Did you upgrade to uber's or are those wheel covers?

I upgraded to Überturbines last winter because I’m not a fan of the Gemini wheels.

Probably a good idea since the Model Y is only rated to 3500 lbs.

Reminds me of a number of years ago when the trailer company that I worked for had someone trying to buy a 24ft trailer. They came in with a standard Jeep and sales told them that they wouldn't allow them to take the trailer with that vehicle. The couple said that the Jeep had no problems towing it.
But the sales went sure, The problem is that you don't want the trailer to throw the Jeep off the road. Which is something that everyone who has pulled a long trailer is aware of.

I dunno…I’m a former professional driver, and I’ve towed about 400,000 miles in more configurations than most. I pay close attention to certain specs like axle weights, hitch tongue ratings, brakes, and others. Towing stability is more about configuration than it is weight; my 18,000-lb road tractor had no handling issues with a 62,000 lb semitrailer. My Model Y is more stable pulling than the far larger Expedition because of the tight suspension and short overhang behind the rear axle.

It lacks enough rear suspension travel to do a good job handling the tongue over rough terrain, though. I was surprised that it brakes better with the trailer than the Expedition does. The boat trailer has well-functioning disc brakes…I’d never pull something this size with ANY tow vehicle without them.

 

[ewoodrick]

I upgraded to Überturbines last winter because I’m not a fan of the Gemini wheels.



I dunno…I’m a former professional driver, and I’ve towed about 400,000 miles in more configurations than most. I pay close attention to certain specs like axle weights, hitch tongue ratings, brakes, and others. Towing stability is more about configuration than it is weight; my 18,000-lb road tractor had no handling issues with a 62,000 lb semitrailer. My Model Y is more stable pulling than the far larger Expedition because of the tight suspension and short overhang behind the rear axle.



It lacks enough rear suspension travel to do a good job handling the tongue over rough terrain, though. I was surprised that it brakes better with the trailer than the Expedition does. The boat trailer has well-functioning disc brakes…I’d never pull something this size with ANY tow vehicle without them.

Think of the wheelbase of a Jeep, It's barely more than a skate and it truly wouldn't be hard for the trailer to wag it off the road.
You don't get this action on a semi as much, because the trailer wheels are in the rear. On a camper they are in the middle and the hitch point is behind the wheels.
I can easily remember in the days with a large Ford station wagon pulling a 24ft camper, When something passes the back of the camper, hang on to the wheel, because the trailer is going to put a sideways force against the back of the car.

 

[TomB985]

Think of the wheelbase of a Jeep, It's barely more than a skate and it truly wouldn't be hard for the trailer to wag it off the road.
You don't get this action on a semi as much, because the trailer wheels are in the rear. On a camper they are in the middle and the hitch point is behind the wheels.
I can easily remember in the days with a large Ford station wagon pulling a 24ft camper, When something passes the back of the camper, hang on to the wheel, because the trailer is going to put a sideways force against the back of the car.

Right, wheelbase plays a part. Another big part is the length between the hitch ball and the rear axle because that length is the lever which lateral forces apply torque to the tow vehicle. Shorter overhang means shorter lever, which is capable of exerting less torque for a given lateral force.

The Model Y and Grand Cherokee have short overhangs behind the rear wheels. The station wagons of yore have almost comically-long rear overhangs and loose recirculating-ball steering which makes trailer handling a real challenge.

The most difficult tow vehicle I’ve ever used was my ‘97 Town Car, which I used for a couple of years. MUCH worse than the 2014 Ford Escape I used a few years later. The Escape was a smaller car, with a smaller wheelbase. But rock-solid with the boat because of the tight steering, suspension, and short overhang.

 

[stripes]

I’m unreasonably proud of my parking job.

Deservedly so!

 

[Farmer]

I got another data point with my empty utility trailer today. It's a 7x12 Big Tex that weighs about 1,100 lbs, and it does a nice job illustrating that highway efficiency is all about wind resistance.

I knew it would be bad, so I set the cruise at 60 and let everyone fly by on the interstate. The best I could do was still worse than my boat at 65 MPH, and I was pulling 854 wh/mi going into headwinds at that speed. The big gate at the back might as well have been a cargo parachute.

Weight matters little; it's all about the wind resistance and speed. I might not have made it home if I went 65.

I used to borrow utility trailers from work. We had both a 5x10' and a 5.5x12'. One had a gate that would fold flat while the other had to be removed then tied down. I don't have pictures, but both trailers had gate ramps that were both a bit more open than yours in that neither of my work trailers had as many solid vertical members as yours. I'd occasionally pull them from the Boston area to Houlton, ME, almost 400 miles. This was back in my ICE days, but I can report having the gates up was indeed like pulling parachutes. My Ford Ranger would drop from about 17mpg to about 13. I had thought that the ramps, being largely mesh, would pass most of the airflow rather easily, but I guess the air doesn't as readily funnel through all those openings as one would at first hope, though I suppose a truly solid ramp gate would do even worse if they made such a thing. I was usually hauling items only one way, so I quickly learned to get the ramp flat for the return trip if at all possible.

I'm getting a 5x10' of my own soon and it too will do this trip, this time behind my MYLR. It will be interesting to see W/mile numbers with the gate up vs. down.

