Ball Weight Scales:

Jay, A number of us carry scales supplied by: ADK
77 Rymer Avenue
Safety Beach, Vic 3936 (03) 5987-1667 Cost is around $135/140

Recommend maytow's WeighJack. 1500kg Hydraulic bottle jack with fairly accurate weight guage. Griff

Griff Am interested in that jack. Did you buy it in Sydney? If so, where please????? Regards Jeff

Tginti,
The weigh jack is a MATOW Model B (for caravans up to 3000kg and ball weight readings over 150kg. The cost is $149 delivered. Order by letter, phone, fax or email:-
Maytow, 3 Tolley Court, Hope Valley,S.A. 5090.
Ph (08) 8263 0515 Fax (08) 8396 2726,
email: sales@matow.com
Regards..............Rob

Jay Sorry to be so late in answering your query although this is my second try. A psoting on another topic also seemed to vanish into the ether. Like Motley Pete we use the ADK - crude but effective. You are not interested in +/- 5kg but +/- 25kg. Anything below 200kg is just an accident lurking. Circa 250kg a bit less lurking. Circa 300kg pretty comfortable. Andy

There is an advt. in the Dec 03 issue of Caravan world for the Maytow
jack. It costs $149 including postage for the Model B (up to 3000 kg), the
Model A (up to 2000 kg) is the same price.
Phone 08 8263 0515
Post 3 Tolley Court, Hope Valley, SA 5090
E-mail sales@maytow.com
It looks good, I'm getting one. They explain how you can weigh not
just the ball weight but the entire caravan.
Regards,
John

Hi I called Maytow and said what about a BT that has a TARE of 2800 and will probably fit out at 3300? The person on the phone said well it is only made for 3000 and the scale tops out at 1500 but is built to go to 1750. Why don't you give it a try? I told him I would rather ask the Boggers with larger vans what they are using. Hey big Boggers, what are you using to lift one side of your BT to change a tire? Cheers, tgintl/jay

Jay, Because of the Simplicity suspension in BTs (load sharing) you only have to lift the wheel not the van ..... in a pinch it can be done with a smallish log and a rock. A jack for levelling the BT is another matter that might have to hold 1400-1500kg. The Maytow kills a few birds with one stone so to speak .... change tyre, level BT, measure weights and lift BT to dig out bogged wheels !! BTW Has anybody weighed a load sharing suspended BT with a Maytow ..... You would have to run a spar between the two stub axles so when you raise it to weigh it both wheels come off the ground ..... otherwise you are weighting BT less wheel, spring etc could be up to 300kg out for both sides ??? Also, when weighing, lift the tyres off the ground evenly from one side to the other side otherwise you might preload one side different to the other giving an inaccurate reading. Anthony Explore this Great Land ...Do it Easy ...Tow a Bushtracker

Okey Dokey The Maytow B takes care of changing the tire and weighing even my soon to be (I'm not sleeping just thinking about it) Hedonistic Land Yacht. What about leveling from one side to the other - what are people doing to lift even a little bit - one side? Wood blocks or some type of mechanical/blowup device? Thanks, tgintl/jay

Jay, I was levelling the BT the hard way until Nomad showed me the jack method. I place a piece of timber on ground to give jack base more surface area to stop sinking over time .... place jack on timber and jack up. Lift point is between the wheels on the suspension angle-iron where it meets the chassis. As mentioned in a previous thread I place a freezer bag over jack if staying for some time to stop the exposed ram of the jack from corroding .... Grab a spirit level ..place on floor in BT ...have someone keep and eye on it as you jack ... then they can give the signal ...... Ok Darling ! Level !!!! Time for a beer !!![grin] The Maytow should be ok to level BT so long as it has enough travel in the ram to offset the unevenness of the ground ? I use my F250 jack ...I'd have to measure travel but I think it is about 200mm ...maybe more ??? Anthony Explore this Great Land ...Do it Easy ...Tow a Bushtracker

We carry a length of 200 x 50 mm treated pine board cut to about 1.6 mts long. Also carry about 8 offcuts of same board 200 mm long.
Chamfer end of board an a few of the shorts so that wheels can run up easily.
By using short lengths as packers under long board we have levelled up on some absolutely horrible campsites.
Boards also used for jack pad when changing wheels on truck or van, as insulating spacers on table when using gas ring, as windbreak around gas ring, as de-bogger (once) in soft sand and as spacer for step into van. (Judy has little legs.)
Boars across front of A frame handy for bucket of hand washing water.
Lots of uses and takes very little storage space.

Regards
Turist

Another hint for levelling BT.
Place a 300 mm spirit level on rear tail light section.
Raise one end of level until bubble is centre.
If gap at end of level is 5mm then van around 40mm out of level.
10mm gap, 80mm out of level. etc etc
Place appropriate boards behind wheel and reverse on.

We used this method for a while but after a few hundred camps we just "go by eye" most of the time and it is usually pretty right.

Age, cunning and a reluctance to work make you think about easy ways to do things.

Regards
Turist

I've used this A frame level on our vans since 1976, they are still
around today, makes leveling a chinch to do and check front to back side
to side. First time use after mounting it on A frame, (not all a
frames are level) level the van up with normal spirit level on the
chassis rails or van floor etc. then check and note readings on A frame
level (mark if necessary)
http://tinyurl.com/2yx49
(We set up our van slightly lower to front and to awning side,)

Good suggestion, Turist. We saw a refinement of this setup recently
when a non-bogger friend called in recently. The second board when needed
to go on top of the base board had four stubby lengths of dowelling
protuding. They slotted into four corresponding holes in the base board to
anchor the top board.

John and Jan

John and Jan

Sometimes I forget just what I've done, or forget to explain properly.
I have drilled 1/2" holes through all the boards that will line up when the boards are "stacked"
I push a few long 1/2" bolts through when required.
Bolts are tapered on ends so that they will push into ground to stop boards moving, sometimes required on hard slippery ground.

Regards
Turist