Boat towing w/ 2004 MC
 

I live in (flat) Florida, and I've decided to get a small watercraft. What I'm posting about is to ask: does anyone have any practical experience or advice about towing and taking out of the water a small boat with a non-S MC? Specifically, a 13 foot Boston whaler with a 40 hp motor and trailer.

My first thinking was to get a Sea-Doo, and after doing some research, I concluded that I could tow a PWC behind my 2004 MC. In fact, here is a video from YouTube showing a Mini pulling a PWC out of the water on a boat ramp:

http://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=r...&v=5xkmz3mBh7Q

Seadoo or Yamaha PWC = 780 lbs.
Trailer = 220 lbs. (approx.)

That video shows a ~150 lb. guy sitting on the watercraft when it's being pulled out of the water. So the total in the video is 1,150 pounds.

I called the Boston Whaler company and got the exact specs on the 13 foot boat I'm considering. The hull weighs 640 pounds, the 40 hp motor weighs 220 pounds, and the total boat weight with motor, hardware, etc. is estimated at 940 pounds. Boston Whaler told me that the trailer they sell weighs 295 pounds. With a full 6 gallon fuel tank and the weight of a battery and a few belongings inside, I was told to figure on a 1,300 pound total weight.

I am pretty sure I can get the boat from point A to point B reliably, especially considering that I live in South Florida which is very flat. I would not put the boat in on a boat ramp that is excessively steep – in fact, I'd look for moderately pitched boat ramps. I'm thinking ahead that I would semi-submerge the boat trailer and winch the boat up as much as possible to get it partially out of the water before pulling it out. And lastly, take out any gear from inside the boat to decrease the weight as much as possible.

I've already installed the Curt 11126 trailer hitch, which is class one with a 1 1/4 inch receiver and rated to 2000 pounds towing capacity with a 200 pound tongue weight.

That's my set up, and the question is: could my MC pull a 13 foot Boston Whaler weighing approximately 1,300 pounds out of the water? Has anyone had direct experience pulling a boat out of the water with their MC? Or, if you have practical knowledge and can weigh in on the matter, I am all ears to figure out in advance if I can do this.

Thanks!

The limit for the MC tongue weight is about 80 lbs. Much more than tends to lift weight off the front suspension creating hazzardous driving conditions and reduced front tire traction/steering.

I seriously doubt the ability of the front wheel drive MINI to pull a water laden vessel out of the water. Front tires will undoubtedly spin on the wet ramp.

Then there is the issue of brakes being able to effective work with over 1K lbs behind you, and how long your transmission will last before blowing up.

Cause a video shows a car could do it once does not mean it can be done routinely without destroying the clutch/tranny....a weak point on the midlands made 5 speed.
The tongue weight is the biggest limiting factor...excedde that and the car will be a handful...if not uncontrolable....ever see a trailerand car bouncing on the highway...and they both start to osilate after the bumps and almost wreck?! Haul much more than a small trsiler with a spare set of tires to a track, or maybe a single skidoo/small snowmobile and you too can make the news!!
Sounds like you need a 2nd car...towing with a stick, espically one not set up for towing...meaning no granny gear is tuff....trying to drag a boat up a slick hill...good luck. It might work...a couple of times.

I agree with both of the previous posts. The low gear in the tranny is still pretty tall to be hauling a trailer up a boat ramp. It will be very tough on the clutch.

I would try to get information from the UK MINI web site as they allow trailer towing. You should be able to find allowable weight limits.

http://www.mini.co.uk/services/acces...r-accessories/

Looks as though there is an allowable 650 kg/1430 lb max weight (75 kg/165 lb tongue weight) with the factory hitch. Seems as though you would be close to the recommended limits. I would think about having brakes installed on the trailer. After all you are you adding almost half the weight of the car again to the demand on the car's brakes. Whether you go with electric or hydraulic surge brakes doesn't make any difference, both work.

Good luck.

Use something else to tow it!

I read the title of this post and it immediately made me laugh. If you want to tow something at the very least buy a countryman.

Thanks to everyone for the meaningful replies. My initial post asked for direct experience or practical knowledge, i.e., real-life experience or know-how about the question of towing a boat with a Mini. So I appreciate those responses which address the issue with real information and facts.

As for "get another car" - I am quite happy with my Mini. I don't want another car, not only for the expense (purchase, maintenance, insurance), but because it's in my opinion wasteful for 1 person to have 2 cars, in this case where my profession is not involved. You will notice in my original thread I never asked, "Should I get another car?" That's patently obvious. The thread deals with pulling a watercraft weighing 700 lbs. to 1,300 lbs. behind a MC. That's it.

I've found a 496 lb. dry weight PWC that is 9'11" in length. With a ~200 lb. trailer, that's a 700 lb. load. At that weight, I will just plain give it the old college try! And with a fairly high degree of confidence that my MC will do just fine, so long as I get the tongue weight right and certainly not backing all the way into the water to retrieve the PWC.

Then, based on how I do, maybe next year I'll consider getting a 13' boat. Or by then, I may have the opportunity to try out pulling a friend's boat. In the end, for absolute sure, I don't want to get stuck at a boat ramp and have to get towed out. That scenario is out of the question. I believe a small PWC at 700 lbs. total should be workable.

Why do you want to ruin your Mini???? because thats what you are about to do.:no:

You also have to realize the MCS in the video has more torque than your MC...I still would never do it with a MCS either though.

