Trailer

[steve from staten island]

I have a engine drive welder which is about 5 1/2 foot long and maybe 2 feet wide. It weighs around 1500 lbs. Generally speaking should the center mass of the machine be over the axel? Right now its on a homemade trailer and it does not seem balanced.
Pictures to follow as soon as I can get down the yard were its located
thanks for any advice

 

[69SportSatellite]

Here is a link to a video that I found super helpful:

https://www.weigh-safe.com/towing-safety/how-to-properly-load-your-trailer/

I think there is an article included too, but the video and the need to know the tongue weight helped me out.

 

[YY1]

Agree.

I tend to load mine so that most of the weight is on the trailer axle, but so there is enough weight on the tongue to keep it from rocking on the axle center line.

 

[ruffcut]

60/40 with 60% on the tongue

 

[69L48Z27]

60% on the tongue? Always thought it was 10-15%. In this case 150-200lbs.

Edit - disregard, I thought you meant 60% of the load, you mean the 60/40 split, 60 to the tongue side.

 

[wahya]

You also need to know the weight of the trailer itself. If around say 500, you're probably going to need 200 or more on tongue.

 

[Richard Cranium]

you're probably going to need 200 or more on tongue.

Not enough tongue weight and you get this....

 

[747mopar]

It only took one episode for me to load tung heavy on everything, talk about scared shitless!

I mistakenly agreed to help a friend pick up a load of Hickory, I loaded it as I always did but he was uncomfortable with the truck squatting and kept having me move it back. That drive home was the closest I ever came to death! When I say the trailer was at at a 90 degree angle to the truck I'm not exaggerating, I was literally looking at the whole side of the trailer as the tires rolled under the rim violently back and forth. He tried nailing the gas to pull it back straight to no avail, it took what seemed like an eternity to get the trailer back under control. We ended up driving 25 mph the rest of the way home and that's the last time I ever loaded anything light on the tung.

On small loads like yours, I'd at the very least move it forward until you've got 200+ lbs on the tung.

 

[steve from staten island]

I don't like the way the trailer is made, the guy who built it even commented the machine its mounted on can go 6inches forward. I don't know how to determine tongue weight but I feel there is enough weight on the tongue now but when I redo the trailer im going to move the load forward
Im also thinking of using a Eye mount and pintle hook.
When I towed the trailer the other day, I was uncomfortable even going 25-30 mph, every bump in the road all I heard was banging
The way this trailer is set up now, the machine is to high up, im going to redo and move the machine down 4 inches
I will post pictures asap and thanks again

 

[747mopar]

I don't like the way the trailer is made, the guy who built it even commented the machine its mounted on can go 6inches forward. I don't know how to determine tongue weight but I feel there is enough weight on the tongue now but when I redo the trailer im going to move the load forward
Im also thinking of using a Eye mount and pintle hook.
When I towed the trailer the other day, I was uncomfortable even going 25-30 mph, every bump in the road all I heard was banging
The way this trailer is set up now, the machine is to high up, im going to redo and move the machine down 4 inches
I will post pictures asap and thanks again

Unfortunately trailers without suspension are always bouncy and bang around, pintle hitches although rugged are about the noisiest of them all. I've seen small trailers flip on their side after hitting potholes, of coarse they were narrow generator trailers too. About the only thing you can do outside of adding suspension is put bigger tires with plenty of sidewall on it, a tire that can run on a lower tire pressure helps as well.

 

[Roger63]

You want a little more tongue weight, what you are hearing is the trailer ring bouncing around in the hitch.

 

[Don selleck]

lower tire pressure helps out too adds a little flex, less bounce

 

[Roger63]

Load balance means an equal amount of weight on trailer axles and towing vehicle drive axle, you never balance the weight on the trailer alone.

 

[patrick66]

Sold trailers for close to seven years. A 60/40 or 65/35 split with the weight bias on the tongue is what you need for both balance and steering control. Too much weight forward of the trailer axle, and your steer axle will have minimal contact with the road. Too much aft of that, and you are going to have a thrill ride you'll never get at an amusement park!

As stated above, tire pressure is a biggie, especially on an unsprung axle; like on some generators, welders, tow dollies without a car on it, and cheapo home-built jobs. Too much, and your trailer will bounce like a toddler on a sugar high. Guaranteed.

 

[ruffcut]

Using the 60/40 with 60% of the weight of a 1500 pound trailer will give you 300 pounds of tongue weight!

 

[YY1]

Not enough tongue weight or way too much and the trailer will try to drive the truck.

NOT a good situation.

 

[Triplegreen500]

Agreed, put weight on the tongue. If you do get wag (assuming you have trailer brakes), manually grab the brake controller to apply trailer brakes, and hit the GAS. It will pull the connection tight by dropping anchor on the trailer, and bring it back in line.

When I load a car (or any mobile load) onto a trailer behind my Ram 2500, I roll it forward until the rear of the truck just starts to squat. It takes a lot of weight - 2500s have good springs, I can put 2000 lbs in the bed and it squats 1.5".

 

[steve from staten island]

deleted

 

[steve from staten island]

 

[steve from staten island]

To me this trailer looks like its made wrong. Its to short, load is close to hitch. It looks like it was made for a machine half the size.
The biggest thing I feel is the hitch is to low. I have a Tacoma 4x4 and its still seems to low for that truck....It feels like the more you raise it up past being level it wants to flip over backwards.
Notice it has a jack in the rear