Power Trailer Mover - Options Needed

[Greg Guimond]

I'm wondering if anyone has found any options for small electirc trailer movers. The smaller single axle trailers are easy to jockey, but once you get up to dual's I'd like the option of a "mobile spotter" inside the garage. anyone run across stuff? Here are 3 photos I found.............

[mrfixxall]

I'm wondering if anyone has found any options for small electirc trailer movers. The smaller single axle trailers are easy to jockey, but once you get up to dual's I'd like the option of a "mobile spotter" inside the garage. anyone run across stuff? Here are 3 photos I found.............

we use to use one of those at the car dealer i use to work at,it had a bumper on it..real strong little booger...

i would hate to see a trailer get away from someone with the ball on it..

me myself i use my forklift but i have modified and made brackets for the front of customers lawn tractors..i think for the money spent on one you can buy a tractor and still use to to move your boat and cut the grass..

[axelkloehn]

or a Quad :)

[gcarter]

Tidbart and Buizilla designed and had built a single axle trailer for Bob's 22.
It's a great trailer w/15" wheels, heavier axles and brakes.
I'm so impressed w/it that if I were to replace mine, I'd consider the same thing.
And as you mentioned, a single axle trailer is easy to negotiate.

[BUIZILLA]

Tidbart and Buizilla designed and had built a single axle trailer for Bob's 22.
It's a great trailer w/15" wheels, heavier axles and brakes.
I'm so impressed w/it that if I were to replace mine, I'd consider the same thing.
And as you mentioned, a single axle trailer is easy to negotiate. I'm pretty sure it has 16", E rated tires.. :wink: that is no cookie cutter trailer, it was measured 4 times, screwed together once, and absolutely done right..

[Greg Guimond]

What builder did you use to fabricate that single axle? I just thought that there would be an ultra compact, electric trailer mover that I could use to jockey stuff around in tight quarters. They are probably out there but I have not been able to find anything :confused:

[Bubba Dog]

You might try the aviation industry, I've seen some neat units around hangars.:wink:

[Tidbart]

What builder did you use to fabricate that single axle?

All American Trailer out of South Florida.

Bob

[VetteLT193]

What builder did you use to fabricate that single axle? I just thought that there would be an ultra compact, electric trailer mover that I could use to jockey stuff around in tight quarters. They are probably out there but I have not been able to find anything :confused:

They exist. The killer is price... Best idea I have seen is to hook it up to a riding lawn mower.

Here is a co. that makes what you are talking about though...

http://www.powermoverinc.net/htmls/pmdcmovers.html

And TidBart's trailer is not so much a trailer, but an aluminum Tank that happens to hold his boat! It is the nicest, most well thought out, trailer I have ever seen.

[Greg Guimond]

Interesting site Vette, thanks for sharing. I agree on the price being an obstacle. In my case, I don't want to buy a quad, or a tractor, or any other items that I really have no use for to jockey the trailer. I'd like the smallest footprint I can get as well. With those parameters, I thought there would be a pretty tiny unit that could do the job. I'm thinking that the power of gearing could make up for a small electric motor and that two high pressure balloon tires could bear the load of a dual axle and 24' boat. I got the idea while overseas for work. It is amazing how tiny the tracked excavators are over there and how much work they can still do. Bigger is NOT better the case of a trailer mover. Mr Carter could probably brainstorm a neat little unit!!

[VetteLT193]

I googled and found the plans to one of the ones you posted...


http://compare.ebay.com/like/230547435135?ltyp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar&rvr_id=165579759817&crlp=1_263602_304662&UA=WXF%3F&GUID=152dcc9b12b0a0aa14b18e01ffa7bb08&itemid=230547435135&ff4=263602_304662

[gcarter]

My own feelings are that if you stayed w/a single axle trailer w/good tire pressure, a simple un-powered device like the picture you posted above would work very well.

http://www.donzi.net/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=59703&d=1289099746

[gcarter]

I'm talking about after you heal up, of course! :wink::yes:

[DonziJon]

Here's a few tow gismos designed for aircraft. Whenever you say "Aircraft" the price goes UP. These units don't take any tongue weight. None of them are cheap. Just for reference...:bonk: DJ

http://sportys.com/PilotShop/category/919

EDIT: It looks like on some of them, the nosewheel of the aircraft is winched up into a dollylike chock..maybe carrying the weight of the nose, and then towed around. Still big bucks.

[Greg Guimond]

Thanks DJ I will check those out later. George C, I agree for the single axle but I have to solve for the dual axle below which is why I'm huntin around for options while I try like heck not to laugh (tough with roadtripse), cough, or sneeze :yes:

[gcarter]

Greg, you're holding out on us.
Why isn't that boat on your sig line?

[zelatore]

My own feelings are that if you stayed w/a single axle trailer w/good tire pressure, a simple un-powered device like the picture you posted above would work very well.

http://www.donzi.net/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=59703&d=1289099746

Only problem with that is if you have any sort of incline in your drive or a lip at your garage door. It doesn't take much to bring you to a stand-still.

