Horse trailer question

Hoginedgewood · October 25, 2022

Sorry if this is the wrong place to post this.

so I'm in Ky near Lexington (horse country) been noticing larger horse trailers have the double axles very near the rear of the trailer, so that would greatly increase tongue weight. Wondering why.

Another JR · October 26, 2022

Probably a few reasons, and I’ll guess at them. We had a two horse side by side trailer and its axles were pretty far back. So it’s not just large trailers.
1) it’s a live load that can move on its own potentially initiating sway. You want a lot of margin from a geometry and mass distribution where sway can occur.

2) in the case of three horse diagonal trailers, the designer probably wants to ensure no sway occurs even when improperly loaded with two horses at the rear.
3) when the trailer is empty and you go to load the first horse and all their weight is on the ramp, you don’t want a negative tongue load and a potential hitch release.

These are just somewhat educated guesses.

Fifth wheels and goosenecks tend to have their axles further back because the trucks can take higher pin loads, and because its a better geometry for stability and maneuverabiity.

Edited October 26, 2022 by Another JR

NWStever · October 26, 2022

Another JR -- Excellent analysis and explanation! Kudos!

asilverblazer · October 26, 2022

Basically agree with the above. Also, the quantity and weight of animals being carried can vary, so to keep the tongue weight from becoming too little the axles are further back.

sheath · October 26, 2022

Kentucky is certainly a beautiful place! Traveled there quite a bit while working in central Indiana. Enjoyed & highly recommend a visit to the Hillerich & Bradsby factory in Louisville (where they make the Louisville Slugger bats). Brought home a George "Babe" Ruth replica.

To add a bit as I've pulled livestock and horse trailers, it's a smoother ride for the animals with the axles at the rear. No bouncing the animals around that would be behind the axles if they were mounted further forward.

Which circles around to the stupidity of the SAE capacity sticker GM uses, showing 15% tongue weight max. Takes a lot of truck to be at or below 15% tongue weight on a loaded livestock/horse trailer. A lot more truck than is necessary.