[Spearo]

Hi, I been looking at buying a bigger boat soon (from a 21' to a 25-26') but a few of the ones I have looked at have a beam of 8'9" Most of the boat use will be done in Va. and NC. and yes a trailer will be use at all times. Are the two extra inches critical and do I need a special permit just for two extra inches?

Thank you.

 

[THOMAS70]

Spearo you won,t have any problems. On federal highways you don,t need a permit till your over 120". And state roads you can get away with that.

 

[Stormin' Norman]

I had saved the following thread off to a text file. I had not marked it as a favorite and numerous searches have turned nothing up. Therefore I have pasted the saved text into this reply.
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Storm n Norman- I have the 232 gulfstream as well with twin 150 yamaha 4 strokes.
We just got it a month ago. Tried to decide between the gulfstram and journey and beam
was a factor. The gulfstream is a little to wide to trailer but it is still very trailerable. It is
also much more stable than the journey. The gulfstream is actually larger than the journey
as well. The journey lenth includes the integrated motor mount which the gulfstream
does not. For virtually the same price there was no question.

Bucktales,

Everyone will tell you to "yeah, go ahead and do it and don't worry about it". I don't agree.

The tow permits can vary quite a bit from state to state. I used to be an over the road driver some years back, but the width has not changed since then. Maximum width without a permit in most every state is 8'6". Over that and you're considered overwidth and are subject to different rules and regs.

The bit about the insurance company as stated above holds a lot of truth. There are many things in life that we take for granted. For instance, (anology that's got a point in that it's an everyday occurrance) if you have a TV antenna on your roof and if it's not properly grounded and then gets hit by lightning causing your house to burn down........... your insurance company has a way out not to pay for damages and they WILL use it.

Check out the rules -permits are needed and fines can be high. Some over width rules in a lot of states prohibit towing an overwidth load on Sundays. This has to do with limited areas on bridges, tunnels, etc. and the accessibility by emergency equipment, amount of traffic, etc.

I sent you a .PDF file with the rules for Virginia. If you look in the DMV section for our state (unfortuantely you don't have a location in your profile) you must go to the commercial section for overwidth towing rules.
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Sandtiger
<;(((((><
"FISH'N TIME"

I callled Maryland Transportation Authority. Yes, you do need a wide-load permit and you
have to display a wide load banner. The cost was fairly cheap for MD permits.
Its 500$ for a full year, or 30$ on a monthly basis.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ken Lahr
Round-Tuit
Grady Golfstream 236,
Always gased and ready for an emergency fishing trip!

 

[Sea Isle Salty Dog]

And good luck getting the permit. I waited over an hour at MVA and no one, even managers, did not have an answer. Finally someone said we needed to get it from SHA. We did. It cost $55 and they faxed it to us (lotta good since we were underway already). Stopped at the Bay Bridge after they took another $20 off our hands. The inspector asked us why we stopped at the booth. Told him the toll taker said it was required. He laughed and said, "news to me".

I am not saying you cannot get ticketed or that your insurance will be legit, but good luck finding out what the rules are so you can follow them.

 

[Shutterbug]

Think about this. What door does someone open when an illegally trailered boat is involved in an accident, the other party sues and insurance co. turns their back on you.

 

[BigWillJ]

Can also try here for a state-by-state synopsis of towing laws:

http://www.trailerboats.com

Click on "Towing" in the left side menu.

Scroll down to "2005 Towing Laws".

 

[Sea Isle Salty Dog]

Thanks Shutter - good point.

You too BigWill - useful info.

 

[Sandtiger]

[Q]Sea Isle Salty Dog originally wrote:
And good luck getting the permit. I waited over an hour at MVA and no one, even managers, did not have an answer. Finally someone said we needed to get it from SHA. We did. It cost $55 and they faxed it to us (lotta good since we were underway already). Stopped at the Bay Bridge after they took another $20 off our hands. The inspector asked us why we stopped at the booth. Told him the toll taker said it was required. He laughed and said, "news to me".

I am not saying you cannot get ticketed or that your insurance will be legit, but good luck finding out what the rules are so you can follow them.
[/Q]

Pretty easy to find the rules actually since they are posted on the VA DMV webs site at this address ;

http://www.dmv.virginia.gov/webdoc/pdf/dmv109.pdf

Pay attention to the area of pages 11 thru about 14 for overload/overwidth trucks.......... and it doesn't matter if you're on a federal road or not; the state's laws are what you must go by......... Where's some of this info come from????

For brake requirements on trailers and brake performance regulations look at page 17.

There are lighting requirements listed and of course the old inspection requirements for trailers on page 23 that seem so elusive to a lot of folks.

You also may want to look at page 25 concerning Weight Inspection Requirement for trucks registered over 7,500 pounds.

What you'll be reading primarily concerns commercial vehicles, but the requirements that we have to obey are in this manual also.

BTW, just for trivia information as an interstate tractor trailer driver you must know the rules in this book and every book for every state you travel in and they are not necessarily the same for each state.

Hope this helps you out by answering some of your questions.

 

[Sea Isle Salty Dog]

[Q]Sandtiger originally wrote:
BTW, just for trivia information as an interstate tractor trailer driver you must know the rules in this book and every book for every state you travel in and they are not necessarily the same for each state.

Hope this helps you out by answering some of your questions.
[/Q]

Sandy that is some great info that me (and prospective large trailer craft buyers) can use.

I love state by state regs. I guess this is the down side of bing a federation of states. It ain't cheap or easy to comply.[smile]

You know what I heard at a brewery tour in college: Beer would literally cost half as much if their was one packaging law and one alcohol content law and one labeling law for the whole country.

 

[Sandtiger]

Sea Isle Salty Dog,

Yeah I used to love it going to Baytown, TX or Baton Rouge because I'd have to stop in Mississippi and move the tandams on the tractor to get the correct axle weights. In Mississippi the weight is different than it is in AL or LA by (if I remember correctly 1,000 pounds on the front axle).

I used to be an independent operator and I pulled a chemical tanker for Matlack and then later on for Quality Carriers. Chemical tanker's axle's don't move - they are fixed so you have to deal with moving the 5th wheel and get on a scale. If not correct, go back and move the 5th wheel and get back on the scale, etc., etc., until you got it right.

The problem is a little different if you got a trailer with more than one compartment because the load doesn't get spread across the whole tank like it does in a single hole tanker. BUT then a single hole tanker is a pain because once you get to where you think you need to be, you must wait for the laod to settle down so you can get an accurate reading on the scale.

Single hole chemical tanks have NO internal baffles and the load runs from front to back the whole length of the tank. Something to think about when you cut in front of one of those guys and they hit the brakes only to have 40,000 pounds come rushing to the front of the tank!!![excited][excited][excited][excited][excited]

 

[frayedknot]

8'6" - anything after that is wide load state wide. boat maybe up to 10' ?