Trailer Ball Height

[tis]

Just out of curiosity for those that pull trailers behind their Trikes: What is the height from the ground up to the top of the Ball? I was curious cause I noticed today that a few of the rigs I was looking at had them mounted low and some seemed pretty high. Is there a set height or trial and error. I guess the one I was curious about was the hitch style with receptacle where hitch assembly can be mounted with the ball high or low? Would be interesting to see if members on this site have them pretty close.

 

[jkoons]

I always try to keep the trailer near level with hitch a little low so when brakes applied trailer pushs down on brike. Jerry

 

[shiney b.]

i've always tried to keep any trailer i've pulled as level as possible when hitched to the tow vehicle. seems like they pull better.(less chance of trailer weave-which is something you don't want)
dave

 

[John Luciano]

10% of the trailer weight should be on the ball 500 lb trailer 50lb on ball. If you can't lift it off loaded the ball is too low or you loaded it too front heavy my ball is almost knee high ask me ,I bang my shin on it all the time <LOL

 

[Gorilla]

There also is the issue of center of gavity. This is much like loading an airplane. If you have the tongue height to low the center ends up to far forward and the weight when you brake tends to push the rear of the trike down instead of forward. To high tongue shifts the CG to the rear which can cause the rear of your trike to be lifted while braking also it might not track well. You want to keep your load just slightly forward of the axle to place the amount of tongue weight desired. Like mentioned, not more than 10%. Ted

 

[Spirit Warrior]

Going on the example numbers that are mentioned, 500/50. What method while at home can be used to measure the weight of the trailer? I have a fish scale for measuring tongue weight, but have no way to measure the whole trailer weight. Thanks.

 

[Gorilla]

This is not critical, a good estimate is close enough.

 

[WildBillH]

Here is a link to a long winded version.

Pulling a trailer with a motorcycle

From Article:
Hitch height should be at hub-level of the rear wheel.

The trailer total weight should be distributed over the axles so that the tongue weight is about 10 - 20 percent of the total weight of the trailer. Figure the total allowance of weight for the bike by looking in your owners manual. Add all the gear weight on the bike including passengers and riders. Don’t forget to add the tongue weight of the trailer. If you are in the positive and not overweight your doing good.

 

[John Luciano]

What I did was one time only was to put everything into the trailer and drive it down to the local scrap yard or if you have a gravel yard in your area have them weigh it for you . I pretty much carry all the same stuff + or - 10 or 15 lbs.