How to weight sailboat on trailer?

Question

I once found a website that detailed a method of weighing a boat on a trailer using a bathroom scale. Anyone know the website or how to? All I remember was weighing tougue weight with fixed distance to keel, then moving 6 inches forward and reweighing. seems to me there must be a formula.

Answer 1

?

My toe hurts.

Answer 2

I'd love to know how it is done. After all, most bathroom scales only go to 300 pounds.

Answer 3

Doug,

If you have a small sail boat, try weighing the wheel and then the tongue. Add twice the wheel plus the tongue, and then reweigh without the boat, and subtract the weight of the trailer.

It would be easier to weigh the trailer wheels at a commercial scale, and use the bathroom scale to determine the tongue weight, and then use the bathroom scales to weigh the trailer wheels.

Regards,

Dan

Answer 4

http://windmillclass.myfleet.org/static/...

Answer 5

Many of the big truck stops have scales.  They will weigh it for free or maybe a small fee. Find one in your area and weigh boat and trailer first, then weigh trailer without boat.

Answer 6

I found a few sites that talk about this method (Google "weigh boat bathroom scale").  

If you have a good relationship with a local company that has a truck scale, you could politely ask if they can help you out.  If they're not busy at the time, and you buy them lunch (read: slip them a twenty), they could tell you the weight of boat and trailer.  Then, make a second trip with just the trailer.  Since they use the scale to determine costs/charges by weight, the scale is regularly calibrated and will be quite accurate.  Some examples are the local landfill/recycling center, larger construction companies, or even local/state police weigh stations.  I was able to weigh a camper at the local landfill this way, to determine if I could safely/legally tow it with my Jeep.