DarrenCharles
Veteran Member
My wife and I purchased an older 32’ Suntracker Party Cruiser last year. It is a pontoon boat with an 8’ x 16 enclosed living area. It has most of the amenities you would want for extended periods of stay/travel - couch that folds out to a bed, separate couch, kitchenette, bathroom, shower, heat, AC and generator.
We towed it last year with a Dodge 350 dually. The boat and trailer weigh less than 10,000 lbs, so it is well within the trucks towing capacity, but I will say the 350 hemi and transmission did have to work hard to pull up hills. There is a lot of surface area to create drag and catch wind.
We bought a new truck to pull it this year, hoping for one less potential problem. I was contemplating a single rear wheel 350 pickup because it is more maneuverable, especially because we use it to plow our long driveway, but came to a certain conclusion that I wanted the stability of the dually.
After a flat tire on our way from our initial purchase, I replaced all 6 trailer tires with good quality new rubber. My point is, there is more than just the boat to consider. You need a good truck and trailer to move it.
We found it somewhat difficult to launch and load back up. We concluded it wasn’t worth the effort to take out for a weekend. Our target is a minimum week at a time.
We plan on several trips this summer to beautiful Adirondack Mountain lakes which would be off limits to a trawler. We also plan on trips on the Hudson River and Erie Canal.
Of course this boat is only usable in calm water, so that is a limitation.
This introduction to living on a boat for relatively short periods of time will be a good test for us to determine if we are cut out for a longer trip like the Loop.
Good luck with your decision.
We towed it last year with a Dodge 350 dually. The boat and trailer weigh less than 10,000 lbs, so it is well within the trucks towing capacity, but I will say the 350 hemi and transmission did have to work hard to pull up hills. There is a lot of surface area to create drag and catch wind.
We bought a new truck to pull it this year, hoping for one less potential problem. I was contemplating a single rear wheel 350 pickup because it is more maneuverable, especially because we use it to plow our long driveway, but came to a certain conclusion that I wanted the stability of the dually.
After a flat tire on our way from our initial purchase, I replaced all 6 trailer tires with good quality new rubber. My point is, there is more than just the boat to consider. You need a good truck and trailer to move it.
We found it somewhat difficult to launch and load back up. We concluded it wasn’t worth the effort to take out for a weekend. Our target is a minimum week at a time.
We plan on several trips this summer to beautiful Adirondack Mountain lakes which would be off limits to a trawler. We also plan on trips on the Hudson River and Erie Canal.
Of course this boat is only usable in calm water, so that is a limitation.
This introduction to living on a boat for relatively short periods of time will be a good test for us to determine if we are cut out for a longer trip like the Loop.
Good luck with your decision.
