Trailer Axle placement

[D.Bird]

Need some advice on moving my walkin beam, there is no more adjustment forward unless i put another hole in the main beam. I think as of now I have to much weight on my hitch.View attachment 210008

 

[nparch726]

I used to build car hauler and utility type trailers, the general rule of thumb was to place the center of the axles so there was 60% of the trailer forward and 40" of the trailer rearward of the axle center.

In your case on a tandem axle, the center of the axles should be somewheres near the center spring hanger on the trailer frame.

Good looking setup, do you use that just for yourself or do you use it commercially?

 

[RVALUE]

That would be 60 % of the LOAD. Not the trailer. In this case, the loader may not be as heavy as the logs.

Since you have it complete (vs building it) you could eyeball it or put it on a scale, loaded.

You could use jackstands to simulate the movement of the axles, while not moving them.

 

[RVALUE]

You could put a bathroom scale on the tongue (unhooked) and get an idea of how heavy it is.

 

[nparch726]

good point on calculating the actual weight when you figure the 60%, i guess i didn't spell that out that well

 

[cantoo]

With this and most types of trailers it depends on how you load it. Using that trailer and those logs if you piled them differently it would still be fine for tongue weight. Put all the butt ends to the back, center them farther back and it will change the weight on the tongue. By the looks of the trailer axle placement it would be better suited to logs that are about 2' or more longer than what you have on it. Take a look at other trailers like that online and you will see how they are loaded, balance the logs to get the correct tongue weight.

 

[WOODplay]

1" per foot of trailer back from center.

Find the center of the trailer and move the axle back 1" per foot of trailer.

For intstance if you have a 10 ft long trailer then move the axle back 10" from center.
Or a 18 ft long would be 18" back from center.

Good luck and hope this helps.

 

[WoodTick007]

1" per foot of trailer back from center.

Find the center of the trailer and move the axle back 1" per foot of trailer.

For intstance if you have a 10 ft long trailer then move the axle back 10" from center.
Or a 18 ft long would be 18" back from center.

Good luck and hope this helps.

When you say 10ft or 18ft are you referring to the length of the deck/cargo area or the overall length of the trailer from the front of the coupler to the end of the cargo deck.

 

[brenndatomu]

When you say 10ft or 18ft are you referring to the length of the deck/cargo area or the overall length of the trailer from the front of the coupler to the end of the cargo deck.

Doubt your gonna get an answer from him...he hasn't been on here since 2012. Good question though

 

[muddstopper]

Since the original poster hasnt been here in about 13 years, I will take a stab at answering your question. Move the axle back of center 1 inch for every foot of the trailer bed, not including the tongue. To make the math simple, take the length of the trailer (in inches),and multiply by 0.6 and that will tell you how far back to place the axle. With a double axle, you mount the center spring hanger at the 0.6 mark. As for trying to place the axle according to how you load the trailer, bull crap, you place the load centered over the axle and this will maintain your 60/40 split. Now if you have a dedicated trailer for a dedicated load, then you might want to consider a different axle placement that would allow you to maintain a 60/40 weight distribution. Otherwise, stick with the trailer lenght x 0.6=axle center, or one inch back of center for every foot of trailer length= axle center.