Determining Axle Position on Sailboat Trailer

Updated 06/24/2019 | Published 06/21/2019

Question:

I need help figuring axle placement on a sailboat trailer. The boat is 30’ long and it weight 7000 lbs. there is around 3200 pound weight in the keel. The keel isn’t directly under the center. I’m in Michigan and I’m going to South Carolina to pick it up. If you look up Luger Voyager 30 with a double axle trailer. It might help you. Help me plz

asked by: Todd J

Expert Reply:

In general when positioning a trailer axle you just want to make sure that roughly 10 to 15 percent of the total weight (with the boat loaded) is placed on the tongue. Typically on boat trailers this means the axle(s) will be set further back than on a traditional trailer because the back of the boat is usually heavier.

Getting the ideal placement usually takes a bit of trial and error so it might be a bit difficult to get everything set up perfectly before actually having the sailboat in possession. It might take quite a bit of math to do this without being able to actual weigh the trailer with the boat loaded. My best recommendation is to try and contact the boat manufacturer for detailed weight specs on the sailboat to help guide this process.

I have attached a great article on exactly this subject that goes into a bit more detail on axle placement that you can take a look at as well.

expert reply by: Chris R