Weight of Trailers

[Doug Leppard]

Originally Posted by Retired Starman

I haven't checked the tongue weight yet, but it is slightly tongue heavy. The CG is pretty high on these so a slight change in height of the tongue will change the tongue weight significantly. That shouldn't be a problem since the tongue should always be the same height above the floor.

I'll try to check the tongue weight in a day or so when I assemble another one.

Retired Starman
Mentor
Team 1648
Atlanta, GA

Do you find out the tongue weight?

[no.1manenti]

wow 35 pounds is a lot of weight on the back of the robot. How much would you figure the trailer weight is when its full with balls? they dont seem that heavy but I know that the weight adds up quick.

[Retired Starman]

I'll have a tongue weight sometime this Saturday after I finish another trailer. I don't have access to a scale accurate to 0.1 lb that I can put one of these things on. I may be able to get that for you next week. These things are pretty big and unless you have a large platform scale, it is very difficult to weigh them. Thirty-five pounds is the design weight and that is very close to what I got on my bathroom scales. That's built with Alumilite and the Coraplast or whatever that corrugated plastic is called, just like the plans called for. I can't tell you what the weight is full of balls because I don't know how many balls you can get in there. I've heard of one team that loaded over 80 of them in one trailer, but I haven't confirmed that. Let's face it, if someone has scored 80 balls in your trailer, you aren't going to win that match anyway!

Retired Starman
Mentor
Team 1648

[BetsySpike]

Originally Posted by vivek16

So, what is the exact weight of the trailers? I've heard that they're 20-25 pounds or so but an exact answer would be appreciated. I realize that plywood does vary in density a little but withing half a pound overall would be an awesome estimate.

thank you, Vivek

Our trailer was made to all the FIRST specs and weighs 41.8 lbs (45.0 with our 6 orbit balls in it).

I forgot my camera today, but I will try to post a picture ASAP if you would like.

Hope that helps,
Molly
CIA Team 291

[BetsySpike]

Originally Posted by vivek16

So, what is the exact weight of the trailers? I've heard that they're 20-25 pounds or so but an exact answer would be appreciated. I realize that plywood does vary in density a little but withing half a pound overall would be an awesome estimate.

thank you, Vivek

Our trailer was made to all the FIRST specs and weighs 41.8 lbs (45.0 with our 6 orbit balls in it).

I forgot my camera today, but I will try to post a picture ASAP if you would like.

Hope that helps,
Molly
CIA Team 291

[Retired Starman]

I checked the tongue weight this morning on a trailer built to FIRST competition specifications. I found it to be a little over 5 pounds with the trailer leveled, the way it should be during competition. I think this is a good figure for teams to use.

BetsySpike,

If you built your trailer to competition specifiations rather than team-built specifications and you came out over 40 pounds, we need to talk. Is your trailer built to FIRST specs for the team-built trailer (plywood) or did you use the competition-built trailer (Alumalite and Coroplast)?

The official field elements will be constructed according to plans found here:

http://usfirst.org/community/frc/content.aspx?id=11624

Specifically, look for "Payload Trailer Assembly" Drawing GE-09000. It will refer you to 33 pages of prints to build an official trailer. The ones I built could be used in competition.

There are several differences in the Team-Built (TB) and Competition-Built (CB) trailers that affect the weight.
1. Top and bottom of the TB are plywood as opposed to Alumalite in the CB Trailer.
2. Bumper backs are plywood in the TB and Coroplast in the CB Trailer.
3. Bumper mounts and wheel mounts are wood in the TB trailer, aluminum brackets in the CB trailer.
4. Tongue is a piece of conduit in the TB trailer, steel pin machined to turn in the end of a square aluminum tube for the CB Trailer.
5. Target is an 8 in. diameter HDPE tube in the CB trailer as opposed to a plywood semi-tube for the TB trailer.

Built to Competition Specifications, the trailer comes out about 35 pounds.

Retired Starman
Mentor, Team 1648

[MrForbes]

Originally Posted by Retired Starman

The official field elements will be constructed according to plans found here:

http://usfirst.org/community/frc/content.aspx?id=11624

Specifically, look for "Payload Trailer Assembly" Drawing GE-09000.

Whereas the Team plywood version of the trailer is built according to drawings TE-09000.

Thanks for the information, Starman!

[kaleza]

it says in the updates they are 36 pounds on earth and only 6 on the moon... i ask my team... "why do we care about the weigt on the moon!!! WE aren't going there!!"

[Ozeaden]

mostly in the end if you add your robot, your bumpers, and the trailer, its about 180 lbs so its about 40 ish.