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Oversized Towing

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meballs
17K views 99 replies 41 participants last post by  HVYRTFT 
#1 ·
My family has bought a boat, and I've been tasked with retrieving it and bringing it home. The beam is 9'6'', so I am guessing it will be right at 10' or so with the trailer. Obviously, the legal limit is 8'6'' so I am going to have to get oversize permits, flags ect.

Has anybody had to do this NON commercially? I've been on the Mi DOT's website, and it looks like this is going to be a pain in my ass... Especially since I have to cross the Mackinaw Bridge.

I've read the laws about signage but the lighting laws are poorly written.

Help.
 
#7 ·
Green Bay. We entertained piloting the boat across, but the trailer itself is 10 feet and we'd have to drive that. So either way, technically we would need permits. Not to mention, buy the time the survey gets done, report gets to us, it's going to be end of Oct. End of Oct, 1st of Nov is not when I want to try doing a cross lake trip in a boat that I have no experience with, then on top of that have to haul the trailer anyways.
 
#28 ·
Well I know it wasn't 800 miles but it was close to 100. Maybe see how close you can get it home in the water before it's picked up. I'm sure there's a harbor that is closer to your house than driving it on the road the whole way home. Like I said just an idea that doesn't involve you have to tow that giant boat on your own.
 
#17 ·
I would insure the boat and send it with whoever thinks they want a vacation crossing lake michigan. Do you even need the trailer here?
 
#18 · (Edited)
So, I was going through the permit process, and it asks for the trailer's VIN, size ect. Email the guy and tell him eveything I need and he dropped this bomb...


Most of this I will try to get together tonight or early tomorrow as I will not be home til later this evening. What I can tell you is there is no license plate on the trailer and I was never able to acquire a title for it. I bought it from skipper buds and they claim they did a search for it and found nothing. The boat was previously titled in mi so it is likely in the MOD somewhere. I will look for any markings on it. Again I have never been concerned about this in WI
Fuck. So how the fuck do I get a title for a trailer, that technically this guy doesn't even own? and it's not some simple home made job.. Its a nice Four Winns triple axle trailer.

BTW.. here it is.
 
#20 ·
For the moving portion, I don't know. We can't plate it until we have ownership (right?), and we won't have ownership until we get hand the guy cash, and he signs off of the title. And we have to have plate numbers for the Oversize permit for Wi and MI
 
#23 ·
is that trailer really 10' wide? A lot of throse trailers are narrower than the max beam of the boat...
 
#36 ·
What we've done is the guy is 'giving' us the trailer. We mailed him paper work from the SOS. He's going to sign the trailer over to us, get the weights ect, and mail it back. The SOS says that we will then be able to license/title it.

Once we have those (next week) we should have an easier time getting permits for WI and MI.
 
#42 ·
The boat is a 278, so the load is safely 28 feel. With trailer, I would estimate 35ish. Beam is 9'6'' I think, so the trailer *should* be like 9'10 ish

You have obviously never dealt with anything like this in Illinois. They have a nasty reputation. They don't care if you are stupid or ignorant. You will pay.
Exactly :thumb: It's 380ish miles going down and through chi/gary and 500ish mile going up and around the northern loop and coming back in via mackinaw bridge.

I'd rather pay the extra fuel and run north, then deal with permitting, traffic ect of running the south. Chicago/Gary is one of the busiest hubs in the country, and one of the most closely watched by DOT.
 
#48 ·
Really! Do you tow it? Pics? Have you ever checked out the legality of towing it? The current owner is supposed to get me measurements tomorrow when he gets home. As of now, I do not have exact measurements.

If the trailer comes back at 8.5 feet, I am not sure if I have to have wide loads. In my opinion I would, since it would still have moving a 10 foot wide object... What I think of is when you see a semi hauling a bulldozer.. The trailer is 8.5, but the load is over that, so he has to have oversized permits.
this is the pic of it going down the road on the prev owners trailer. He drove it from canton to selfridge launch with no issues.

This is the trailer I bought for it last year. It fit with my car trailer there no problem. With the boat on it there's no way I can fit anything next to it . I only tow it to the launch and back at the beginning and end of the season. I guess you're supposed to get a permit to tow oversized or only allowed to move it at certain times of the day and week. The trailers fenders are under the boat and I know its legal width. The boat you bought is just like the one my neighbor had. He towed his just like I do
 
#51 ·
With the boat on it there's no way I can fit anything next to it . I only tow it to the launch and back at the beginning and end of the season. I guess you're supposed to get a permit to tow oversized or only allowed to move it at certain times of the day and week. The trailers fenders are under the boat and I know its legal width. The boat you bought is just like the one my neighbor had. He towed his just like I do
Thanks. Once it's here I'm not irritably concerned out Overwidth issue. It's the crossing state line, 3 weigh stations and a major bridge crossing that will obviously check things outs.

I just finally figured out how to work Wisconsin's automated permit section of their website. Got the route planned and approved. Next I have to figure out MI's. If I can figure out WI's system, Michigan should be a breeze.

Just and FYI. If you are interested in being legal, as long as you're under 12 feet, a 'single' trip permit is 15.00ish and annual is 30.00. Once you get your 1st permit, you just renew it every year. That way if you take out a buss load of preschoolers, you don't have to worry about ramifications of hauling an un-permitted load. Banners are 20.00 each, and 4 flags will make you a legal begal. May save you a lawsuit.:thumb:
 
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