cover on or off

[bucketmouth64]

Wondering if traveling with the boat cover on/off has its advantages/disadvantages with fuel economy. Short fishing destinations I usually have the cover off. But if I am going on a vacation somewhere in the state I usually cover it.

[SteveWilson]

I do the same, for a longer journey I take the Minnkota off too. For short trips I figure that leaving the cover on won't improve the mileage driving around the metro with a boat. Ah the joy of towing my boat on 494 during rush hour.

[gspman]

According to bass pro Mike Iacconelli travelling with the cover off gives better mileage. Read that in Bassmaster Magazine sometime in the last few years. Don't know if that transfers to a walleye boat or not but that's what Ike says and he tested this both ways.

[paceman]

This past weekend I traveled both with the cover off and on. Both times going the same speed and over similar terrain. I actually saw a 1 mpg improvement with the cover off....

[DTro]

reminds me a recent "mythbusters" I recently watched. They tested mileage on a truck with the tailgate up or down. It was quite a bit better with it up.

[Deitz Dittrich]

I always tow with the cover off... reason I had a boat that got a little boat rub from the cover flappin on it.

[Valv]

I agree with tailgate up, but I have to add if you have a bed cover (vinyl or fiberglass) it will give you better gas mileage.

I have a long box Dodge and I get 2mpg extra when I unroll my bedcover. I deeply hate it, it's an old style snap on, but it does save me money on many trips.

I don't know about boats though......

[delmuts]

a lot will depends on how and what type of cover you have. if it is a snap on that fits tight, maybe leaving it on will help . but if you have a strap down type; then take note when you pull if it is catching alot of air going down the road. if it does, this will hurt gas milage, plus you will stress out the seams in the cover, and as deitz said you may have to deal with it rubbing the boat also.

[MNice]

On long trips I leave the cover on, mainly because of extra gear that may fly out. I keep my baot in the "shop" part of the garage so it gets it's share of sawdust, so on local trips I never cover so it gets a good "dusting"

[78cj5]

I pull the windshields off the dual console, pull the Minn Kota, and cover it whenever I go outside the metro area (50 mile+). The reason I got into this habit is not mileage... When I take the boat to the cabin (to get on other lakes than my own), the boat sits under a canopy of trees. It saves a lot of clean up time. I also worry about the windshields getting sandblasted on longer trips.