where to position tractor on trailer?

[JCoastie]

I have a 16' tandem dovetail trailer that at some point will be loading my LS240 on it for a short back road trip to the dealership to add a rear remote kit. I did a dry run the other day just to see how it fit, just drove on, not secured down. This tractor is longer than my last one, and ideally you'd think to center the rear wheels in the middle of the tandem wheels, but it does not fit well there, and it also seems to put a lot of weight on the tongue. The truck is rated for 960 pounds on the tongue. The tractor with loaded tires, loader, bucket, wet is approx 4500 pounds, I have no clue what the trailer itself weighs, but it's big and heavy. If I moved the tractor back a bit, so the rear wheels (tractor and trailer) were more aligned and less weight on the tongue, does anything jump out at you? I don't want to wind up in the "Share Pics of People Hauling or Towing Something Wrong" thread.

 

[s219]

I think you can move back a little more. On most tractors, the center of gravity is roughly around the footwell area. Front loader will bias the CG forward even more, which means you can move back even more.

Proper tongue weight is in the range of 10-15% of the total. If you know the combined weight of the tractor and trailer, shoot for 10-15% of that on the tongue. A bathroom scale and a board (to make a lever that lowers load on the scale) can be used to measure the tongue weight. They also sell tongue weight scales. Can also take a trip to a truck scale if any are in your area.

That said, I usually do it by eye and feel for my trailer.

 

[Diggin It]

and ideally you'd think to center the rear wheels in the middle of the tandem wheels,

Why? I'd want the center of the load weight centered over the trailer axle(s) or just slightly forward.

As far as the FEL, does the dealer need that for any reason? That's just adding a few hundred pounds out in front of the tractor, possibly unnecessarily..

 

[PILOON]

Any way that puts 4-500 lbs or so on the hitch.

 

[JCoastie]

As far as the FEL, does the dealer need that for any reason? That's just adding a few hundred pounds out in front of the tractor, possibly unnecessarily..

Yeah, because I'm not removing it lol. While I own it, I can never see a time I'd remove it for my usage.

 

[fried1765]

I have a 16' tandem dovetail trailer that at some point will be loading my LS240 on it for a short back road trip to the dealership to add a rear remote kit. I did a dry run the other day just to see how it fit, just drove on, not secured down. This tractor is longer than my last one, and ideally you'd think to center the rear wheels in the middle of the tandem wheels, but it does not fit well there, and it also seems to put a lot of weight on the tongue. The truck is rated for 960 pounds on the tongue. The tractor with loaded tires, loader, bucket, wet is approx 4500 pounds, I have no clue what the trailer itself weighs, but it's big and heavy. If I moved the tractor back a bit, so the rear wheels (tractor and trailer) were more aligned and less weight on the tongue, does anything jump out at you? I don't want to wind up in the "Share Pics of People Hauling or Towing Something Wrong" thread.
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Your truck is not showing any hitch "squat", but you probably could move the tractor back up to a foot.

 

[Redlands Okie]

If you have a place with scales such as a truck stop, feed mill or similar you could run it over the scales. Talk to the attendant and then run the front truck axle on, pause, then drive the whole truck onto the scale and paused, then the trailor and truck, then as you pull off pause with the trailor only. Late on get a weight with just the truck, front axle, all of the truck, then rear axle only.

A little math and you know exactly whats going on. If you do the math at the scale site you could move the tractor back or forward and check again.

Once you have it figured out then make a spot on the trailor where one of the tractor axels are , or put a note in the glove box, or take a picture or something to remind yourself later on.

If you do this when a lot of trucks are not waiting in line the scale operators are happier. The whole axle process usually can be done in literally a couple minutes as long as the operator knows what you need.

You can also use a set of bathroom scales and a board and fulcrum point. Have to google it since I do not remember the exact procedure.


Way safer to have a bit to much weight up front then to much in the back The load as pictured looks doable to me. Probably have to be careful about more weight up front.

 

[3gunr]

I have almost an identical setup as you, i place the bucket flat on the deck and run the bucket tooth bar up tight to the front rail , have my chains pulling forward and it has worked good for many 1000s of miles. I do chain the rear on the drawbar also.

