Trailer Towing Capacity

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Great Lakes Grady

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Greetings! I'm a relative newbie to this message board, although not brand new to boating. Some background information first, followed by a question.

I grew up fishing on Lake Michigan, my dad had a 1978 Sea Ray SRV 240. It was a great boat for salmon fishing and handling the chop that Lake Michigan is famous for.

Now as I prepare to retire, I'm considering purchasing a boat, one that I can trailer and use on the Great Lakes. The 24'-26' class is what I'm looking at. I really like the GW Freedom 235 and interested in learning more about the new Freedom 265 too. Other boats I've researched include the Boston Whaler Vantage 240, Cobia 240 DC, as well as the Pursuit DC 246 and 266.

My Ford F-150 has a trailer towing capacity of 7,600 pounds, so I know I'm good to go with any of the 24' models, but the 26' models might be cutting it close.

I'd love to hear what your thoughts and experiences are with GWs (and other brands), particularly those who boat on the Great Lakes.
 
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As mentioned in the other threads, as well as just common sense overall, a boat is going to weigh considerably more wet than you think it will, and it's especially going to weigh more than just the dry weight plus a few add-on's. As mentioned in the other thread, a 235 Freedom has a maximum weight of 6,400 lbs, of which that is just the boat and doesn't include the weight of the trailer. I've got an aluminum I-beam trailer for my 228 Seafarer and it weighs I believe 975 lbs, of which I imagine one for a 235 Freedom and above is going to weigh even more than that. A galvanized trailer is only going to weigh more on top of that. So, I'd either be considering A. A smaller/lighter boat or B. A bigger tow vehicle. Considering that a 235 Freedom has a max weight of 6,400+ lbs plus a 1k+ lb trailer, that's going to put you at essentially your maximum towing capacity of 7,600 lbs, if not even more than that, which I honestly wouldn't recommend doing. If you're trailering less than 10 miles or so and doing so on flat, dry concrete at lower speeds then that is one thing and is up to you to decide on whether you'd like to risk that or not. If you're doing anything more than that, as mentioned I'd definitely consider a larger tow vehicle, as I personally wouldn't want to be trailering over the maximum towing limit for my vehicle, especially if there was an accident/incident involving said tow vehicle along with liability issues.
 
I believe you would need more truck for a 24' or larger Grady.
I pull my '07 Seafarer with a 2500 6.6L gas Chevy and it is fantastic. I personally would not tow it with a 1500/ F150. I went very conservative with the 80% rule. More truck = peace of mind. That's just me though.
 
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Gentlemen, I appreciate your wise counsel. I realize what's limiting my trailer towing capacity is that, although I have the trailer towing package, my engine is only the 2.7L V6 with EcoBoost. Upgrading to the 3.5L V6 with EcoBoost and Trailer Tow package would get me over a 13,000 lbs trailer towing capacity.

An F-250 with a 6.8L Gas V8 is even better, with a TTC of 17,300 pounds.

I have also researched the GW Adventure 218, which is a nice boat and would be easily trailerable with my current truck. Any thoughts on the Adventure 218?
 
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Great Lakes Grady said:
Gentlemen, I appreciate your wise counsel. I realize what's limiting my trailer towing capacity is that, although I have the trailer towing package, my engine is only the 2.7L V6 with EcoBoost. Upgrading to the 3.5L V6 with EcoBoost and Trailer Tow package would get me over a 13,000 lbs trailer towing capacity.

An F-250 with a 6.8L Gas V8 is even better, with a TTC of 17,300 pounds.

I have also researched the GW Adventure 218, which is a nice boat and would be easily trailerable with my current truck. Any thoughts on the Adventure 218?
Click to expand...

As a 228 owner, I am underwhelmed by the 218. I paid $130K in 2020 for my boat and trailer. When the 218 came out, they wanted $167K for the same setup and the 218 is a serious downgrade from a 228. I think it's a downgrade from the 208. It's got a tiny cockpit. Might be ok for rod&reel fishing but you'd really suffer if you wanted to crab out of that boat.

If you could find a recent vintage 228, that's a much better boat in my opinion.

When the 218 came out, my local dealer got one and it just sat on the lot, nobody wanted to pay that much more for that much less.

Grady likely doesn't agree with me but I think they made a big mistake in dropping the 228. They are very popular boats.
 
I like that the 218 Adventure has a wider beam at 8'6" as opposed to a 208 Adventure/228 Seafarer which only have an 8' beam. From the pictures, it also appears to maybe have a bit more space inside of the cabin area? That being said, the centerline/overall length are smaller, as is the useable space and imo especially the layout of the cockpit. The centerline length of the 228 Seafarer is almost exact a foot longer, but the 218 Adventure also has the motorwell style of transom along with it being a Euro transom with the molded in swim steps. To me, this wastes so much room in the rear of the boat, I imagine at least 4'-5' of depth that you lose with that design/style of transom. I much prefer the 228 Seafarer with the enclosed transom and transom bracket, or maybe even slightly more would be the 2006+ GW 232 Gulfstream that no longer has the rear molded in seats, but instead has a single flip up/down bench seat.

To me, I think that's about the best layout for fishing space and whatnot. Ultimately though, it really just depends on what you're wanting to use the boat for, budget and so forth. You mentioned you're retiring, of which if you're not looking to do much fishing at all and just want to haul the kids/grandkids/family around, then a walkaround cabin likely isn't your best bet. As you were talking about, a 235 Freedom or some other dual console style of boat might be better suited to your boating needs, as it'll likely sit 7-8 people a bit more comfortably than a walkaround cabin will. That being said, the test boat for the 235 Freedom weighed in at 6k lbs, and the maximum weight of just the boat itself in the other thread showed as being at 6,400 lbs. Of which I imagine the test boat is likely half loaded with fuel and whatnot, as well as not including the weight of the trailer, fishing/safety gear or anything else. With a trailer, full fuel tank, all of your gear, food/ice/water and everything else, I imagine you'd be pushing 8k lbs. Given that you said your maximum tow rating is 7,600 lbs...? That's something you'd have to figure out for yourself if you are comfortable with that, or not. I've always been taught to not exceed the maximum tow rating of a vehicle in the event that there was a problem or accident, but hey that's just me.
 
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