Weighing a Teardrop With a Bathroom Scale?

[lala47]

Hello All,

I've been a long time lurker and have gotten a tremendous amount of information from this site during my build over the last two years. Thanks to all.

Anyway, I'm nearing the end of my build- should be finished yet this winter. I'm beginning to worry about what the tongue weight of my TTT will be, which will determine what I mount on the tongue. I will be putting the battery and a small 6 lb. LP tank on the tongue for certain. What I really need to decide is whether or not to mount a spare wheel/tire on the tongue which would add over 40 pounds to the tongue weight. Adding or not adding the spare will determine the design of the platform onto which I'll place the battery and LP tank. I'm ready to start fabricating the platform, hence this post.

To determine my proper tongue weight, I need to know the approximate ultimate weight of the trailer. Even though the trailer is not completely finished, by adding some barbell wieghts here and there to approximate the weight of what's not yet on the build, I think I should be able to get a rough ballpark weight of what the finished trailer will weigh. How do I do that without hauling an unfinished trailer to a local truck scale??? I may have come up with a solution but I'm not really sure if it's valid.

What do you all think of my idea to use a bathroom scale? Sounds kinda nuts, doesn't it. Here's the plan: I have a electronic bathroom scale with a capacity to weigh up to 440 lbs. If the trailer weighs under about 1000 lbs. I think this should work. I'll put together three small platforms that are the same height as the height of the scale which is about 1-1/2”. I'll place those under each of the wheels and also directly under the hitch. The platform under the hitch will have a vertical 2x2 attached that the hitch will rest on. I'll jack up one wheel, remove the platform and replace it with the scale, lower that side of the trailer and record the weight that wheel puts on the scale. I'll then do the same with the other wheel and the hitch and total the three weights. The platforms are used to make sure the attitude/height does not vary when I place the scale in each location. Am I crazy, or is this a valid hypothesis?

Thanks,
Al

[H.A.]

Kx

[Lgboro]

I just popped in a truck stop and paid 4 or 5 dollars and got a true weight. Your county landfill usually has a scale and they might not charge you if they aren't busy. Metal recycle places also have truck scales and may or may not charge you.

[48Rob]

Al,

You aren't crazy, and many of us have done just that.

Rob

[angib]

You have got exactly the right idea about using packer blocks the same height as the scales - if you weight the trailer at three points with the trailer at the same level each time, you'll get an accurate total. If you had the trailer leaning left and right when the part-weights were measured, the result wouldn't be very accurate - a 10% error would be fairly likely.

[ssrjim]

I did mine a a landscape rock place. I asked and it was fine. They had a digital sign so two trips, one with the trailer and one without. The showed it in tons so some math was required. The price was right (free) and it was close to home.

[jonw]

When the transfer station wasn't busy they weighed mine for free. It came out to within 20lbs. of the bathroom scale method.

[rockinrobin]

Actually using a scale under each wheel and the tongue will give you an accurate weight. That is the way we weigh airplanes. I have three scales that go to 1500 lbs each that I use. Even if the plane is not level laterally it will still give an accurate total. However if you lower the nose or tail it will transfer weight from the mains to the tail wheel or nose wheel. We have to have the plane perfectly level for an accurate center of gravity computation. Your trailer needs to be very close to the towing attitude for an accurate tongue weight. Ronnie