18ft vs 22ft aluminum boat/trailer package weight?

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CRB357

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Looking at getting 22ft bay aluminum boat and double axle aluminum trailer w/brakes (think 175-200hp G3 or Xpress). Does 3000-3500lbs sound about right for package weight? The G3 website is the only one that has a package weight listed. However don't know which trailer it correlates to. And they are all closed for July 4th holiday. Looking to tow with a 2015 v6 4Runner. I tow mostly flat along the La. Gulf Coast and up to Toledo Bend 1-3hr drives. Once or twice a year go Arkansas/Missouri which is 7-9hrs with lots of hills. I'm guessing it will be fine until I start hitting overpasses and hills on Interstate doing 70mph.

My currrent 1880 90hp Lake Sport on single axle trailer is about 2000lbs I'm guessing, and 4runner tows it great. The 22ft trailer will have trailer brakes, which was the only thing I was concerned about with 4runner. Was being to able to stop it.
 
I tow with a 2016 V6 4Runner, and before that, a 2005 V6 Pathfinder. I tow our 24’ pontoon w/ 150 Merc now, but before iit was a 20’ fiberglass bowrider w/ 5.7L MerCruiser. Both trailers were dual axle w/brakes. I think they both were around 4000lbs.

I only tow them twice a year though. Three hours to camp and three hours home. Of the two, the pontoon has additional challenges with wind and visibility. It is about 2 hours on interstates and rest on secondary roads. Terrain is “New England hilly”.

I don’t have any issues with the 4Runner or the Pathfinder before that. You are not going to “horse” it up the hills, and I generally stay at the speed limit or slightly lower. It has the stopping power, especially with the trailer brakes. That being said, if I was towing a few times a month, I’d probably would move up to a full size pickup or equivalent.
 
FuzzyGrub said:
I tow with a 2016 V6 4Runner, and before that, a 2005 V6 Pathfinder. I tow our 24’ pontoon w/ 150 Merc now, but before iit was a 20’ fiberglass bowrider w/ 5.7L MerCruiser. Both trailers were dual axle w/brakes. I think they both were around 4000lbs.

I only tow them twice a year though. Three hours to camp and three hours home. Of the two, the pontoon has additional challenges with wind and visibility. It is about 2 hours on interstates and rest on secondary roads. Terrain is “New England hilly”.

I don’t have any issues with the 4Runner or the Pathfinder before that. You are not going to “horse” it up the hills, and I generally stay at the speed limit or slightly lower. It has the stopping power, especially with the trailer brakes. That being said, if I was towing a few times a month, I’d probably would move up to a full size pickup or equivalent.
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Good info. I tow about 4-5 days a week. I’m thinking 4runner could pull it off, but there are just better tools for the job I guess. Sequoia probably better option.
 
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What is the rated tow capacity of your vehicle ? I would never tow more than 80% of the rating on a regular basis. Anything over 2500 lbs requires trailer brakes...
 
I have a xpress h20 bay with 150sho on a dual axle trailer. With a full tank of fuel, 4 batteries and light gear it weighed 4400lbs ish can't recall exact #. Wife owns a cherokee with tow package and the 5k lb rating which is what lead me to drag it to a cat scale not far from home. I've never towed it with the cherokee I'd expect it could do it but why stress her jeep when I have a diesel pickup.
 
CRB357 said:
Wow 4400lbs on a H20. H22 will be more.
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Most likely. My h20 is optioned out with radio & speakers, washdown pump, 2 bilge pumps , swim ladder etc and it all adds up. I've since gone to a lifepo4 36v for the trolling motor that saved a bit of weight vs the 3 12v. We come home sometimes with the 40 gallon live well filled too so that would add 320lbs or so. The baitwell is 15 gallons too so account for that if you ever take it down the rd with them filled.
 
airshot said:
What is the rated tow capacity of your vehicle ? I would never tow more than 80% of the rating on a regular basis. Anything over 2500 lbs requires trailer brakes...
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I follow same 80% philosophy. I use 3/4 ton trucks. Currently in a Ram 2500 Hemi which does fine on my work trailer. While my truck was down recently, I drove my son’s 4Runner and was thinking about getting one since it towed decently. However I know I’m getting a 22ft boat in the near future and will need to stick to 1/2 tons and above. Probably just keep repairing the Ram every 2000 miles like I’ve been doing.
 
CRB357 said:
Good info. That helps me. I’ll just call it 5000lbs for 22ft aluminum bay package.
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Xpress has 2 lines of bay boats. The H series like I have and the x series. The x series is 6" wider with 8" more freeboard and a self baling hull. Obviously the x would be a bit heavier.
 
Haven’t really narrowed it down to a specific brand or model yet. Just know that after having my 18ft, I want a 22ft-24ft for how I use it. I definitely want aluminum hull and Yamaha F motor. I have storage issues to work out first, before I get too far down the new boat rabbit hole.
 
Hmmm... Personally, I will tow right up to the rated capacity. In the USA, the ratings are conservative for legal reasons, and you can tow all day long at those rates. Look at the exact same vehicles in Europe and the tow capacity is often 50% higher. When at the max, often, fuel economy will suffer, and with some vehicles it will be sluggish, it's legal and if you use common sense, take your time and drive carefully, it will be just fine.

