Quote:
Originally Posted by skids
All I have ever seen were portable scales and they are not even with the ground. If “Cat scales” are at port of entry, I guess they would be flat. Come to think of it, the scales at the gravel pit are flat.
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I suppose there are as many "old husband methods" of weighing a trailer as there are "old wives methods" of creating a recipe.... What the hell does that have to do with trailer weights ?????? I'll try to explain it the way I understand it.....
I'd guess that some "methods" (portable scales, using the bathroom scale, a 4x4 and a 2" pipe to lever the weight, etc) are significantly less relevant than other methods.... That said, EVERY CAT scale that I've seen is three platforms, aligned with "one way in/one way out" so you can't "off-center the rig". The pads are flat and level, and most any "novice user" can't make a mistake other than pulling too far forward or not pulling forward enough...
The "correct way to weigh a rig" (IMHO) is to drive onto the pads with the front tow vehicle axle on pad #1, the rear tow vehicle axle on pad #2 and the trailer axles on pad #3. Weigh the rig, DO NOT MOVE THE RIG, get out of the truck, loosen (but do not remove) the WD bars, get back in the tow vehicle, weigh the rig. Then pull off the scales, unhitch the truck (leave the WD bars in the hitch, return to the scale, front axle on pad#1, rear axle on pad #2 (try to approximate the same location on the pads if possible) STAY IN THE TRUCK and weigh the tow vehicle.
That will give you the total rig weight, the total trailer weight, the total tow vehicle weight, as well as the total weight being distributed by the WD hitch to the tow vehicle front/rear axles and the total weight of the rig "without" weight distribution. Using simple math, with this data, you can pretty much determine every applicable weight except for individual wheel location weights. You can't accomplish individual wheel weights on any CAT scale. Their company policy is to prohibit that type of weigh process.