I've towed my '75 Mini Clubman Estate with my '04 MCS, using a 200 lb. tow dolly. (about 1700 lbs. in all) It did ok, but I was always mindful of clutch slippage. I never had to pull it out of the water, though... The '04 still has the original clutch @ 90K, and is doing great! Now we tow the '75 with my wife's '08 Clubman S. It's got over 101k and is also doing great.

My opinion is like most people already said. I would advise not to do it. You might pull it off , but you will uin the car eventually and you will have to spend moeny in repairs. So as much as you don't want a second car, it might not be a bad idea. I purchased a Ford Bronco in craigstlist for $1000 to pull my boat and i only pay like $40 a month for pip insurance. Maintenance is minimal because i only used the car once or twice a month to pull the boat. Just my opinion.

I'm begging you, please DON'T DO IT! The heaviest thing that should ever be attached to a mini is a bike rack or a travel box. It's not even good for cars with V8's to tow things let alone a MINI. the transmissions just are absolutely not made to pull anything. Even in my S I have a hard time if I have 3 other people and their luggage.

I honestly just can't believe this thread is still going. Why? Because people like myself keep posting comments. Haha. Sorry, I'm done now.

Wow are we americans jaded. You can't tow with anything but an F350 diesel right?? The only useful post was the one with a link to Mini UK.

You won't die in a fiery wreck from brake failure and your transmission will not explode ten feet out of your driveway. People in the US drastically under estimate how well a small car can tow. I personally towed a 4x8 trailer with my 2004 Miata thousands of miles with zero issues.

Now all that said you are very close to the weight limit with the setup you described. Finding something a few hundred pounds lighter would be easier to handle. I do honestly worry about the car being able to pull it up out of the water. First gear on these cars is not geared as low as it should be which will make it tough. I also have flash backs to when I watched a corvette in Sarasota pulling a PWC slip backwards into the water and float away. Yes a corvette floats for a good 30-45 seconds before sinking.

I tow a kayak trailer with both my 2004 S and 2008 S Mini's. It weighs about #500-600 all up and maybe another #400 in the car. It tows fine. I unload them by though, and don't back down boat ramps.

Jim

Would cost you $5,000.00 to replace clutch, flywheel, and transmission in the MINI when it burns up. It is my belief it was their attempt to save the car you love so much, and instead put that money towards 2nd vehicle.

IMO, and yes I do own/pull a track trailer... towing 1000lbs exceeds the mechanical/performance design of the car.

GL.

I tow a trailer with a 14 foot boat on it. 2005 MC non-S.

My car has not exploded yet.

I was gonna mention that… the UK is the place for towing (everyone tow's)
they would know…

Why not buy an inflatable RIB ? I have a 15ft Caribe with a 40hp Yamaha & total package is about 550 lbs.

My thoughts... Anyone who suggests towing 1,000 - 1,500 lbs. with a little economy car is hard on it has never done it. I've been towing with my 138 HP BMW 318ti for about a decade. 235,000 miles right now and still run beautifully. No question it'll do 300,000+ miles.

I routinely tow up to 1,500 lbs and it's really nothing. You slip the clutch for a half second extra from a dead stop, but that's it. It accelerates fine, it brakes fine, it handles fine. When you're under 1,000 lbs you might as well have nothing behind you. It's pretty much negligible.

Keep it to roughly 1,200 - 1,500 lbs total, 165 lbs tongue (75 kg, which almost every Euro market car lists as the max) and you'll be fine. My only concern would be traction on a boat ramp.

Echoing what lots of other people have said it's going to come down to problems at the ramp. if it's a busy day there will be lots of other boats getting pulled out which will drag water quite a ways up the ramp making it slick. Couple that with low tide where you might have to back down further and you could have some issues. Unlike a truck you can't just have a bunch of people jumping up and down in the bed of your vehicle to get traction on wet surfaces.

Good news is there is always guys with trucks and tow straps at the boat ramp. We've had to help pull a truck/trailer up a slick ramp before. :thumbsup:

I like the cut of your jib, sir.

If I were 25, I would tow a boat with my MINI, but this middle-aged man is much to in-tune with his mortality. I think the biggest concern is safety, specifically that the MINI is FWD and has a very short wheel base, reducing stability with a big load out back.

Sounds like an accident waiting to happen. Although I have seen a guy towing a 19foot boat with a smart car :lol:

All in I estimate that my boat and trailer together *conservatively* weigh 575lbs. I know that the boat is 175 lb fully rigged and I'm guessing 400lb for the trailer if that. Kinda like having two heavy people in the back seat.... When driving I barely notice that there is anything back there.

Old thread but interesting. I recently met a fellow from South Dakota at the 2018 MITO in Eureka Springs Arkansas who was driving a 2005 convertible S with a Curt trailer hitch on his car; he said he pulled a small trailer with it, but we didn't discuss weight. I'd never seen a hitch on a Mini before and am thinking of putting one on my 2004 Cooper S JCW to carry a spare tire on trips - sort of a mini continental kit. And in case I ever want to carry a bike on a bike rack. Seems like a handy addition.

Now I wonder if a BMW compact spare would work on a MIni

Wow
 

*First post on any forum every.. but I'm about to mount a 5th wheel ball on my custom roof rack and tow an aluminum trailer with my cross cart(800lbs) on it. Allowing 360 rotation of the car under the trailer.im an american.
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nor...bcb02682e0.jpg