Tongue weight

[aczlan]

This question was just brought up in this forun as tractor towing 101 along with how to properly load a tractor on a trailer. I responded to go look at the thread in the massey classic vintage on page two there is a thread massey 65 field find. On page three of that thread the OP goes on to describe his misfortune with pictures of an improperly loaded tractor on a trailer likely caused by insufficient tongue weight.

Here is the thread in question: http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...8-massey-65-field-find-going.html#post3450606

Aaron Z

 

[duroc]

Rule of thumb I think is 10% minimum tongue weight of the loaded trailer for bumper pulls...15% to 20% for fifth wheels...
If you move the axles back I do not know what the dynamics are based on the length of trailer versus placement of axles...
It is better to be a little heavy on the front versus a little heavy on the back...
If you move those axles back I would not go less than 50# tongue weight for the empty trailer...

If the axle is moved "back" (towards the rear), tongue weight (TW) increases. He already has 80# TW, so in order to bring the TW down around 50# he would need to move the axle towards the front, not the rear - which, BTW, I do not recommend doing.

I do, however, agree that more tongue weight is better than a heavy rear.

 

[locknut]

Thanks for all the suggestions.Been working on this and went against the grain,adding permanent weight on the back using a length of 3/8 thick by 5 inch steel underneath at the very back.Coated the trailer and the steel with bedliner spray and used 5 grip shank bolts to fasten.Also trimmed the back edge of the steel plate with aluminum.With all the mods done the tongue is at 43 lbs.It's easy to move around by hand and pulls down the road empty straight as an arrow.The trailer swap was only one phase of an overall project and I'll start another thread with some pics and comments in a few days.