Here's my 2009 F250 5.4L making one of its first trips towing. The boat is a 2001 19' Bay Stealth with a 115 Yamaha outboard. We estimate the weight is a meager 4500lbs loaded with fuel/ice/gear. As expected, it towed nicely.

I have to say that the last time I towed this boat was with a 1999 Ford Ranger. The boat seems to catch a lot of air, so the Ranger struggled a bit at highway speeds, especially in crosswinds. The automatic in the Ranger was in 4th but downshifted quite a bit, even on flat road.

With the F250, I was able to to tow at 65mph in 6th most of the time. The rig was very stable, even bucking a 15-20mph wind. Fuel economy towing was 9.5-10mpg per my ScanGauge. Dropping down a gear on some small hills brought the mileage down another mpg to 8.5 but brought power way up. I suspect the 4.10 gears help here.

Honestly, the milage was a little worse and dropped a little more than I expected. Empty, I have no complaints as I regularly see 13-14mpg combined. Hooking up a small boat made the 5.4L loose 3+ miles per gallon.

I will also add that the boat is really a tough pull for how small it is- our cattle trailer when loaded is somewhere around 8,000lbs and it pulls easier than the boat. If I had to guess, I think the air coming over the truck crashes right into the center console and stern making a windsock effect!

All in all, the V8 with the ZF6 and 4.10 axles got the job done well. Not that it matters too much but in the pics, there's also about 700lbs of mulch in the bed of the truck too. This Super Duty is a great truck!





Here's a pic of the Ranger

 

"might" be estimating a bit high there on the weight......unless youve got about 1500 lbs of gear and ice in it. bay stealth lists the weight at 1500 lbs and i would guess another 1000-1500 for the trailer. i agree with you about your cattle trailer though. i pulled a 6 "horse" cattle trailer that weighed 3 times what my TT does and the cattle trailer pulls much easier(on flat land anyways). more aerodynamic, flow through design, less wind resistance, etc.

 

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I wonder if you bought one of the towable boat covers and put on it if it would help with drag and mileage? It would make a more aerodynamic shape anyway. By the way that is a skiff not a boat.

Hell the guys around here even call mine a skiff. Not sure what the hell qualifies as a boat.


<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/uaK7xkOHNp3S6KHzfB3KxA?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_QsFDk7bDW4Q/SlYuxNJA9fI/AAAAAAAAMSI/GPbVOjwSl-k/s800/Picture%20019.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/Wagion/F350With220SeaRunner?feat=embedwebsite">F350 with 220 SeaRunner</a></td></tr></table>

 

Depending on the road conditions, single axle trailers can pull alot harder then tandem trailers. I would suspect that it has to do with the smoother ride of the tandem, but it is just an obseration and not a fact

You are right though, my horse trailer loaded weighs 7500lbs and tows way easier (and smoother) then my dad's 400lb boat with its single axle trailer. Of course thats only on flat land, the heavy trailer shows itself when descending or ascending grades

 

Dont forget the weight of the motor and fuel.

My boat catches a lot of air when towing (20' Triton center console). Not only from the front but also from lift caused by air going under the hull. Also, it's 8 1/2 feet wide.

With my V10/auto I got 8.5 into the wind and 10.5 with a tailwind. That was 2 weeks ago.

Sometimes I wish I would have got the 6 speed, but in San Antonio traffic, the auto is the way to go.

Next boat I get will have an aluminum trailer with 2 axles and brakes.

 

true. so looking at possibly another 700 lbs for fuel and motor. i would guess a max of about 3500 lbs for the boat and any boat related item(fuel, motor, trailer,etc). that would still leave over 1k lbs of gear. bay stealth says the max carry limit on it is 850 lbs, so he might be taking on some water if hes got 1k lbs of gear plus his passengers

 

interesting...

my 9,200 lb TT drops my 2008 5.4's mileage down to the 9-10 range on the highway... I figured a boat would get a little better than that, but I guess not.

It's not the world's funnest pull, but it gets the job done.

 

You have to realize that is the recommended load limit and liability has a lot to do with it if I only carried what the tag on my boat said I could I would never get anywhere.

 

just think , if you had a diesel you wouldn't even know the boat was there!!!

 

Yeah, thanks for the catch. I probably did over-estimate a bit. The website lists the approxomate tow weight as 3,400lbs. Does that include 40gal of fuel, 3 batteries, trolling motor, etc? I'm not sure how they get that rating; you could be right.

Nonetheless, it's a fun little "skiff"!

 

and wheres the fun in that? heres my two cents. just think when the diesel breaks on the side of the road not only do you have to pay to tow the truck but the boat too!!!

 

oh ya, I forgot gas trucks dont break either....I carry spark plugs to help out my fellow 5.4 friends

 

dont forget to carry extra coils and time certs too to repair the head on the side of the road.

 

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How did I not perceive that this would become a gas vs diesel thread