MacGregorSailors.com

Catigale wrote:I picked up my from Boston using a Uhaul truck, which I was specifically authorised to tow with in the contract (very important)

Ran me about 100 USD at the time (2002)

I dont think I would put that money into your Buick for a 200 mile tow - .

This is about the most rational/logical advice so far!

For the long haul home, rent a tow vehicle and call it part of the cost of doing business.
Then decide what you want to do from there.

Highlander wrote:I believe I can tow up to 7500# on my Ford Ranger if I was to change the diff. . It has nothing to do with the size of the tow vehicle it's the HP & drive train that counts !!!! & hitch combination also of course !

Hey John;
My old 2-door '95 Chevy Blazer had all the muscle, rating, HP & class 3 hitch as does my '04 Trailblazer (class 4) but with two more distinctions, vehicle weight = 3500# vs 5000# and a 129" vs 100" wheelbase, what a difference that makes. Boat still weighs the same.
Yes my Trailblazer has 275HP-275 lbs/ft torque vs the Blazer 195hp-260 lbs/ft but both were rated for and up to the task.

Talked to my mechanic about the air shocks in the coils of my Buick and he seemed a bit leery (the work of the coils being taken up by air ballons!!!) . Talked to Stanley a Russell Marine and he said it should be no problem. The owner of my garage also offered to lend me (for free). ...his truck to go pick up the boat . Boy what exceptional service I get from a great little country garage. You can see why II have been servicing my cars there for the last 12 years even if they are about 40 miles out of town. I will probably just borrow his truck and have him evaluate the situation when I get back. The second brother ..it's a family business, said I should just keep the Buick and buy a bigger vehicle when I decide to cross country again... Went to Vancouver to visit my daughter this year with the tent trailer , my wife and the 2 other kids and don't expect to do that again till 2010...when i'm 57 and probably pensionned off...

Will be paying for the boat this week. Got insurance for 334$ a year (2 million and 100% replacement value. Sounds good to me even if its only for sailling on Canadian waters. The URL is the garage XMAS party this year...check the ''sno'' sunk in the lake.

http://picasaweb.google.com/MacGregor26M/GarageXmas207

What do you use to get that thing out of its predicament

Ray

2 argos with their onboard winches. If you can make it work the last picture is a movie of the argos pulling it out. Took about 10 minutes... Very impressed!

Related note: My tow vehicle looked a little low in the back when pulling my X. I used the link below - Fig # 2 - and made a trailer hitch weight measuring system with our bathroom scale. Very accurate by tests with family members standing on it and the weights were right on the money. (I used 1 foot for Y1 and 3 feet for Y3 so that the scale weight only had to be multiplied by 3 to get the total hitch weight.) I found that my after-market trailer was set up to put 585 lbs on my hitch. Using my boat and trailer weigh guestimate of 4,000#, I wanted 10 to 15%, but I wanted the low-end to save my springs, so I wanted a bit over #400. On my LoadRight trailer, I could loosen four bolts and move the winch stanchion back 8 inches (and moved the trailer jack ahead 8 inches) and the new weight was #420 with better tow vehicle posture and the tow ride is still fine with no road sway.
link

Opie,
Thank you. this is just an impressive link for me! I especially appreciate the trailer rigging link inside the link . I will be spending some time on this link but with a quick read understood the concept...which is based on good maths...as usual good maths always works Merci!

This is the Buick in question....and it is going to pick up the boat ASAP.http://picasaweb.google.com/MacGregor26M/Buick

How much does that camper weigh? Your car looks awfully low in the rear. How seriously have you looked into air shocks, or load levelers. If the Mac (with all of it eventual gear) is heavier than your camper, you need to stiffen up your ride.

Has your steering been affected? Really If you are going to travel any distance with your family on board, think about leveling out that car.

I would also recommend that you have good trailer insurance.


Ray

Sorry to contradict something I said earlier. I was picturing a true, full size, old school rear wheel drive Buick. I found what I thought it was; the equivalent of the rwd Chevy Caprice. It's called the Roadmaster.

The Buick you picture is not what I thought; despite what anyone says this is not a full size car, and it has front wheel drive.

The Mac with trailer is pushing 3400 lbs empty. Put a motor, batteries a few gallons of gas and an anchor on it and you're pushing 4K. The max towing capacity of this vehicle is stated to be 3000, and IMO that's pushing it. I don't believe there's anything you can do to this car to make it adequate to tow the Mac much more than around the block. Certainly not some reasonable distance. It's no better than the laugably inadequate Ford Taurus that Roger pictured in the X video, which as many noted, in the video was towing a completely standard, completely unloaded boat with no motor

Sorry again. You asked our opinion and that's mine.

I own the '97 Limited, there is now way I would tow my Mac with that car. The suspension is soft enough as it is. That is one problem with these big cars, the suspension gets soft due to the weight of the car. I had a REAL full sized Buick LeSabre '73 with air enhanced suspension option for towing. Real wheel drive, and in the truck was an air nipple for jacking up the rear end to level her off when towing. Worked great.

I have no doubt that my current Buick and yours with the 3.8 have enough omph to get the Mac moving, but the problem will be the rear of the car sitting on the rear tires, or worse, the ground itself.

G

Well guys , I really appreciate the feedback. This is a good site. Putting everybodys comments together will help me decide what to do. Still lots of time before the ice is off the St Laurence and the marinas' don't open for 2 months so I won't be picking up the Mac till April. After listening to you guys I could be driving a different vehicle by then. If any one has a good lead on an appropriate vehicle...Second car cheap ( I'm the only one in this family with a licence so I don't really need another vehicle except to haul my ..eh!) let me know..could even pick it up same time I pick up the boat in Maine.

How about renting a pickup truck or similar vehicle?

Some type of U haul perhaps?

I would pick it up for you, but you are a bit beyond my quick commute distance.

G

U-Haul Cargo van Just 19.95, BUT !!!! $0.49/ km. plus gasoline....
Two way 860km Plus on top #$%%^^&***)_) !!
Tooooooo.............. Much money....

The mechanic says : If the boat load is 3,500lbs or less and that the weight on the ball is under 300lbs I can add the following.............. 2 new top quality shocks in the back + 2 new cargo coils and a tranny cooler ..
His quote:

( amortisseurs 1ere qualité 160$ x 2 320.00 $ /chacun garantie a vie
les ressorts (coil spring) cargo coil 150.00 $ la paire garantie a vie
le travail environ 3 hrs a 50.00/h 150.00
---------------
620.00 ( +taxes )
Add an extra 100 $ for the tranny cooler installed and its 720$. + taxes.
I would be able to use the Buick to tow the boat around (not days and days of cross country, on hills and mountains, but a couple hundred miles here and there) I figure this would be a good deal for the next 2 years cause I will not be trailering far as I have to : Go up the Fiords of the Saquenay river, visit Anticostie Island, Prince Edward Island , the coast of Nova Scotia, The Gaspesie region, The Bay of Chaleurs, Newfoundland and Labrador, Montreal, Lake Champlain and the Rideau Canal before I need to trailor to do the Great Lakes , the Lake of the woods and Desolation sound on the coast of B. C.

The boat load will not be 3500 or less. More like 4500 or more.

G