Scale recommendations please

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doodle

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Aug 30, 2014
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Hi.  We are in eastern Massachusetts.  Can anyone recommend a place that has a scale where we can get corner weights on our coach?  TIA!
 
i don't know your area, but you might have luck on a Cat scale.  I never was able to do it, until I discovered the app on my smart phone.  With it, you don't have to talk to the weighmaster at all... you know, the one that will get confused if you ask about it.  You even pay through the app so you don't even have to get out.

So all the ones I've seen have the sign posts too close to safely get off on one side, but I found, at least on the one near me, that I could put my drive axle on the trailer pad with my steer axle on the drive axle pad.

launch the app before pulling on for a "normal" weigh, then circle around and select re-weigh...but this time pull half on like that...then it's just a little math.
As I understand it some of them don't want you to drive half on like that, but I asked at some point and they didn't even understand...they didn't mind
 
blw2 said:
i don't know your area, but you might have luck on a Cat scale.  I never was able to do it, until I discovered the app on my smart phone.  With it, you don't have to talk to the weighmaster at all... you know, the one that will get confused if you ask about it.  You even pay through the app so you don't even have to get out.

So all the ones I've seen have the sign posts too close to safely get off on one side, but I found, at least on the one near me, that I could put my drive axle on the trailer pad with my steer axle on the drive axle pad.

launch the app before pulling on for a "normal" weigh, then circle around and select re-weigh...but this time pull half on like that...then it's just a little math.
As I understand it some of them don't want you to drive half on like that, but I asked at some point and they didn't even understand...they didn't mind

Brad, what?s the name of the app?  This is a very interesting way to ?trick? the system. I like it! 
 
In addition to Brad's suggestion, you could look for a landscape materials yard; They often have scales, but you'll probably need to re-position the coach several times to get the individual corners. Some locations may not have the surrounding space to accommodate that.
 
Side stepping a drive on scale will not normally give repeatable results. Those scales are platform and need a vehicle to drive on straight. You might contact the local police Dept and ask if they have a DOT officer that weights the semi trucks out on the highway with protable scales. They normally will weigh a motorhome or travel trailer if asked and they have time and room. Worth asking. Oh yea, it would be no charge too.   
 
stripit said:
Side stepping a drive on scale will not normally give repeatable results. Those scales are platform and need a vehicle to drive on straight. You might contact the local police Dept and ask if they have a DOT officer that weights the semi trucks out on the highway with protable scales. They normally will weigh a motorhome or travel trailer if asked and they have time and room. Worth asking. Oh yea, it would be no charge too. 

No charge ??  As long as your not over weight.
 
Love "Weight-my-truck".  Takes the hassle out so I weigh more, even if I don't like the answers.
 
stripit said:
Side stepping a drive on scale will not normally give repeatable results. Those scales are platform and need a vehicle to drive on straight. You might contact the local police Dept and ask if they have a DOT officer that weights the semi trucks out on the highway with protable scales. They normally will weigh a motorhome or travel trailer if asked and they have time and room. Worth asking. Oh yea, it would be no charge too. 

I tried that with the local Washington State Patrol. No luck. They'd weigh a commercial vehicle...but not an RV.  Had to settle for axle weights at a local moving company.
 
doodle said:
Hi.  We are in eastern Massachusetts.  Can anyone recommend a place that has a scale where we can get corner weights on our coach?  TIA!

Search for "scrap metal eastern massachusetts" and you should find a number of scrap metal yards in your area. They use the scales there to determine value of the metal loads they receive. I've used a scrap metal yard near us to weigh both our coach and our passenger van. Ten bucks for the coach with a certificate and no charge for the van.
 
jymbee said:
Search for "scrap metal eastern massachusetts" and you should find a number of scrap metal yards in your area. They use the scales there to determine value of the metal loads they receive. I've used a scrap metal yard near us to weigh both our coach and our passenger van. Ten bucks for the coach with a certificate and no charge for the van.

I would only use scrap yards as a last resort. There's a chance of picking up something in your tires and give you a flat.  Glass, nails and pieces of sharp metal.
 
I don't think you will find an accurate scrap yard scale out here.  They tend to lean towards the "profit" side :)
 
Mile High said:
I don't think you will find an accurate scrap yard scale out here.  They tend to lean towards the "profit" side :)

Would they be controlled by the DOT and be checked every so often. I don't know but just asking.
 
Rene T said:
Would they be controlled by the DOT and be checked every so often. I don't know but just asking.
Most are inspected by the Standards Division (Agriculture) because they are for profit, not taxes like the DOT.  The industry overall just has a notorious reputation for rigging the scales to their advantage. 
 
Rene T said:
Would they be controlled by the DOT and be checked every so often. I don't know but just asking.

I don't know the answer but I had assumed-- rightly or wrongly-- that in order to be "certified" that implied some manner of regulation. Of course I suppose that the owner's uncle might have been the one that issued the certification!  ;D

However if a load is weighed on arrival then reweighted on departure, any manipulation to benefit the yard would seem to involve a pretty blatant effort to defraud.

I suppose some yards are cleaner that others but there were no obvious issues involving tire safety. Could change in a day of course.

Having said all this, I agree that using the other kind of facilities mentioned here might be a better approach.
 
Lots of truck stops will have certified scales. You might not be able to weigh individual wheels, but you will be able to get axle weights and total gross weight.
 
stripit said:
Side stepping a drive on scale will not normally give repeatable results. Those scales are platform and need a vehicle to drive on straight. ....

I hear you, but I'm not able to wrap my head around why that would be.  Any idea why, or where you learned that?

I'd understand if the shoulders resulted in a severely out of level side to side while measuring
I might also believe that if the tires on scale were over to the extreme limit at the side of the pad, might result in an imbalanced situation that could result in errors, but I've gotta believe those things are designed to self level so this wouldn't be much of an issue if at all....  Otherwise the trucks would have to be precisely centered and a fairly well balanced load.
 
Check with someplace that sells RV tires.  Your local RV parts store will know of one.  Some of  them weigh vehicles.
 

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