Appropriate Tongue Weight Range for Boat/Trailer with Combined Weight of 6310-lbs

Updated 08/09/2017 | Published 08/08/2017

Question:

I have a tandem axle boat trailer. #3500 axles. Boat and trailer weight is 6310 lbs tongue weight is 820 lbs Total weight on both axles is 5520 lbs Weight on rear axle is 3180 If i try to get the recommended 60/40 split front 60 front 40 rear i think i will end up with way too much tongue weight. Can you please shed some light on my problem or miscalculations. Thankyou

asked by: Curt L

Expert Reply:

In general a properly loaded trailer will have a tongue weight (TW) that is between 12- and 15-percent of its gross weight, its GVWR. Keeping the TW in this range tends to result in the best handling characteristics with the least trailer sway.

On a boat trailer TW can be a bit more complicated. An outboard motor, which naturally hangs at the extreme rear of the trailer, can have a substantial impact on your actual TW. The same boat with a 100-horse motor versus a 300-horse motor will potentially have fairly different TWs and it is possible that you might feel more sway from the trailer with the heavier motor hanging off the back.

Your combined boat/trailer weight of 6310-lbs and your actual TW of 820-lbs tells us your TW is in the 13-percent range, which is fine. If you are not finding that you have sway issues with the trailer's rear end then I would not be concerned about hitting the exact 60/40 weight allocation mark. But if you do find that there is trailer rear-end sway you can try increasing the trailer TW, either by loading the boat a bit further forward on the trailer (if this is possible) or by moving heavier items like gas tanks further forward in the boat so that they increase TW.

expert reply by: Adam R