Got weighed

[bitternut]

I needed to haul my tractor and mower for the first time and had no idea how to position the load properly so that it hauled safely. I started out by putting the truck and empty trailer on as flat and level area that I had. Then I measured the height of the wheel wells and the hitch. I loaded the tractor and mower on the trailer and rechecked the measurements. After shuffeling things around a bit I ended up with the bucket flat and positioned against the trailers front rail. This gave me a slightly less height at the front wheel well, a height at the rear wheel well of less than 2" and just about 2" less at the ball.

I had no way to check the tongue weight but by measuring the heights and positioning the load I could vary all 3 heights by moving the load forward and aft. I did not know the weight of my load and no way to measure the tongue weight so I made the assumption that if my truck was carrying the load with the front wheels not rising it should steer normal.

Well the trailer steered and handled great. I knew it was there, especially going up and down the hills but on the flats it was like not having anything hooked on to the back. On the trip I pass by a truck stop along the NY Throughway ( I-90 ) that has a CAT SCALE so I decided to get the load weighed. The scale has 3 sections and gives you the weight on 3 axles.

STEER AXLE..............3120 lbs
DRIVE AXLE..............4700 lbs
TRAILER AXLE...........11040 lbs
GROSS WEIGHT.........18860 lbs

Now I have to get the weights with the empty trailer some day. Here is a picture of the loaded trailer. The trailer is rated for 15,000 lbs so I could have brought my 900 lbs grapple along, the post hole digger, the logging winch and the 8ft scraper blade. Just have to figure out how to stack them. Just kidding. Any ways that is how I figured out how to position the load so it would haul safely.

Here is a picture of the loaded trailer that was weighed. I red flagged the mower tail wheel which stuck out past the rear of my 23' trailer.

 

[Reb954]

Usually I just measure the tongue height before and after loading. Once I have 1 to 2 inches of drop in tongue height I call it good and it has always pulled well at that setting. It looks like your center point is about the same as mine with the front of the rear wheel being centered between the axles.

14k trailer behind a 3/4 ton pickup.

 

[zing]

I needed to haul my tractor and mower for the first time and had no idea how to position the load properly so that it hauled safely. I started out by putting the truck and empty trailer on as flat and level area that I had. Then I measured the height of the wheel wells and the hitch. I loaded the tractor and mower on the trailer and rechecked the measurements. After shuffeling things around a bit I ended up with the bucket flat and positioned against the trailers front rail. This gave me a slightly less height at the front wheel well, a height at the rear wheel well of less than 2" and just about 2" less at the ball.

I had no way to check the tongue weight but by measuring the heights and positioning the load I could vary all 3 heights by moving the load forward and aft. I did not know the weight of my load and no way to measure the tongue weight so I made the assumption that if my truck was carrying the load with the front wheels not rising it should steer normal.

Well the trailer steered and handled great. I knew it was there, especially going up and down the hills but on the flats it was like not having anything hooked on to the back. On the trip I pass by a truck stop along the NY Throughway ( I-90 ) that has a CAT SCALE so I decided to get the load weighed. The scale has 3 sections and gives you the weight on 3 axles.

STEER AXLE..............3120 lbs
DRIVE AXLE..............4700 lbs
TRAILER AXLE...........11040 lbs
GROSS WEIGHT.........18860 lbs

Now I have to get the weights with the empty trailer some day. Here is a picture of the loaded trailer. The trailer is rated for 15,000 lbs so I could have brought my 900 lbs grapple along, the post hole digger, the logging winch and the 8ft scraper blade. Just have to figure out how to stack them. Just kidding. Any ways that is how I figured out how to position the load so it would haul safely.

Here is a picture of the loaded trailer that was weighed. I red flagged the mower tail wheel which stuck out past the rear of my 23' trailer.

