Towing with a cover on?

[Dale 0]

My boat (Enzo 240) cover came with tie-downs that look strong enough to be used while towing. Does anyone tow their boat with the cover on?

 

Does it keep the interior cleaner?

 

Does it scuff the gel-coat?

 

Any advice?

 

Thanks

[WakeDoc 471]

I had a strapless Evolution Cover that we always towed with on my last boat. It did not have the strapes that go down under the trailer frame back to the buckle. I have been told that if you tow with that type of cover you should twist the strapes into a spiral to keep them from vibrating in the wind and scuffing the gel coat. I have also heard of people putting pool noodles over the strapes during long trips to insure there is no gel coat damage. Factory covers are usually not tow rated.

[Bigshow 0]

I'm planning on picking up the Mighty Enzo from CBK this Friday. Nate emailed and said that they are buffing out some marks from towing with a Centurion Shark Skin cover. He said that the black shows the scuffing. Sounds like Nate and CBK are putting in a little extra elbow grease on the Might Enso, thanks guys!

 

On my Lightning I used a rope and bungee system with the Centurion shark skin cover. I tied off the rope at the cover loop. Then I tied a loop in the rope a few inches below the cover loop. I tied a bungee with plastic hooks to the end of the rope. To use the system I pulled the bungee under the frame and up to the rope loop. The bungees kept a steady pull on the boat cover without over stressing. I've never seen marks from towing with my cover and the bungee system.

[duramat 462]

Are snaps ok for towing? the most I ever went was just a few miles so I never bothered. untill one boating/camping trip from he!! where it went from bad to worse gave me this. Thanx to an oncoming car speeding an a gravel road at Bear Lake.

 

And this wasnt even the worst part of the trip! nor was it the dinged prop, nor was the tent without stakes, nor the wife pukin in the truck with morning sickness, nor my brother driving the truck and trailer back to camp after launching, nor the rainstorm that blew the tent over and flooded us out finishing the night in the truck. It was when my tranny went out on my truck after backing out of my driveway blocking my street totally from the neighbors across the street driveway to my driveway and wouldnt go forward in any gear. sorry to rant its still a sore subject. back to towing with covers.

 

Towing with snap covers is ok right? because I hate the thought of breakin/shattering/crackin my glass on my baby! Nobody ever really told me? so responses?

.

[Dale 0]

Big Show - Congrats on the new Envo!

 

Is the "shark skin" cover the canvas cover that comes from the factory?

 

Thanks for the help

[Dale 0]

Duramat - Sounds like there was a big dark cloud over your truck/boat before you left the driveway! Next time do a quick check of the weather before heading out!!

[WakeVB 0]

Dale, this interests me as well. Most weekends we will be towing about 2 hours with our new boat down to our main lake. I definitely dont want it raining in my boat while towing, and after it is clean I definitely dont want to arrive at the lake with a freakin dirty boat.

 

My cover has straps as well. I have heard all types of methods from leaving the straps loose, to putting painters tape on the boat where they might rub. If you or anyone else knows the proper way to minimize damage....I would love to know.

[VaBeachBum 0]

I trailer my boat with the shark skin cover. I did end up with some gel coat rubbing one time. You just really need to make sure that you tighten all the straps down really good, and tie off any loose ends. By twirling the straps in a spiral, it reduces the vibrations pretty well.

 

I like the painter's tape idea. That's a pretty good one.

[WakeDoc 471]

Another thing that I have seen people use is a after market shoulder pad that you can add to a car seat belt. I have seen neoprene and wool used, they are slit on the back with velcro making them easy to install.

[Drew Danielo 1]

I have a snap cover on the cockpit and and on the rest of the boat and I trailer with it always. I towed home from Ocala (about 3 hr drive) Last friday with the cover on adn it was storming rain and winds at about 20 - 30 MPH. The cover didn't come unsnapped once.

[wakeupnride 0]

Most covers that come on any new boat arent the best to tow with. I think the straps your refering to are mostly to keep the cover from collapsing into the boat if your boat is parked out in the rain. My boat is white and that will hide rub marks from a cover. I bought an aftermarket Rankin cover it holds tight and is designed to tow. It has padded hooks that hang onto the rub rail along the side to keep it from ballooning at highway speeds.

[eleventenths 0]

Towing with sharkskin cover = never again!

 

I have been impressed with the rankin covers I've seen.

[Dale 0]

Wakeupnride,

 

You talked about the padded hooks that hold the cover at the rub rail. Do you have apicture that shows those hooks you can post?

 

I live in California, so rain is a very rare event and not a concern. My primary interest in towing with a cover would be to avoid cleaning up that thin layer of dust that seems to accumulate if I tow on the freeway for any period of time.

 

Thanks to all for the suggestions.

[wakeupnride 0]

I don't have a pic of that, I'll try to get one for you.

[wakeupnride 0]

I went to take a picture for you today and my camera wouldnt turn on! Yes the battery was charged. I think the wife dropped it too many times. So I'm sure someone on here must have a rankin cover?? I've heard the Evolution covers are just about the same. Anyway check out rankincovers.com and evolutioncovers.com

Edited March 29, 2008 by wakeupnride

[Dale 0]

I had another idea that may work for towing with a cover on.

 

Does anyone have thoughts about using that stretch wrap to protect the gel coat before putting the cover on?

 

I was thinking about pulling the stretch wrap around the boat at the level of the rub rail, with a bias toward the top, to keep the cover from scratching the gel coat. This sounds similar to the idea someone floated about using blue painter's tape, but it may be cheaper and faster.

 

Please let me know if anyone thinks this may/may-not work.

 

Thanks

[islander033 2]

Does anyone have any (good or bad) experience towing with this type of cover? With the strap ends tucked of course.

[2manyhobbies 0]

Does anyone have any (good or bad) experience towing with this type of cover? With the strap ends tucked of course.

 

I belive that's the same cover I have and I'll never tow with it. My friend Wade has the same one on his cyclone and after one 2 hour trip at highway speeds the gelcoat was all scratched and scuffed up from the buckles.

 

I know there are some good aftermarket covers that are meant to tow with, I think one mentioned in this thread was the rankin which I had for my old Yamaha LS2000 and worked like a charm. It was also great for when you wanted to cover the boat while still in the water or on a lift.

[islander033 2]

I'm happy that I never tried to tow at highway speeds with that cover........thanks for the information.

[AirWarriorC4 0]

I tow my boat from Cincinnati to Norris almost every weekend and i never leave the cover for a couple reasons- the resistance the cover puts on the rig is unbelievable. if you tow the boat for an hour with cover on or so and then take it off you can feel a huge difference in control. and yes the covers do tend to make some pretty nasty scratches. so i would recommend leaving it off when towing. if it gets a little bit dirty a lil scrub wouldn't hurt. and i've found that if you want to protect your tower from bug guts and stuff like that- some good ol Saran wrap on the front part of the tower takes care of a good hour or two of scratching off the guts. just a lil tip