Towing a boat w a boat?

[emma17]

I’m probably trying too hard to force a square peg into a round hole, but here’s my deal/question.
There may be 5 of my family going this year- we have one boat - Lund Crossover. We mix Walleye and Northern fishing, probably 70/30 ratio. 5 is too many for Pike fishing.
There may be a 16’ boat w 10 hp motor available for us to use. We’d love to fish together.
Can I tow the 16’er at reasonable speed to spots on the lake that would take too long for the 10 hp to get to?

[Eyecatcher23]

Sure.

[Hwy 101]

We did that on a trip for pretty much the same reason. A harness similar to what you use pulling a tube with on a short strong rope worked OK. On calm days it was pretty straight forward. A small chop and boat wakes required some attention from the tow boat driver. For moderate waves it was sketchy and the small boat would take a hard digger into the waves occasionally. Make sure the small boat has enough gas to make the round trip just in case. I don't know if I would do it again.

[Daddybigfins]

Tried it once and had problems with the towed boat not tracking too good behind, veering off one way or the other when we slowed down. Since then I've seen it recommended to tow with an X configuration using two ropes. One attached to the port side of the transom going to the starboard side bow of the towed vessel, and one from the starboard corner of the transom to the port side bow of the towed vessel forming an X that keeps the following boat tracking inline. I've yet to try this but it does make sense. Wouldn't try towing in rough water regardless-

[That Minnesota guy]

Do you intend to have people in the little boat while pulling it? I would just send the little boat out ahead of time rather than tow it, but thats just me.

[emma17]

Thanks for the feedback.
Wave size seems like a key here, as does rope configuration.
I was planning on all riding in the tow boat while traveling.

[tandm]

It might be almost as quick to have one person follow with the 16' boat, depending on the weight of the lightly loaded boat. You, probably, will sacrifice some speed to safely tow the boat, anyway. Or, If the operator of the second boat is familiar with the route, send him/her out first.

[Bill Krejca]

Originally Posted by tandm

It might be almost as quick to have one person follow with the 16' boat, depending on the weight of the lightly loaded boat. You, probably, will sacrifice some speed to safely tow the boat, anyway. Or, If the operator of the second boat is familiar with the route, send him/her out first.

Yeah.

For those who haven't tried it,there can be an amazing amount of "pull" on the tow rope, such that maybe speed forward is compromised to the extent that it would be more expeditious to just run the smaller motor by itself. This is beside the potential problems if the water is rough. If towing, it seems to work better to get as much weight out of the towed boat, speaking from having helped a few folks over the years. Bottom line is not to expect a very fast trip while towing.

Bill

[srj]

As Bill said, there is a lot of pull on the rope....use strong stuff.

I have towed many boats of various sizes over the years, usually for duck hunting. The method we use keeps the towed boat tracking quite well. Tying off to the bow eye does not work well.

Tie a strong rope from gunnel to gunnel UNDER the boat leaving at least two feet of slack. You may need more. Tie a loop into the slack as close to center boat (keel) as you can. The loop should be close to where the bow starts to rise. We use a steel clip on the end of the actual tow rope that will clip to the loop in the under-the-boat rope. 20 to 30 feet of tow rope is typical.

With this setup, as you increase speed with the tow boat, the rope under the towed boat will cause the bow the rise and keep the towed boat from wandering side to side. Keep the front of the towed boat empty to allow the bow to rise. It would be a good idea to try this before you go as you will likely need to find the rope lengths that work best for the boat you want to tow.

Having the loop under the boat aligned with the keep as closely as possible is very important...as is strong rope.

Good luck

[DBH]

Just me, but having pulled boats in the past there is always risk of damage, especially in any kind of weather.
I'd be looking at purchasing an older 20 HP 2 stroke before towing.
Sell it once you're done with it.