 

[TomB985]

I used to borrow utility trailers from work. We had both a 5x10' and a 5.5x12'. One had a gate that would fold flat while the other had to be removed then tied down. I don't have pictures, but both trailers had gate ramps that were both a bit more open than yours in that neither of my work trailers had as many solid vertical members as yours. I'd occasionally pull them from the Boston area to Houlton, ME, almost 400 miles. This was back in my ICE days, but I can report having the gates up was indeed like pulling parachutes. My Ford Ranger would drop from about 17mpg to about 13. I had thought that the ramps, being largely mesh, would pass most of the airflow rather easily, but I guess the air doesn't as readily funnel through all those openings as one would at first hope, though I suppose a truly solid ramp gate would do even worse if they made such a thing. I was usually hauling items only one way, so I quickly learned to get the ramp flat for the return trip if at all possible.

I'm getting a 5x10' of my own soon and it too will do this trip, this time behind my MYLR. It will be interesting to see W/mile numbers with the gate up vs. down.

Absolutely. The difference is huge.

My ICE truck gets better fuel economy pulling my 5,100-lb boat than my 1,500-lb trailer with the gate up. I bought this trailer because it was built well, but part of that is a ramp gate that won’t fold forward. It can be removed, but it’s often useful for loading and tie downs.

 

[455dan]

My overall average was 595 wh/mi, but some of that was at lower speed as I fought with rush-hour traffic. It seemed to settle in between 6-700 at 68 MPH, but temps were in the lower-40's. I'll get some better numbers over the next few weeks.

My favorite ramp is 56 miles from home, and I'll be doing a test run with the boat before going down there with my boys. I expect it to work at 68 MPH, but I may have to cruise a bit slower.



That's not really an issue to worry about. Front-wheel-drive cars are the only thing that can lock the front wheels. I've been boating my entire life and have never seen a truck or SUV have issues sliding at the boat ramp. My Expedition is rear-wheel-drive and has no mechanism to lock the front wheels. It's never slid an inch.

View attachment 927989

Welp…I said I wasn’t going to, but I just had to try.

OPEC is cutting output again, so I wanted to top off the boat before prices started to rise. So I hooked up the Model Y for a short run to the gas station, and couldn’t resist jumping on the highway after seeing how well it behaved in town. Just like before, it was rock-solid and felt better handling this 5,100-lb boat than my Expedition does. It had tons of power and it felt better braking than my Expedition, which weighs 1,100 lbs more than my Model Y.

I measured tongue weight against yesterday with a new Weigh Safe hitch, and it’s certainly less than the 350-lb limit for the factory hitch. The car never felt overwhelmed, but the efficiency hit means I’d never make it to the lake and back on a single charge. It was a great experience overall, and I’ll probably do it again if we go to the smaller lake that’s closer to the house.

View attachment 944185View attachment 944186


View attachment 944183

View attachment 944182

Wow I am amazed it pulled it that well.
I have a 21+2 with the swim deck Sea Ray Sundeck loaded with trailer probably 4700lb+ but I will continue to use the RAM with Cummins for putting it in the water

There are guys pulling big boats out of the water with small 4x4 suvs like this gentleman.
He is determined. Someone needs to teach them to pull the boat FULLY onto the trailer before pulling up the ramp.

 

[ThomasD]

I'm going to say that Boat weighs in excess of 10,000 pounds on a triple axle Trailer.

 

[455dan]

Yeah

I'm going to say that Boat weighs in excess of 10,000 pounds on a triple axle Trailer.

Yeah Heh heh. I guess he decided to use what he had available..
Triple axle BIG boats

That guy is Nuts.

ps. I do know some boat ramps get slick with algae, even ones on freshwater lakes. Slipped and fell on that slimy stuff when releasing the bow eye (putting in) once already this year.

ps. 2 You have me considering ordering a hitch for my MYP . I was worried back in January when my LR order wasn't going to arrive in the tax break window so switched to a performance but figured a factory hitch might slow the order so went sans. We have a couple- medium and small utility trailers that the Y could tow and would save some fuel not firing up the diesels for just a town trip

 

[TomB985]

Wow I am amazed it pulled it that well.
I have a 21+2 with the swim deck Sea Ray Sundeck loaded with trailer probably 4700lb+ but I will continue to use the RAM with Cummins for putting it in the water

There are guys pulling big boats out of the water with small 4x4 suvs like this gentleman.
He is determined. Someone needs to teach them to pull the boat FULLY onto the trailer before pulling up the ramp.

Yikes...that's nuts.

Traction at the ramp can be an issue with my RWD Expedition. I should have my son shoot a video next time we go on the boat. It's predictable; when backing down the ramp, surge brakes don't work because the tongue is being extended. I usually lock the front axle as I control speed down the ramp with the brakes, but the rears have always held. I inevitably spin the rear wheels getting up the ramp, but there's never been a question of whether I'd make it or not. This boat is the upper limit of what I'd put behind this RWD Expedition; another 1,000 lbs and I'd be looking for something four-wheel-drive.

My Model Y weighs about 1,000 lbs less, but always seems to grip better. I've never spun a wheel pulling my old 3,500-lb boat out, which is better than the Expedition will do. If I had enough range and was confident I wouldn't rip the hitch off, I'd use my Model Y to pull my new boat.