Should i tow my boat with the cover on

Keystone Light I pretty much always tow with the cover on and have never had a problem I always use the tent poles to reduce any chance of flapping. I tow with the cover on to avoid the inevitable rocks, debris, etc. Good luck with the tow. He was at Wal-Mart in the Sporting Goods dept. Christmas shopping a few years back!

Thanks for all the input. My plan was to only use the cover in the rain or if road is still nasty. I towed it back miles from Ohio in july when I bought it. Difference was it was sunny, 85 degrees, no salt-puddles-sand on the road. The schedule is a little tight, so waiting for a wx window won't work. Looks like a 50 percent chance of showers for my drive home with my new boat.

That one has the mini-tower and also has the ratchet cover. I originally had the ratchet cover listed here for sale for about 4 months. No takers, so I listed it with the boat and someone liked the package : I had a custom snap cover made which had cleet pockets and strips for my bimini. Allowed me to leave bimini attached in booted position overnight.

Also had nice fiberglass bows to prevent ponding. Certainly not roadworthy. Are the velcro patches necessary for trailering if I have side and stern straps cinched? This cover has been used very little. Some will cover the contact areas with saran wrap. Shrink tape will do the job too. I have some teflon tape that might do the job nicely. Might need more tape : Jerry. I don't like the road s.. I did the towel padding for the CSM drive and use the poles to keep it tight. I have the MC ratcheting cover for my boat also and have towed with it several times.

I would recommend putting some type of padding across the top edge of the windshield. There is a lot of stress in that area and it would be easy to rub a hole in the cover there. Another vote for no cover when trailering. But if you do cover, get a few rolls of blue masking tape and cover any "high" areas above the rub rail, use towels or flannel sheets too.

Use the tent poles and cinch everything tight. You could also try round pipe insulation at the top of the windshield frame, works well. My cover is currently getting a soft "liner" sewn into it, something similar to car cover material. I'm also adding 2 tie-down straps per side because on the X-star the cover tries to lift-up above the rub rail on the sides.

Where are you going in the northeast? Sodar: Where did you get the fleece cover made? A local cover shop did it. Weather was nice. Boat was a filthy mess when I got it down there. New owner towed it from VA to TX from there. Picked up my 07' last week in OH. Seller put a Malibu transhield cover on underneath the ratchet cover.

That seemed to protect the upper deck pretty well. The vulnerable spots were where the buckles snap together at base of mini-tower legs. That was the only spot where I saw any rubbing. Next time, cram a clean rag or small folded towel behind the buckles and they will protect it! I used to do what Harold suggested, but got fed up with spending so much time just to get the cover situated.

Now, I throw my soft cover on the boat and then throw my MC tow cover over it. I had them put extra padding at the tower, windsheild and bow. It works great and the undercover will come in handy if I ever get stuck in the artic and need a nice soft blanket!

I do not have any of it on the boat, but will get some. Sodar, I know that you had mentioned this before, but do you have a number of the place that made your soft cover?

We had the dealer shrink wrap ours before we brought it home; they didn't want us driving so far with the ratchet cover. I'm going to be towing my '95 ProSport about miles in August. I'm worried about losing seat cushions if I don't cover it especially the back seat. Anyone ever have any problems with losing cushions? I would like to know if most people pull their boats with the covers on or off. I have heard some stories of seats flying out if you go too fast. I have also heard that the cover will scratch the side of the boat, especially on a black hull.

Any advice will help, thanks guys. I will pull mine very short distances. Usually only from storage to the house ect. The only seat issue I have had on my 45 was the seat behind the driver seat wants to lift up while pulling down the hwy. I took my pfd and wedged it between the the driver seat and the L shaped seat and it keeps it tight with no movement. I leave that cushion off all the time anyway for people to walk back and forth from the transom.

I pulled mine from MN to Spokane with the cover off the entire way. Even with the cinch down straps you will get gel coat rub and scratches. I know Sodar lined his with felt which is a good idea to stop the gel coat rub and scratches.

I towed mine just to the dealer for the first time with cover on and I noticed a slight dull in one area from the cover even though I had it cinched down tight and no flapping. On my long trip I put the teak swim platform on the back seats and tied it down so the seat cushions wouldn't fly out. Sometimes I will use blue tape and tape the cushions down so as not to lose them. That's not a trailering cover. For short trips, it's OK but it's really not made for long ones.

