I have a boat on the back of my 28 ' flatbed. It's an 18 foot boat and loaded on backwards. The axle of the boat is about even with the FRONT axle of my trailer. There is a LITTLE bit of levering going on and I don't feel comfortable driving it long distances.

Is it safe to counter this weight by putting say... 1000# or more of dead weight right up against the front of my trailer or even in my bed?

Someone suggest I use tube sand that can be purchased at home depot.

 

I'm tryin to understand how you have this boat loaded because as far as I know boats don't have axles

Is the boat on a trailer and the boat and trailer are on the flatbed backward

If this is the case.....then be sure the boat is securely tied down to the boat trailer...then secure the boat trailer to the flatbed with ratchet straps the tongue must be on something solid like a 12x12 block and secured with straps.....I try to tighten the straps to take the bounce outta the suspension of the boat trailer chain load binders work the best (they dont snap like straps can)

Try to think of loading a flatbed like this.....if you turned the trailer upside down and shook it what would fall off....if you loaded the trailer with all the weight behind the axles the load will be unbalanced and unsafe you will need weight on the front of the trailer not in the bed of the truck....the best way to load a flat bed is even weight over the axles

Good luck and keep it safe

 

Rather then adding more weight, why not just move the boat farther forward on your flatbed?

 

Hmm. Yes it is on a trailer and I can't move it any further forward. It is ratcheted down with 5 straps on each side.

It's a gooseneck trailer, so as far as I can think, putting weight in the bed is going to have more leverage than putting weight in the front of the flatbed since it is further forward.

 

Adding weight in the bed of your truck will not fix your problem. You will have to add weight in the forward end of your trailer. The trailer is what has to be balanced, with more weight toward the front to provide proper tongue weight.

 

Have you weighed the setup to see what the pin weight and axle weights are?

Adding weight to the front of the trailer will help your balance but also add deadweight to your load.

Its too bad you just cannot untie the boat/trailer and move the whole thing forward. Your brakes may thank you for it.

 

Did I miss something or was part of this deleted?


: Eddie :

 

This post reminds me of a lesson I learned "back in the day" I was working as a repo man. We used two wheeled dollys to drag off or vehicles. I was driving a 1ton drw Dodge with the 2wheeler in tow behind. One night I snagged an F150 (not a huge or overly heavy load) but big enough to teach me one hell of a lesson. I backed the 2 wheel drive truck onto the dolly, secured the steering wheel and took off down I44. My truck started bucking really hard, nearly sending me off the road I dont think I ever reached more than 50mph. Jumped outta the truck retightened everything and tried to get it down the road a lil farther. Finally I had to call my boss and ask him what to do. He told me the weight (front with the engine) was all to the rear, and the middle / hitch area had very little weight, causing my violent whip. I switched the truck around, transfering the load to the dolly and the hitch. This totally fixed my problem My point here is I was very lucky and I could have easily killed somebody or even myself. Using a counter weight on the TRAILER will help as long as your counter weight is heavier than the trailing load. Always always always put the heaviest part of your load forward and the lighter part near the back. Watch the "big rigs" hauling flat beds, they always have the heaviest part towards the front. Hope this helps.

Aaron

 

I ended up putting 1K on the front of the trailer, it helped but not a lot.

Before I got far, my trailer got snagged on a lamp post foundation concealed by snow at a Burger King. The funny thing is that the front trailer axle drove over it and the rear trailer axle got wrapped around it like a U. Ended up just towing the stupid boat out and cancelling my other jobs. Luckily that wasn't my TRUCK axle.