Recommend me a place to weigh a trailer....

I've got one of those little HF 4x4 trailers that I use behind my Fiat to tow my son's kart and associated karting supplies. I built a steel raised shelf thing to carry the kart on top and all the stuff underneath. I'm 99% sure that I'm still under the 1000 pound rating for the car, but was trying to figure out a way to determine how far under I am.

Any suggestions? The nearest scrap/trash dump is way south (and probably three hours round trip). I see weigh stations along the road as he and I travel, but I'm not sure if non-trucks are allowed to use them.

-Rob

Look for a larger trucker utilized gas station. Many of them have scales that you can talk them into letting you use, note that there might be a small fee.

Most truck stops around here have CAT weigh scales.....they will allow you to check something if they aren't busy.

I normally go to my local grain elevator as they will happily let me weigh anything if they aren't busy. Also note, most of these scales aren't incredibly accurate at low amounts and the unit size is normally 20 or 50 lbs.

got a scrap yard near you? Also, any place that deals with gravel or dirt should have a scale

"What did you find out at the weigh station?"
"My cruiser weighs 16,000 kilograms!"

3 goodwill bathroom scales that go up to 400. one under each tire, one under jack. that's how i used to weigh engines on pallets for shipping quotes.

I use the CAT scales at the local truck stop. I just pull on like a semi would and tell them it's either a new weigh or a re-weigh. New weigh is like $10 and re-weigh is $3 or $4. I think the re-weigh has to be within a 24 hour period. I've weighed a bunch of stuff on there and they never gave me any problems....911, 68 Camaro, Suburban, etc. The 911 and 68 Camaro were surprisingly close in weight.

Also try any sawmills or paper mills in your area. Basically anywhere big trucks get loaded or unloaded. I roll across the scales at my company's sawmills somewhat regularly.

Mezzanine wrote: Also try any sawmills or paper mills in your area. Basically anywhere big trucks get loaded or unloaded. I roll across the scales at my company's sawmills somewhat regularly.

Around these parts, grain mills are a good place.

How much can it weigh? Balance it on a jack stand and put it on Mom's bathroom scale.

Local landfill !

Speed shop with race scales.

Race team.

Local dump or scrapyard.

Sheriff's department or Police often have mobile pads in the trunk.

Any business that sells bulk products (peanuts, plastic shavings, sawdust, etc).

You can use several bathroom scales (if you don't have a heavy duty one). Put a board across 2 of them, tire in the middle, add them up.

Trailer- you really only need 1 or 2 bathroom scales. Weigh 1 wheel, then the other, then the tongue, add them up.

Big fish scale- lift each corner, and add them up.

Seesaw with a known weight.

If it is really only 4'x4', you can take it to virtually any company with a loading dock that uses a platform scale to weigh pallets before they ship.

I went to a new local landfill last week. They let me use both the in and out scales, which differed by twenty lbs. They even let me weigh front and rear axles but the drive was angled so they were off just a bit.

Ohio required you to get scaled for tags on a home built.

I used the bathroom scale method for my tiny camper.

Left wheel was 205, right wheel was 195, and the tongue was 70. 470lbs. It's not 100% accurate, but the gurus of the internet tell me it's + or - 5%. Good enough for me.

Most dot scales are not 24 hour and you can just pull across when they are closed.

N Sperlo wrote: "What did you find out at the weigh station?" "My cruiser weighs 16,000 kilograms!"

Haha, beat me to it.