Towing boat in winter

[iamcdn]

Looking for some advice. We are in Canada and moving in March. Has anyone moved and towed a boat in the winter in Canada? Any suggestions?
I am really worried about road salt in particular. We are also moving through the Canadian rockies which is a concern for me. I am looking at maybe getting it moved on a flatbed as well.

Any thoughts, advice or suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks

[Quinner]

Lot's of variables in that question so tough to give a definitive answer.
If a reasonable distance I would wait until spring to move it even if it has to move to storage for a month or 2. For sure wait if having it moved.
If you are stuck moving it figure the possibility of requiring a $400-$500 detail job on the other side and if towing yourself drive time could easily increase by hours or days with severe snow/weather. Towing anything in the snow can be quite a challenge.

[iamcdn]

Yah, it's a long drive through the mountains with a lot of road salt. About 1300km one way so I am trying to prevent going back to get it.

[Quinner]

If absolutely stuck doing it in the winter may consider having it shrink wrapped before the trip.

[iamcdn]

I did shrink wrap it before I put it into storage just in case we were going to move but the underside doesn't get shrink wrapped so that would still get hit with salt and crap. I would also worry about the NSS plates and getting salty snow on there...

[Fast351]

Obviously not ideal, but I would move it, then find a do-it-yourself car wash and wash the boat as soon as you get where you're going. Then when it warms up, wash the hull again and wax.

Fiberglass is pretty tough, I've moved my boat in the winter, and although I prefer not to, it's never affected the hull. Just make sure you clean it as soon as possible.

[hondaprlud]

I wouldn't be too concerned with road salt, just clean it thoroughly when you get to where you're going, especially the metal bits and TRAILER. Most trailers are not galvanized so get the salt completely off there as soon as you can. The glass will be fine.

[Woody_tobius_jr]

I travel through the mountains quite a bit in the winter ( sled trips) I would avoid pulling it if I were you. Salt / Calcium will be the least of your problems, they don't sand the roads out here, they gravel them. It will beat the heck out of your hull, not just from your vehicle but vehicles going in the other direction as well. It's mostly all 2 lane highways through the rock pile. If you shrink wrap it, the water and grime will find a way through any nooks and work its way through to your gel and rub. If you just use a tarp, expect it to be a pile of muck with the salt/calcium grime and rocks. I would strongly suggest either finding an enclosed trailer to haul it, or wait until about May to haul it through. Our snowmobile covers are water resistant, but by the time we get to where we're going, the covers are mud, and the sleds under the covers are gross as well. My .02 worth


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[markj]

One other thing to note is, shrink wrapping for storage can be different than doing it for travel. I just had a new boat delivered to me in Cali last week from North Dakota (1,780 miles) through a snow storm. Despite shrink wrapping it and putting anti-chafing tape under the shrink wrap, it showed up pretty trashed. Road grime still got under the shrink wrap and scratched it up. I think the shrink wrapper torched the wrap too much and melted the adhesive from the tape to the hull. Mine showed up needing to be completely buffed out from the top of the deck to the bottom of the hull. This was after the dealer doing the shrink wrap. Kind of frustrating seeing this kind of damage on a new boat. It's all fixable though. Just takes time or money. If I were you, I'd wait for spring. Either way, a quality set of mud flaps is money well spent.

[iamcdn]

Thanks all for the feedback. Much appreciated.