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Trailer Help - Tandeem Axel vs Triple Axel

Here's what I have to date. I found that going from 13" to 14" gets me another 600lbs of capacity. The one dealer I was talking to said that it could not be done on the particular trailer I wanted. Another dealer says it can be done and they do it all the time. I can get a tandem axel with 14" D rated tires with a max capacity, after removing the weight of the trailer itself, of 6000lbs. Trailer is 1000lbs. I think that should leave plenty of room of margin based on the varying weight numbers you all have helped me with.


Yes, you can only get E rated tire in 15" as well.


Thanks for all the help.


Any additional input is always welcome.


Thanks everyone!
 
I like the ShoreLand'r PT2567TBB

6700# carrying capacity

15" D rated tires

Tandem, brakes on both

Should be able to get into one for around $6K
 
I'll just throw my 2 cents back in the mix. My trailer has 14" wheels and about 23" frame height, I have 4 times now not been able to get my boat off the trailer depending on the ramp angle. Where we normally boat I have to put in at the marina and then I can manage to load at our regular ramp (before the toon). just make sure your ramp is steep enough for a tall trailer, doesn't matter how good the trip was to get there if you can't get it in the water!
 
Keeping in mind that you have to deduct the actual trailer weight from the overall capacity.  What you have left is what you can put on the trailer.  Thanks for all the input and I have one picked out.
 
MH663 said:
Keeping in mind that you have to deduct the actual trailer weight from the overall capacity.  What you have left is what you can put on the trailer.  Thanks for all the input and I have one picked out.
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I'm not convinced that is true of all brands. When I was working with EZ Loader we worked hard to make sure I got setup with enough capacity. If you'd deducted the weight of the trailer from my first one, it would have only had like a 2600 lb capacity! 
 
bcpnick said:
I'm not convinced that is true of all brands. When I was working with EZ Loader we worked hard to make sure I got setup with enough capacity. If you'd deducted the weight of the trailer from my first one, it would have only had like a 2600 lb capacity! 
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bcpnick, you are absolutely correct. 

Your new trailer has a 5500lb capacity.  That weight limit is without the weight of the trailer included.  Meaning you can put up to a 5500lb boat on it and still be good to go.  If your other trailer had a 2600 lb capacity then you were severely overweight.  Not necessarily because of the trailer itself but the tires. 

My trailer had a capacity of 5400 lbs.  I upgraded to a 14" D rated tire which translate to an almost 6000 lb. capacity.  14" D rated tires has a load capacity of 1760 ea.  That's 7040 lbs of total weight including trailer, boat, towels, coolers or whatever I want to load up on the trailer.  Subtract the trailer weight, 1000 lbs. and I'm at 6000 lbs. of capacity.

According to Bennington, the 2550 GSR has a weight of 3298.  I think it will come in higher than that but have not weighed it yet.  Add the Yammi 250 SHO @ 500lbs and I'm close to 4000 lbs. without any thing else on the boat yet.  I wanted the extra capacity because I think, and as others have suggested, I'm going to be closer to 5K.

That took a long time to type.  Should have had this conversation on the marina with a bourbon.  :D   :rolleyes:   :eek:    Took me long enough to think of that one.

The drink that is.
 
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My last trailer had a listed load capacity of something like 3800, which was it's actual capacity. What I'm saying is is that it did not have the weight of the trailer factored in. I believe there was a separate listing for total combined weight though. 
 
