Sherline Tongue Weight Scale

[jd1923]

I decided to get more into the proper balance of truck and trailer and purchased the Sherline Tongue Weight Scale. Love the simple design, ease of use and Made in the USA! I also have a dual-axle flatbed trailer which hauls our side-by-side and I need to get that straight where I can strap down the UTV further up or back to get it truly balanced to pull with a 1/2 ton truck. There is an Amazon business price at $152.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007REK28M?ref=fed_asin_title

I tried it out today, though our Oliver has no water in the fresh tank, no clothes in the rear cabinets or closet and no food or other supplies in the pantry and fridge and no gallons of drinking water and various adult beverages in the floor of our Oliver closet! I will measure again next week prior to heading out to Quartzsite!

After a first trip, we came home and measured 6,000 LBS for the Oliver. This was likely the average weight at the time, but after mods and more travel stuff we should be camped today closer to 6,600 GTW (will soon, but have not measured GTW recently).

More or less empty today, I measured 565 LBS Tongue Weight, and being empty at say 5,800 LBS this is 9.7% tongue weight which is at the low end. My first thought is to think hard about mounting bikes or other cargo on the rear of your Oliver. Our OEM OTT 2" bike rack is removed and sitting in our shed.

As mentioned, I will do this again next week when the FWT is full and we are packed to leave town! I like this little gadget!

Edited January 25 by jd1923

[Steph and Dud B]

We have a Weigh Safe hitch which usually registers between 500 and 600#, similar to what you're seeing, when we're loaded and wet. And, yes, that puts us at 10% or less hitch weight. We do have a small cargo basket on the back. Nothing heavy in it, maybe 35-40# total. My tools are on the floor of the closet, as a counterbalance. No sway control, but we haven't had any sensation at all of the tail wagging the dog when towing. Maybe it's because our TV is a long wheelbase dually with the bed fully loaded with camping gear. I would be more concerned if our TV was a lighter vehicle with a short wheelbase, even though I've never heard anyone speak/post of their Oliver swaying.

[Galileo]

On 1/24/2025 at 8:23 PM, jd1923 said:

I decided to get more into the proper balance of truck and trailer and purchased the Sherline Tongue Weight Scale. Love the simple design, ease of use and Made in the USA! I also have a dual-axle flatbed trailer which hauls our side-by-side and I need to get that straight where I can strap down the UTV further up or back to get it truly balanced to pull with a 1/2 ton truck. There is an Amazon business price at $152.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007REK28M?ref=fed_asin_title

I tried it out today, though our Oliver has no water in the fresh tank, no clothes in the rear cabinets or closet and no food or other supplies in the pantry and fridge and no gallons of drinking water and various adult beverages in the floor of our Oliver closet! I will measure again next week prior to heading out to Quartzsite!

After a first trip, we came home and measured 6,000 LBS for the Oliver. This was likely the average weight at the time, but after mods and more travel stuff we should be camped today closer to 6,600 GTW (will soon, but have not measured GTW recently).

More or less empty today, I measured 565 LBS Tongue Weight, and being empty at say 5,800 LBS this is 9.7% tongue weight which is at the low end. My first thought is to think hard about mounting bikes or other cargo on the rear of your Oliver. Our OEM OTT 2" bike rack is removed and sitting in our shed.

As mentioned, I will do this again next week when the FWT is full and we are packed to leave town! I like this little gadget!

I also got the Sherline scale from Amazon and got results within about 5# of yours. 

With the Andersen “No-Sway” WD hitch, I don’t think being a hair under the “10-15% of trailer weight” is a problem. Zero tendency to sway even if I antagonize it to test it out. 

I AM taking the Sherline out of the basement and leaving it in the Bus Barn though. That thing is solid metal! I don’t need to tote around any more weight than I have to, and we’re not changing the W&B of our trailer significantly by adding bikes, scooters, etc anywhere.