trailer tongue lenght

[logger]

i have a woods trailer that also dumps, is a straight axle with no springs. I can put on two tiers of three ft wood, or can haul about two yards or so of gravel for road building ect. I would like to lengthen the tongue to make backing up easier so I need to know the ideal length from trailer body to hitch end? Will modify with pendell hitch, and would also like to put a hyd cylinder to dump trailer (is currently gravity trip.
Thanks
Logger

[jtrichard]

longer the better..... i don't know if there is any formula....Pintle hitch is nice but 2-5/16 also works good..... you can also get pintle/ball combo hitch in 2" or 2-5/16 so you can tow other trailers without changing hitch around

[Paul Buhler]

Hi: I built a trailer a while ago, and made an adjustable tongue by using 3/16" square tubing that slides inside another oversized piece and pinning them together (used a removable pin). This allowes the length to be adjusted when needed. Generally I have the length long enough so that I can "jackknife" the trailer on purpose without getting all tangled up in the trailer body. Mine tows behind my truck, with usually a shorter tongue - enough to not dent the truck body, or my dozer - shorter still to wiggle easily in the woods, or behind anything with the front of the trailer off and the tongue extended to handle long poles, canoes, etc. Hope this helps you out. Paul

[Willyr]

I agree whole heartedly with Paul. Short for the woods, long for backing.

Just remember, that gravel is wicked heavy. The longer the tongue, the easier it is to bend on a good bump.

[logger]

Thanks for thoughts, I am accused of over building things so the tongue will be heavy enough, I may rig up a temporary tongue and try out first. I use this trailer with my farm tractor and on good woods roads, don't do any bush whacking here, damages to many trees and with light equipment can be dangerous.
Logger