towing question debate..sort of

[K. Lane]

Help settle the debate we are having here at work. I was talkin about needing to go to the lease out near Kerrville this weekend and put up a new box blind I bought. In casual conversation with one of the guys at work (who doesn't own a truck and tows nothing) he tells me how I need to load the trailer I am pulling up there. He says be sure to put the side by side on first so I have more weight on the tongue instead of having the weight over the axle's

I told him what I am pulling is light and it is about 6 of one or a 1/2 dozen of the other.

here is the set up
20' ranch king tandem axle (weighs 3,040 pounds)
pulling with a 2017 Titan xd diesel

load:
2017 Yamaha Viking utv (weighs 1,420 pounds)
4x6 T-Box blind & 4' platform for the blind (less than 500 pounds)

probably 300 pounds or so of generator, tools, ice chests in the bed of the truck


Now, for tying down and securing ease, I am gonna load the blind first on the trailer and pull the SxS on next which will put the heaviest part of the load (which aint heavy) over the trailer axles or slightly in front of the axles
He swears it will be fishtailing all over the road and I think he is simply wrong. I just don't think there is gonna be enough weight to bother an 8,000 pound truck.... or am I wrong

[McClain]

You have to have some tongue weight (i.e., more weight forward) or it will be fishtailing.

[SaltwaterSlick]

Estimate your total load on the trailer and 10% of that needs to be on the tongue... If you are close to that or more, no fishtailing (because of not enough tongue weight) will occur...

[BTLowry]

Tail heavy = fishtailing / wild ride possibilities

Load over axles will be best ride and towing

Coworker is not as smart as he thinks

[Chad74]

Tell co-worker to stick to driving his Prius. There isn't enough weight make a difference.

[DaveC]

towing question debate..sort of

I think you'll be OK if you load the box first then pull the Viking up to it. which would put it 4 1/2' off the front of the trailer- should still provide enough tongue weight to prevent the fishing.

I think the length of your trailer and being tandem axle will help limit your fishtailing.

I'm a fan of tongue weight and to his point- here is what one of my recent Box blind moves looked like on a 14' trailer.


Had I put the box on the front on this short of a single axle trailer I would have been wagging no doubt.

Get it right in the driveway or you'll be having to pull over and fix on the trip.

If at all possible preload prior to the trip and take it up to speed to see how it does a day or two before so you can correct if need be before the actual trip date.

[gvick]

As long as you have more weight in front of your axles than behind you will not have a problem

[BrianL]

As long as you have more weight in front of your axles than behind you will not have a problem

Simply put..this

[K. Lane]

Tail heavy = fishtailing / wild ride possibilities

Load over axles will be best ride and towing

Coworker is not as smart as he thinks

Tell co-worker to stick to driving his Prius. There isn't enough weight make a difference.

This was my line of thinkin

[Acameron52]

Homeboy probably has never had anything but half tons. You’ve got plenty of truck for that. I’d do the same thing so that I could use the SxS to set the stand up.

[BuckSmasher]

Estimate your total load on the trailer and 10% of that needs to be on the tongue... If you are close to that or more, no fishtailing (because of not enough tongue weight) will occur...

Tail heavy = fishtailing / wild ride possibilities

Load over axles will be best ride and towing

Coworker is not as smart as he thinks

Yup.

[GA Bowhunter]

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mW_gzdh6to"]Towing a trailer can be dangerous with the wrong weight distribution - YouTube[/ame]

[bboswell]

As long as you have more weight in front of your axles than behind you will not have a problem

this


weight of the load has nothing to do with it, its all about the % of the load that is forward of the axles

[S-3 Ranch]

IMO box blind then generator then utv over axle ,

[Todd-ty729]

I would put the box blind at the rear of the trailer.

With the wind drag of the blind it would actually remove tongue weight going down the road with the wind pushing against the blind.

Putting it behind the atv would reduce this considerably.

I'd look at buggy first, well forward of the axles, possibly all the way to the front and then put the rest of the crap behind it.

I like the idea of the front tires being up against the front rail of a trailer in the event of a sudden stop. I don't trust straps as much as I should.