Does anyone know the tongue weight for an M17 on a Pacific trailer? Anyone have brakes installed on their trailer? Tom M17 Obsessus
Hi Tom, based on what the folks at the trailer store and marina told me when I picked up my trailer and then the boat, the tongue weight is dependent on the placement fore or aft of the trailer axle and the relative placement of the boat. The goal is to put enough weight on the tongue to make the tow vehicle easy to control, but not too much for the suspension of the tow vehicle, somewhere in the 10% of the trailer weight range. We set it up so that the center of mass for the boat looked to be forward of the axle a bit. What percentage of the weight is now on the tongue I do not know, but it worked. I am hauling with a full size van so the M-17 is still well within the capabilities of the vehicle. My trailer does not have brakes and does not seem to need them. Some information regarding towing and trailers is at http://www.sherline.com/lmbook.htm#refrn1 and vehicle manufactures such GMC trucks have infor as well online. Hope that helps Robbin Tom and Susan Wilkinson wrote:
Does anyone know the tongue weight for an M17 on a Pacific trailer? Anyone have brakes installed on their trailer? Tom M17 Obsessus _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats
I have no clue as to tongue weight on this boat. I can tell you that I have a Chrysler Macho van (we don't like that word mini) and the rear drops about an inch when the boat is hooked up. The 3.3 V6 is OK but is no power house. The trailer has surge brakes and I am very happy it does. They work quite well. I am quite sure this van would not work as a tow vehicle without the brakes. Tim D M17 #369
The tongue weight for any trailer should be about 10% of the total weight of boat and trailer together; e.g., ~200 lb for a 2000 lb boat and trailer combination. --Gary Hyde Pullman, WA gmhyde1@mac.com M17 sailboat #637 'Hydeaway 2' We can't change the wind, but we can trim our sails. On Oct 24, 2006, at 6:52 AM, Timtone wrote:
I have no clue as to tongue weight on this boat. I can tell you that I have a Chrysler Macho van (we don't like that word mini) and the rear drops about an inch when the boat is hooked up. The 3.3 V6 is OK but is no power house. The trailer has surge brakes and I am very happy it does. They work quite well. I am quite sure this van would not work as a tow vehicle without the brakes.
Tim D M17 #369
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Tom, Tongue weight of Endelig on a Trail-right trailer is 205 lbs. We pull with a 6 cylinder Jeep Grand Cherokee and have no trouble going or stopping. Bill M-17 # 279 Endelig ____________________________ William Sylvester wmcsyl1@cox.net
I know Larry Yake had brakes installed last winter. I bet he can give you lots of information. t Tom Smith & Jane Van Winkle M17 #496 -- dharma bum -----Original Message----- From: montgomery_boats-bounces+tsmith=nextit.com@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:montgomery_boats-bounces+tsmith=nextit.com@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Tom and Susan Wilkinson Sent: Monday, October 23, 2006 10:30 PM To: For and about Montgomery Sailboats Subject: M_Boats: Tongue wt. Does anyone know the tongue weight for an M17 on a Pacific trailer? Anyone have brakes installed on their trailer? Tom M17 Obsessus _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats
Tom, it took me a while to do the math but 10% of the total weight of trailer and boat (I believe I saw 2400lbs listed on MSOG) would be within the capabilities of most scales. I have not tried it but a regular bathroom scale could measure in the 200-250lbs range I would assume. Maybe this would be an approach. Just ease it down with the trailer jack using a 2x4 or 4x4 to land on the scale. Robbin M-17 #601 Tom and Susan Wilkinson wrote:
Does anyone know the tongue weight for an M17 on a Pacific trailer? Anyone have brakes installed on their trailer? Tom M17 Obsessus _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats
Yes, I used a bathroom scale under the tongue to adjust the tongue weight on my new M17 last year. Initially it was ~365 lb, so I had to move the trailer axle forware ~13 inches to get the tongue weight down to ~200 lb. The trailer hitch on the towing vehicle and/or the towing vehicle owner's manual should specify maximum tongue weight and trailer weight to be towed. --Gary Hyde Pullman, WA gmhyde1@mac.com M17 sailboat #637 'Hydeaway 2' We can't change the wind, but we can trim our sails. On Oct 24, 2006, at 10:25 AM, Robbin Roddewig wrote:
Tom, it took me a while to do the math but 10% of the total weight of trailer and boat (I believe I saw 2400lbs listed on MSOG) would be within the capabilities of most scales. I have not tried it but a regular bathroom scale could measure in the 200-250lbs range I would assume. Maybe this would be an approach. Just ease it down with the trailer jack using a 2x4 or 4x4 to land on the scale.
Robbin M-17 #601
Tom and Susan Wilkinson wrote:
Does anyone know the tongue weight for an M17 on a Pacific trailer? Anyone have brakes installed on their trailer? Tom M17 Obsessus _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats
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Here's a little more on trailer weight adjustments, for anyone who may need further information. What follows is drawn from the extensive efforts I've made to get boat/trailer combinations up to 4,000 pounds to trailer properly: Proper tongue weight is essential to comfort, the ability to trailer the boat at high speeds, and safety. The effect of too much tongue weight is a sort of lurching or bucking motion (up and down, fore and aft) felt in the tow vehicle. The effect of too little is fishtailing by the trailer, which will be felt in the tow vehicle as a side-to-side tugging and, in any case, can be seen in the rear-view mirror, especially coming out of a curve. The heavier the boat in relation to the tow vehicle, the greater the issue, so getting the tongue weight into the optimum range will be more critical for an M-17 towed behind a small car than for an M-15 towed behind a large SUV. If your combined trailering weight is high enough that 10% will not register on a bathroom scale (or if your scale is simply not accurate in the higher ranges), you can go to a weigh station and first weigh your car without the trailer attached and then weigh the car (just the car) with the trailer attached. The difference between the two weights is the tongue weight. Alternatively, you can construct two piles of bricks (or books or whatever) equidistant from both sides of your trailer tongue, such that they are the same height when the bathroom scale is set on top of one of the piles. Then put a piece of wood across the top of the two piles and lower the trailer receiver down onto the wood exactly in the center between the two piles. Using this system, the scale will register one-half of the tongue weight, and you can double it to get the figure to evaluate against the 10% rule. Note that different trailer/vehicle combinations may perform better with slightly differing percentages. Once you settle on the desired weight, go out driving under fairly extreme conditions (high speeds with hills and curves). If the boat bucks, reduce the tongue weight. If it fishtails, increase it. Otherwise, as long as the tongue weight is within the range specified for your vehicle and hitch, you are fine. Using these methods, you should be able to trailer comfortably at speeds up to 70 mph or a little more on super highways, even with a heavy boat (assuming a well-matched tow vehicle). You may not be able to control fishtailing no matter how you adjust things much beyond 70. At high speed, coming over a hill and starting down while going into a curve at the same time will give you the acid test. The majority of drivers, I think, will be content with being able to trailer comfortably at speeds up to 70 mph on super highways. You could probably go faster with an M-15 behind a vehicle which weighs significantly more than the boat and trailer, but that will depend, among other things, on your tolerance for risk. -- Jeff Mirus Precision 23 Owner Montgomery Fan
participants (7)
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Gary M Hyde -
Jeffrey Mirus -
Robbin Roddewig -
Timtone -
Tom and Susan Wilkinson -
Tom Smith -
William Sylvester