Our method of measuring hitch weight for smaller trailers.

[Voyageurs]

Hi folks. Last contribution before hitting the road on our 6 province, 11000 kilometre, 8 week tour. Not sure on how easy it will be to upload stuff while on the road. Guess we’ll find out.

Anyway. Doing our last checks. We have been towing a long time and have always checked out various weights often. Hitch weight, trailer weight, tow vehicle weight and axle weights. We had some difficulty and inconsistency using the various hitch weight scales available on the market so we decided to go another route. And heads up, this method kind of only works with small light weight trailers. But since that is the case and since we are close to the hitch weight limits of our tow vehicle we went this route. We got a fat guy scale off of Amazon. Good for 400 pounds. We use a small Jack stand and simply lower the hitch onto the Jack stand which is on the scale. Accurate to within a few pounds. We are showing 340 pounds here.

Anyway. Here are a few pics. That’s our contribution to the board today.

Safe travels all.

And of course the obligatory picture of our combo at our newest favourite camping spot on Mabel lake provincial park.

 

[Bob K4TAX]

Well that method with a bit of physics applied works.

I use a 4" x 4" about 4 ft long. Mark one end 6" from the end. Then a 2nd mark 12" from the first mark, and then a 3rd mark 36" from that one. Place the first mark on a block of wood with a piece of 1" metal pipe accurately under the mark. Then where the 3rd mark is located, again a 1" piece of metal pipe centered on the scale. Then let the tongue down accurately over the 2nd mark which is 12" from the 1st mark. Read the scale and multiply by 4. Now you have tongue weight.

^----------^----------------------^
6"................12".....................................36"

You can re-balanced the scale with the 4" x 4" sitting there if you wish. The error will be nil.

 

[Voyageurs]

Well that method with a bit of physics applied works.

I use a 4" x 4" about 4 ft long. Mark one end 6" from the end. Then a 2nd mark 12" from the first mark, and then a 3rd mark 36" from that one. Place the first mark on a block of wood with a piece of 1" metal pipe accurately under the mark. Then where the 3rd mark is located, again a 1" piece of metal pipe centered on the scale. Then let the tongue down accurately over the 2nd mark which is 12" from the 1st mark. Read the scale and multiply by 4. Now you have tongue weight.

^----------^----------------------^
6"................12".....................................36"

You can re-balanced the scale with the 4" x 4" sitting there if you wish. The error will be nil.

That is a great method and we have used it to measure a heavier trailers hitch weight. Pretty accurate as well.

Cool illustration.

 

[joyful]

I was wondering if this method can be used for those campers that have much heavier tongue. Say one that might be expected to be 800-1000# by using a much longer 4x4 to get the scale farther away from the tongue?

 

[Bob K4TAX]

Yes, you can use a longer 4 x 4. Depending on the position of the scale relative to the hitch and the hitch relative to the support, the math ratio will change.

Here is a link that will do the calculation for you. Just fill in the blanks.

Lever Mechanical Advantage Equation and Calculator Case #2

This lever mechanical advantage equation Case #2 and calculator will determine the force required for equilibrium with the known forces and length.

www.engineersedge.com