View attachment 617942

Is that a gas engine? It seems like your front axle is a bit light to me, but I am definitely no expert. Here are the scale numbers for my F250 diesel (6.7l) with my gooseneck horse trailer when horse empty (I.E. carrying tack and standard equipment, but no horses). I weighed it that way so I would have an idea of what gross weight clearance I had for horses, since that is the biggest variable. Carrying 4 ponies VS carrying 4 large horses will be a very different load, but the tack is usually about the same. Anyway, here is how mine tips the scales.

Platform one (truck front axle) = 2210 kg (4872 lbs)
Platform two (truck rear axle) = 2140 kg (4717 lbs)
Platform three (both trailer axles) = 2210 kg (4629 lbs)

As you can see, my steer axle is a lot heavier than yours. Caveats = my diesel may be heavier if you have a gas engine, and my gooseneck will actually add some weight to my front axle but not a lot since it was a mostly empty trailer (no horses). Nevertheless, I have to wonder if your lighter front axle is because you bumper pull tongue weight is lightening your front end more than it should. Obviously not excessively light in the front since you had good control when driving, I am just wondering about the differences we have in scale weight.

I am interested to see some others post a more apples-to-apples comparison of their bumper-pull scale results. Also interested to know the details of your truck to see if that impacts the results, because if that is a Duramax, your front end should be pretty close to the same weight as my diesel ford.

 

[fried1765]

I needed to haul my tractor and mower for the first time and had no idea how to position the load properly so that it hauled safely. I started out by putting the truck and empty trailer on as flat and level area that I had. Then I measured the height of the wheel wells and the hitch. I loaded the tractor and mower on the trailer and rechecked the measurements. After shuffeling things around a bit I ended up with the bucket flat and positioned against the trailers front rail. This gave me a slightly less height at the front wheel well, a height at the rear wheel well of less than 2" and just about 2" less at the ball.

I had no way to check the tongue weight but by measuring the heights and positioning the load I could vary all 3 heights by moving the load forward and aft. I did not know the weight of my load and no way to measure the tongue weight so I made the assumption that if my truck was carrying the load with the front wheels not rising it should steer normal.

Well the trailer steered and handled great. I knew it was there, especially going up and down the hills but on the flats it was like not having anything hooked on to the back. On the trip I pass by a truck stop along the NY Throughway ( I-90 ) that has a CAT SCALE so I decided to get the load weighed. The scale has 3 sections and gives you the weight on 3 axles.

STEER AXLE..............3120 lbs
DRIVE AXLE..............4700 lbs
TRAILER AXLE...........11040 lbs
GROSS WEIGHT.........18860 lbs

Now I have to get the weights with the empty trailer some day. Here is a picture of the loaded trailer. The trailer is rated for 15,000 lbs so I could have brought my 900 lbs grapple along, the post hole digger, the logging winch and the 8ft scraper blade. Just have to figure out how to stack them. Just kidding. Any ways that is how I figured out how to position the load so it would haul safely.

Here is a picture of the loaded trailer that was weighed. I red flagged the mower tail wheel which stuck out past the rear of my 23' trailer.

View attachment 617942

According to weight distribution norms you should have 9 - 15% of the trailer weight on the hitch ball.
From your photo, I question if your bucket measuring technique puts the tongue weight within those parameters.
If you are towing at interstate highway speeds, an Equal-i-zer hitch would also be a very good idea.
Big question......your stopping distance???

The above information provided by a 14K trailer owner .....me!
I am very sensitive about how others use their trailers.
A trailer being towed by a private vehicle just ahead of me on I-95, at 75mph, broke loose, causing ME to have a major accident.

 

[bitternut]

Is that a gas engine? It seems like your front axle is a bit light to me, but I am definitely no expert. Here are the scale numbers for my F250 diesel (6.7l) with my gooseneck horse trailer when horse empty (I.E. carrying tack and standard equipment, but no horses). I weighed it that way so I would have an idea of what gross weight clearance I had for horses, since that is the biggest variable. Carrying 4 ponies VS carrying 4 large horses will be a very different load, but the tack is usually about the same. Anyway, here is how mine tips the scales.

