Trailer Nose weight ?

[BroomBroom]

Long story short...

Rustled the muscle and lifted 'Gina' on to her trailer - became immediately apparent that it was going to have to sit a lot further forward than was expected as we had this scenario:

...and that's without the outboard

So, I have a man with gas and weldy stuff coming over to extend and strengthen the sticky out bit at the front, until all balances correctly.

With this in mind can anybody pitch in with what nose weight I should be aiming for please?

Boat is supposed to weigh around 200Kg - (probably more like 250Kg) + OB +trailer itself.
Tow vehicle could be Merc W124 Coupe, Volvo V70, maybe even a Landy Defender - it'll vary.

I've been told that I should aim at around the 50Kg mark - does this seem about right?

Total dunderhead when it comes to this sort of thing, so grateful for any assistance

Cheers,

Robin

[Johng]

hi Robin, I would say 50 kgs is about perfect.. the towbar ball is the weakpoint, and the towbar should have it's max weight stamped on there somewhere.. as a rough guide you should be able to lift the trailer with a strong arm. I dont believe the nose weight is affected much by what ever vehicle/donkey you tow with..

hope that helps

John

[twister]

It used to be 50 pounds, not kilos, that was recommended! Maybe it just got metricated...

My suggestion is that it should be a firm but possible lift - unless you have a Land Rover or something else which can stand it. Most family cars aren't rated for too much nose weight. If it's not enough, the trailer will just oscillate up & down, giving a horrible ride.

Just for info, my Avalanche is rated (as standard!) for 500lb nose weight, 5000lb towed weight...!!!

[Johng]

just had a look at my towbar, max vertical load 85KGs.

[petrolhead]

my cars towbar max nose weight is 75kg....but having played with the shakespeare by moving it fore/aft on trailer that is very heavy to man handle! The land rover takes more of course.

[Alacrity]

My Broom V1400, on a DeGraff trailer is set up with, I would say, only about 15-20k nose weight. I did it this way as it was easy to man-handle, if it towed horribly I would move the axle aft a bit. It tows a treat as it is so I am leaving well alone. It is true to say though, that it should, in theory, be a bit heavier than I have it set up.

[Tremlett 15]

T15 has about 1/4 lb!!!!!!!!

the dipstick that made the trailer "welded" the axle to the main frames & then sent it to the galvo works........ a real pain in the butt or should I say "stern"

[BroomBroom]

Ok - thanks for the info guys!

I have a good idea now - going to aim for around 30-40kgs and allow myself a bit of latitude... T15: yup, my 'period' axle is also totally non adjustable - at the moment the boat is as far forward as is possible (over the hitch and untowable) and if I put the engine on the back we still end with the donkey picture

On the up-side, the fit on the bunks is perfection

Cheers,

Robin