Hi everyone,

 I've been thinking about installing a towbar for my 2012 77tsi manual Yeti. I recently bought a 2.3m Tinny with a 50HP motor and so i'm guessing the boat would about 700kgs max which is way under the 1200 kg capacity of the Yeti. What i'm more concerned about is having the car stuck at the ramp with wheels spinning if the concrete ramp is a little damp or slippery. Although most boat concrete ramps here in Australia do have grooves for better traction, i'm still worried that the light engine and highway tyres might leave me with the wheels spinning and unable to pull the boat from the water.

 

Also, any people out there who has experience driving the 2wd Yeti on the beach? That is in case I decide to launch of a beach somewhere. 

 

Any real life people out there who has experience towing with the Yeti?

 

Regards

Pierre

Re a 'tinny' up a ramp, I'd be surprised if you had any trouble at all.......assuming it's not covered in too much sand.

I'm sorry I made a mistake... its a 4.3m Quintrex tinny. So it is a little heavy.

 

Regards

Pierre

We are boat owners and whilst we don't tow, watch others with amusement on slipways. The main factor is the gradient of your particular slip and how weedy it is. Because we have fairly large tides in the uk the bottom of the slip is often very weedy and I often see 4x4s struggle to gain traction, but wait until high tide and a weed free slip and 2 wheel drive cars manage. It is a risk though as it sounds like a heavy boat and it will put a lot of weight on the back wheels reducing traction.

I certainly wouldn't be attempting a beach launch though.

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I wouldn't be too concerned, if it's a popular time of the day........there will be many doing what they can to get you out of the way quick smart.

Use a rope between the trailer and towball and extend the distance between the trailer and the yeti so you don't get on the wet slippery stuff or just stay on the flat while lowering the yeti down the slipway.

Here is some good info on the subject by the RYA and Paul glatzel http://www.rya.org.uk/newsevents/enewsletters/Sportsboatsandribs/november/Pages/toptips.aspx

Here is my setup and even now that I have a 4x4 I still sometimes use the rope trick to keep away from losing traction on weed.

Edited 17 January, 201610 yr by Yetigreenline2

 

I must say thats Impressive, a Yeti pulling a Boat and a Motor Home

Edited 17 January, 201610 yr by Auric Goldfinger

Hi everyone,

 I've been thinking about installing a towbar for my 2012 77tsi manual Yeti. I recently bought a 2.3m Tinny with a 50HP motor and so i'm guessing the boat would about 700kgs max which is way under the 1200 kg capacity of the Yeti. What i'm more concerned about is having the car stuck at the ramp with wheels spinning if the concrete ramp is a little damp or slippery. Although most boat concrete ramps here in Australia do have grooves for better traction, i'm still worried that the light engine and highway tyres might leave me with the wheels spinning and unable to pull the boat from the water.

 

Also, any people out there who has experience driving the 2wd Yeti on the beach? That is in case I decide to launch of a beach somewhere. 

 

Any real life people out there who has experience towing with the Yeti?

 

Regards

Pierre

You should be fine.  You'll find your front wheels will be on clean concrete.

 

Sand - maybe.  Reduce tyre pressures & stay off the soft stuff. Maybe take a shovel and some sand recovery tracks with you? They start at $55 a pair.

 

We go to a holiday shack at Bundeena with a sand boat ramp that provides me with hours of entertainment.  I've seen guys that know what they are doing launch 6m fibreglass boats using horrid old 2WD Hi-Lux with skinny tyres (pressure reduced).  I've also seen Land Cruisers with balloon tyres trying to pull a 4m tinny out and sink themselves to the axles (with the tide coming in).  It seems to be about 75% technique & 25% equipment.

Take your 'gear' out of the boat if it's that critical......I've seen plenty of Magnas towing full size speed boats out.

Personally I would avoid sand, ramps will be fine

Fit a front towball, this would put the weight on the front driving wheels.

