Hi,
I have been extremely lucky to recieve a new 26t Scania for Christmas from my employer, even better is it’s G cabbed and has a 19T/M Fassi crane on the front, however it only has a 8ton front axle and even worse a 7.5t tag axle.
I work almost exlusively for a timber a plywood company and we are struglling a bit with the axle weights, I have had the lorry weighed so i know the unladden weight (which i told them was half a ton more than it is ).
So first question is there any where in Harlow which has a public weighbridge (i’ve tried the council website its most unhelpful) and do you have to pay, as this could result in lots of repeat visits.
Also the rear axles how well does the weight spread between them, if we say loaded 4.5ton on the very back thats 3 packs of ply, starting about 2 feet behind the tag axle, will the weight spread between the drive and the tag, or am i likely to be over loading the tag.
Thanks in advance,if you can make any sense of my ramblings
Owen
I have been told its not actually a public weighbridge plus they aren’t there that often
Thanks for the info on the axle weighing, its probably not worth me finding a public weigh bridge then, as i am more concerned about overloading on the steer and tag axles, i’m certain i am not over on the gross
It’s a bloody nightmare innit and I don’t miss this part of it at all.
You can put your front axle on the bridge and weigh that.
Drive off the end and weigh the rear axle and then subtract the two readings to try to get your drive axle.
Having 4.5 ton over the back shouldn’t overload the 7.5 ton tag but only putting on the scales will tell you that.
I’m sure you know that something on the very rear will make the front lighter,and vice versa…liken it to a seesaw if you like,(is it called the law of diminishing loads?)
I used to load over the centre of 3&4 if poss to keep you legal but if it was a site you knew was tight then just forward enough of the drive to enable you to lift the rear for grip and turn.
You’ll probably find that putting much more than a couple of tonnes on and the tag will drop automatically, I’m guessing the rear axles are on air and they will sort themselves out fairly well. It can transfer load between the axles by adjusting the air itself, if you have buttons on the steering wheel the trip button on the right has a function to show you the axle loads on air suspended axles. If the front is on steel springs it won’t show the steer axle weight, that’s the one you need to worry about most as it carries the engine & gearbox, cab and about 2t of crane. If your wagon weighs about 12t it’ll probably be not far off it’s max when empty.
Its good to know the back will sort itself out, yes its on air at the back, it sort of shows the weight when doing a weight transfer to improve traction, is this accurate, if so i have been out too heavy on the tag most days this past week,
8wheels, it actually weighs near as ■■■■ it 13t (its a recycled crane which has been on 2 other wagons before mine)
Not sure how accurate, there is a calibration function but I’ve not fiddled with the settings. I’m guessing it depends on the bodybuilder who screwed all the bits together. Mine is fairly accurate so far as I can tell, but I’m fairly lucky in that all the plant I carry has a stamped plate with the machine weight on so I can judge it quite well.
If you find a weighbridge somewhere you can always ask them for a cheeky test weight on their bridge, if you don’t need a ticket they are often OK. You can get a rough idea by placing the front axle on the bridge check the weight, and then drive across and put the rear bogie on the bridge and weigh that separately.
A check axle weights on a plate bridge will be fairly accurate as stated on here, if its level in the ground, if its up on a ramp once your front wheel drops of the plate and down the ramp more weight is shifted on to the front and off the back.
If you know your axle weights with truck unladen, and know what weigh your loading, you can get a rough idea of axle weights by, measure your wheel base divide by 8 (for ease of working out later), eg 6m w/b, 0.75m, weight of load divide by 8 again, eg 4ton,= 0.5 ton, find the centre of gravity of the item(pack of timber if uniform will be roughly middle) measure where that is in realation to wheel base eg 3.75m from front axle = 5/8`s of weheel base, then 5/8 of 4ton = 2.5t, if youve measured from the front that weight will be on the back and the remainder on the front, in this (4t-2.5t) 1.5ton on the front axle, on top of your unladen axle weight.
You only need to measure w/b once make marks or mental notes where points are and using 8ths easy to work out in your head, half the weight half again, and again, I hope you can follow what I mean!
Not as good as weighing proper, but gives you an idea.
pig pen:
A check axle weights on a plate bridge will be fairly accurate as stated on here, if its level in the ground, if its up on a ramp once your front wheel drops of the plate and down the ramp more weight is shifted on to the front and off the back.
If you know your axle weights with truck unladen, and know what weigh your loading, you can get a rough idea of axle weights by, measure your wheel base divide by 8 (for ease of working out later), eg 6m w/b, 0.75m, weight of load divide by 8 again, eg 4ton,= 0.5 ton, find the centre of gravity of the item(pack of timber if uniform will be roughly middle) measure where that is in realation to wheel base eg 3.75m from front axle = 5/8`s of weheel base, then 5/8 of 4ton = 2.5t, if youve measured from the front that weight will be on the back and the remainder on the front, in this (4t-2.5t) 1.5ton on the front axle, on top of your unladen axle weight.
You only need to measure w/b once make marks or mental notes where points are and using 8ths easy to work out in your head, half the weight half again, and again, I hope you can follow what I mean!
Not as good as weighing proper, but gives you an idea.
pig pen:
A check axle weights on a plate bridge will be fairly accurate as stated on here, if its level in the ground, if its up on a ramp once your front wheel drops of the plate and down the ramp more weight is shifted on to the front and off the back.
If you know your axle weights with truck unladen, and know what weigh your loading, you can get a rough idea of axle weights by, measure your wheel base divide by 8 (for ease of working out later), eg 6m w/b, 0.75m, weight of load divide by 8 again, eg 4ton,= 0.5 ton, find the centre of gravity of the item(pack of timber if uniform will be roughly middle) measure where that is in realation to wheel base eg 3.75m from front axle = 5/8`s of weheel base, then 5/8 of 4ton = 2.5t, if youve measured from the front that weight will be on the back and the remainder on the front, in this (4t-2.5t) 1.5ton on the front axle, on top of your unladen axle weight.
You only need to measure w/b once make marks or mental notes where points are and using 8ths easy to work out in your head, half the weight half again, and again, I hope you can follow what I mean!
Not as good as weighing proper, but gives you an idea.
Piece of cake but you are simplifying it.
Forgot to add if your load is behind rear axles the weight is taken off the front and added to the rears, you can measure your 1/8`s past the rear axles, so say the load above was centred 0.75m behind the axle, this would take 500kg off the front axle and add it to the rears so imposing 4500kgs on the rears.
Measure your wheel base from the center of the rear axles, the air suspention should sort the indivual axle loads out.
Spliting the wheel base in to 1/10s is an other good one to work it out in you head.
).
plus they aren’t there that often