My Boler weights 720 pounds???

[Johnny M]

Today I took our 1971 13' Boler to get it weighed. I wanted to know the exact weight (with plans to order a new axle) due to gutting the interior of all the fiberglass fixtures and rebuilding the interior in wood with a new floor plan and related items such as the shower stall, porta potty, a/c, toaster oven and all new wood cabinets overhead. So with the trailer loaded with everything like we are going camping except our clothes and food I went to the local recycle yard and had it weighed. I unhitched it from the tow and it registered at 720 pounds on their certified scale. I could not believe it since the original plate on the frame said 850 pounds! So since it was lighter than expected and under the original weight of the trailer I went to a truck stop to have it weighed again to verify it. Two different truck stop's certified scales would not register it because they said it was under 1000 pounds! So I believe the 720 is probably a good weight. When I redesigned the interior I tried to keep the weight of the new design down by selecting wood strong enough to do the job but not overkill for the task but I still expected the weight to be around 1200 pounds or more. So who out there has a 13' Boler and how much does yours weigh on the scales and what does the manufacturers plate say it weighs?

[Borrego Dave]

That's interesting Johnny, from the "real weights" chart they weigh in at 1100-1920 loaded to camp. Did you use balsa wood on the reno ?

[Carol H]

You clearly took out most of the heavy stuff.

[Johnny M]

With the tow it was 3160 pounds which is a 2007 Kia Sedona van so after sleeping on it I am now wondering if the scale could have been wrong? That would mean the tow was 2440 and I don't think that is right. Gonna try a other scale this afternoon and report back.

[TheWanderers]

Well, you could always focus on obtaining the weight of the tow vehicle alone and with the camper, both weights over 1,000#s, and then do the math to figure the camper alone.

[Johnny M]

Yes it didn't dawn on me until we already left the truck stop.

[Byron Kinnaman]

Check with truck stop before weighing the accuracy and resolution of the scales. Most truck scales I know of measure in 20 lb increments.

Also the weight of the trailer without all your stuff in it not as important as the weight with all the camping gear, food, water, etc in it.

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by Johnny M

With the tow it was 3160 pounds which is a 2007 Kia Sedona van so after sleeping on it I am now wondering if the scale could have been wrong? That would mean the tow was 2440 and I don't think that is right. Gonna try a other scale this afternoon and report back.

Yup the weights all the way around are suspect - way to light.
Something very wrong!

Kia 2007 Sedona Base Front-wheel Drive Passenger Van SWB specs:

Curb weight 4,365 lbs.
GVWR 5,897 lbs.

Read more at 2007 Kia Sedona Specifications

[Kai in Seattle]

Such a light rig!

But of course, more weighings will give you a clearer picture.
It's always a question, isn't it?

We've had ours weighed three times so far, gutted, half-way built, and recently we drove over a freeway truck scale mostly loaded to camp with our 73 amerigo. With just the trailer wheels on it, the scale said 2100. I'm guessing it goes in even increments, not by exact single pounds. Now, we'd have to add the tongue weight to that, which weighed 260 at home.

You may have done a great job of limiting weight...next job is to weigh it WITH every single thing you'd take camping. Our laundry when we got home (the laundry bin was in the car) weighed 44 pounds. When clean we weighed it again--43 pounds. Hmmm. A pound of damp and dirt? Maybe! 44 pounds of clothing? Sheesh!

[Johnny M]

Originally Posted by Byron Kinnaman

Check with truck stop before weighing the accuracy and resolution of the scales. Most truck scales I know of measure in 20 lb increments.

Also the weight of the trailer without all your stuff in it not as important as the weight with all the camping gear, food, water, etc in it.

Byron, we had everything in it that we camp with except our clothes and food. I plan to add a bike rack to the rear bumper of the Boler and 2 6 volt batteries but not ready for that yet but was going to add to it for the weight of those items. The recycling center told me their scale was calibrated yesterday morning. The truck stops all had the same scale and told us it would weigh the camper but then when it was on there they said it would not register & was too light for the scales (same ones the weight tractor trailers with). The recycling center scale was in 10 pound increments. It was sensitive enough I could see the display change when I stepped on and off. They didn't charge me a thing but the truck stops wanted $10.50 to weight but since mine didn't register they did not charge me.

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by Kai in Seattle

You may have done a great job of limiting weight...next job is to weigh it WITH every single thing you'd take camping. Our laundry when we got home (the laundry bin was in the car) weighed 44 pounds. When clean we weighed it again--43 pounds. Hmmm. A pound of damp and dirt? Maybe! 44 pounds of clothing? Sheesh!

You raise a very good point.

If one was to take everything out of their trailer - food, drinks, clothing, hoses, electrical cords, all the kitchen stuff, bedding, towels, flash lights, pots & pans & first aid kits, games etc etc they would be VERY surprised as to what it ALL adds up to.... 500lbs for many would be a low number!

[Johnny M]

Going to go weigh it now at another place and see what it comes up with will report back in a couple of hours.

[Johnny M]

Okay so the recycling center scales were apparently not right! I took it this time to a grain elevator in Shady Dale GA about 20 minutes north of Monticello and they generously let me weigh the trailer. With the same tow it came in at 6040 lbs and 1420 lbs for just the trailer unhitched from the tow on the scale by itself. Now I have a bone to pick with the recycle facility as I took some scrap metal there a while back and now I feel short changed. 700 pounds is a big discrepancy, so I DO NOT recommend you weight your trailer at a recycle facility.

