One flat safety concerns with dual axles?

[180Fisherman]

Re: One flat safety concerns with dual axles?

6000 pounds was just an example. Substitute any weight rating you want it is still the same. take a 3000 pound rated trailer. It could have one 3000 pound axle or 2-1500 pound axles. Do I have to list every combination for you?

I understand the math, pal. But your point is useless since you wont find single and duel axle boat trailers with the same weight rating. Lightest tandem trailer for a 22' boat that I've found is rated at 5200. Jeez. The orginal poster would have no problem trailering a short distance with one flat tire.

 

[109jb]

Re: One flat safety concerns with dual axles?

I understand the math, pal. But since there are neither single axle 6000 lb trailers nor tandem axle 3,000 lb trailers something is missing from your examples. Jeez.

OK. You want specifics. EZ-loader makes a tandem axle 4000 pound trailer. You can't assume it has any more than 2-2000 pound axles without looking at the load rating of the axle itself. It comes with ST175/80R13C tires which could be as low as 1360# load rating each but you can't tell unless you look at the sidewall. Now put a loaded boat on there up to that 4000 pound limit. Many times dealers sell boats with marginal trailers under them to keep package price down so it isn't unreasonable to expect the loaded boat to get right to the trailer rating or even over in some cases. Now put that 4000 pound load on 3 tires and you have overloaded the axles and the single tire on the one side. The load will not be divided equally among the 3 remaining tires. The side with 2 good tires will still carry 1/2 the total load and the single tire on the other side will carry the other 1/2. So now you got a single tire carrying 2000 pounds and it could only be rated for 1360. What you are suggesting is not safe. Clear enough for you, pal.

 

[45Auto]

Re: One flat safety concerns with dual axles?

Lots of good MIS-INFORMATION in this thread. Readers should be aware that in many cases the information they are getting is worth exactly what they paid for it ......

Lightest tandem trailer for a 22' boat that I've found is rated at 5200. Jeez. The orginal poster would have no problem trailering a short distance with one flat tire.

You haven't looked very hard for tandem trailers for 22' boats. Almost every manufacturer starts them around 4000 pounds. And it's nice of you to make that determination for the original poster without knowing anything about the trailer, tire sizes, etc. A 600-700 pound dual axle trailer would be a VERY small trailer. For example, the lightest Easy-Loader dual axle trailer they make weighs about 900 pounds.

And I would not be running a tandem axle trailer without tires rated to carry the load on three.
If four is required to carry the load but not three, I am in worry mode.

Obviously typed by someone who doesn't have a dual-axle trailer, or sell anything for a living. No reason to go to the expense of a dual axle if a single tire on one side is capable of carrying the load. Only way you would be able to carry the load on three tires would be if the single tire was rated to carry MORE THAN DOUBLE it's normal load when all tires are working. In that case most buyers would go with the cheaper option of a single axle.

It's not real hard to figure out, pick any trailer manufacturer website and look at their trailer ratings.

The specs below are from the Venture trailer website (http://www.venturetrailers.com/bunk.html). Pay attention to the load capacities of the trailers and the tire sizes.

The tire specs below are from Trailer Parts Superstore (http://shop.easternmarine.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=catalog.catalog&categoryID=163). A 205-14 LRC is good for 1760 pounds, a 205-15 LRC is good for 1820, and a 225-15 LRD is good for 2540 pounds.

If you compare just the rated trailer CAPACITY on a single side against the load rating of a single tire, it's pretty obvious that in every case the single tire is over loaded, some much more severely than others. And these numbers are actually light, you really need to add the weight of the trailer into the tire load also:

Not too hard for anyone to figure out that in the majority of cases, running on a single tire on a dual-axle trailer has a good chance of overloading the remaining tire. It's up to you to make the decision on whether your boat (and possibly your life) is worth running on that single overloaded tire.

 

[jeeperman]

Re: One flat safety concerns with dual axles?

Read what I posted again.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jeeperman View Post
"And I would not be running a tandem axle trailer without tires rated to carry the load on three.
If four is required to carry the load but not three, I am in worry mode."

I said to carry the load, I said nothing about trying to carry the max load possible for the trailer.
I happen to have a tandem trailer with two 3500lb capacity axles. Equipped with tires rated at 2183lbs load rating each. If I am hauling something that weighs 4000lbs, am I gonna sit on the side of the interstate to change the tire or go another 10 miles on three to an exit where I can do it safely or even buy a new tire ?
That is 2000lbs on the one tire theoretically assuming the load is on the exact longitudinal centerline of the trailer. If the load is 5000lbs, I am in worry mode.

 

[MachSchnell]

Re: One flat safety concerns with dual axles?

A 600-700 pound dual axle trailer would be a VERY small trailer. For example, the lightest Easy-Loader dual axle trailer they make weighs about 900 pounds.

Wow, I think I just learned something here. I can't imagine it's my whole trailer that actually weighs 600-700 pounds. Now, I'm concerned that the weight on the original trailer manufacturer's origination sheet is possibly the tongue weight (685 pounds.) I'm worried that some work recently done which included a new brake cylinder/tongue replacement (rated at 600lbs tongue weight) may be insufficient for the rig. This is a really nice and heavy trailer made by Performance Custom Trailers in Lake George, NY and you can see the photo of it here:

 

[jeeperman]

Re: One flat safety concerns with dual axles?

The only way you will know what it really weighs is to spalsh the boat and take the trailer to a scale.
Look for a bulk landscaping or farm supply place, truck stop, dump etc.

 

[45Auto]

Re: One flat safety concerns with dual axles?

685 pounds ISN'T the tongue weight. That's a small tandem axle trailer, so it probably has pretty light duty tires on it. What size and load range are the tires?

 

[jeeperman]

Re: One flat safety concerns with dual axles?

If the paperwork has 685lbs, I bet it is the trailer weight.
685 would be an odd number to list as the max. tongue weight.
They would round it off to 650 or 600, etc.

 

[MachSchnell]

Re: One flat safety concerns with dual axles?

685 pounds ISN'T the tongue weight. That's a small tandem axle trailer, so it probably has pretty light duty tires on it. What size and load range are the tires?

Whew! That's reassuring. I really thought my trailer seemed more heavy duty. Maybe 685 lbs still isn't too weenie.

My neighbor was able to lift the tongue with a fair amount of effort. We're thinking the tongue weight is somewhere in the 200+/- range. The new tongue/master cylinder added has 660 lbs max tongue weight stamped on it.

I'll be headed to the feed supply sometime soon. It's handy living in farm country.

Thanks again.