Pin Weight on Goose Neck or fifth wheel

[lebar]

I thought I remember a trailer dealer telling me there is a formula for estimating the tongue and or pin weight on trailers, any one have any ideas on this

 

[MMeier]

Usually 15-20 % of "dry" trailer weight for your bigger units .

 

[RVTRKN]

MMeier, I remember 25% for 5ver/goose and 15-20% for TT?

 

[RVTRKN]

Google it, I have it in my old computer. There is a very detailed formula for that. Also search my posts, I think I posted it some time ago.

 

[RustyJC]

The numbers used most on the RVing forums I frequent are:



5th wheel - 20% to 25%



TT - 10% to 12%



My 5th wheels have been very close to 20% loaded and on the road. YMMV... ...





Rusty

 

[OldRetiredAFGuy]

My 5th factory build sheet lists a dry weight of 13,935. Dry pin weight is 2,615.

Pickett slide rule says = 18. 8%

Since loaded weight has so many variables (Genset, propane bottle size, batteries, etc etc), I would run it over a set of commercial scales to get your true axle and combined weight.

 

[lebar]

Thanks for the information, we just bought a larger goose neck 4 horse trailer with mid tack and living quarters and trying to make sure we will be legal. From the Body Builders guide it looks like I am good for 15,800 max trailer weight. Trailer is supposed to be 14,400 so I think I am good to go. From what I can tell the tires may be my weakest link! I am not sure if I want to go to the larger wheels and tires or not. It appears the wheels are any bodies guess I may just go to a higher load range tire and say god enough.
lebar

 

[AfterBurner]

When I bought my Bloomer horse trailer, I toured the factory and they told me they set the axles so that the tongue weight is 30% of trailer weight. Now, if you've pulled many different horse trailers you know a Bloomer is heavier on the tongue than most, but I would venture to say that most horse trailers are in the 25% range.



Of course it depends on how you load the trailer, but if you have LQ you probably have a slant load, and they can pretty well predict where your horses will be.



I weighed the trailer with 4 horses in it but not much else (no LQ/not much gear) and GCW with my '02 single cab 2500 was 22K. If you look at my sig I recently got into a C&C (instead of a p/u), mainly due to the massive tongue weight of this trailer. With three horses and 800lbs of hay on the bed, I have had the C&C sitting on the overloads.



Forrest

 

[lebar]

No doubt the bloomers have to be the heaviest built horse trailers on the road! Ours is a Keifer Built 4 horse slant, 8'wide, 7'6" inside height, Gooes Neck Length 8'6", Body Length 31'4", Living Quarters and Mid Tack, shipping weight of 10,195lbs. We have only pulled the trailer empty and with one horse. No issues pulling or stopping.

 

[HBarlow]

So-called dry weights and manufacturer's shipping weights are utterly useless numbers . . . much like believing in Santa Claus

The numbers that matter are GVWR because that is the best estimate of what a trailer is going to weigh when actually in use.

Goosenecks carry more weight on the pin than fifth wheel RV trailers. I would use GVWR multiplied by 30% to estimate a gooseneck's pin weight.

 

[d6c]

Living quarters axles are way back there... . lots of tongue weight is a certainty... . My PJ 21+5 tandem dual flatbed light weights 7500 lbs. load it up with approx. 12,000 of hay. . tongue weight is 2800lbs... on the scales... 2800 divided by 19500 is 14. 35%... surprised me too.....

 

[MMeier]

Hmmmmmmm..... something missing here tonite ??

 

[NIsaacs]

Flatbed trailers are usually easy to change pin weight, just move the weight forward or back. Travel trailers and living quarters horse trailers are more difficult.



Nick

 

[d6c]

If somebody is referencing my #'s on my loads of hay... many,many trips over the scales... I sell it by weight-load weight-not bale weight... . same exact 240 bale loads every time... you can't change pin weight on my loads... OTH... worked with a guy one time that brought his Platinum LQ to the job (feller-buncher sub)... he claimed 5k pin weight... would have liked to see it over the scales to confirm his #'s... . he was pulling it with a srw... . whatever it was, it was too much for the rig...

 

[OldRetiredAFGuy]

Maybe the Easter Bunny can convince our skeptic that certified scale weights are utterly move valuable than an opinion.





A dog has so many friends because he wags his tail instead of his tongue. Author unknown