There has been a discussion about the proper loading of three horse bumper pull trailers. There have been many statements made, that may not be applicable to your rigs. Each trailer manufacturer builds his equipment a bit differently from another. Each brand of truck tows and handles differently than another. The combination can result in many different applications, and a lack of set rules.

I have been accused of "aytypical loading practices" and "improper loads" and not knowing what "balance" means. A self proclaimed expert, yawn, has stated that I don't know what or where a center of gravity should be.

As a commercial aircraft mechanic, certified and licensed by the federal government, I worked daily on airplanes that had to be balanced in pitch, yaw and roll. CGs, datum points, load control, fuel, baggage and freight loads were a daily working environment. As an owner of my boat building business, I had to know about trim, CG, roll and pitch. I personally set up and supervised the CGs and trim of many boat trailers. I have towed a myriad of vehicles for 47 years, from small trailers to commercial aircraft that weigh a quarter million pounds. I don't know everything, but I know when a tow vehicle is being strained, and when a trailer is pulling correctly. 

All my hype means nothing to your horse going down the road. What it does mean, is that I know some exercises that you can use to determine the correct loading for your horses in your trailer.

The first issue is the term "bumper pull". This means the weight of the trailer is being pulled by the towing vehicle and not carried, as with a GN hitch. Look at the ball of your hitch. What's under it? AIR. There's no truck bed, the nearest suspension if it's a pickup, is the shackle bolts at the end of the rear leaf spring, a few feet away. If it's a SUV with coil springs, the last support is near the rear wheel. That's why the tongue rating of a BP towing vehicle is so low.

You will need an hour or so of time, a patient pair of horses and a good piece of road for testing. The best road will involve a decent turn, and the ability to travel at highway speeds. When you first pulled your trailer home empty, how did it behave? Did it track well? Did it follow you through the corners without weaving or fishtailing? If it did, your trailer is well set up with a minimal amount of tongue weight.

The best test of tracking is to approach a curve and while turning, apply the brakes. As you exit the turn, apply the throttle and wiggle the steering wheel. Did the trailer again track well? As you accelerate to highway speeds, is it still stable or does it start to weave at higher speeds? If it behaved, half the battle is over. If it didn't, ballast or auxiliary devices will be needed to fix the problem.

My trailer was a three horse Corn Pro with an 18' box. It balanced on its axles. How do I know this? With the tongue jack retracted, it would sit level and not fall on its nose. The weight was biased towards the front axle. My center stall was over the two axles. With one horse, it would be placed in the center of the trailer, and I would pull it as if it were empty. It would track perfectly.

The first step after you have determined that your trailer is pulling properly empty, is to load a singular horse. Load it in your center stall and drive your course. At the end, move your horse to the front stall and repeat the course. Which did you like better? Was the towing vehicle more loaded with the horse in the front stall? Did you notice any better or poorer handling of one position over another? This is the way you can determine which is best for your circumstances.

Now you are going to do the same thing with two horses. The first trial will involve loading your heaviest horse in the front stall, and the second lighter horse in the rear stall, with nothing in the center. Again, drive your course and pay particular attention to the trailer handling in braking, in and out of the turns and its stability at speed. Return to your starting point, and move the rearward horse to the center position.

At this point you should carefully inspect your rig before you drive the course. Check the ride height of your hitch, the weight on and the profile of your tires, and the remaining suspension travel of your vehicle. You will now have a great deal of weight on the trailer's tongue and may exceed the towing weight of the vehicle. If all looks well, try your course again and determine which loading configuration feels the best. I suspect it will be the initial testing.

When I loaded my trailer, a single horse went into the center stall. With two horses, the heaviest was placed in the forward stall, the lightest in the rear. With three horses, the heaviest was placed in the center stall, the next heaviest was in the forward position and the lightest loaded in the back.

I towed the trailer with three different vehicles, and never needed any aids for load control or directional stability. Your results may be different, but at least by trying these tests, you can determine what is the best for your needs, by the expenditure of only a little time.

Buy what you need to correct any faults only after you determine any problems. A two horse BP is a completely different trailer than the three, and trying to make loading comparisons between them is superfluous. Don't solely rely on another person's results that doesn't share your rig, load and accessories.

Best of luck   Gard

OK, I won't.  

You might want to read them very carefully before relying on them to be correct.

Master blatherer is at it again, the trailer below is an 18 ft. Corn pro trailer that the master of horseturds claims is balanced on the axles.

 Now granted, I just went to college for a year or two(kinda fuzzy about those days) but I believe if you remove the jack from this trailer the tounge will hit the ground. But, we are all grown ups here and can decide for ourselves, feel the love ole Gardy........

Here's another picture of the magical balancing trailer......

Just remove the jack, it will sit there balanced, ask ole Gardy the smartest guy on here, he'll tell ya.

...................As a commercial aircraft mechanic, certified and licensed by the federal government, I worked daily on airplanes that had to be balanced in pitch, yaw and roll. CGs, datum points, load control, fuel, baggage and freight loads were a daily working environment. As an owner of my boat building business, I had to know about trim, CG, roll and pitch. I personally set up and supervised the CGs and trim of many boat trailers. I have towed a myriad of vehicles for 47 years, from small trailers to commercial aircraft that weigh a quarter million pounds. I don't know everything, but I know when a tow vehicle is being strained, and when a trailer is pulling correctly.................................................