[Glenn Baglo]

Originally Posted by Johnny M

Now I have a bone to pick with the recycle facility as I took some scrap metal there a while back and now I feel short changed. 700 pounds is a big discrepancy, so I DO NOT recommend you weight your trailer at a recycle facility.

Sounds like an issue for the authorities to take up. I'd contact whatever local government consumer agency is in your area. They might want to run some checks, so I wouldn't alert the recycle facility.

[Johnny M]

Yes I agree it should be checked into.

[Kai in Seattle]

Thanks, Carol.

The first two weighings were by a certified scale man at Machinists, Inc. They weigh for industry including federal jobs, so I expected he was accurate.

I think your estimate of 500 pounds, give or take, is not at all unlikely.

To say it was weighed missing "only" food and clothing is to aim wide of the mark! And we were packing light, no heavy jackets, only 2 pairs of shoes each, etc. (Our 43 pounds of clean clothes--hmph!)

One of our problems is to make sure we keep it tongue-heavy. We have big, empty pontoons under the back bed; if we fill those, it's hard to stuff enough items up front to counter-balance it. So at this point, we carry only an extension cord in one side and some trash bags in the other, keeping them mostly empty.

We finally figured out why our old Aloha sticky years ago was so contrary on the road--we used to load it butt-heavy, thinking, in those days long before the internet, that was how it was supposed to be. Nobody told us differently. So we bucked and rocked and fought our way down the road every trip.

Tongue-heavy, the amerigo glides behind like a smooth dream.

Even fully loaded, guesstimating 2500-2600 (weight was at 2450? But we'd eaten some of the food and worn some of the clothes already...) it's still 1000 pounds under our TV's capacity, 100 pounds under the tongue capacity. And that 260 home tongue weight was before we took off, so she was completely loaded. Later TW would've been lighter.

By the way--the freeway-side truck scales around here, Seattle and Portland, Ore. areas, seem to be all automated now, no little shack, no line-up of trucks waiting, no charges. Just a plate in the pull-off area roadway and a digital read-out on a post ahead.

Kind of cool, but another era gone.

[Steve L.]

I was thinking to myself that this is sort of a bummer situation. What if you measure again and it's significantly heavier. Now, which measurement do you believe? You almost have to measure it twice more to get a sort of tiebreaker. Three separate weigh stations I suppose.


I've only had mine measured once by the RVSEF group. I was about where I expected so I chose to stick with it but it is a bit arbitrary.

[Byron Kinnaman]

Originally Posted by Kai in Seattle

Thanks, Carol.

The first two weighings were by a certified scale man at Machinists, Inc. They weigh for industry including federal jobs, so I expected he was accurate.

I think your estimate of 500 pounds, give or take, is not at all unlikely.

To say it was weighed missing "only" food and clothing is to aim wide of the mark! And we were packing light, no heavy jackets, only 2 pairs of shoes each, etc. (Our 43 pounds of clean clothes--hmph!)

One of our problems is to make sure we keep it tongue-heavy. We have big, empty pontoons under the back bed; if we fill those, it's hard to stuff enough items up front to counter-balance it. So at this point, we carry only an extension cord in one side and some trash bags in the other, keeping them mostly empty.

We finally figured out why our old Aloha sticky years ago was so contrary on the road--we used to load it butt-heavy, thinking, in those days long before the internet, that was how it was supposed to be. Nobody told us differently. So we bucked and rocked and fought our way down the road every trip.

Tongue-heavy, the amerigo glides behind like a smooth dream.

Even fully loaded, guesstimating 2500-2600 (weight was at 2450? But we'd eaten some of the food and worn some of the clothes already...) it's still 1000 pounds under our TV's capacity, 100 pounds under the tongue capacity. And that 260 home tongue weight was before we took off, so she was completely loaded. Later TW would've been lighter.

By the way--the freeway-side truck scales around here, Seattle and Portland, Ore. areas, seem to be all automated now, no little shack, no line-up of trucks waiting, no charges. Just a plate in the pull-off area roadway and a digital read-out on a post ahead.

Kind of cool, but another era gone.

Actually there's both kinds. Just south of Portland on I-5 there's the "chicken coop" kind both north and south side. Just a bit to west on 99E there's the open kind still "chicken coops" there. Some of the other highways had the non-"chicken coop" kind. So take your pick.
I've used several except the ones that are inspecting trucks. I leave them alone.

[Kai in Seattle]

"Actually there's both kinds. Just south of Portland on I-5 there's the "chicken coop" kind both north and south side. Just a bit to west on 99E there's the open kind still "chicken coops" there. Some of the other highways had the non-"chicken coop" kind. So take your pick.
I've used several except the ones that are inspecting trucks. I leave them alone.
_________________
Byron & Anne enjoying the everyday Saturday thing."



Say, thanks! We'll look for the "chicken coop" types when we go that way. I miss seeing them on our usual paths.

And agreed, will leave the truck inspection areas alone.

Also enjoying the everyday Saturday thing...

[Bruce Thomas]

Any race car team will have some accurate portable scales.