Floyd
Jet Boat Addict
- Messages
- 60
- Reaction score
- 19
- Points
- 92
- Location
- Tampa & Maine
- Boat Make
- Scarab
- Year
- 2016
- Boat Model
- Impulse
- Boat Length
- 19
BoatUS recommends a tongue weight of 7-10 % of the towed weight. They also have a way to measure your tongue weight at home, using a bathroom scale and some lumber.
http://www.boatus.com/magazine/trailering/2013/June/tongue-weight-diy.asp
Why worry about tongue weight? With some vehicle suspensions there is a tendency for the trailer to fishtail. Having more tongue weight can remedy that, if the tongue weight was too light to begin with. Unfortunately, some people have exceeded the safe towing speed with a light tongue weight and fishtailed out of control before they could slow down enough to get the rig under control, and you can find them on youtube.
How do you determine if your rig has a tendency to fishtail? I guess their isn't a completely safe way to find out. When you find yourself on an empty stretch of highway you slow down to a safe speed, like 40mph, and intentionally swerve to find out is there is any continued oscillation of the trailer. If not, increase the speed 5mph and try again. Repeat until you find some fishtailing, keeping below the maximum speed that you might intend to ever travel.
On a road trip recently I was coasting down an Appalachian pass and found myself going 80mph, which I would never do on a flat highway. Fortunately my rig doesn't seem to have a tendency to fishtail. Things like tire pressures and boat loading and maybe even wind can affect that though, so you shouldn't get overconfident.
I've read that leaving the boat on a trailer with the transom extended past the end of the bunkboards can cause a warpage or hook in the hull bottom if the hull isn't designed for that.
http://www.boatus.com/magazine/trailering/2013/June/tongue-weight-diy.asp
Why worry about tongue weight? With some vehicle suspensions there is a tendency for the trailer to fishtail. Having more tongue weight can remedy that, if the tongue weight was too light to begin with. Unfortunately, some people have exceeded the safe towing speed with a light tongue weight and fishtailed out of control before they could slow down enough to get the rig under control, and you can find them on youtube.
How do you determine if your rig has a tendency to fishtail? I guess their isn't a completely safe way to find out. When you find yourself on an empty stretch of highway you slow down to a safe speed, like 40mph, and intentionally swerve to find out is there is any continued oscillation of the trailer. If not, increase the speed 5mph and try again. Repeat until you find some fishtailing, keeping below the maximum speed that you might intend to ever travel.
On a road trip recently I was coasting down an Appalachian pass and found myself going 80mph, which I would never do on a flat highway. Fortunately my rig doesn't seem to have a tendency to fishtail. Things like tire pressures and boat loading and maybe even wind can affect that though, so you shouldn't get overconfident.
I've read that leaving the boat on a trailer with the transom extended past the end of the bunkboards can cause a warpage or hook in the hull bottom if the hull isn't designed for that.
Last edited:
