Tongue Weight

[gunflint]

Does anyone know the formula for tongue weight for a trailered boat? I thought that the weight should be about 5 or 10 percent of the total weight of boat, motor, and trailer.

[Minnesota Fats]

Yes that is correct, 5 to 10% for a standard hitch setup. Too much tongue weight makes your tow vehicle steering light and can make you "push" or understeer. Too little tongue weight can make you "loose" or oversteer. Having your boat loaded right can keep you from hitting the rhubarb on your way to the lake.

[hoggsback]

I have a question on this topic. My boat/trailer wobbles side to side after I hit 50+. Is this something I can make better by adjusting the axle forward or backward? I was told that would make it pull better. I don't know which way to move it though.

[Dozer]

 Originally Posted By: hoggsback

I have a question on this topic. My boat/trailer wobbles side to side after I hit 50+. Is this something I can make better by adjusting the axle forward or backward? I was told that would make it pull better. I don't know which way to move it though.

Sounds like you dont have enough tounge weight. You could either move your axle back and inch or two or move some stuff in your boat forward to add some weight to the front.

[Valv]

As Dozer said, you don't have enough weight in front of trailer.

As a "ballpark" measure try to pickup the tongue, if you can lift it easily that's too light, usually a local mid size boat will have approx 100lbs to 200lbs or slightly more as tongue weight.

If you can slide your axle back few inches it will help immensely and will be MUCH safer to tow on the road, you are experiencing what they call "fishtailing".

[vister]

10 percent is the magic number