Weight of Diablo

[celmare]

Hello all...first post here.

I've been searching for a 15' utility boat to use for primarily for boat camping, mostly on lakes but for some coastal trips (staying close to land). Does anyone know of the weight for one of Bolger's Diablos?

I want to keep weight to a minimum, less than 1000 pounds. I want to be able to tow it with a car if needed. With a 20 or 25 HP motor, can I stay under then 1,000 limit (with trailer, needed accessories)?

If I need to go smaller please let me know. I just really like the size of it (15' length with a wide beam).

[Stumble]

Cel,

It is possible to come in right around 1000lbs but not much less.

The trailor is going to be 3-400 for a commercially available aluminium one
300lbs for the boat
125lbs for an engine
100lbs for 20 gallons of fuel

Add in an ice chest, stearing mechanism, wiring, battery, and the rest and I would guess you are in the 1100lbs range or so.

However I am really curious about your limit of 1000lbs. The smallest standard size hitch in the US is a Class I hitch that can handle 200/2000 (tounge/gross weight). Which you would be well under with the Diablo.

[celmare]

The 1,000 pounds is the max towing for my car. I don't want to take my gas-hogging old truck very far if don't have to. What would I need to do to stay within the 1,000 pounds? Shorten it to 13' and a 15 or 20 HP?

[Stumble]

My first thought would be to find a lighter trailor. Or keep the fuel tanks empty and fill up at a fuel dock. A lighter engine might help, but the problem is you are right at the 1000lbs line, its hard to tell you now exacally what you would need to do.

[messabout]

Making the boat shorter will not reduce the gross weight very much. Not nearly enough reduction to compensate for the diminished utility of the boat. Attack the problem in a different direction as Stumble suggests.

The trailer does not need to be so heavy, for starters. My aluminum trailer for a light (wood) 16 foot sailboat weighs 160 pounds. The boat is 140 pounds. Gear about 35 pounds. I pull the trailer with a Honda Element. The only problem that I have felt is with the brakes. The little Honda definitely knows that the trailer is pushing. I have pulled a 1500 pound gross weight trailer with no particular problem. Your Diablo will be heavier than my boat as the Diablo is more heavily built. Don't try to save much weight by compromising the boat. You could save some weight by using Meranti or Okumee ply rather than fir, without compromising the structure. Those plys cost a little more than fir and worth the difference if finished surfaces are of any consequence.

I do not think you'll have a tow vehicle problem even though you might exceed the published 1000 pound limit. That is if your vehicle has 2 liters or more of engine. Going is not that much of a problem but stopping is a critical matter. Equip your trailer with surge brakes and you'll be fine. With a small vehicle, over the road fuel economy will not suffer much from pulling the trailer. Stop and go traffic, as in the city, or a lot of hill and valley driving will cost some gas mileage. In those cases you might do well to use the truck instead.

[TollyWally]

Not trying to be a smart ass, but what type of car is it? I'm not sure how much it's worth worrying about an extra 100# or so is. A car with a 1000# towing capacity is not really designed to tow. 95% will never tow anything and the rest aren't expected to haul more than a couple times a year to the dump or back from the garden store. My hunch is the car engineers came up with a number because the lawyers made them. The point being nothing was really designed for the extra wear and tear that extended towing causes.

So my thinking goes something like this. A short trip a little extra weight won't matter and the longer trips that you don't want to drive your truck on are going to tear up your car regardless. I don't know how you'd get good information, maybe a forum dedicated to car camping with those popup tent trailer gizmos. I'm interested in what you find. I'm told that in Australia people do a lot of towing with those Subaru Foresters of camping set ups. Maybe some of our down under members have some ideas.

[celmare]

Driving a V6 Chevy Malbu. No, it's not designed to tow anything, but it has enough umph to do so. And until a get another truck, I don't trust my 30 year old to get me too far. My local lake is 5 miles away, so most of the time I won't have to tow it very long. However, I do want to take it to the beach (about 2 hours) a few times every summer; I'll use it for hopping around the outer banks of NC.

I'm looking for an inexpensive small boat that will transport 4-5 adults if needed. However, it will mostly be used for 2 adults either fishing or boat camping. Also, I want to put at least a 15 HP motor. Any plan ideas?

[Stumble]

Cel,

Mt recomendation is to rent a truck from uhaul for the long trips and accept you are going to be very very close to the max on the short ones. You might also be able to find a storrage yard close to your local lake to keep the boat at. Many of these places will also put the boat in for you, which can be a time saver.

[celmare]

I can't rent a truck every time. I'd rather go smaller and lighter than the expense of worrying of a truck. When I get a new truck, I might go to a larger boat. But that might take me 5 years.

If I have to stay around 15 HP and limit it to 3-4 (instead of 4-5), that would work fine. I will use it for 2 people 90% of the time for fishing and camping, and cruise around with 4 people around the lake.

I'm thinking about going smaller, like one of these. Not expecting the performance of a 20 ft boat:

http://bateau.com/proddetail.php?prod=FS14
http://bateau.com/proddetail.php?prod=GV13
http://bateau.com/proddetail.php?prod=D15

I'm thinking about these specs:

200 lbs for the boat
125 lbs engine
250 lbs trailer
75 lbs fuel

That gives me about 300 lbs of play. I might use about 50 lbs for the interior, giving me 250 for cooler and other gear. Is this a good plan?