Tongue weight

[lawman]

I have an 18 foot Alumacraft w/115 4 stroke and I can't lift the tongue without the bogey jack. Are you supposd to be able to lift the tongue without the aid of a jack? How much weight should there be on the hitch? My buddy has a 20 foot Crestliner and he can lift his up unaided.

[Big Walleye 58]

I'M QUITE SURE THE OLD RULE OF THUMB IS 10 % OF THE OVERALL WEIGHT OF THE RIG ( BOAT ,MOTOR & TRAILER )SHOULD BE ON THE TONGUE .I'M SURE SOMEONE ELSE OUT THERE CAN CONFIRM THIS.

[Surface Tension]

With that big of a boat I'd feel better with the 10% total weight as opposed to being able to easily lift the tongue.

[fish2live]

i believe if you go to shorelanders web site it will calculate the tongue weight for you. just put in the weight of the boat.

[Valv]

I agree with S.T., you do want weight on your tongue or your trailer will "fishtail" very bad while towing.

10% is good or more, if your vehicle can support it.

[fishin789]

Like valv said, to little tongue weight and your trailer will fish tail real bad going down the road. to much tongue weight and you might overload the capacity of your hitch. If you want to check what your tongue weight is take your wifes bathroom scale and cut a 2 x 4 so that the lenght of it sitting on the scale is the same height that your trailer tongue will be when it is on your hitch, then put the trailer tongue on the 2 x 4 and read what the scale says.

[JWB475]

Shorelandr recomends 5-7% of the boats weight be on the tongue. I went through this last year as well, when you weigh it, make sure you weigh it at the ball, not the tongue jack...

http://www.shorelandr.com/pages/o_measureguide.html

Figuring Tongue Weight... is important because too little will cause

trailer sway and too much will cause uncontrolled "pushing" of the tow vehicle.

A. Transom should be flush with the end of the bunks/rollers to make sure that tongue weight calculation is correct.

B. To determine proper tongue weight, total the package weight (boat with fuel/battery, motor with maximum horsepower, and trailer) and multiply it by 6% on single axles and 5% on tandem axle trailers. ShoreLand'r suggests that tongue weight may be acceptable in a 5-7% range.

Example:

Boat with fuel and battery 2,000 lbs.

Motor 500 lbs.

Trailer 900 lbs.

Total Weight 3,400 lbs.

Single Axle Figure x 6%

Tongue Weight 204 lbs.

C. Using appropriate scale, weigh trailer at coupler, making sure the trailer is at towing height...

If tongue weight is within the 5-7% range, move to Step #4.

If tongue weight is too heavy, move axle forward an avg. of 10 - 15 lbs. per inch for which the tongue weight is over.

If tongue weight is too light, move axle back an avg. of 10 - 15 lbs. per inch for which the tongue weight is under.

After readjustment, check tongue weight again; proceed as necessary depending on results.