Tail-heavy pig

   / Tail-heavy pig #1  

joshuabardwell

Elite Member
Joined
May 6, 2012
Messages
2,728
Location
Knoxville, TN
Tractor
Bobcat CT225
I went and picked up a hog today. We have six hogs, five of which are spoken for, and the sixth is ours. Only problem is, one is a runt. Her sisters are all around 200 lbs. She's around 50. We have done everything we can think of to make sure it's not a medical issue. She just won't grow. So, when I saw an ad on Craigslist for a 300 lb hog, just 30 minutes from me, and only $250, I jumped on it. Everything checked out. The hog seemed healthy. It just looked like this person had a hog they didn't want to process or needed the money or whatever.

I use my utility trailer as a livestock trailer by taking some corral panels and ratcheting straps and strapping the corral panels down onto the deck. It works okay, but it's not ideal, because the corral is 4' x 12', while the trailer is 6'x16'. So the corral doesn't take up the entire trailer width, for one thing, and if I place it at the front of the trailer, there is some small concern about preventing the animals from going over the side of the trailer between the ramp and the corral. But I got a clever idea to use the trailer gate as the 4th side of the corral, and make a U-shape out of the two 12' pieces and the 4' door. This meant that the gate-side of the corral was the full width of the trailer, which made for more space. It also made loading much easier, since as soon as the animal got to the top of the gate, it was in the corral. The only problem is that the corral is full up against the back of the trailer, so it is bound to be tail-heavy.

Well, anyway, we went to pick up this pig today, and just to be sure, we measured its girth and length and estimated its weight at, not 300 lbs, but 380! What a deal! So we loaded it up. Here is a tip if you ever have to make a big pig go somewhere: put a 5-gallon bucket over its face. It will want to back away from the bucket, and if you are nimble and stick with it, you can steer it wherever you need it to go. Anyway, we got the pig loaded up and set off.

Well, let me tell you, I am amazed at what a difference even that small amount of tail-weight made in the trailer's ride. My truck weighs something like 9000 lbs, so there was no worry about fishtailing or anything, but the ride was just awful. The coupler and ball were constantly groaning and creaking, and the trailer felt much less well-behaved. I never would have guessed what a difference just a few hundred pounds would have made. I have been thinking that I would set up the trailer just like that when I go to take the hogs to market. Five hogs, at 250-300 lbs each, plus one at around 50 lbs, and one at around 400 lbs. That's just under 2000 lbs of pig. I don't think I'd like that much tail-weight on my trailer, than you!
 
   / Tail-heavy pig #2  
You could add some weight to the front of the trailer, cement blocks or whatever, and help that situation. No telling where the animal will choose to be during the ride though.
 
   / Tail-heavy pig #3  
I had a boat that I picked up in 07 from the Chicago area. Pulled it with my Supercrew F-150. The boat weighed about 6,500# and pulled great. Anyway, 2 days later I went to deliver it after fueling it up and filling the water tank and it towed awful. Just adding 25 gallons of water (200#), and 60 gallons of gas (360#), it was different machine.

Long story short I moved the bow stop forward 5" for the customer after launching the boat and it then towed great. Cant believe the previous owner put up with this nasty trailer for 3 years.

Chris
 
   / Tail-heavy pig #4  
Can you make another moveable cross panel for inside? That way you can force them up to front for better weight distrbution and less load shift when stopping and starting. Horse trailers and livstock trailers use cross panel gates not only to seperate loads but balance load too.
 
   / Tail-heavy pig #5  
I had the same experience with a load of gravel -- the guy at the stone yard dumped it too far aft on my trailer. The hitch was rattling the whole way home and felt skittish (thankfully only a couple miles ride). No doubt, the weight and lever arm was creating negative tongue weight.
 

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