Remind me not to fly in planes you have repaired, or go boating in boats that you have manufactured. Horseturds, just Horseturds.

I guess a rebuttal is necessary for those disbelievers.

Superfluous: "unnecessary", "not needed" are a couple of the definitions found for this word. A two horse BP trailer has very limited loading options, and they will not effect a drastic balancing difference. If it's a straight loading trailer, the horses always stand in the same relation to the axles and hitch. There is no alternative. If the trailer is a two horse slant load, the single horse always goes in the front stall, never alone in the rear. Again there are no alternatives.

A three horse trailer, as I previously discussed, has several loading options based on the number of horses being carried. Again as I discussed, their placements will be determined by your equipment and which positions will effect your best ride. With one trailer you have choices in loading, the other you do not. Superfluous, when used in this context, is an excellent word to describe the lack of similarity in the loading of the two different trailers.

Tongue weight on the BP trailer differs with the height of the hitch. As I stated, when my trailer was unhooked and empty, the jack could be retracted and the hitch would not settle on the ground. As the hitch was raised to the position of coupling to the ball, the hitch weight would increase proportionately. I have my hitches set, so that an unloaded trailer's tongue couples 4" higher than when the frame of the trailer is level. What the weight is at that point is unknown; I never weighed it, I had no reason to. It was heavier than I could lift, and the amount of weight was the very reason for the installation of the trailer's tongue jack in the first place. Whatever it was, was ideal, as the trailer performed well empty or loaded.. Simple physics will explain that as the front of the trailer is lifted and the weight is lightened on the front axle, the tongue weight will increase.

How may I ask, is an empty trailer sitting on a level parking area, waiting to be hooked up, a danger to itself or anyone else?

Thank you for insinuating that I haven't pulled any trailers. Your insight and personal knowledge of my life is overwhelming.

If you elect to show photos of a trailer as an example to show ridicule and displeasure, please find one of an early 90's model. You will find some structural differences over the years from my ownership to the newest models. I wish mine looked that well.

Lastly and most importantly: I am not a liar. I have no reason to try to deceive people whom I have never met and who treat me well. I don't like fabrications, and dislike people who use them as a crutch. I also don't belittle people or use kindergarten names, in a vain effort to boost my own ego. If a person is not man enough to carry on a civilized conversation, his blather becomes an condescending irritant, and not worthy of attention.

Gard

So now you are telling us that Corn Pro must have had a design change, as it's very obvious the above trailers WILL NOT sit there and do the magical balancing act. Let's assume this is true, why would they change something that as you say was perfect? Maybe you should send them your blatherings so they will go back to the early 90's style trailer. Coming from a guy with the life experiences that you have they will surely do a recall on all of these unfit trailers in the pictures.

There are no 'options' for safely loading a 3H either.......but I digress.  So from your other posts you apparently understand you need 10% tongue weight.  Now with an empty trailer that pulls well, we will assume it to be the necessary 10% (although we will never know about your magic Cornpro).  Load a horse in the middle over the axles, you claim nothing changes.....no handling problems.  Not ideal but I don't doubt someone could get away with it.  Load two horses, one in the front and one in the rear to "balance" the trailer.  So how does the tongue weight go up to maintain the necessary 10%?  You have increased the trailer weight by at least 50%, yet no increase in tongue weight?????????? 

There is NO way such a trailer would pull safely.  One horse in the front and one horse in the middle is the correct/safe way to load two animals, PERIOD.  If the truck squats too much, then get a bigger truck or a WDH.  Altering a standard load pattern to alleviate "vehicle strain" is a good way to get in big trouble.  Although you did admit to never actually weighing the tongue, so Im not sure I should even waste anymore of my time here. 

"Ive done it this way for XX years and worked fine, so I must be right"........a mentality that is all too common.

tom-tom,

Post #92074, is not directed at you.

Questions like yours are what this forum is about, with your setup I would load a single horse in the first stall. Tongue weight is a good thing, up until it overloads the tow vehicle, that is something you don't have to worry about.

Gard,

Why did you get this started again???

I think you like to keep things stirred up!!

If you will please reread my posting, you will see that I offered a way for each individual owner to check the best ride for his horse, while using his equipment. There has been a lot of conflicting information given out, which is quite confusing to dissect. My intention was to offer the forum members a way to eliminate any questions about what is best for them, by conducting some simple exercises. That way any erroneous information can be disregarded, and they can haul thier horse the best way for their circumstances.

I offered my history as an example, that more than one person knows what some terms mean, and that there were many successful haulings conducted, that differed from the postings.

Unfortunately, as is often the case, a few dissenters hijacked the thread to push their own agenda. As you can see, their responses were not aimed at conducting any conversation, instead they were formulated to attack and cause belittlement and degradation. I don't enjoy these encounters or being the subject of personal attacks any more than you do. Unfortunately some people find conflict a necessary way to express themselves.

Until personal attacks and vile attitudes no longer prevail, we are subject to some unpleasant times. There are a few people who are determined to make this forum an unpleasant event, and find it necessary to force their will on the rest of us. Civility is becoming a rare event.

In the past several threads, you have seen many examples of violations of the forum rules. Should you find them offensive, you only have to click on the "report to moderator" button under the thread, to express your displeasure and find relief.

Gard

I know this is a little off topic,but,feel it is somewhat related to the balance/off balance issue of pulling a trailer.I don't know any of the details such as was there a breakaway kit/safety chains in use,ect.Apparently it wouldn't have mattered inthis case.