Need a boat moved in Boston? Boston Towing Service dispatches around the clock across Boston, MA. Towing a boat is not the same job as towing a sedan — it comes down to weight rating, deck length, and how the vehicle is secured — so we confirm what you are driving before a truck rolls, and quote the price before the hook goes on.
The right equipment for a boat
Sending an under-rated truck is how a tow turns into damage. Our dispatcher matches the load to the equipment — deck, wheel-lift, or heavy wrecker — and the operator secures it to the manufacturer’s tie-down points rather than whatever is reachable.
A boat trailer with a blown tire, a seized wheel bearing, or a hitch that won't release needs a truck rigged to grab the trailer frame, not the hull. Boston Towing Service dispatches 24 hours a day from East Boston, and published Boston-market towing rates typically run $50 to $125, before mileage or a heavier trailer changes the number.
A boat trailer that drops a wheel or won't back off the ramp turns into a line of other boaters waiting behind it fast — this isn't a call where sitting on hold is an option. Most trailer failures Boston Towing Service sees are the trailer itself, not the boat: a bearing that seized from sitting in salt air, a leaf spring that snapped under a loaded hull, or a coupler rusted onto the ball and refusing to let go.
None of that gets fixed with a standard car hook. The truck needs to pick up from the trailer frame — at the axle or the tongue — never the hull or the gunwale, and the driver has to know which trailers are bunk-style and which ride on rollers before a strap ever goes on. Dispatch runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week, which matters most for the ramp calls: nobody backs a trailer down at 2 p.m. on a weekday if they can help it.
What kind of truck does a boat on a trailer need?
A flatbed is usually the right call for anything beyond a light trailer — it keeps a seized axle off the pavement instead of dragging it, and it's the only safe option once a leaf spring or a hub has actually failed. Tie-down points go on the trailer frame, at the axle or the tongue, never on the boat itself; a strap looped around a gunwale or a rail can crack fiberglass or bend an outboard mount in the time it takes to drive a few miles.
Bunk trailers and roller trailers ride differently once they're loaded on a truck, too — a driver working both needs to know which one is on the hook before the first strap goes on.
What does towing a boat and trailer cost in Boston?
Published towing rates in the Boston market run about $50 to $125 for a standard call, and that's the range most local operators quote before mileage or trailer weight is factored in. A heavier trailer, a ramp recovery that needs a second set of hands, or a longer haul to a marina or storage yard outside the city will move the number past a basic in-town tow — ask for a quote on the specific job rather than assuming the low end applies.
Does it matter if the trailer fails on the highway instead of at a ramp?
It changes the urgency, not the equipment. A trailer that drops a wheel on a highway needs to come off the travel lane fast, the same as any disabled vehicle — hazards on, stay clear of traffic, wait off to the side if it's safe to. A trailer stuck at the top of a ramp is safer to leave in place but blocks everyone behind it, so that call tends to get bumped up the queue.
Do you tow boats and trailers?
Yes — Boston Towing Service handles boat trailers, from a flat tire on the highway to a trailer that won't release at the ramp. Call (781) 557-4323; someone answers 24 hours a day.
Can the trailer go to a marina or storage yard instead of a shop?
Yes — a storage yard or marina works the same as a repair shop for dispatch. Have the address ready when you call so the driver goes straight there.
What if the boat won't release from the tow vehicle?
That's usually a seized or rusted coupler, and it's a job for the tow operator, not something to force in a parking lot. Mention it when you call so the right tools are on the truck.