Fish house tongue height ?

[huckfin]

I have a 6-1/2' x 10' with 3' V front fish house. 2-30# tanks and 2 batteries in the v plus storage. When hooked to truck with 2" drop hitch the house sits low in the front, trails great but pulls hard. will getting rid of the 2" drop help it pull easier while still trailing decent?

[dougger222]

It's best for your trailer to be as level as possible when towing.

You do not want the tongue to be too high though as it can transfer weight to the back and cause sway issues.

Pull dump trailers and would rather have more weight up front than in the back of the trailer. Most combined weights with dually are 25K+ lbs.

Pulled a 6.5x14+v ice castle house a few times and it pulled very hard behind a 3/4 ton diesel. Same truck pulls my 8x20 double axle house with ease.

Although the v front shacks are nice as they provide a lot of useful space they pull drag. For towing the v would be better on the back of the house.

[Hawg]

I'm Curious- how could a V front drag more than a big flat front?

[dougger222]

Let me try to explain. Say you are driving North to Lake of the Woods and you there is a strong North West or North East wind you will have additional drag in these situations on the sides of the v front.

Have you ever seen a semi trailer with a v in the back? I see them quite often on the interstate. Have you ever seen a semi trailer with a v on the front?

Spent many hours on towing forums and read up on hundreds of posts on the subject. One poster had two identical trailers (large enclosed trailers) one was flat front one was v front. He put tens of thousands of miles on both and hands down preferred the flat over the v front.

Personally feel a slightly rounded or angled towards the top on the front of trailers is the best for towing. How often do you see camper trailers with v fronts?

BTW, my 15K lb dump trailers are 5ft tall and have a flat front and tow perfect. Pull around 25,000 miles a year and have done so for over 10 years.

[38bill]

I have a single axle 6 1/2' X 12' + 3'V and it pulls so easily that you can hardly tell its there. A couple of times last year I sort of forgot about it and almost slid through a stop sign because it does affect stopping distance when its slippery. I don't know why you would be having problems unless yours is extremely heavy.

[huckfin]

I do have all the weight up front, couch and bunk are the only things in the back. just checking on advice before I hook up on level and head down the road at 60 and have the rear end swaying.

[leechlake]

I'm Curious- how could a V front drag more than a big flat front?

this is from an engineer:

"A V shape does not deter turbulence. In fact, it makes it worse. Now you have wind pushing against two sides and not away from the trailer."

[BartmanMN]

I suppose you could just build them the other way around. You'd get some funny looks at first and probably guys pulling up to you on the freeway taking pictures.

[dougger222]

That would be funny to have a ramp door in the front and a V in the back!

I think level with a lot of tongue weight and you'll be fine. Don't floor it and get up to 60mph and realize you have a problem! Also I'm sure you know going downhill towing with too much back weight in the trailer is always going to get you swaying.

Sometimes pulling 15,000+ lbs with the dually you forget your towing.

A couple years ago a roofing pimp I met at the dump said he flipped his dually and dump trailer full of shingles on 694. He said his crew loaded everything in the back of the trailer lol!

[Smoker]

I have pulled both the flat front house and v front and to me the v front pulled easyer. It is more how the trailer sits and is loaded in my opinon

[leechlake]

I'd agree with that.

I was just addressing that I think in most of our minds the V Front would be more aerodynamic than a flat front. They both obviously pull fine under normal circumstances otherwise every 4th vehicle around Bemidji wouldn't be pulling one on the way to URL!

[38bill]

That's just an pretty small house to be having problems pulling it. I pull my larger house with a F150 4X4 and like I said it pulls easy.

[Hawg]

I know my 8x16 v front pulls easier than my old flat front 6x8, but i'm definitely not an engineer. It just doesn't sound right to a layman though.

[huckfin]

I picked up a diferent receiver that will raise the front 2". which should put it at level. I'll try it this weekend to see if it helps. will post later and let you know if it helped. thanks to all.

[icehole10]

I have a 6-1/2' x 10' with 3' V front fish house. 2-30# tanks and 2 batteries in the v plus storage. When hooked to truck with 2" drop hitch the house sits low in the front, trails great but pulls hard. will getting rid of the 2" drop help it pull easier while still trailing decent?

Im not so sure a different receiver is going to help with what you refer to as pulling hard. The transferring of weight inside the house will affect how it pulls down the road, but if you leave everything right where it is in the house you are gaining nothing by bringing it up 2in. The only way the trailer is going to pull easier is to lighten it up. I've always been told that you should be a little lower on the front for braking purposes. you want the the trailer to push down on the back of your truck. I'm sure level would be fine, but make sure its not running up hill. This of course is my opinion and im not an engineer either, although I have worked in the trailer industry for 20+ years.

