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Towing an airboat

MarshRider

MarshRider

Well-known member
I just found out first hand what towing an A/B does to car/truck gas mileage. Mine went from 22.7 mpg to 12!

Any suggestions? Maybe we need some R&D on this. Would a prop cage cover help, or some sort of deflector shield? Maybe I should just put Bondo in the back and let her keep the engine running to push us down the road,

What do y'all do? Any secrets? or do I just eat it as a cost of having fun?

Is it something unique to A/B towing. I get 19 towing a big U-Haul.

Thanx for any advice
 
I hear ya MarshRder. Them boats will make a boy out of a man of a truck.
You wouldn't think there would be that much wind drag. I'm just eatin' it as the cost of havin' fun but I ain't a likin' it.
 
A good tight seat cover makes a lot of difference in towing my a/b. The seats are like parachutes .Ive got a double on top and a triple on bottom. The covers make air flow over them better. I go from 19 down to 17-18mpg in a dodge 1500 with the 5.9.
 
I may have hit on a new major area of a/B concern. Keep these coming, MR will do some research and report back.

Has anybody had any luck or any ideas on fixin' this?

thanx.

Dustin
 
I think one way would be to take the pitch out of the prop. I would only do this on a really long trip. When you have the wide blades that would make be difference in drag factor.

Geoff
 
I would think it would also depend on what you are towing it with. I know with my old 7.3 Powerstroke the 70 mph mark was the magic place you kept it under that and MPG was much better. For me that is the problem I can't seem to tow anywhere with out running 75-80, this is especially the case now the I have the Chev. My point of the whole post is that various deisels seem to have a place where they are most fuel effecient. If you can find that place it may help. If you have already found it then I don't know what else could help.
 
Dusty, there are a couple of old threads on this subject too ...... towing an AB is like draggin' a sail.

Little things can help, like making a double front seat removable, but this is definitely a problem begging for a solution.
Short of letting the engine idle while your towing, I'm at a loss.

olf
 
Put a camper on your truck its about the only thing that will help. :idea:

Oh yeah, and there is no such thing as effieient when pulling an airboat.
 
The only things that I found helped was (on a long trip) . I have a triple rear rear seat ,that was unbolted and and put in the bottom of the hull . Leaving one prop blade at 12 oclock and the other two down helped . The seat thing made a big difference .
 
Towing is alot like setting up a airboat, you need to know your Peak TorQue & what RPM the lines cross and stay in that my 06 Superduty Disel needs to get above 70 for towhaul to drop rpm with a heavy load.

I am sure Thunder boat will pull hard with 3 blade & 5 seating

Never found a cure pulling big offshore rigs, tried computer tuners, etc. Little things like air pressure in tires also make a impact.

Fill it up and close your eyes to total on the pump :D
 
i found a big difference when i'm going into the wind vs with the wind. just tell your wife you can't come home til the wind changes direction...
 
I fixed this problem! I joined AAOF. Now I leave my boat at the club at tow it about 600 feet to splash it. most of my gas expense is for the boat. :P
 
there you go Mr Todd

that's what i should do

the tow from Michigan to the bud ride was brutal

brand new Tahoe only got 8 miles to the gal for 3000 miles :shock:

when i do it again I'll have the boat shrink wrapped

or just rent one while down to Florida

or just beg for a ride like i have to do when we come to the lake clean up and celebration

it still beats spending money in the bars at least thats what i tell the wife
 
When we went from no wire to wire on the cage we were surprised at at the difference wire makes, more than you would ever believe.
 
MarshRider said:
I just found out first hand what towing an A/B does to car/truck gas mileage. Mine went from 22.7 mpg to 12!

Any suggestions? Maybe we need some R&D on this. Would a prop cage cover help, or some sort of deflector shield? Maybe I should just put Bondo in the back and let her keep the engine running to push us down the road,

What do y'all do? Any secrets? or do I just eat it as a cost of having fun?

Is it something unique to A/B towing. I get 19 towing a big U-Haul.

Thanx for any advice
Click to expand...

My Last truck was a 1997 F350 CC 4x4 powerstroke and it worked its guts out to haul my rig 13mpg. The truck I have now is a 2000 F350 4x4 dually CC powerstroke and it also suffered big time hauling my boat until I put a camper shell on it 15mpg. My 4x4 Excursion powerstroke hauls my airboat better then any truck I have owned 16-18mpg. If you have to haul your boat any distance at all I would suggest removing the top seats, this will save you fuel. Fuel consumption should not be your only concern either! I installed a transmission temp gauge in my truck and hauling your AB will make your trans temp sky high. I installed a second transmission cooler, and switched to Royal Purple trans fluid, now my temps never go over 150 degrees. All of my trucks have 373 gears in them. More then once I have wished we could switch our gear drives into free spin so when you haul your rig the prop will just free spin. A 82" 4b Superwide grabs a ton of air when you are running 70-80 mph down the road.
 
Every thing on the airboat creates drag, basically your pulling against a vacuum. I agree with Marshall, tranny will take a beating in the temp department.
 
This is an interesting topic. Wire cages, seats, wide blades all combine to create wind drag. Isn't this the same wind the boat has to push through when we're on the water? Drag is drag wether we're pulling with a truck or pushing with a prop. I wonder how much more efficient the boats would be if more thought was given to this issue. In line seating instead of side-by-side, larger spacing on wire cages, radiator in front of engine, fold over grass rakes, etc. Perhaps it is only significant at highway speeds and not so much when cruising on the water.
 
Good point, Mudbug. Take a look at some of the vehicles the Hovercraft folks are building. They may be on to something.

olf
 
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