I figure it was designed to be towed with at least the 50hp ob plus 2 tks, so it should offset that tongue weight a bit.
Though I can't speak for Roger on the design aspect, by my experience (and I believe that of most on this site) with the 50HP Tohatsu and full tanks, the tongue weight is too low. Towing with my Explorer rated for 4000/400 the first time I did it with full tanks it became dangerously unstable at speed. In order to keep going I moved the full tanks to the forward V-berth and the dangerious instability decreased, though it still felt a little too loosey goosey for my peace of mind.
This is all conjecture. If you want to know the tongue weight and its percentage, weigh the trailer and tongue.
I wonder if the M having the additional 300lbs permanent ballast forward of the axel and being heavier overall would make it balance out a bit better compared to your experience with the X.
I have not quite figured out where to take MV to get the tongue weighed. Any suggestions? I think my bathroom scale explodes over 250lbs. Makes me keep my weight down.
beene wrote:I have not quite figured out where to take MV to get the tongue weighed. Any suggestions? I think my bathroom scale explodes over 250lbs. Makes me keep my weight down.
Simple. Take two bathroom scales and place a thick wood beam between them... then rest the boat tongue on the beam (at the correct height, of course - you could place the scales on cinderblocks or bricks to get it right)... take the two readings, add them together... then take the boat off, weigh just the beam and deduct this from your total.
With a single bathroom scale, you can also make a simple 4:1 lever with a 2x4 (a fulcrum such that you have a 4:1 mechanical advantage - ergo the boat is 1 foot from the fulcrum and the end of the 2x4 you push on is 4 feet from the fulcrum) and then push down on the scale and read the force which lifts the boat. Multiply by 4 to get the tongue weight. I found it was suprisingly reproducible to within about 5% - close enough for me.
SHow this to the kids (I made mine figure it out) and it becomes an educational expense fully deductible under the IRS code - see your tax attorney for details....
Catigale wrote:Show this to the kids (I made mine figure it out) and it becomes an educational expense fully deductible under the IRS code - see your tax attorney for details....
Remind me not to have you do my taxes. I like life on the outside.
You should be able to measure Mac tongue weight with a simpler 2:1 lever. Scale at one end pivot at the other end, jack in the middle. There's a vanishingly small chance your tongue weight will exceed 500 lbs, which you can measure with your 250 lb capacity scale.
But that doesn't help you find the loaded trailer weight from which you calculate the required 10% tongue weight. Lot of places have high capacity scales. Look in the yellow pages under moving companies, topsoil, or sand and gravel.
The easiest way to do it is to pull the tow vehicle so the wheels are just past the edge of the scale. The weight on the scale is the weight on the wheels. Then jack the tongue off the hitch and get a second weight. that's the total for the trailer. Weight2-weight1 = tongue weight.
Almost always have scales near Interstates for the truckers...I happened to have a fellow boater near Exit 23 on the Thruway who let me drag Catigale onto the scales for free once...
The problem with those truck weighbridges is their fine accuracy.
One of the guys showed up with an ultra-light tri at the championships I was just at. You have to get a weight certificate every two years to re-assess your rating. His last certificate showed 580kgs, and the one he just got was 675kgs.
That sort of error can make a difference when considering tonque weights.
...last certificate showed 580kgs, and the one he just got was 675kgs. That sort of error can make a difference when considering tonque weights.
Don't believe that's the case with most of the scales here in the states. When your livelihood depends on it, truckers won't tolerate innacurate scales, nor will those who are paying for commmodities by weight. Certified scales are fairly comon and I believe they're guaranteed by law to be accurate to +/- a couple percent.
When you're determining tongue weight, you're not weighing the tongue separately, so the weight of the whole trailer (jacked off the tow vehicle)will be 3500-4500 lbs; the weight with the tongue on the tow vehicle hitch will be a couple hundred pounds less.
Here in Oregon, most of the highway truck scales are not open 24/7. If you find one that is closed, you will find that the display for the weight is still active. The State must have the scales cretified to + or - 50#.
Just by way of repost on the accuracy of truck scales. Funny enough, we have Legislative requirements in regard to the accuracy of metrological devices as well. Same ones regulated by international standards.
My point though is that when you are talking about a weight of 20 tons, an accuracy of 2% gives you plus or minus 880 lbs.
But it is not this that is of the greatest concern when using these facilities, it is the matter of fine accuracy. A scale designed to weigh something that is 10 tons or more, will simply not be as accurate measuring a 1.5 ton boat and trailer. Given that in order to determine tongue weight from a truck scale you have to take two readings and take the difference as tongue weight, I would really doubt the outcome.
The readings from these scales may be used in a court of law and are much more accurate than most people think. Most of these scales are designed to weigh the individual axle groups on trucks and combination sets. These are much less than the gross weight of the vehicle. Most of these scales are designed to weigh the rigs as they cross the scale at 3 MPH. Only if they are close on weight do they have to stop each axle on the scale. If you don't think that they are accurate, then Scott might want you for an expert witness.
A scale designed to weigh something that is 10 tons or more, will simply not be as accurate measuring a 1.5 ton boat and trailer.
Nobody said it was 2% of 20 tons; it's a couple percent, period.
When you're measuring the difference between two weights which are fairly close together, the scale doesn't even have to be that accurate, it just has to be repeatable.
Bobby T.-26X #4767 wrote:mine's fine.
i use the same "fulton" spare tire bracket that mounts it up & out from the front location of the trailer just behind the ladder.
I purchased a second "fulton" spare tired bracket and bolted the two together to raise the spare tire higher off the square trailer channel. Solved the problem of spare tire drag when launching and recovery.
