ATV Florida Forum

When I trailer my bikes I have to turn one sideways, should the sideways bike be at the front or the back of the trailer?

DEPENDS ON A COUPLE OF THINGS??
 
  NUMBER 1 FOR ME IS TOUNGE WEIGHT

Well it is a single axel Utility Trailer with a 1 foot rails , max weight was rated over 2k...I can not remember what the tongue was rated for....

I would put the sideways quad the the front. Not sure why I would, guess it just looks better to me doin down the road, lol.

If you put the front quad on sideways, you will be forcing more of the weight to the front, which is what you want.  I think the rule of thumb is 60% of the weight in front of the axles, and 40% in the back

I just think its easier to load the last bike in sideways so you have room to play with near the end. Thats just my opinion.

I was always told to watch the tongue weight. It should be 5% of the total weight pulled.

Example;       trailer  750#
                   quad   600#
                   quad   450#

            total   1800#   5%= 90# on the tongue.

That seems like a very low tongue weight. I would think more like 10-15% but I could be wrong. But yes, it is most important to worry about tongue weight and what your tow vehicle can handle on the tongue.

Might be low, but that's what I was told when I got my boat. It weighs about 3000# loaded, so about 150# on the tongue has worked for years.

I would agree with the comments about tongue weight

10% is the number that I always heard but I always have big trucks so pile on the tongue weight, the more the better :)

I always just piled as much weight as I could up front to keep the trailer from swaying,,,,nearly tipped over on the highway once in a Bronco II when the trailer started swaying,,,,not gonna go there again.

Id@

Put your heaviest quad over the axle, Put your lightest quad up front but as close to the axle as possible, You may need to move your biggest quad back a hair to counter the weight in the front depending on how far forward you front quad sits. Moose and Chillen are correctsomewhere between 5-10% is where you should be for tongue weight.

I found a link to Shoreline Trailers. For non-commercial they say for single axle, 10%-15% at the tongue for best trailering. Hope this helps everyone.


http://www.sherline.com/lmbook.htm#refrn9


TYPE OF TRAILER          PERCENT OF WT. ON TONGUE


Single Axle                   10% minimum/15% maximum

Tandem Axle                  9% to 15%

Travel Trailer                11% to 12%

5th Wheel                    15% to 25%

i got a 6x12 and i got a rancher,300ex,recon should i put my recon and the 300ex in the trailer and put the rancher in the back of the truck or what combo should i do for the best pulling and ride control ?

Id@'s got it right. I have extensive experience trailering boats. More weight ahead of the axle so the trailer doesn't sway.

usually a SAFE tongue weight is 300 LBs........
load the quads (allow plenty of time to re-arrange them)......
take the bath room scale and put in under the tongue
of the trailer. If it reads 250- 300LBs...you got it.
  If it says 301LBs or more...you have to much weight forward.
 These numers are just "go by" weights. 
  You have to determine what the tongue weight for your trailer
is and the load the trailer accordingly.
  Allot of thing can come into play of course.........trailer, hitch, tow vehicle size..........
  but thinking about my F-150.........one quad sideways in front, two loaded over the axle might seem about right.

      Chuck

if she fish tales ya need more front wt play with how u load it untill u have just enouph wt up front to keep it trailering good at high speed

Thanks guys I Solved the problem I put one  quad at the front of the trailer sideways and the other quad T-boning it at the rear....I was having major issues with swaying back and forth after 50 mph....problem solved...thanks.