Fit in the garage?

[ScooterM]

In my budgeting calculations for expected yearly boat expense, storage is a major consideration. Since I have a 3 car garage, with one bay full of woodworking tools (think jointer, planer, table saw, router table, etc...) I was thinking I could defray some of the yearly expense if I could move or sell my tools and actually use my garage as storage. Then, maybe afford more boat! My question is this, with the back wall to the garage door being about 24.5 feet, which models will fit? This would be on a standard sized trailer and lets assume folding tongue). I'm guessing you can also remove swim deck for storage.

Afterthought: any potential problems with standard garage door heights if tower is down?

[WakingMeHappy]

Could probably go with most any 21 foot boat with a folding trailer tongue and the swim step removed. It would still be a tight fit. As for tower height, measure it multiple times. If I fold my tower I have ½ inch between the tower and garage door.

You should get more details here.

[Dexter]

A VLX will fit fine and you won't need to remove the swim deck (with a folding trailer tongue). My 2010 didn't fit under the 7ft door. I had to take the cross bar and the racks off to put it in the garage. You are smarter than I am; I was completely unprepaired for that little detail... I ended up replacing the garage door with an 8.5ft one, but I think an 8ft should be fine.

[rodman]

With all those wood working tools just get the boat and call me will make it fit. I'll work for beer

[Soon2BV]

I have a 21.5 LSV, folding tongue. I will measure tonight and give you a total length. No tower.

[Glen Lake Malibu]

Yes it should fit. I have a 21.5 Sunscape LSV. I have to take the swim platform off and put it in on a slight angle. Lower the tower and remove the optioal Bimini.

[rodman]

I just measured my 23 LSV and my FlightCraft. These measurements are with out the swim decks and as close as I can get, giving a inch or to the big side. The LSV is 24.6 to the folding tongue. My flighcraft is 21.6 feet to the folding tongue. So you are looking at any boat under 23 feet with no problems. If we got really down to we may be able to cut a inch off of the 23's measurement.

As far as the tower height it depends on what boat you go with. Wake boats are big, deep and sit up on the trailers. I have a Illusion tower and it will not fit into a standard 8 foot high garage door.

Just make sure that your tower folds down and you get the lowering assist springs for that tower.

[TrickyNicky]

Not saure about length but our VTX with illusion x folded was a sliver under the 8' opening of our garage door. I think height will be your bigger issue. It also depends on which trailer. My Extreme tandem is the length of our boat with the tongue folded in which case I'd think you could fit a 21' VLX with the swim platform still on or a 23' LSV with the platform off. (Again the last two are just speculation)

[rodman]

What is the height of your garage opening?

[Bobby Light]

Any boat with a power wedge will be another foot longer than the boats measurements. My 06vlx fit in my 8' garage door no problem, my 09 23 lsv fits in my 8' garage door but I have to take the rear hoop off. A boat with the G3 tower should have no problem fitting in an 8' garage door. Many times it's about the angle of approach and you might need a lower hitch to give you some extra room. If your garage is lower than the approaching driveway that will be an issue.

With your garage depth all boats 23' or shorter will fit without taking the swim platform off if the trailer has a swing away tongue. On the 23' boats you'll have to take the swim platform off. With the swim platform on the 23 lsv is 24'6" with the swing away tongue.

Edited June 8, 2010 by 06vlx

[rodman]

Any boat with a power wedge will be another foot longer than the boats measurements. My 06vlx fit in my 8' garage door no problem, my 09 23 lsv fits in my 8' garage door but I have to take the rear hoop off. A boat with the G3 tower should have no problem fitting in an 8' garage door. Many times it's about the angle of approach and you might need a lower hitch to give you some extra room. If your garage is lower than the approaching driveway that will be an issue.

With your garage depth all boats 23' or shorter will fit without taking the swim platform off if the trailer has a swing away tongue. On the 23' boats you'll have to take the swim platform off. With the swim platform on the 23 lsv is 24'6" with the swing away tongue.

06 Great heads up forgot about the wedge. Yea add a foot for the wedge. Yes that is with the tongue out of the way. So a total of 25"6"

Edited June 8, 2010 by rodman

[Bobby Light]

06 Great heads up forgot about the wedge. Yea add a foot for the wedge. Yes that is with the tongue out of the way. So a total of 25"6"

With the platform on the 23's are 24'6" long with a the tongue swung away on the trailer. How far the wedge sticks out doesn't matter if you're talking about overall length with the platform on. A 23 foot boat with a power wedge is just under 24' with the power wedge up. A manual wedge can easily be stored with the wedge in the down position and that only adds about 6" to the length vs a foot.

A VLX is 23' with the swim platform on the boat and the tongue swung away on the trailer.

Edited June 8, 2010 by 06vlx

[stroker-ace]

...you beat me to the wedge...

[skyskier]

My 2010 23 LSV (Boatmate trailer) fits under an 8ft door, but just barely. The gas shock is what limits the travel of the tower. I had to adjust the shock about 1/4" in order to drop the tower another inch. Now the tower comes to rest about 1/2" from the dash. The only thing I have to do before I back in is loosen the bimini clamp and move it away from the drivers side dash. My Dodge Dakota sits kinda low, so I am sure that helps.

[rodman]

With the platform on the 23's are 24'6" long with a the tongue swung away on the trailer. How far the wedge sticks out doesn't matter if you're talking about overall length with the platform on. A 23 foot boat with a power wedge is just under 24' with the power wedge up. A manual wedge can easily be stored with the wedge in the down position and that only adds about 6" to the length vs a foot.

A VLX is 23' with the swim platform on the boat and the tongue swung away on the trailer.

Just went down and measured 23 LSV with a manual wedge in the down position add another 12". I have a teak swim platform and that is 27" long.

[Bobby Light]

Just went down and measured 23 LSV with a manual wedge in the down position add another 12". I have a teak swim platform and that is 27" long.

I screwed up my measurement too, the fiberglass platform is 24" deep not 18". Not sure why I had 18" stuck in my head. So that makes the 23lsv 25' long with swing away tongue.

[MK&P]

We have a 20' VTX and with the swim step on and even with the folding trailer tongue we are about 2 inches away from the back wall on a garage that was built 24 feet long. When the 24 foot garage was originally built, I figured even with 24 feet of exterior length, it would still give me plenty of interior room for a 20 foot boat. But with 6 inches taken up in both the front wall and back wall, an additional 2 inches taken up by the garage door, 24 inches on the swim step and 3 extra inches for the swinging tongue, it is a really tight fit. The take away was that the 20' VTX ended up being closer to 22'6" with the swim step even with the folding tongue. Measure whatever you buy, just to be safe, since trailers add some length.

[Malibuswany]

take your swim step off. It's pretty easy to do but takes two people.

[Soon2BV]

i have a 2008 LSV, 21.5 ft.

With the tongue folded, it is 22 feet from the front of the trailer to the back of the hull.

I don't have a wedge, but I have the wedge plate installed and it adds about another 4".

This is with a Boatmate trailer.

Edited June 12, 2010 by Soon2BV

[ScooterM]

Thanks for the input all, just what I needed to know. I have an 8' high garage door BTW.

[G-Mack]

I can't get my 08 23LSV on a boatmate trailer under and 8' door ....about 4" too high.