Weighing heavy stuff

Need to weigh some of my machinery to see if I am legal to tow it. No weighbridge that I can access, not without towing the machinery to it anyway which I cant do until I know if I can tow it or not.

Any ideas for weighing stuff at home? I estimate the weight of the heaviest item I need to weigh at about 2000lbs.

set up a block & tackle with a 2 or 4 loop multiplier then see how much weight it takes to "float" the load?

http://www.etrailer.com/p-5780.htm

Watch the video...

You remove the center piece and place you hydraulic jack on it and then jack up the entire item you want to weigh...hopefully you can balance the load...

You could put a pressure gauge right on the hydraulic jack or any hydraulic device. You can calculate the force using pressure, area, and geometry or just use some weightlifting weights to calibrate it.

At one time I had a surplus 5000lb pallet scale. I calibrated it with weightlifting weights and it worked great. I sold it to a friend's soaring club and they use it to weigh gliders and figure out where the c/g is. I think those scales sell on ebay in the US for about $700-1000 with a basic indicator.

Kind of interesting. Just wondering if you ever got it weighed Mith?

Thanks for the suggestions guys.

Doc, I havent had time so far, but its on my to-do list. I'm thinking of rigging something up like Brad suggested. Make some sort of hydraulic lifting table and measure the pressure to find the weight.