Mako 221 Weight / Trailer Size

[tos001]

Hi everyone,

I have a 2002 221 and since I bought it, I have found it to be extremely bow heavy on the trailer. I bought the trailer separately and it does fine for moving the boat a mile to the boat ramp and back twice a year, however I'm curious to know how much weight between the boat and trailer I am actually towing. In other words, what does this weigh so I have a gauge as to what kind of car should be towing it. I used to have an F-350 and it leveled out the suspension on the truck with how heavy it was. I now have a 2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee that says it can tow 6200, however when I tried to tow it, the jeep was sitting very low. Would love to take some of the tongue weight off.

Thanks for your help.

[DirtyOar]

Boat is 2600 pounds, full tank of gas and safety equipment you can round up to 1000 pounds, trailer figure 1200 and 500 in an outboard puts you at 5300lbs. Although the issues seems to be with tounge weight so moving the post back a few inches may help you out. I have a 5.7L v8 2013 grand cherokee thats 7300 and i easily towed my 210 which weighed about the same.

[tos001]

Very helpful, DirtyOar. Thanks again!

[radioman]

My experience has taught me that no matter what the paperwork says for boat/trailer weight...it never matches to what you are actually towing.

My suggestion is to get the boat & trailer weighed at a scale so you really know what you are towing.

When you get it weighed, try to have it loaded as you would on a "normal" towing session...fuel, coolers, fishing gear and such.

Once you know your total weight, you can move/adjust your axle location under the trailer or your boat location on the trailer to get to your desired tongue weight.

[cgmiller]

Sounds like you have too much tongue weight on the trailer due to the boat being too far forward on the trailer. You might need to move the winch mast back a little. If you figure the boat and trailer weigh 5000 pounds, your tongue weight should be around 500 pounds..that should not squat a F350. Your boat might also be retaining water in the front. I had a problem on my 21B that water was getting in the hull forward of the fuel tank and not draining to the back to get pumped out.

[jsherlax36]

Had the same issue with my 21 - Adjusted the axle to proper tongue weight, which I believe should be around 10-15% of weight.

Not only did the rear of truck stop sagging, but the boat trailered much better on the highway

[steveprecision]

I have a 2000 to 221 the weight of the boat is a lot more than you think try moving the boat farther back of the trailer and help tremendously

I towed the boat with no motor was able to stop at a waystation and it weighed 4700 pounds with an aluminum duel axle trailer approximate trailer weight of around 1200 pounds the truck we were towing it with was a super duty 250 diesel and you could definitely feel it back there after moving the trailer wench back for their trailer date with my F1 50 eco-boost and it actually trailered great big difference Get that weight off the front I moved my winch approximately a foot back it does depend on your trailer but you definitely want to get that tongue weight lighter

Also let me know what power youre running and speed so I can use to compare against my boat

[tos001]

Thanks for the info. This is great. I have a Honda 225 on the back. Boat has a ton of power. I have had 11 people on board and been able to get up on plane. I would say top speed is about 38-39 knots. So roughly 40-45 mph. As you know, its a heavy boat. Takes a good amount of torque. The engine isn't a speed demon, but has plenty for me.

Hope this helps.

quote:

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Originally posted by steveprecision


I have a 2000 to 221 the weight of the boat is a lot more than you think try moving the boat farther back of the trailer and help tremendously

I towed the boat with no motor was able to stop at a waystation and it weighed 4700 pounds with an aluminum duel axle trailer approximate trailer weight of around 1200 pounds the truck we were towing it with was a super duty 250 diesel and you could definitely feel it back there after moving the trailer wench back for their trailer date with my F1 50 eco-boost and it actually trailered great big difference Get that weight off the front I moved my winch approximately a foot back it does depend on your trailer but you definitely want to get that tongue weight lighter

Also let me know what power youre running and speed so I can use to compare against my boat

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[302Harbour]

I have a 1990 221 sitting on a "FLOAT ON" trailer. When I bought it I was super nervous about how my truck would handle it on the tow. As the previous owner cranked it down onto the trailer ball I thought my truck's rear tires would flatten and the bumper would be on the ground.

I was stunned when my 01 Tundra didn't seem to budge at all, especially because the boat sits as far forward on the trailer as possible. So much that the top of the bow is almost directly over the tailgate.

I have always wondered how it works so well. The fore section of the winch bracket is mounted to the trailer with about 6 inches to go before trailer coupling. I have never owned a boat and trailer with almost no tongue, not to mention how heavy it is but it seems perfectly balanced.