 

That's exactly what my dad did to his Datsun 1600 for maneuvering his caravan......an adapter plate in the 'tow hook' area.

I looked into a front towball for a Danish friend, he could either

measure and send requested dimensions or have a holiday

nr. St. Albans while the front ball hitch was made and fitted.

Fit a front towball, this would put the weight on the front driving wheels.

 

Which, on a FWD Yeti, would also put the driven wheels down onto the mossy / slippery tidal part of the ramp.

If all else fails, I guess a tow rope would do the trick.

Or a longer trailer......

Edited 29 March, 201610 yr by PirateSyrett

Take the strain easily,

For launching recovering use a towbar mounted winch.

Posted an empty boat trailer photo and the Yeti earlier in this trail and thought I'd post another now we've collected our new boat.

Car weighs 1660kg, boat weighs 2050kg (according to our local DOT weigh bridge) so not only legal but also tows like a dream! The Yeti towed the boat quite happily just under 200 miles from Lymington down the horrid and steep coast road to Cornwall - though it's much happier at 60mph+ in 6th or 5th at 2000rpm +

Edited 26 April, 201610 yr by PirateSyrett

Posted an empty boat trailer photo and the Yeti earlier in this trail and thought I'd post another now we've collected our new boat.

Car weighs 1660kg, boat weighs 2050kg (according to our local DOT weigh bridge) so not only legal but also tows like a dream! The Yeti towed the boat quite happily just under 200 miles from Lymington down the horrid and steep coast road to Cornwall - though it's much happier at 60mph+ in 6th or 5th at 2000rpm +

An eye opener and complete shock to Aussies.

They couldn't even imagine doing it.

What is the Plated weight on the trailer, and can you legally tow it with your Yeti even when there is no boat on the trailer?

Hi there!

Plated trailer weight is 2600kg. On it's own it weighs 520kg plus the boat weight of 1530kg giving me a legal mass of 2050kg. We did loads of research and listened carefully to the advice that Ryeman, Llanigraham and Bossfox (and others) had given on this forum about Yeti towing at the upper limits before we embarked on this. VOSA's website confirms that the individual car and trailer plated weights must not be exceeded (2100kg for my 170 Elegance 4x4 & 2600kg for the trailer) and that the cars Gross Train Weight (4210kg) and individual axle weights must also not be exceeded. There was some confusion about trailer down plating a few years ago, but this is no longer required provided the 'actuals' do not exceed the 'plated'.

Just in case anyone feels the need to go off topic on licences; I passed my test in 1990 and have full B+E and have been towing much larger boat trailers than this (8 metre trimaran on a 9 metre trailer at maximum legal width and with a 37 foot mast on top!) for over 20 years.

Best wishes, M

Yes sorry,

on a phone you can not see which Yeti you have, but when i read the 1,660 kg car weight in post #18 i did think it could not be a FWD 105 ps Yeti as in the title of the post from the OP.

Yes sorry,

on a phone you can not see which Yeti you have, but when i read the 1,660 kg car weight in post #18 i did think it could not be a FWD 105 ps Yeti as in the title of the post from the OP.

GVM?.

?

What is the question?

 

GVM / Gross Vehicle Mass.

GVWR / Gross Vehicle Weight Rating.

If you've noticed that our Yeti looks a little lower than normal it's not because of the 70kg nose weight - it's the quarter ton of gravel in the passengers footwell I used as ballast to even up the mass ratio in this combination without my usual passengers!

So the Yeti in these pictures has a rolling weight of 1660kg (car, full tank of fuel and me), 250kg gravel (which is the same weight as the passengers and kit that I'll add when towing as a family), 40kg of spare wheels (car and boat each) and 20kg of tools and 2 ton jack.

So a 1970kg car versus a 2040kg trailer; or 2040kg car and 1970kg trailer once the nose weight's transferred from the trailer to the car. Any which way you cut it I'm still legal and am hovering around the 100% mark.

Lots of maths though!

Edited 27 April, 201610 yr by PirateSyrett