Nevada Horse Trails Trailer Safety Tools

Trailer Tongue Weight Calculator

Estimate how much tongue weight your stationary horses and cargo put on your hitch. Measure distances in feet, to the nearest 0.5 ft.

How to use this calculator
  1. Step 1 — measure your axle distance. Measure from the center of your trailer axle(s) to the center of your trailer hitch ball (where the trailer connects to your truck). Measure in feet and round to the nearest 0.5 ft.
  2. Step 2 — measure to each horse. Measure from the center of your trailer hitch to the center of each horse, in feet, to the nearest 0.5 ft. Enter each distance along with the approximate weight of each horse. Leave blank any rows for horses you don't have.
  3. Optional: tack room. Measure from the center of your trailer hitch to the heaviest area of your tack room (usually a full water tank, a heavy saddle, or a tack box) and estimate the total weight of the items in it.
  4. Your result shows the approximate tongue weight that stationary horses and cargo apply to your tongue/trailer.
  5. Don't forget your empty trailer's own tongue weight! Add it on the result screen. If you're not sure what it is, use 10% of your empty trailer weight — the optional box does this math for you.
Step 1 of 2

Hitch-to-axle distance

All other measurements are compared against this one.

ft

For tandem axles, measure to the point midway between them.

Please enter a distance greater than 0.

Step 2 of 2

Your horses & tack room

Measure each distance from the center of the hitch. Leave blank any rows for horses you don't have.

Tongue weight so far
Estimated tongue weight
0 lbs from horses & cargo
This is the approximate weight your stationary horses and cargo put on the tongue. Add your empty trailer's tongue weight below for the full picture.

Add your empty trailer's tongue weight

Your empty trailer presses on the hitch too. If you don't know its tongue weight, enter your empty trailer's total weight and we'll use the common 10% rule of thumb.

lbs

Please enter a number of 0 or more.

lbs

Please enter a number of 0 or more.

Total tongue weight (loads + trailer)

Use this number as the "trailer tongue weight" in our Tow Capacity & Payload Calculator.

Enter your hitch-to-axle distance to continue.

Disclaimer: This is an approximate value for stationary horses and, unless added above, excludes weight applied by the empty trailer. Final judgement must be made by the owner of the trailer, tow vehicle, and the owner(s) of the horse(s). Nevada Horse Trails and its associates make no guarantee of the accuracy of this tool. Use at your own risk.