Interesting that your 22 aluminum boat weighs more than my 22 Offshore Bay boat.Resized_20190519_114758.jpeg

According to NADA, the hull is 1,400 lbs., motor is 550, add 1K for the trailer, and throw in another 1k to cover anything else, and you are looking at no more than 4,000 lbs. total weight.

With the setup above, I get between 4 and 7 MPG, averaging 5 MPG which is truly outstanding fuel economy, and with the trim tabs down, it will slice through 3' Chesapeake Bay chop with no issues. This is better performance than I got out of the big Starcraft, probably because the fiberglass slides through the water with far less resistance than the riveted aluminum, maybe?
 
thill said:
Hmmm... Personally, I will tow right up to the rated capacity. In the USA, the ratings are conservative for legal reasons, and you can tow all day long at those rates. Look at the exact same vehicles in Europe and the tow capacity is often 50% higher. When at the max, often, fuel economy will suffer, and with some vehicles it will be sluggish, it's legal and if you use common sense, take your time and drive carefully, it will be just fine.

Interesting that your 22 aluminum boat weighs more than my 22 Offshore Bay boat.View attachment 121607

According to NADA, the hull is 1,400 lbs., motor is 550, add 1K for the trailer, and throw in another 1k to cover anything else, and you are looking at no more than 4,000 lbs. total weight.

With the setup above, I get between 4 and 7 MPG, averaging 5 MPG which is truly outstanding fuel economy, and with the trim tabs down, it will slice through 3' Chesapeake Bay chop with no issues. This is better performance than I got out of the big Starcraft, probably because the fiberglass slides through the water with far less resistance than the riveted aluminum, maybe?
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That is interesting bare hull vs bare hull my 20ft aluminum weighs more @ 1800lbs according to manufacturerer so I'd say your 4k est on yours is probably quite close. Your mpg is really close to mine as well I'm running a 150sho so really just a detuned 2.8L 200hp 4 cylinder.
 
That IS interesting. A 20' aluminum boat weighs more than a 22' long, 8' wide, fiberglass boat.

I didn't expect that
 
thill said:
That IS interesting. A 20' aluminum boat weighs more than a 22' long, 8' wide, fiberglass boat.

I didn't expect that
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I think xpress may be counting things like wiring and seats/leaning post in with that depending where you look. Their website claims 1486lbs but paperwork that came with my boat says 1746lbs. Either was still surprising the weight compared to your fiberglass boat. Wonder how much all that foam weighs that they inject into the hull. It's 3" thick and sandwiched between 2 pieces of .125 aluminum for the entire length of the hull. Would require many gallons that's for sure.
 
A 22' long glass boat that is under 1500 lbs is not going to be built very well. I would never use it in any type of rough water. A 20' aluminum boat at 1500lbs will be much stronger, heavier material. Unless fiber glass has a strong skeleton to support it, it can crack with little impact.
 
1720591112914.png

It is an OSY Offshore 22 Bay. A highly coveted boat in some circles. A rare breed, for sure. I run it hard in true 3' seas regularly, take it 25 miles out in the ocean and surprisingly, it outperforms many larger boats in some nasty conditions. The sharp entry plus the huge flare in the bow makes it ride soft and dry at the same time, which again is unusual.

When I bought the boat, I did with the intention of flipping it. I thought it would never handle the Chesapeake Bay or the ocean like my Grady had. Then I took it out and couldn't believe it. I still can't believe it 10 years later. It's a exceptionally well-designed boat, especially for it's age. I know some of the newer "hybrid" boats are it's equal or superior, but for $70K they had better be. I got mine for $5,500 a decade ago. I don't know if the Nadaguides weight is correct, but it will float in 12" of water and slide over a sand bar with the engine up. A very unusual boat.

That being said, I'm pretty impressed with Xpress boats. I don't know how they would compare in salt water, but they look really good inshore. I certainly wouldn't turn one down, but I wouldn't trade either, as I'm in the salt too much.
 
thill said:
View attachment 121663

It is an OSY Offshore 22 Bay. A highly coveted boat in some circles. A rare breed, for sure. I run it hard in true 3' seas regularly, take it 25 miles out in the ocean and surprisingly, it outperforms many larger boats in some nasty conditions. The sharp entry plus the huge flare in the bow makes it ride soft and dry at the same time, which again is unusual.

When I bought the boat, I did with the intention of flipping it. I thought it would never handle the Chesapeake Bay or the ocean like my Grady had. Then I took it out and couldn't believe it. I still can't believe it 10 years later. It's a exceptionally well-designed boat, especially for it's age. I know some of the newer "hybrid" boats are it's equal or superior, but for $70K they had better be. I got mine for $5,500 a decade ago. I don't know if the Nadaguides weight is correct, but it will float in 12" of water and slide over a sand bar with the engine up. A very unusual boat.

That being said, I'm pretty impressed with Xpress boats. I don't know how they would compare in salt water, but they look really good inshore. I certainly wouldn't turn one down, but I wouldn't trade either, as I'm in the salt too much.
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Yeah for just salt use I'd probably stay fiberglass too. Especially if it gets left In the water for periods of time. I've taken mine into brackish waters and always spend an hr after the days fishing is done cleaning everything and spraying down the hull . Lot of people in the pacific north west run aluminum boats off the coast regularly though . Not sure what kind of corrosion resistance regime they put themselves through though.
 

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