do you tow with the cover on or off?

[joelevy]

~800 trip coming up and I'm just curious. Don't want to ruin the cover but would like to avoid all the bugs and dirt all over the boat.

[ewilcox11]

Off, but I'm only tow short distances. With that being said, my tower gets covered in bugs, which is super annoying. I'm in the process of making some prototype covers/protectors that I'm thinking about selling.

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[86Skier]

Always off.... I'd rather spend time cleaning than repairing gel....

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[bturner2]

I think if you do a search on this topic you'll find at least 15 threads covering this. Kind of a holy war topic with people on both sides making good pro and con arguments.

Unless its raining no cover for me. I've had a couple so called "tow rated" covers shred and I just don't have an extra $1500 lying around that I couldn't put to better use than replacing what was a good cover. Then there's always the marks on the boat from the cover rubbing and the counter argument about wrapping the boat in everything from stretch shipping plastic to packing tape to eliminate the abrasion.

In the end you'll end up with close to a split decision on this with I think a bias towards no cover.

[MasterCraft Ranger]

I think if you do a search on this topic you'll find at least 15 threads covering this. Kind of a holy war topic with people on both sides making good pro and con arguments.

Unless its raining no cover for me. I've had a couple so called "tow rated" covers shred and I just don't have an extra $1500 lying around that I couldn't put to better use than replacing what was a good cover. Then there's always the marks on the boat from the cover rubbing and the counter argument about wrapping the boat in everything from stretch shipping plastic to packing tape to eliminate the abrasion.

In the end you'll end up with close to a split decision on this with I think a bias towards no cover.

Nailed it ^^^^


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[joelevy]

That’s awesome. Thank you


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[moosehead]

do you tow with the cover on or off?

Off short distances. Even short haul when I made the error of cover on there was chafing and scratches at the belt line, especially towards the rear corners. Enough to require orbital polisher with light compound to correct the gel.

Long haul either go shipping cover, or you can do mooring cover if the boat is first protected with several under layers of plastic wrap both above and below the rubrail, and especially beneath the cover cinch strap. Also recommend towels and cardboard to protect windscreen beneath cover for long hauls.

Find something like this for clear wrap: https://www.walmart.com/ip/uBoxes-St...CABEgKuWfD_BwE

Did the above for 1200 mile tow at 75+ MPH in June and rain and light snow, only cover damage were two small tears at the sharp corners of the grab rings on the center side of each lounge seat.


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[RxMC]

Off, but I'm only tow short distances.

Is 120 miles a short distance? I've never thought of towing a boat without it's cover.

[Miss Rita]

I have a tight-fitting cover that I lash down securely to tow any distance, i.e. 100 miles or more. I would never consider using my mooring cover for towing, unless it's five miles across town at 30 mph.

[SavageScott]

I tow my boat everywhere and, with few exceptions, tow with the cover on. I have the OEM under tower cover. It cinches very tight and I’ve never had an issue with chafing.

Many of you are making a distinction between “mooring cover” and “tight fitting” or “shipping cover”. I’d love to see examples of what you’re referring to and how they’re different than, for example, the OEM cover with the double ratchet straps.

[JohnnyB]

No cover for me unless a really long haul....>200miles

When I towed from Green Bay to Laurel Lakes, ky I shrink wrapped the gunnels down to about 6" below the rub rails and put pipe insulation on top of the windshield frame and ran the factory cover with tower cinches and ratchet strap tensioning

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[Krw1225]

You also seem to see the rear seat cushion go missing from
People that tow without a cover. I personally was a cover on person, but never took long trips, so don’t have a lot of opinion one way or the other...

[Mark rsa2au]

The closest lake to me is about an hour away on the highway so always tow with cover on.

I figure it is better for the boat with no 60mph wind tearing through it, seats/cushions/carpets/hatches etc all stay put and we leave our wet gear on the floor to drain so when we get home it just needs to be hung up.


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[Fowlaction]

when I moved from Florida to Colorado (33hrs) I towed my boat with me. On a trip as long as yours I would definitely keep the boat covered. otherwise your interior will be nasty by the time you get there. I am real happy with my Coversports cover. It's designed to be towed so you wont ruin it by taking it on the highway and it does a great job of keeping all the road grime out of the boat. Another option is you could get the boat shrink wrapped in the stuff like they use for storing boats outside over the winter, this is what I did when I moved to CO.