Boat Towing

[ElioDigger]

yes the smart is rated for 100# tongue and 1000 total in Europe. it is not rated here in the states. my boat weighs about 800# and has about a 50# max tongue. I still never tried to put it in nor pull it out of the water with the smart. I only pulled it a short distance once lol I do pull my little trailer all the time

 

[RKing]

My 14' aluminum with trailer and 10 horse is well over 500#.

My favorite local lakes have ramps (sorta) that are steep and gravel.

Elio fishing will be bank or float tube fishing for me.

Besides, I much prefer my favorite kind of boat - someone else's.

FWIW, Lake od the Woods and back, 1 tank in an Elio, about $20 at current gas prices.

I would actually have to fill up at least once on the way there, It's on my "bucket list" of places I NEED to go With Elio, and someone else's canoe I could make it on 35$ each way in gas May do it before I retire..

I use a Poke boat, 28# and will make a LITE aluminum trailer for it. I would not want more than 150 Lbs behind an Elio due to lo weight and a single rear tire (1/2 the contact patch of a Smart). I have been pushed too many times in my younger and stuipider days, bass boats and Datsun truck! Just cause you can pull it dosen't mean you can stop with it still behind you! Anything much behind an Elio should have GOOD trailer brakes.

 

[CheeseheadEarl]

I would actually have to fill up at least once on the way there, It's on my "bucket list" of places I NEED to go With Elio, and someone else's canoe I could make it on 35$ each way in gas May do it before I retire..

I use a Poke boat, 28# and will make a LITE aluminum trailer for it. I would not want more than 150 Lbs behind an Elio due to lo weight and a single rear tire (1/2 the contact patch of a Smart). I have been pushed too many times in my younger and stuipider days, bass boats and Datsun truck! Just cause you can pull it dosen't mean you can stop with it still behind you! Anything much behind an Elio should have GOOD trailer brakes.

Just rent a boat, or take one of the many resorts' launch trips. It takes a good big deep V to handle the waves out there.

Better yet, let me know when you plan to Elio on up, and I'll con my buddy into dragging his 20' walleye sled up for the weekend. I seldom need much of a reason to go fishing, and he's got it worse than me.

I'll probably be stuck in the Silverado towing the boat though, he spent all his money on the boat and hauls it locally with his POS junkyard refugee.

His wife lets him borrow her EcoBoost Ford Edge for trips, but that little dual hair dryer motor gets about 7 mpg pulling it. Still no replacement for displacement when it's needed. 5.3 Chev got 13.8 pulling it last year.

 

[Trucking Cody]

Towing with an elio....um...not a great idea. Lets think about physics for a min. You have a front wheel drive vehicle with a single back wheel. This design makes the back inherently unstable. It can resist some lateral forces, but the front wheels mostly keep the elio in line. This is fine since the elio turns and drives from the front. Put any real load on the back and it will jack knife every time you brake. The rear tire is designed to drag behind, not be pushed. On a motor cycle the rear wheel is deigned to push the vehicle.The main weight is designed to be held on the front wheels on an elio. Unlike a 4 wheel vehicle, the rear bumper load of an elio is gonna be very low. A motor cycle is designed to take 50% of the load on rear, if not more. The further back you get, the larger lever you have on the elio. Enough weight on the rear and you will have traction issues.

 

[DAVID BROWER]

THE ELIO SHOULD BE ABLE TO TOW IT's OWN WEIGHT .
WE ALREADY PROVED THIS CONCEPT WITH THE FREEWAY .

KEEPING YOUR WARRANTY MAY BE ANOTHER MATTER .

 

[Trucking Cody]

THE ELIO SHOULD BE ABLE TO TOW IT's OWN WEIGHT .
WE ALREADY PROVED THIS CONCEPT WITH THE FREEWAY .

KEEPING YOUR WARRANTY MAY BE ANOTHER MATTER .

Um, thats not a bumper load. a traditional trailer would have a bumber load. Also, they didnt do any hard braking.

 

[msmith5150]

I'm not going to even attempt to tow anything with the Elio, and I won't be surprised if we see a lot of problems happen to folks that go against Elio Motor's strong suggestion against it. I just hope nobody gets hurt.

 

[JEBar]

I'm not going to even attempt to tow anything with the Elio, and I won't be surprised if we see a lot of problems happen to folks that go against Elio Motor's strong suggestion against it. I just hope nobody gets hurt.

understood but from talking to Jerome, EM's decision to not endorse towing was based on lawyers over liability concerns .... from an engineering standpoint they had long planned to accommodate towing but the engineers were trumped by the lawyers

 

[ecdriver711]

I have never owned a motorcycle, so I have no idea. Do bike manufacturers endorse pulling trailers?

 

[goofyone]

I have never owned a motorcycle, so I have no idea. Do bike manufacturers endorse pulling trailers?

They generally do not. Just like most passenger cars most motorcycle manufacturers advise against towing in the owners manual. Towing in these cases is entirely at the owners risk as damage resulting from towing would not be covered under the manufacturers warranty.