# Can I bring a boat home with NO trailer license?



## ssv1761982 (Jun 2, 2004)

Going to pick up an old boat that hasn't been used for 15 years. Can I bring it home with no license on the trailer? 

Of course I will license it once I get it home and have it weighed here in town.


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## Legend killer (Apr 20, 2011)

Odds are slim to none you will get pulled over. Even if you do just explain the situation. I would be more concerned with the trailer breaking down. Tires, bearings, axle, etc.


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## James Pyles III (Apr 11, 2016)

Somebody stole my plate in Virginia last year and we drove back to Ohio with no issues


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## fishingful (Apr 5, 2004)

Yes, just get a bill of sale with the date on it. Also works for taking the trailer to get it weighed if you have no title for it. They may not be so nice if the lights don't work.


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## Deadeyedeek (Feb 12, 2014)

fishingful said:


> Yes, just get a bill of sale with the date on it. Also works for taking the trailer to get it weighed if you have no title for it. They may not be so nice if the lights don't work.


Just happened to me as I pulled a trailer home from Canton..got stopped thought I was had, but showed him bill of sale, got a tounge lashing but let it go..


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## BlueMax (Dec 3, 2006)

Pulled boat out of storage Sunday for hour long drive back home. I took the new plate sticker but forgot to apply it. Made it without being spotted / stopped. 
Good luck hope it works out for you.


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## Saugeye Tom (Oct 6, 2010)

Tell us your beginning and end trip....time...details....")


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## TDD11 (Aug 5, 2015)

I called OHP a few years back, asking what I needed to do to drive a vehicle I purchased out of state, to my home. I worried about "throwing a plate on it" and getting busted for fictitious tags. 

They told me that I was OK to drive it home without a plate on it, just to have proof that I purchased it that day, and to go straight home with it. Don't stop by the grocery store or run errands, etc. They did suggest that I put a plate on it with current registration - just so I would be a little less likely to get pulled over for not having a plate, and wasting the officer's and my time. With a plate on they would just have to be close enough to run your plates and realize the vehicle doesn't meet the description. 

You're good either way, but go straight home with it and have a bill of sale. Odds of a stop would be lower with a plate..


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## sherman51 (Apr 12, 2011)

if you have another trailer with plates use those plates on the new trailer to tow it home. if you don't have another trailer plate you would be taking a chance towing it without plates. but odds are you wont get stopped. I bought a boat and trailer in new Hampshire and towed it home to Indiana with no plates and didn't get checked. and it was 10' wide and I needed to have wide load permits and never had the permits either.
sherman


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## jamesbalog (Jul 6, 2011)

I pulled a boat home from Delaware without any plates on it, figured for sure i would get stopped atleast once but never did. 

I was told that they were not needed if you had a bill of sale from the same day


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## jeff rod builder (Sep 21, 2014)

you should be ok without tags. Just make sure the trailer lights work. You may also consider having a slow moving sign on the boat trailer ( orange triangle) and go slow.


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## capt j-rod (Feb 14, 2008)

jeff rod builder said:


> you should be ok without tags. Just make sure the trailer lights work. You may also consider having a slow moving sign on the boat trailer ( orange triangle) and go slow.


I'd not draw any more attention than necessary. A smv sign is technically only legal if the vehicle towing is not capable of going over 25mph


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## ssv1761982 (Jun 2, 2004)

Thanks everybody. I thought about using a different plate but was afraid lying would be worse than no plate if anything did happen.

I brought the motor home a while ago and got it running. It is a 1957 Johnson 7 1/2 (Red and white).
I am getting anxious to get the boat home so I can step back in time with the old motor and a 40 year old row boat.


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## fishingful (Apr 5, 2004)

I remember where I heard that as long as you had a bill of sale you were ok. We bought a kayak trailer from pirate marine by berlin for work. No tags needed the same day. That came from the dealer.


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## sherman51 (Apr 12, 2011)

ssv1761982 said:


> Thanks everybody. I thought about using a different plate but was afraid lying would be worse than no plate if anything did happen.
> 
> I brought the motor home a while ago and got it running. It is a 1957 Johnson 7 1/2 (Red and white).
> I am getting anxious to get the boat home so I can step back in time with the old motor and a 40 year old row boat.


I don't know about ohio but in Indiana we have 31 days that we can use a plate from another trailer. I would check with the local bmv and find out for sure what's legal and what's not.
sherman


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