I bought a full sized Ram with a Hemi in it for my retirement, I like overkill.

Took a construction shower unit to my buddies place in MO a couple of years ago with my Tacoma V6 a little over 2000 pounds with the trailer on the dump scale. If I tried to do the limit or go above 70 my mileage was single digits 5 MPG I found a sweet spot at 50-55 mph that got it closer to 10 mph.That turned a 10 hour trip into a 15 hour trip one long day!

When Toyota went to a 4 cyl turbo and that being a first year vehicle I was done with them.

a 14-16 foot aluminum can be very light , you can pull one with a minivan fine
check your gross towing weight

on the boat , it is worth spending more on the boat , yes there are a bunch or basic boats in that 2-3K range , but having a better motor is worth it , it makes it much more enjoyable a lot of the boats that price range have 1980s or early 90s motors

m1991 Johnson 15hp 2 stroke was pushing my 14-48 modV flat bottom with 2 people 19mph but it took a while to get there and if I had to come off plane to take a wake so it didn't beat up the wife , happy wife more fishing , sore back stops fishing.
if I came off plane it took time to get back up on plane , if I was fighting a wind 14-15mph , current also robbed speed
it started every time , pull start
so when it got stuck in forward only

I upgraded the day after I took this picture to a 20hp Yamaha 2014 4 stroke with electric start
my top speed didn't change much but I can get there so much faster in less time than it takes me to drop the trolling motor I can hit the start button and have the power to maneuver any where I want
it is quiet , smooth will idle all day long for trolling

the boat is actually a 1988 fisher netter 14 but it is very comparable to the common Lowe 1448 mod v
weights about 260 pounds empty motor is 126 then fuel and battery
gear and people but you don't figure people onto trailering
a basic battery is about 50 pounds
gas you are running another 40 pounds for 6 gallons and a tank

one of the things I noticed first besides the get up power of the new motor is fuel consumption is definitely lower the 2 stroke didn't use a ton of fuel but it used almost double what the 4 stroke is using
we went about 30 miles the day after the new motor and it took 1.8 gallons at the pump I am guessing 30+ the dams are 15 miles apart and we ran from dam to dam and back but took both side channels and the main channel all side stuff one way all main channel back to the north.

that is also a consideration , you just top off every day after fishing and you are ready to go the next morning no mixing oil and gas.



this is the new motor.


my trailer is much heavier than it needs to be , it is for an old bass boat it has full size wheels and a 3500 pound axle but it pulls really smooth and I don't have a towing weight issue
you should be able to get boat trailer and motor with battery and fuel under 1500 pounds easy a good hull I see around a bunch is mid 1990s Lund SSV the new SSV is 350 pounds empty I see those in the 2-3 K range used that and a new motor would be awesome and easy to tow a new 30-40 hp with tilt and trim is around 6K but you can probably get it for 3 if you find one a few years used
all the 40hp and under 20teens and newer Mercs are Tahatsu or we could say say since Merc bought Tahatsu that all Tahatsu are mercs , either way good motors.

top motors 9.9-40Hp depend on dealer but Yamaha , Merc/Tahatsu and Honda are good options.

my boat wouldn't take a power tilt and trim and I found this 2014 for what I thought was a reasonable price at a marina a guy retiring had traded it in to have a new motor for his retirement.
the reason my boat wouldn't take power tilt and trim is because those motors need to bolt through the transom
and as you can see my transom has a lot of bolts in it already I got it with a lot of holes from the previous owner trying to brace up a rotten transom with aluminum plates rather than fixing it
so when there is a hole fill it with a bolt 2 big washers and marine sealant. I traded work for the hull and dug it out of the weeds and fixed the transom


also if you are retiring you want a motor to last you so buying a new motor putting it on an older hull would make it more useable and get the power tilt and trim , the newer ones also have a idle up / down 50rpm at a time so that you can adjust trolling speed. the easier you make it on yourself the longer you can enjoy it.
it would be worth picking up a side job your first year of retirement to afford to put together a really solid boat
maybe some ADC work , start a trapping llc to own your boat and handle your trapping income
then all those days on the lake are scouting for trapping.
no income to hit your SS if the business only makes 1 dollar a year

short answer

I would be less worried about pulling up a launch than the big hill in Kewaunee

at a launch you are in first you drop right down to first and maybe toss it in 4wd if you have it but been launching boats with a 2wd all my life , you make sure to set up so you keep your rear wheels out of the water and you always use manual first gear and crawl out , drive the left foot on the brake and right foot throttle start it pulling then ease off the brake so no rolling back then learching forward , just all forward movement. and of course have enough weight to have traction and good tires.


drain and fill your transmission every other year that will get about 1/2 the fluid out and 1/2 again new

take that boat to a scale see how much floor weight they put in it , that can get excessive

if the boat motor trailer are sub 1700 pounds I think you are just fine.

a Lund 16 or 18ssv with a good motor on calm days I wouldn't have an issue going out a couple miles on lake Michigan

my dad had a 1750 tyee we ran on Michigan all the time when weather was good it is deeper wider boat but the SSV are very capable

you will look at water you can't fish with whatever boat you have and dream about how you can get there so more options is nice

one the most commonly done thing wrong on a boat is how they put in the floor , look it over very close. people even half way decent with a staple gun and roll of carpet will use the wrong plywood and it falls apart in a couple years but looks good from the top side when they show it too you right after they did it.

hook up and find out. just like giving your trap a couple good yanks to test the anchor. putt around a bit and you will know

Like I said, launching ain't the problem.

Eventually, someone who.wants to use the ramp will come along and help.you, lol

You'll be fine, especially if it's 4 wheel drive. We pulled our commercial boat for 4+ years with a 2012 f-250.it is the 6.2 gasser. Boat and trailer weighs 11,000 and with a load of fish we are in the 23,000 pound range. Fished dozens of boat ramps with it and only needed help with one smooth concrete ramp when it got a layer of slick clay on it when the river bumped. Good tires and technique are the keys. On a slick ramp, 4 low and first gear, don't want it trying to shift when you start to get momentum. Ease into the throttle and on a steep ramp once you get momentum give it a little more gas but not enough to start slipping. If you're by yourself a wheel chalk on a piece of rope is a good idea. Tie it to your tailgate and set it under your rear tire. Then as you pull up the ramp the chalk will come out and you will drag it up the ramp. Cheap insurance. Also, as long as Toyota hasn't downsized their brakes in recent years you will be in pretty good shape with stopping power. My uncle has a 2011 that he pulls my 18ft starcraft with. No issues with braking in moderate hills. As far as towing in general, I would think it'd have to be pretty severe terrain to have power or transmission issues with the milage and regularity you mentioned.

now I admit we weren't on tidal waters loading at low tide, but we made it out of those launches as well

we went all sorts of places with 2wd drove on snow all winter with 2wd vans and trucks, just needed weight and good tires and not to get too crazy.

I pull a heavy Jon boat rigged to the nines similar to what you are describing with a 1950 Chevrolet half ton with a 135 HP inline six that came out of a '53 car and an overdrive 5 speed transmission out of an '83 S-10. I have a limited slip rear axle from a Nissan Xterra which is the same axle used in Toyotas.
You'll be fine, especially if you have a manual transmission.