Boat + trailer weight?

I'd stick with something like a runabout. A boat like a searay or bay liner are nice and are easy to find used. Now is probably the worst time to buy a boat though. Prices headed into the summer boating season are not easy to negotiate since there are more buyers than in the off season.

 

I/O version of my boat was almost 200 lbs heavier. My Merc 175 weighs 365. 200 would include motor cover. Did not know Mercs gained that much weight

 

I think the 4k cutoff for what you'd want to tow regularly is reasonable. In my experience, at 4k the truck still feels like it has good power. The trailer isn't much of a burden. I found I could keep it below 2500 RPMs as long as the hill wasn't too steep. Start getting into the 6k territory and you definitely feel the weight and that the truck is working hard to keep it moving. It'll do it, but I wouldn't want to regularly.

The 3rd gen might behave a little differently. You'll probably take longer to get up to speed and will need higher RPMs all the time, but the truck will probably maintain speed better. As they say "torque gets you going, horsepower keeps you going." The 4.0 has the torque advantage, the 3.5 has the horsepower advantage.

 

The optimax is a heavy engine due to the compressor and epa stuff needed. I used the opti as an example because that is what I would get on a bass boat. It is still a two stroke but it is direct injected so you don't mix your oil and gas, it mixes it at the engine. I can't go around saying too much right now, but if you want a two stroke product you probably should get one in the next two to three years. Fourstroke is becoming the norm due to emissions.

 

Mercs gained over 100 pounds when the DFI (optimax) engines came along. I ran a 2.5 racing motor for many years, weighed about 400 pounds. The Optimax 200 is over 500, where my 2.5 was 285 horses. And now we are seeing the encroachment of the Verados (merc 4-strokes) that add yet another hundred plus pounds on top of the optimax... Yeah, the optis and the verados are nice, idle like a car, and are pretty strong, but they are heavier, and require a different boat hull to avoid standing on their tail when you walk to the back and the motor weighs the thing down and sinks it. So you can end up with a boat that will barely fit in a 9' garage door.

The old 2.5 carbed/injected motors were a miracle of power, performance and weight.

I've pulled my 18' bass boat (with the aforementioned 2.5 merc) all over the south. The taco has zero problems anywhere I go, which includes driving up into the Tennessee mountains, or up to guntersville in North Alabama. My 07 DCSB pulls it like nobody's business, and does not have to be fought to keep it centered when in windy conditions. Only advice is the usual "avoid 5th gear in the auto" and "pay attention to road/traffic conditions." It is one thing to pull a boat, it is something else to stop it. Mine has the usual single axle with surge brakes and it tows quite well. Loaded it is in the 3500-4000 pound range with 36 gallons of gas, 3 gallons of oil, three batteries, etc...

 

Good to know. I just bought a 21' fiberglass fishing boat. It's 2300 lbs with engine, add another 1000 for the galvanized single axle trailer, then another 350 for 58 gallons of gas... maybe a couple hundred in beer/gear... a shade under 4000 lbs.

This is what I got: http://www.thresherboats.com/thresher21/