Your horse float’s weight and balance directly affect road safety and the well-being of your horses. You’re legally responsible for ensuring your float is roadworthy, complies with weight limits, and is loaded safely. Many horse owners unknowingly exceed payload limits once horses, tack, feed, and gear are packed in. Get your float professionally weighed with our horse float weighing service, understand your TARE, GVM, ATM, GTM, and towball weight, and keep both your horses and yourself safe on the road.
Why Horse Float Safety Matters
If you’re a horse owner in Melbourne or regional Victoria, chances are you’ve hitched up your float for competitions, trail rides, or trips to the vet. But have you stopped to think about the total weight you’re towing?
Horse floats are more than just boxes on wheels. How you load them—and whether you understand their weight limits—can make the difference between a smooth trip and a dangerous one. Overloaded or unbalanced floats increase the risk of sway, braking failures, tyre blowouts, and even accidents.
Understanding the Key Terms: TARE, GVM, ATM, GTM
The compliance plate on your horse float holds critical information, but it can be confusing. Here’s what you need to know:
- TARE weight – The empty weight of the float straight from the manufacturer.
- GVM (Gross Vehicle Mass) – The maximum allowed weight of a fully loaded vehicle. Some floats incorrectly list only this figure, which isn’t enough for safe towing.
- ATM (Aggregate Trailer Mass) – The total maximum weight of the float and load when detached from the vehicle.
- GTM (Gross Trailer Mass) – The maximum weight supported by the float’s axles when attached to a tow vehicle.
- Tow Ball Mass – The downward force the loaded float puts on the tow vehicle’s hitch.
In plain terms: knowing these numbers is essential to avoid overloading and to keep both your float and towing vehicle compliant.
The Hidden Risk: Payload Creep
Here’s a real-world example. A common two-horse straight load (2HSL) float was recently weighed. The compliance plate only showed the GVM, but not the TARE. Once measured, the payload capacity was found to be just 950kg.
Now, two horses around 16–17hh can easily weigh 900–1200kg combined. That’s already at or beyond the float’s safe capacity—before you’ve added tack, feed, hay nets, water drums, portable yards, or camping gear.
This problem, known as payload creep, is widespread among Victorian horse owners. Many floats on the road right now are unknowingly overloaded.
How to Check if Your Float is Safe
- Find your compliance plate – Usually fixed to the drawbar or inside the float. Take note of all listed weights.
- Weigh your float – Don’t rely only on the plate.
- Calculate your payload – Subtract the tare weight from the ATM to find how much you can legally load.
- Factor in everything – Horses, tack, feed, water, and extras all count.
- Balance the load – Uneven weight can cause sway and stress on axles. If you’ve modified your float (e.g., moved a bay), check how this affects balance.
Protecting Your Horses on the Road
Your horses trust you to keep them safe, and transport is one of the riskiest parts of horse ownership. An overloaded float can cause:
- Stress and discomfort for horses due to poor balance.
- Higher risk of accidents from sway or braking delays.
- Mechanical failures that leave you stranded on the side of the Hume or Monash Freeway.
By taking the time to weigh and understand your setup, you protect not just your animals but everyone else on the road.
Final Thoughts
Whether you’re trailering your horses to Werribee Park Equestrian Centre, heading up to the Yarra Valley, or taking a float down the Mornington Peninsula, your setup needs to be safe and compliant. Don’t rely on guesswork or outdated compliance plates—get your float weighed, know your numbers, and give your horses the safe, stable journey they deserve. Contact Weigh My Ride today!