adkboater said:
I tow 320 miles to upstate NY almost every weekend or every other weekend in the summer/winter. I'm using a Karvan trailer with tandem axles and 14" wheels/tires. (I did that same trip for years on 10" wheels on the my snowmobile trailer). The trailer is rated at 5500lbs. You can have issues with any size tire if you don't maintain them..... air pressure, odd wear patterns, dry rot. The biggest PIA is finding a tire at midnight in the middle of nowhere. keep a spare!! tire technology has come a long way and towing on the 13" tires/wheels shouldn't be an issue. The tri-axle trailer may look cool but it's one more axle to maintain, one more set of tires to replace, one more set of tires to drag while making a U-turn, etc, plus the additional weight of the overall trailer depending on you tow vehicle. I'd stick with the tandem and worst case do some research and buy yourself a good set of tires and keep the factory ones for spares.. PS: we have 6 different trailers we tow constantly from 3000lbs to 14,000lbs. all tandems, no issues. My buddy with the tri- axle 6 place sled trailer does nothing but replace tires and work on that darn trailer!!
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Why go 320 miles when Lake Wallenpaupack is only about 90 miles away? LOL
 
That lake's ok, but its nothing like the ADK. Besides the in-laws live in Old Forge so the stay is free!! We actually just run to Beltzville for day trips, that's on about 50 minutes to get on the water.
 
adk, which lake are you on again?  Do you ever make it over to Sacandaga?  If you do call me ahead of time and I will take you out on my boat.
 
We're on the fulton chain of lakes in Old forge. My in laws are on 4th lake, just above Daiker bar/restaurant. I'm always up for a road trip so I might take you up on the


offer!!
 
Following up with actual numbers.  I went to a Pilot Service Center and pulled up on the CAT scale.  The weight slip showed a total weight with trailer of 5360 lbs.  Subtract the 1000 pounds based on the weight slip I received with the purchase of the trailer and I am at 4360 lbs.  This is with motor, dual batteries, battery charger, sub, amp, 2 additional speakers and motor.  No fuel, vest, ski's, etc....


Adding in the motor I should have been in at around 3800 lbs. spec'd. A difference of about 560 lbs.
 
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Just to make sure.  Did you disconnect the trailer from the tow vehicle.  If not some of the weight is transferred to the tow vehicle.  Our rig transfers about 400lbs to the truck. 
 
No I did not.  Would you consider that to be tongue weight?
 
MH663 said:
No I did not.  Would you consider that to be tongue weight?
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Yes, and that is a good way to determine if you have the proper tongue weight also.
 
What I did at the cat scale was pull the truck onto the front two divisions of the scale and the trailer on the 3rd division and get the weight.  It lists 3 weights.  I had positioned the truck so that when I disconnected the trailer the trailer jack was on the back section of the scale with the boat.  Reweighed the rig.  That showed that the trailer was 400lbs heavier and the rear axle weight was 400lb lighter and it transferred very little weight to the front axle.    


Our 22' was 3800lbs loaded without the trailer.  4700lbs trailer and boat with 400lbs of tongue weight.  It could use a little more tongue weight but it tows well so I am not going to move the bumper stand.  
 
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I don't have the numbers in front of me at the moment, but after buying my used benny, 26ft, I discovered the manufacturer of the hustler trailer had it rated far under my boat weight. The trailer is a tandem with 3500 lb axles and 10 tires and had no brakes when I bought it. After calling hustler trailer and the ky D.O.T. department here is what I learned.  Hustler rep said my trailer will handle the weight, and I agree it is plenty heavily constructed, but the lighter rating on the tag is due to the absence of brakes at the time of sale. In other words, he is saying he can't send out a trailer rated for the type of load it can handle if it doesn't have brakes installed, its a liability concern.  I added 4wheel disc brakes, (you can find them for 10" rims!)  but there is no option for getting the tag re-rated. Not every buyer wants brakes, although I don't know why. The ky Dot officer i talked to said they would not be concerned with the trailer rating if I were to get checked on the highway, but they WOULD check my tire max load rating, and issue a ticket if I were not compliant...via their portable scales. I am currently mounting a new set of E rated tires, as the old C rated set are worn and too close to their max load for my comfort. Keep your tires and bearings in top shape and I would think a tandem would be fine. I keep my speeds under 60 when pulling, I can't imagine a previous post that says he pulls 80 to 85 mph on the interstate..I'm a much bigger chicken than he!
 
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