Bad idea to trailer with the cover as the above members have already told u!!!! Off, Never have trailered with the cover on, and never will. Seen too many people buffing out scratches and such from their cover straps rubbing. Or sewing up covers that have torn on a sharp edge while getting flapped from the wind being pulled down the road.

Even if it's raining, I will still not put the cover on when towing. I always have the walk through door and window closed, hopefully this will help.

The cover is like sandpaper on the gel coat and tends to fray and tear. I have turned my MC cover into the best tow cover I have had. Step 1: Have an under cover made so those horrid swirl marks never occur! JPG Step 3: Crank the tension strap around the boat nice and taunt. Also, the most important straps on the whole boat are the 2 straps in the rear going to the rear eyes. They tension the cover to prevent ballooning. Also, I never store the boat with the tow cover. I have a storage cover to leave on it in storage.

No pics yet, but here is where I added an additional strap. Just to be on the safe side, if I were you, I would call your local hwy patrol office and check and see what your state has to say about it. Peter is a software developer who loves to take every opportunity to go outside that he can get. Peter grew up going on long backpacking excursions with his family every Summer and now enjoys staying at the beautiful Texas State Parks and swimming in the amazing Texas Rivers.

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By keeping the cover on, you can basically use your boat as an additional means of storing gear, luggage, coolers, etc. If it comes off and covers someone's windshield then they were too close to start with Long hauls - bimini down, mooring cover on. I want all the protection I have available. I also don't want to say, "I should have I'm surprised by the responses on here about not towing with covers on. Everywhere we go we hardly ever see a boat without a cover on.

Mainly snap on covers. They go down the interstate all the time that way. Like I said, I have been doing it for ohhhh 10 yrs and have never had more than one snap come undone. Sometimes I might put some blue painters tape along the front edge of the bow cover but I rarely do that. Interesting conversation on this topic.

I agree. Never had anything close to coming off. I would much rather tow with a snap cover than worry about straps rubbing the gelcoat. I've always trailed with the snap on covers on but I thinks it's caused them to prematurely fail. The edge material is coming apart and making a mess. I'm seriously thinking of pulling the trigger on a trailering cover to protect from the rain and dust.

Towng with a snap cover might be more liability than protection. Double check the manufactuer's recommendation--cover may never come loose, but if it does I would just suggest that cover indeed be towable. Does anyone know where I can get a new snap on Taylor Made cover for my boat? Mine is a two piece. One is for the bow and another for main part of the boat. It has the bungee cords on the back that wrap around the little studs along the rear of the boat.

I found a tag with "Model " on it but I've searched the web and the Taylor Made site with no luck. Is this a Chap dealer thing? The Admirable wants to make me a whole new cover from scratch but I was just wondering what it would cost to replace.

I've been one of the guys that lost a cover on I in Louisville. I actually drug the entire cover about a mile down the interstate, hanging on by only 2 transom straps.

Not fun. My wife kindly modified cover for wakeboar tower below opening sides are connected by Velcro. My design, not patented yet:. You can post now and register later.

If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account. Paste as plain text instead. Only 75 emoji are allowed. Display as a link instead. Keep in mind a chafing cover over a long haul will do a lot of damage to gelcote.

That's a long tow. I wouldn't trust a hauler to cover it correctly or to check it frequently. My vote is for shrinkwrap. Not cheap but IMO the most reliable. Who knows what kind of weather conditions could be encountered? I would do the utmost to ensure the last step does not turn my purchase sour. What do you guys think? I never towed a boat, even 2 miles to my storage lot without the bow and cockpit covers. If fit properly they will do just fine. But if it were me, get it shrink wrapped.

What, no Regal Fastrack Show us some pictures of your 'new' boat. I would not rely on the canvas covers, but the boat should be covered. So, shrinkwrap is the best way to go. I started out looking for a Formula BR, then found a nice Regal along the way that caught my interest. I am arranging the towing through uShip. This is the firm that quotes on boattrader.

You put in the particulars and received bids from shippers. The site provide reviews feedback for the various shippers. Thanks all for good advice. Up here where I live every marina does shrink wrapping, but I am finding that shrink wrap services are not that easy to find in central TX.

A agree a good shrink wrap job would be best, but I'd be contracting with someone I don't know to shrink wrap. I won't be able to inspect the job before the boats ships. My concern is a bad shrink wrap job chafing could do more damage to the imron paint than some road grime. I used to tow my Cobalt miles each way with the bow and cockpit covers on and never had a problem.

I am thinking if I leave the covers on I would tape the edges with 4" vinyl tape as recommended above to make sure nothing comes loose.