Trailer Weight

Cox

Seaman
Joined
Sep 19, 2008
Messages
65
My Wife and I moved to PA recently and I'm working on getting my trailer registered. I need to have an inspection before they'll register me and they need to know the unladen weight of it. I cannot find documentation anywhere to tell me that as I bought the rig used. It's a 1986 Tracker Trailer which came with the 1986 Tracker Guide V-16. If anyone out there has the same or similar and you have some documentation that might help me out please let me know. Unfortunately I don't have water immediately nearby to dock my boat or I'd just float it and bring the trailer over to be weighed. Any ideas???
 

JoshOnt

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Aug 12, 2013
Messages
487
If an approx weight works then I would look online to find a similar new trailer and use that weight.
 

Frank Acampora

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Jan 19, 2007
Messages
12,004
The only time you need to have a boat trailer inspected is if you try to register it as home-built. Then, you need to show receipts for all the materials.

They are also going to require a VIN. Since you don't have the trailer weight you probably don't have the plate with gross weight and VIN. If you are lacking a VIN, make one out of aluminum and stamp some numbers into it. Then permanently attach to the frame. If it is for a 16 foot boat, the gross weight should be around 2500-2800 pounds and trailer weight would be around 800 pounds.

Without paperwork be prepared for a lot of aggravation and exasperation. You may not even be able to register and title it.. In the last ten years, PENDOT has gotten a lot more strict with trailer registration.

If you happen to have a good working relationship with an instant tag place it MIGHT make things a little easier.


Edit: If you know the forum doesn't recommend posting illegal activity, why do you post it? This isn't the first time......

WIMUSKY
 
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Outsider

Lieutenant Junior Grade
Joined
Apr 24, 2007
Messages
1,022
I need to have an inspection before they'll register me and they need to know the unladen weight of it.

Uhhh, take it to a truck stop and have it weighed? Call Bass Pro Shop and ask them the weight of a trailer they would put under a comparable boat? Wiout a VIN, you problem expands, but it's not insurmountable ... :joyous:
 

Frank Acampora

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Jan 19, 2007
Messages
12,004
Why did I post it? Simple: I wasn't telling him what to do, I was just saying what I do. Sure, he can infer and take any action he deems necessary. Secondly, this whole forum (iboats) will not let me delete my inbox and outbox since the "improvement". Consequently I can not send or receive a private message as I would have preferred to do. I have mentioned this problem to moderators a couple of times in the past with no correction and simply gave up trying.
 

Cox

Seaman
Joined
Sep 19, 2008
Messages
65
I do have the title and I do have the VIN. The title does not show weight. I called BPS and spoke to the guys in service who called Tracker directly and were told they do not have access to information that old. What I'm being told by both the folks responsible for letting me register and the trailer weighing shop they sent me to is that they have to have the weight of the trailer, without the boat on it. My next thought is to try a marina. At least they should have the equipment to hook the boat up to a strap/hoist and take it off the trailer. Then I just have to hope they can weigh it or are close enough to the trailer shop and would allow me to run over and have it weighed. Any other legit ideas I'm all ears. Thanks.
 

Cox

Seaman
Joined
Sep 19, 2008
Messages
65
That's why I was hoping maybe someone has a similar rig which actually shows the trailer weight on the paperwork.
 

Cox

Seaman
Joined
Sep 19, 2008
Messages
65
Great advice. I've done it before, when I restored the boat, but it's been a while and I'd prefer not to have to go that route. May be the only option though. Thanks for the reminder.
 

H20Rat

Vice Admiral
Joined
Mar 8, 2009
Messages
5,199
You are over thinking it. Take a picture of it... I highly doubt they need it accurate to the pound, and once you have a picture, we could identify a similar trailer. 800# is a very, very high estimate, looking at a very similar boat on a shorelandr trailer (alumacraft 165 classic), the trailer comes out at 450 pounds. Unless your trailer is a really unusual design, it is going to be +/- 50# of that.
 

roscoe

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Oct 30, 2002
Messages
21,657
Factory Tracker trailers are not very heavy.

Pick a number that looks reasonable and write it down.

Looks like 485# is a good number to me.
If it has spare tire and guide posts, then 537#.

Just MHO.
 

Outsider

Lieutenant Junior Grade
Joined
Apr 24, 2007
Messages
1,022
Call Bass Pro Shop and ask them the weight of a trailer they would put under a V-16 Tracker?

Did you ask this question? Web says trailer for a V-16 new is about 1250#, sound a little heavy to me so ask a Tracker dealer who has something in stock ...
 

NYBo

Admiral
Joined
Oct 23, 2008
Messages
7,107
Web says trailer for a V-16 new is about 1250#, sound a little heavy to me so ask a Tracker dealer who has something in stock ...
Way high. That sounds more like the trailer capacity, not the weight.:noidea:
 

smokeonthewater

Fleet Admiral
Joined
Dec 3, 2009
Messages
9,838
If you folks will reread his first post, I'm pretty sure, he isn't looking for a guessed or even known weight of his trailer, he's looking for an official document with trailer weight.... he needs proof, either a document from the manufacturer with the year and model number of the trailer OR a weigh slip from his local scale. The number alone will do him no good without the paper.
 
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roscoe

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Oct 30, 2002
Messages
21,657
smokeonthewater;n10000996[B said:
]If you folks will reread his first post[/B], I'm pretty sure, he isn't looking for a guessed or even known weight of his trailer, he's looking for an official document with trailer weight.... he needs proof, either a document from the manufacturer with the year and model number of the trailer OR a weigh slip from his local scale. The number alone will do him no good without the paper.

Actually no, he did not say he needs proof or an official document from manufacturer with model number.

If he needs an official document or a weigh slip, then he needs to ask for that specifically. And if thats the case, he knows the answer is to dump the boat and weigh the trailer. But even then, it won't be any type of official document, it will just be a weigh slip.

He said ""and they need to know the unladen weight of it"".

He asked for info on "the same or similar" and also "any ideas".
 
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