transporting a 12 footer

[Jer]

I'll be picking up a 12 foot tinny (from Brighton to Ennismore) for my girlfriend's son on Friday and am wondering if I should bring my rather large (for a 12 footer) boat trailer or if I can get the boat in the back of the truck.

 

Truck is a 2001 Dodge Dakota clubcab. The box is 6 1/2' I believe, with the tailgate down, probably 8'.

 

The trailer is a 2100# EZ-Loader rigged for my 16' Crestliner and would look pretty silly with a little tinny. I don't know the beam of this boat, might be too narrow to fit on my bunks.

[johnnyb]

Hey Jer -- I have the exact same truck and a 12 footer myself, and just ran from Muskoka up to Temagami with a canoe on the roof and tinny in the back. Boat fit in perfectly, transom snug up against the window. I used some heavy duty ratchet straps around the front bench, hooked to the cargo hooks at the back of the bed....boat never budged. You might even be able to put it upside down with the tailgate up, but, could be a lot of over hang. Might be worth trying just for the aerodynamics.

Face up, you'll be fine though. Tie 'er down tight!

[Smokey]

Either one will work but the trailer would be the safe bet.

[johnnyb]

I started to look around for a trailer, but thought with the darn thing being so light, would the trailer be bouncing around more than I want anyway? Once I saw how nicely it fit in the box, it cemented my decision to stop looking for a trailer.

[Meegs]

i found that with my 12'er it was so much easier to load it int he back of the pickup instead of dealing with the trailer. with the tailgate down i could load and unload the boat myself and could virtually drive anywhere. be sure that you put a red flag on the bow of the boat though, dont wanna have a bow of a boat sticking through some tailgaters windshield! lol