What Should Tongue Weight Be of Trailer that Carries Boat

Published 10/11/2021

Question:

I have a small but very strong boat trailer. Class III with 2 inch ball and says tow up to 5000 lbs and no more that 700 lbs. tongue weight. Empty trailer tongue weight is 150 lbs. now. If I load a 1000 lbs. Boat and outboard, what should my tongue be ? Trailer weighs about 500 lbs. I can change the tongue weight by where I place the boat on the trailer and lock it down - what ideal tongue weight should I work to get ?

asked by: Randy G

Expert Reply:

Ideally your tongue weight needs to be between 10 and 15 percent of your trailer's total weight. That lines up with your trailer being able to tow up to 5,000 lbs and up to 700 lbs tongue weight.

So with boat trailers you can get a larger percentage difference between unloaded and loaded since boats typically carry most of their weight at the rear and the axle location is based on that. So if your trailer weighed 500 lbs and you put a 1,000 lb boat on it you'd ideally want your tongue weight to be between 150 and 250 lbs give or take.

expert reply by: Jameson C