What is your hunting vehicle and trailer weight?
Previously we spoke about your hunting vehicle weight and determined that the best option was to use a trailer to keep you legal. This should help you avoid overloading your hunting vehicle. So lets look at why this is the best option.
What is GCM?
GCM is Gross Combined Mass, that is the maximum weight the vehicle manufacturer has allowed. That is the total weight of the vehicle, trailer and all the contents. This is one of the reasons the Ford Ranger is a favourite amongst caravaners, because of it high GCM.
Hunting vehicle and trailer weight example
If we use our example of the 2013 Toyota Hilux dual cab manual turbo diesel from the hunting vehicle weight article, it has a GCM of 5,210kg (sourced from redbook.com.au).
Previously the maximum weight we could carry was 990kg (including occupants and everything) with out a trailer.
Lets say the average dual axle steel trailer with brakes weighs 650kg (guestimate based on approximate weights sourced from www.trailersauce.co.nz). We will not talk about the trailer GVM (maximum total trailer weight) to keep it simple.
| GCM Table | weight | quantity | Sub-total |
| Hilux | 1720 | 1 | 1,720 |
| Tray | 250 | 1 | 250 |
| Side steps | 15 | 2 | 30 |
| Bullbar | 75 | 1 | 75 |
| towbar | 40 | 1 | 40 |
| Under tray tool box | 7 | 2 | 14 |
| winch | 27 | 1 | 27 |
| recovery gear | 20 | 1 | 20 |
| Water | 20 | 1 | 20 |
| Long range tank | 40 | 1 | 40 |
| Air compressor | 10 | 1 | 10 |
| Bash plates | 30 | 1 | 30 |
| spotties | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Occupants | 85 | 2 | 170 |
| Dog cage | 40 | 1 | 40 |
| Dogs | 40 | 2 | 80 |
| Fridge | 40 | 1 | 40 |
| Firearms | 5 | 4 | 20 |
| Ammo | 50 | 1 | 50 |
| Quads | 300 | 1 | 300 |
| Unleaded | 15 | 2 | 30 |
| Cooking gear | 40 | 1 | 40 |
| Sleeping gear | 30 | 1 | 30 |
| Total | 3,080 | ||
| Hilux GCM | 5,210 | ||
| Trailer | 650 | ||
| Balance | 1,480 |
So straight away you can see you have an extra 1,480kg of carrying capacity, simply by towing a 650kg trailer.
Lets put that in perspective. Let’s add 2 more occupants and 2 more quads and see how much spare weight we have in a hunting vehicle and trailer weight combo.
| GCM Table 2 | weight | quantity | Sub-total |
| Hilux GCM | 5,210 | ||
| Hilux and load | 3,080 | ||
| Trailer | 650 | ||
| Occupants | 85 | 2 | 170 |
| Quads | 300 | 2 | 600 |
| Balance | 710kg |
Instead of being over weight by 370kg like in the Hunting vehicle weight GVM article with just a hunting ute, we now have 2 more hunters and 2 more quads and still room for 710kg of heaps of other hunting gear!
As you can see the advantages of taking a trailer on a hunting trip is significant. In the past I’ve personally towed a boat just to move the weight load off the tray (we didn’t even think about actually using the boat).
The boys from www.hogsdogsquads.com.au have a custom built trailer purely for the purpose of hauling quads for massive hunts up in the Cape. Check out their YouTube video below for a quick look at the setup they have created:
Towing a hunting trailer
For those of you who have never had a trailer before and are concerned about the difficulties of it don’t be. Normal driving with a trailer is very easy. There is only one thing to remember: that you have a trailer on when changing lanes/overtaking.
If your trailer is wider than the tow vehicle, just check the mirrors to make your the wheels are in you lane or not in the gutter. I find it help full to find a spot on the bull-bar to keep aligned to the centre stripe on the road.
Reversing a trailer is something that takes practice. Just take your time and get someone to make sure you don’t hit anything including the trailer on the tray of the ute. Once you learn how the mechanics of reversing a trailer works it’s a breeze.
Dual axle trailers are actually much easier to reverse than single axle trailers, mostly because of the increased length. So don’t be scared to go big straight away.
Conclusion
Get your self a hunting vehicle and trailer setup, stay legal, stay safe, take more mod cons and really be able to enjoy your trip.
But remember shift all the weight to the trailer. The towball weight is part of you GVM. If your not careful you will still be over your GVM but under your GCM and therefore not legal.
Coming soon the best hunting trailer setup.