Boat transport

Jaypro

Do any of you have any experience renting a tow rig to get your new boat home? I need to get a boat from Louisiana to New England. Can you rent a Tahoe or a truck and just throw a receiver hitch on? I assume most of these vehicles have the tow package.

RAWSki

Have you looked into U-ship? While some rental vehicles will have tow receivers they may or may not have lighting hook-ups. It's a crap shoot these days . You might have better luck with u-haul or Ryder. Some will have pickups or vans set-up for towing .

Lieutenant Dan

@Jaypro FWIW I’ve seen Suburbans and such at my local Enterprise rental with tow hitches on them

skiinxs

Check your rental contracts, most explicitly forbid towing. This could lead you uninsured in the event of an accident and on the hook for lots of money. U-Haul is the only one that I am aware of that lets you tow with their pickup trucks. There is no unlimited mileage retals with them. My gut feeling is that the per mile rental fee would be more than a u-ship price. I have used them several times and had great experiences, just make sure you accept a bid from someone with lots of good reviews and that furnishes insurance.

skibug

U-ship

swc5150

Agreed, U-Ship will be much cheaper. Granted it was 3 years ago now, but I had a boat shipped from Buxton Marine in TX, to WI for $660.

gt2003

U-Ship! Just had my boat transported from Pennsylvani to Oklahoma, about 1250 miles for just under $1000. Good luck with your shipment

powbmps

I went through this last spring. Towed a Response from Orlando back to NH. From my research, none of the rental car companies would okay towing a trailer, but my insurance company would cover me when towing. Pretty much every large SUV comes from the factory with a receiver. Bought a one way ticket on Southwest. Checked bag is included, so I put my hitch, and an assortment of tools in the suitcase. Flew in, took a taxi to the rental company, picked up a couple extra trailer rims/tires (I knew the trailer was in rough shape), picked up the boat, and drove 1,300 miles in 23 hours. Fun adventure for sure. PM me if you need more info.

And I tried U-Ship. I've heard stories about people getting boats towed similar distances for less than $2K. Took three weeks to get my first quote for close to $5,000. Second one was even more. I spent under $1,000 and had a fun time doing it.

Horton

interesting topic. The mountians between my house and Newberry are steep enough that I do not like pulling my ProStar with my base model Silverado. I know I could get a trans cooler and all that but I have been thinking about just renting a truck next time I need to take a boat out there.

Next truck will be bigger.

Jaypro

U-ship quote of $1700

OSUwaterskier

We would rent 3/4 tons from the Enterprise Commercial division to pull our ski team trailer. Had to go to the commercial lot to get something they would let us tow with.

oldjeep

Enterprise commercial is local only though - no one way unless that has changed

gt2003

When I first used u-ship I went the route of entering the shipment details and letting the transport company give their own bids. They were all higher than I wanted to pay. But, there is also an option that shows the typical price for a shipment similar to yours and allows you to set the price you are willing/wanting to pay. I got much better bids that way. Good luck.

Jaypro

@gt2003 just tried that option, hopefully thats better!

Horton

what is the cost of a truck to tow with for a Friday - Monday?

Mike Gile

@Horton, Just got a new Silverado with the 6.2 and don't even notice the boat while towing. just in case you are thinking of upgrading..........

Horton

@Mike Gile my old Chevy is paid for. Renting a truck for the weekend is a hell of a lot cheaper than a new one.

vtjc

Most rental companies prohibit towing, but some of the vehicles have hitches. I don't know how it would work insurance/liability wise if you refuse rental coverage and use your own coverage.

U-Haul used to limit the types of things you could tow. Box trucks could only tow U-Haul trailers...

I currently have a Toyota rental from my local dealer while they replace the frame on my 09 Tacoma. The contact allows for towing(but smoking and pets are prohibited). However, the rental 2017 Tacoma they provided lacked a hitch(All 2018 V6 Tacomas now come with tow package). I put a bolted-on hitch on it for a failed 1,500 mile round trip to buy a boat. VT to VA and back.

skihard

Keep shopping U-Ship. I had a boat delivered to me in Texas from Utah and it was less than $1000.

kstateskier

Uship is the ticket. I've shipped a boat and a car with them. Always very pro.

bigskieridaho

Renting a truck from U-haul charges you by mile and you can tow anything you want. Rental companies like National or whatever don’t usually do one way, some may but I rent a lot for business. U ship or U haul.

Chef23

@vtjc we had the frame replaced on an 09 Taco as well. We had to take it back for them to clean up a steering issue but has been great since then. Got it back in October.

DaveinPa

Jaypro: You might contact Caj Flynn @ 303-570-4325 (W.Palm Beach) or [email protected] for a price. He is a professional boat transporter and gets rave reviews on The Hull Truth Boating Forum. I would use him before U-Ship FWIW. Good luck, Dave

DaveinPa

Found one more that gets good reviews, [email protected]
443-295-3771
240-298-0588

BrennanKMN

I drove from MN to TX to get my boat.
I enjoy the trips and I don't like letting other people deal with my stuff. I drove down to inspect the boat and if I was ready to buy it I could it drive it back right then. Drove 2250 miles in 3 days including testing and buying the boat. By the time I paid to fly down and back to look at it I figured I'd just drive and be ready to bring it home. The chances of me not buying it were pretty slim after seeing pictures and talking to the owner. That made the cost of driving myself much easier to justify.

Now if you don't have a vehicle that you trust to do those kind of journeys that makes things harder. I have more trust in my personal truck than I would in a new rental truck. Plus I can bring lots of gear and tools to deal with anything along the journey if I am not flying.

skimtb

You may be able to get the guy that delivers for Mastercraft to get it back to TN real cheap if he is empty on a backhaul. Then you could just go get it from there.

Jaypro

@skimtb, great idea, worth asking!

BraceMaker

That'd be a very cool program for MC to offer, particularly if they offered things like a MC tour, boat certificate of information etc.

skimtb

http://belchertrucking.tripod.com

swc5150

Agreed on the name-your-price option on U-Ship. That's how I got mine so cheap. It was part of a back haul for the driver.

bigskieridaho

I made a comment earlier about options, but I agree with @BrennanKMN . I drove from Idaho to Arizona to pickup my boat as well. Was looking at one in Texas and would have done the same. Don’t trust people and road trips are fun!