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On 12 Dec 2003 04:21:15 -0800, (basskisser) wrote:

(Steven Shelikoff) wrote in message ...
On 11 Dec 2003 10:42:43 -0800, (basskisser) wrote:

(Steven Shelikoff) wrote in message ...
On 11 Dec 2003 04:35:05 -0800, (basskisser) wrote:

(Steven Shelikoff) wrote in message ...
On 10 Dec 2003 09:00:31 -0800, (basskisser) wrote:

K Smith wrote in message ...
Snafu wrote:
Gary, I'm not understanding the part about "the longer the tongue, the
furthur back we can put the wheels." To maintain the ~10% of the weight on
the hitch rule, increasing the tongue length works the opposite way.

Absolutely the longer the tongue (drawbar?) the further "forward" the
wheels will by to keep the balance right.

K

Once again, you've proven you stick your nose where it doesn't belong.
You certainly don't understand simple physics. If you make the tongue
longer, you will need to move the wheels BACK to keep the balance the
same. Say you have the tongue 10' from the wheels, and the tongue
weight is 100 pounds, to say, at that 10', you need to resist 100
pounds to lift the tongue. Now, we extend the tongue, to 15'. Now you
have a longer lever, thereby LESS tongue weight. To compensate, you
need to move the wheels BACK.

Tell ya what I'll do, I'm not going to give you the answer, but I'll
define a problem and let basskisser and Karen come up with solutions and
see if they come up with the same one, and then hack out their
differences.

Let's go with the situation above. Assume you have a trailer where the
distance from hitch to axle is 10' and the tongue weight is 100lbs.
Also, assume that the trailer is level because if it isn't, it will
affect the answer. Also assume that the tongue extension has a constant
weight per unit length.

Now increase the length of the tongue to 15' from axle to hitch. Just
from the difference in leverage, what is the new, lower weight on the
hitch?

Since we assumed that the extension has a linear weight/length, the
center of mass of the extension is 2.5' from the hitch and 12.5' from
the axle. So what percentage of the weight of the extension is
supported by the hitch?

Knowing the percentage of the weight of the extension that's supported
by the hitch, how much does the extension have to weigh to exactly
counteract the decrease in weight due to leverage and keep the weight on
the hitch at 100lbs?

If the extension weighs any more than the answer you come up with, then
you have to move the wheels forward to keep the weight 100lbs. Any
less, then you have to move the wheels back.

Bonus question: assume that the original level trailer with the 10' from
axle to hitch weighs 1000lbs and the hitch weight is 100lbs, or 10% of
the trailer weight. You extend the tongue by 5' using an extension that
weighs 10 lbs/ft. How far and in what direction do you have to move the
axle to keep the hitch weight 10% of the new trailer weight?

Have fun!

Steve

I know damn well what the outcome is. But, I don't have to show/prove
to you a damned thing. I solve baby **** like that on a daily basis.

Apparently not if you think that the extension has to weigh the same per
unit length as the boat and trailer to balance it out.

didn't say that. Read for context, please.

When I said that it's possible that you could be wrong, that the wheels
would have to move forward to balance out the extra weight of the hitch,
you said:
The tongue would have to be made out of something VERY heavy, lead
perhaps, to to make up for the additional lever arm from the fulcrum
point. Basically, a foot of tongue would have to weigh the same as a
foot of the boat and trailer.

If you didn't mean that a foot of the extension would have to weight the
same as a foot of the boat and trailer with your statement above, then
what did you mean?

It's called vector mechanics, there Steve.

Is that what you meant when you said that to balance out the weight of
adding length to the tongue that a foot of the tongue would have to
weigh the same as a foot of the boat and trailer: "It's called vector
mechanics"? You really don't comprehend english very well, do you?

Instead of thinking you know what the outcome is, why don't you solve
the problem and see if you're right? Don't even worry about the bonus
question if that's too hard. The main question is fairly simple to
solve even with the most basic high school level of physics. Hell, I
pretty much set the whole thing out for you on how to solve it.

Steve

I KNOW I'm right. And, yes, as I've stated, it IS basic high school
physics. Again, I KNOW the answer, but alas, I'm not about to play

You were wrong once, so apparently you don't KNOW the answer.

your idiotic games. I have nothing that I need to prove to an
ignoramus like you. Explaining and teaching something to a dimwit is
all but impossible.

You said it, not me.

Did you figure out where you are wrong in your analysis? Another
hint... You completely left out the fact that the fulcrum is NOT at
the CG in the Z direction.

I guess you haven't figured out that, in the problem where I said "Also,
assume that the trailer is level because if it isn't, it will affect the
answer." I've taken into account the fact that the fulcrum is not at the
CG in the Z direction. So you're wrong above where you claim I left out
that fact.

I would have thought someone as knowledgeable as you claim to be in high
school physics would have picked up on the fact that if the trailer is
level, the Z offset between the fulcrum and the CG contributes
absolutely nothing to the weight/balance between the hitch and wheels
and you can solve the problem without knowing what that offset is.

You also obviously lied when you originally claimed to KNOW the
answer... especially now that you've revealed that you (incorrectly)
think the problem is flawed and has no answer.

Keep digging yourself in deeper. lol

Steve