Platform one (truck front axle) = 2210 kg (4872 lbs)
Platform two (truck rear axle) = 2140 kg (4717 lbs)
Platform three (both trailer axles) = 2210 kg (4629 lbs)

As you can see, my steer axle is a lot heavier than yours. Caveats = my diesel may be heavier if you have a gas engine, and my gooseneck will actually add some weight to my front axle but not a lot since it was a mostly empty trailer (no horses). Nevertheless, I have to wonder if your lighter front axle is because you bumper pull tongue weight is lightening your front end more than it should. Obviously not excessively light in the front since you had good control when driving, I am just wondering about the differences we have in scale weight.

I am interested to see some others post a more apples-to-apples comparison of their bumper-pull scale results. Also interested to know the details of your truck to see if that impacts the results, because if that is a Duramax, your front end should be pretty close to the same weight as my diesel ford.

Yes Zing my truck has a gas engine. It is a 2009 Silverado 2500HD with the 6.0 liter engine gasser and 3.73 rear axle ratio.

fried1765 you don't have to worry about me losing it at 75 mph cause I am the guy in the right hand lane that is tooling along about 62 at most. My truck has disc brakes all the way around and both axles on the trailer have brakes. The unit stops very good when fully loaded and I always leave plenty of space from the vehicle in front of me. I use the tow haul mode of the transmission when loaded and it helps a lot to keep my speed down when decending hills. The speed rating for my trailer tires is 75mph. I always carry a infared thermometer and check the temp of tires and hubs when hauling loaded.

 

[Morning Wood]

You either need to get a Sherline tongue weight scale or when you were at the truck stop scale, unhitch the trailer and go back through the scale with just the truck. That way you can tell how much the tongue weight actually is. That would have given you all your answers. Usually a 2nd weigh in at the truck scale is much cheaper than the initial weigh in.

 

[fried1765]

Yes Zing my truck has a gas engine. It is a 2009 Silverado 2500HD with the 6.0 liter engine gasser and 3.73 rear axle ratio.

fried1765 you don't have to worry about me losing it at 75 mph cause I am the guy in the right hand lane that is tooling along about 62 at most. My truck has disc brakes all the way around and both axles on the trailer have brakes. The unit stops very good when fully loaded and I always leave plenty of space from the vehicle in front of me. I use the tow haul mode of the transmission when loaded and it helps a lot to keep my speed down when decending hills. The speed rating for my trailer tires is 75mph. I always carry a infared thermometer and check the temp of tires and hubs when hauling loaded.

I do ALL the same,...... but unfortunately not everyone else does.
I see many trailers with safety chains NOT crossed.

 

[oosik]

Ten miles from my house, in Cheney, is the ADM( Archer Daniels Midland ) grain mill. They have a big grain scales. If they aren't busy weighing grain trucks they will weigh your whatever. I loaded my tractor up - grapple & rear blade - drove in and weighed the entire unit. I've weighed the Taco Wagon on the grain scales also.

This allows me to get a pretty close weight for the tractor with any/all implements attached.

It also explains why the Taco Wagon needs a firm foot on the brake pedal to stop. Taco Wagon = 7540 pounds.

 

[dodge man]

I'm just guessing here, but I owned a 2011 Chevy 2500 gas engine, and I'd say that just about has your truck maxed out. The door jamb sticker would tell the tale.

 

[oosik]

Pretty close - dodge man. The door jam sticker says 8565. So I can put 1000 pounds in the bed. With the Taco Wagon I pay the price in GVWR because of the off-road suspension. But, for my use, that's more than enough. About the most I ever plan hauling with the Taco Wagon - Ram Boxes full of ice and appropriate beverages.

I bought the Taco Wagon STRICTLY as a fun vehicle. Never a thought in mind to haul or tow.