Advice Needed on Buying a 72 Land n Sea

[Zinco]

Thinking of taking the big plunge..from kayaks to a houseboat..guess i am getting old and tired plus i finally got married at 60... so you know the rest...
and ..no mate ..bob is not my uncle. (a rich guy in australia) my immediate concern is pulling it ..it appears to have 3 wheels and a surge or elect brake system. Would i be nuts (well i am nuts) ...would it be possible to tow it with my 01 grand cherokee ..even a short distance? Or what would be the minimum in a tow vehicle. Also what could you tell me about the engine's from this picture. Fire away..much appreciated!!!

[Hudson Force]

Zinco, Without the photo and more information, we may all be confused,- or maybe it's only me! Is this a 1972 vessel or a 72 foot vessel? Does Land n Sea refer to a vessel that can drive on shore too or are the three wheels on the trailer? ''' or are there three props? Tell us more... or at least tell me more. Maybe others are familiar with the Land n Sea.

Look at: 72land-n-seablogspot.com/ ...is this an example of the vessel?

[Zinco]

thanks, a 28' houseboat with twin something's ..how do you post a picture?

[Hudson Force]

Zinco, I notice that I edited my post #2 after your reply above. You may wish to "google" that blog I mentioned and see if this is a "sistership". Most of us find it easiest to drag a photo img from a photo hosting service like Photobucket.

[Zinco]

Here is a picture of the engines any guess or info would be appreciated..is the qismo on the left a generator?

[Zinco]

any guess would be helpful

[Zinco]

this is a picture of the engines...what are they???

[Hudson Force]

It's a gasoline engine,- Right? A quick look at the 28' Land n Sea suggested that they were originally fitted with Chrysler Marine engines.

[skipmac]

Hi Zinco,

You can get a pretty good idea of how the boat may or may not tow with your jeep by some quick research.

1. Check the owner's manual for the Jeep and get the rated towing capacity. SUVs might be rated from 2,000 lbs to 5-6,000 lbs. Depends on the size of the SUV and whether or not that model has some of the towing options like extra size radiator, oil cooler, heavy duty suspension, and limited slip differential. So you might need to figure out exactly what options package came with your jeep.

2. Get the weight of the boat and trailor.

3. What kind of hitch on the jeep? Bumper hitch has a minimum tow rating. A receiver hitch bolted to the frame will handle a lot more weight.

4. Does your jeep have a 4, 6 or 8 cylinder engine?

Rough guideline, the boat your referring sounds like a 28' with twin engines. If so, you would need a pretty heavy duty truck to tow that. You might be OK towing slowly a few mile to a ramp but you might find that you could get the boat in but not be able to pull the trailer back up the ramp.

[GPSocal]

Zinco
Look on that old standby 'Google' for "28 ft land n sea craft". Great story and photos of a 4,000 mile round trip to Lake Powell.
Noteworthy commentary on preliminary fix up projects on the 40 year old boat. "ONe more time around" The engines are probably Volvo. One set of specs showed 28' length and 8' width and 6,500 lb weight. Usually mfg. quoted weights are dry, empty hulls. The article indicated the loaded weight including trailer was 11,000 lbs. The tow vehicle was a 1 ton V-10 Ford van which seemed to be adequate. Your Jeep Cherokee would probably outgunned by a rig this size particularly when it came to stopping power. Pulling a large boat is relatively easy unless you get on a steep launch ramp, the problem comes in stopping that much inertia. A trailer needs brakes on each wheel, at least a surge hydraulic system, or an electric over hydraulic which is better. The trailer shown is a tandem axle which is probably minimum for a 28' boat.

If you are new to boating, I strongly encourage you to take some boating courses, either from the U.S. Power Squadron or the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary. These will enhance your level of confidence and make you safer on the water.

[Zinco]

thank you so much all good advice...the engine's i believe are volvo B 30 and they look rebuilt to me or at least the red paint is pretty...snicker snicker