[bASS_BLASTER]

^ I agree. I hauled with a 1/2 ton, an 8x16 toy hauler. I tried a 2" drop which is not level but pulls nice with no sways and doesn't bounce. Trailer sits a little down up front. I've tried it raised 1 1/4" up which was level but it sways, bouncy and can definitely feel the weight. Need that perfect tongue weight.

Maybe its your transmission?

[huckfin]

Probably just going to leave the way it is. I do not want the sway and bounce, Have to tell the 1/2 ton chevy 4x4 to suck it up and pull !!

[jack asg]

You don't see semi trailers with v front because they have regulations on size length and measuring front front to back would eliminate precious cargo space,

[JSK76]

Someone needs to do a test on this and put it to rest. Take a truck that has a mpg readout put 25 miles on a V front and then a non V, same road and speed. Take a look at the weight of each and add weight to make each even.

I would really like to know the answer I just sold my Salem Ice Cabin with the camper style front end and was looking at going with a V front on my next house.

[magicstix]

I'd be interested to know the answer too. I'd believe the V pulls harder because the air comes around back of tow vehicle and hits V and has to get pushed back out. There's a lot more resistance in air than what most people think.

My only 2 comparisons I can think of is if my utility trailer w/ramp is empty I put ramp down otherwise it feels like I threw out a parachute there's so much drag.

When my buddy bought a race trailer for his bikes the recommendation came up to not buy a V and get a flat front with a tapered roof in front. He pulls it with a minivan and you hardly even know it's there.

[icehole10]

Someone needs to do a test on this and put it to rest. Take a truck that has a mpg readout put 25 miles on a V front and then a non V, same road and speed. Take a look at the weight of each and add weight to make each even.

I would really like to know the answer I just sold my Salem Ice Cabin with the camper style front end and was looking at going with a V front on my next house.

Here's a test for you, wait till there is a 20-25mph wind, get a 4x8 sheet of plywood and try to hold it up against the wind. Then cut that sheet in half and form it to a wedge shape and try and hold it up. My guess would be that the v shaped piece would be much easier to hold with out getting pushed backwards. All kidding aside, I always thought that a v shaped front would cut through the air a lot better, but that is just because of the shape. Maybe the air coming off the pickup is that disrupted that it does cause more drag. I would still take a v front, over a flat front.

[icehole10]

You don't see semi trailers with v front because they have regulations on size length and measuring front front to back would eliminate precious cargo space,

Bingo, cargo space is what it is all about. In the last 7-10 years all truck oem's have been trying to figure out how to increase fuel mileage without losing horsepower. Aerodynamic trucks are helping tremendously, that is why over those same years you are seeing less and less of the flat nose long hood trucks, but that's a whole other ballgame.

In the semi trailer world your seeing side skirts and boat tails and other aero dynamic devices that have helped, but you will never see one with a v front wall it would not make sense, that being said the one thing that we are now doing is decreasing the gap between the truck and trailer, to get the air to flow around the trailer and not get caught between, which is impossible to do with a pickup and a fish house, and that is why I would still take a v front over a flat front wall.

[bASS_BLASTER]

The theory of tailgate down has been proven by Myth-buster TV show that you're actually getting less mpg vs having it up.

I'm no Aerodynamic Engineer but my guess (just a guess) would be if the truck had a hard top camper it would tow slightly better and get better mpg. Also, if the truck and ice house were perfectly level at roof top, it might tow a lot better.

Maybe we can e-mail this to Myth-busters.

[leechlake]

I looked up the aerodynamic thing yesterday but it's pretty complicated. From what I gleaned a rounded shape is more aerodynamic because it makes less turbulence. I guess the example was a Fighter jet or look at some camper trailers that now have a slightly rounded front. Nonetheless the V is for space. Pulling a big trailer takes some power and therefore gas. Just part of the deal.

[LightningBG]

It really is a complex situation of the wind resistance on trailers. I'm not sure which is better, flat or V, as I've never towed a V front, but there is certainly more to it than just slicing through the air. If the trailer was in front, sure, V front to slice, but when it's in turbulent air, all bets are off (IMO). In the case of flat fronts, I'm guessing that there is a cushion of low energy air that is getting trapped in front of the trailer or between the trailer and tow vehicle depending on what is towing it. Ideally we'd like to close that gap as much as possible. (getting the front wall as close to the tow vehicle as possible), but this obviously cause turning issues. Putting a boat tail would probably be the most effective fix to lower wind resistance but also not so easy to do. (the air swirling around the back actually acts as a vacuum pulling the trailer from the rear).

Here is an interesting graphic I came across. Of course an ice shack is fairly different than a tractor trailer, but still give an idea of how various areas of the rig affect the overall aerodynamics.