Towing a boat with 4 cylinder?

Hey guys, I own a 2017 Honda CRV, and the towing capacity is only 1500 pounds.  I really want to buy a fishing boat, but i'm concerned the CRV isn't strong enough.  I would only be looking at 14-16 foot aluminum boats (like a Smokercraft) with maybe 40-50hp motor.  

Have you ever towed a boat with a 4 cylinder?  Any issues with this?  My main concerns would be very slow accelerating (especially on the highway), too much stress on the engine and body of the CRV, or having to pull the boat/trailer out of a lumpy/crappy landing which would add to the force on the trailer hitch.  

Thanks for all the feedback, everyone!  I ended up trading in my CRV for a Honda Pilot last Friday!  I still need to get a trailer hitch installed, but it looks like UHAUL can do it for about $300.  

Who cares!! Tonnage first and safety last!!!. All that being said, I have an Alumacraft V16 that weighs 285 Lbs. , 25 horse 2 stroke is 120lbs. The trailer is 350 Lbs or so and maybe 100 lbs in the boat . That is less than 1,000 lbs. It all depends on the boat. You will loose several thousand dollars on a trade in for a bigger truck , that will use more gas when you are empty , and you will not be towing anything 90% of the time. Just a thought.

In 2015 i bought a 4cyl jeep cherokee.in 2017 i bought a alumacraft 165 sc with a 50.The tow limit on my jeep was 2000lbs.Thatboat i  bought is a probably 2200 fully loaded.The jeep pulled it fine most of the time.But i felt over the long haul it was going to be hard on the jeep.I went to northern wisconsin pulling the boat and got 14mpg.I had been there  before with no boat and got 27 mpg.So i figured it was putting quite a load on the jeep.I now have a 6cyl dodge van and it is much better.It also stops much better. thats my two cents worth.

I tow with my 2015 Ford Escape EcoBoost turbo 4 cylinder. It has the trailer towing package and is rated for 3500 lbs. Tows very well. It has a real transmission not the CVT which is what really limits towing capacity.

As many have said, that little 4 cyl, might be working pretty hard.

Good idea.  Lots of AW and 4W V6s out there to choose from do your research

Chumley20 

If that smokerCraft angler 16 is what you want yes you definitely would have been topping over 1,500 lb

You can't go wrong going with a 6 cylinder 

I used to tow my 16' mod flat with a 25hp behind my Subaru outback and never had a problem. Just use common sense and good judgement.

chumley, I think that's a great idea.

Thank you all for the replies!  I'm thinking my best option would be trading in the CRV for something with a V6 and greater towing capacity.  Although I wouldn't plan to take the boat out every weekend, I wouldn't want the added stress on the vehicle in addition to the possible braking and acceleration issues.  I don't think i'd be too concerned about launching on a steep ramp because the CRV has AWD.  

Boat is 554#, motor 180#, and trailer plate reads 700#. I had a Yacht Club that was 300#, but it did not fit the boat right in width. This Trailmaster trailer was custom made to fit my boat.

I added in for TM, two batteries, battery charger, two seats, spare tire, six gallons of gas and tank. We’ll see when I get it on a scale.

Tuffy....that sounds heavy for a 145 Alumacraft.  But that is just me guessing.....I have the 14.5" boats as dry weights of 550-600 lbs.  

My 2000 17'9" Lowe hull weight at 0.090 gauge is 1145 lbs + 254 lbs 70 hp Johnson + 350 lb Yacht club trailer = 1750 lbs.  

Don't forget the weight of your gas in your boat.  My 18' Lowe has a capacity of 27 gallons.  Plus the 20 walleye at 10 lbs each on ice on the way home of each trip :)

Either way...you should be fine pulling a 12-15 foot boat with a 4 cylinder.  I wouldn't worry about it one bit.  

But don't go over the towing capacity of the vehicle....unless we are talking short distances.  Don't want that trailer driving the car down the road in terms of control and braking.  

Have a neighbor who pulled his 18 foot crestliner with his Rav 4, said he was fine weight wise, I'd just shake my head. No way I wanted to be in that rig if he had to hit the brakes at highway speed. Finally he bought a truck.

I just did a quick calculation on my Alumacraft 145 Escape, 30hp ETec tiller, Trailmaster C channel trailer and came up with 1730#.

When they give you the Hull weight they don’t even include the seats. The listed trailer weight doesn’t include a spare tire. I’m going to get mine weighed and I’ll bet it will be 2000# or more.

I tow mine with a Toyota Highlander V6, AWD and I wouldn’t want less. Years ago I towed a bass boat with a 150hp motor on it with my sons Toyota Tacoma 4 cylinder engine and it did a good job, but stopping was a different story.