 

[JCoastie]

Thanks, all, lots of good info and solutions here.

 

[Rock Crawler]

The steering wheel is about the center of gravity, put the steering wheel over the front axle center and you'll be just slightly front biased and should be all good. Done and dun.

 

[Bearsixty7]

If you wanted to take the time and weigh tongue weight, you can with an ordinary bathroom scale.
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I did this years ago with my Modified Jeep TJ on my steeldeck car hauler. I was very surprised to find how far forward I had to place the TJ to get the 12-15% tongue weight.


the other option is a weight measuring drawbar like these. I'd like to get one as I pull 3 different trailers with always different loads.
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[Aquamoose]

Use the 60/40 rule. 60% of the weight in front of the centerline between the trailer axles. Quick way is to measure the height of the hitch as it sits with no load. If it’s at or higher than the no-load measurement, you’re too light which will spell disaster towing it. You also don’t want it too heavy at the tongue that would make the steering wheels loose traction. Just don’t exceed the tongue weight as stated in the owners manual.

Oh, and use grade 70 or better chains to secure your tractor.

 

[BackRoad]

The tractor steering wheel as center of weight might be an often repeated interwebby tale, but it seems appropriate, and one I've used safely so far.

Might also leave the bucket home even if you don't remove the FEL (one less item in the way at the dealer's and some states require implements to have separate tiedowns, even if attached to the primary equipment) which will shave a few hundred pounds off the front and save another chain.

 

[dodge man]

Me be the towing police your truck most likely would require a weight distribution hitch for a hitch weight over 500 pounds. If it’s a short trip I of course would buy one and hook it up

 

[ruffdog]

I would get a sure weight on the trailer/tractor weight and then do the bathroom scale bit to get the tongue weight correct. Then, mark the location or screw a piece of wood down on the deck so the tire rolls to it.

 

[fried1765]

I would get a sure weight on the trailer/tractor weight and then do the bathroom scale bit to get the tongue weight correct. Then, mark the location or screw a piece of wood down on the deck so the tire rolls to it.

That is EXACTLY what I have done!
2x4 screwed down across the deck.

 

[JCoastie]

I ordered a weight safe hitch last night and will use that for tongue weight etc. Looks like the trailer should be around 2500 pounds give or take. I'll use the steering wheel for initial positioning and fine tune it with the weight safe hitch.

 

[TractorGuy]

The only way to know for sure is to weigh it.

I bought a set of frames and bathroom scales off of eBay years ago to corner weigh my cars with. Have also used them on my trailer both for weighting total weight and tongue weight. I had the measurements recorded at one point but I can't find them now so I will get them out and measure one day when it stops raining. It's basically a metal frame that allows you to use a bathroom scale and you just multiply the reading times 4 to get the actual weight. I used it once to measure the tongue weight on a trailer at work and it turned out within a few lbs of what it read on a set of certified scales.

The method that Bearsixty7 linked to above may work okay.

The actual measurements don't have to be in feet, just a ratio. The set I have are not 4 feet wide I know that.

 

[fried1765]

The only way to know for sure is to weigh it.

I bought a set of frames and bathroom scales off of eBay years ago to corner weigh my cars with. Have also used them on my trailer both for weighting total weight and tongue weight. I had the measurements recorded at one point but I can't find them now so I will get them out and measure one day when it stops raining. It's basically a metal frame that allows you to use a bathroom scale and you just multiply the reading times 4 to get the actual weight. I used it once to measure the tongue weight on a trailer at work and it turned out within a few lbs of what it read on a set of certified scales.

The method that Bearsixty7 linked to above may work okay.

The actual measurements don't have to be in feet, just a ratio. The set I have are not 4 feet wide I know that.

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View attachment 686410

You do not have to buy anything to use the bathroom scale method, if you have some pieces of scrap lumber.
Don't even need to fasten anything together.
Just stack up some blocks, and span distance with a piece of 2x4.
Diagrammed method is shown on E-Trailer website.

 

[not2old]

I don't know if this works everywhere but when I first got my 5th wheel and added a motorcycle rack to the bumper I needed to know exactly where I stood and used the highway scale when it was closed. Here in B.C. they still work while closed and you can take your time doing all the measurements you need, both with and without being coupled.