But on level ground, like moving it around a shop, it would certainly do the trick with even a pretty big boat on a single axle. You could probably even muscle a twin axle around with it so long as you had good concrete to work on.

[Greg Guimond]

My issue, and I'm sure that I'm not the only one with this issue, is that I have a little pitch that leads to a center drain in the floor. That floor is cut into 4 quadrants and each has a 2" gulley scribe for a drain pattern. So when you have pitch, plus bumpy scribe lines and maybe a tire that is low on psi, all three make for a trailer that needs more then a healthy push. Then again, I am famous for chasing some of the most niche approaches for this stuff :nilly:

[zelatore]

Somewhere...once...a long time ago....I read a test comparing a couple of those powered boat movers. (trailerboat mag maybe?)

The gist of it, as I remember, was that they are quite expensive toys but work better than just about anything else for precision moving of even pretty big boats in tight locations. Seems like they tested them up/down a sloped drive with no real problems.

Of course, it was a long time ago and I wasn't really interested in buying one so I probably didn't pay that much attention. They could have said they were all crap and you'd die a horrible death when your boat came rolling uncontrollably down your drive an shoved you into an oncoming big rig doing 70 through your neighborhood. But that's not the way I remember it.

[gcarter]

The only cheap way I can think of to do this is to cut up a junk lawn mower and integrate it.

[zelatore]

The only cheap way I can think of to do this is to cut up a junk lawn mower and integrate it.


hmmmm....yes, I can see this working. I'm thinking a Snapper with the continuously variable drive would make a good starting point.

[VetteLT193]

Some more thinkin' and searching I found this. Makes pretty logical sense to attach it to the trailer. I'm thinking if you fabbed this up yourself you could set it up to re-charge when hooked to the vehicle.

http://www.eztug.com/

and another... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOm_O6MhxIM

[Greg Guimond]

That EZ Tug looks interesting. The fact that there is a full time battery needed on the trailer can be used to power a winch as well as a hydraulic ram for the tongue, both of which could revert to hand power.

Hmmmmmmmm :cool:

[zelatore]

I'm thinking that second one will work great on boat trailers...

I still say we give George C. an old Snapper, some steel stock, and a MIG and see what he comes up with:wink:

[DonziJon]

I like that...and being an old fart...and usually cranky..there isn't much that I like. That looks like it might work. My Minx on a single axle trailer (2700# for the boat, and ~300# for the trailer. My tongue weight is 230#. I didn't see a Price. :lookaroun: NB

[zelatore]

3000 lbs is the max recommended load. Which probably means it actually works with a max of about 2700...on concrete...with a single axle...totally flat...

But I'm not a pessimist or anything.

And regarding my comment about the model in the video working well on a boat trailer...I should have used a smiley at the end. Maybe something like this - :boggled::bonk: You know, because dunking what appears to be a pair of starters under water (maybe even salt water depending on where you are) doesn't sound like a recipe for long-life.

[Greg Guimond]

Do you mean the unit shown in the YouTube clip? For me, that is far to much "stuff" to hang on the trailer. I like the EZ Tug as it seems to be relatively small, is attached permanently, and is powered by one battery that could be located anywhere on the trailer and used to power other "stuff" from winch, to ram, to spotlight. Paint that thing color matched and maybe it even gets a little less visible. No idea if it can handle a dual axle trailer like below and if it can be dunked at the ramp without melting down in short order. Then it would be nice to know the price.

[gcarter]

Dunking.......
I seem to remember that 1,500' long, very flat ramp at Lake Powel.
You had to dunk your car or truck well past the rear axle to get the boat off.
That wouldn't be a good environment.
I think the seperate tug would be best.

[DonziJon]

I liked the launch ramp (Bolton Landing, Lake George) at the private boat yard on the causway to the fancy Sagamore Hotel. That ramp allowed you to bury the wheels of the trailer in the water with SIX feet of backup distance down the ramp. Not a real problem launching..but retrieval was real "SPORT". :bonk: DJ

[zelatore]

Dunking.......
I seem to remember that 1,500' long, very flat ramp at Lake Powel.
You had to dunk your car or truck well past the rear axle to get the boat off.
That wouldn't be a good environment.
I think the seperate tug would be best.

Yeah, Powel is a bit shallow. Somewhere I've got a shot of a guy who backed a class A motorhome down well into the water until only the front 10' of the thing were dry. Apparently he forgot that it was a PUSHER and ingested water. We left before the tow truck arrived to retrieve him.

Man, I am sorely tempted to start watching for an old Snapper riding mower on craigslist just to see what I could do...like I don't have plenty of other stuff to take care of :bonk:

[Greg Guimond]

Intergrate your very own Electric Trailer Jockey and stop trying to move your dual axle boat trailer into a super tight position. The ELT or ELTjr take the strain away and make boating fun again!

Or something like that could be the late night commercial. I could see the battery up high and then a little storage bin beneath the battery. I guess if you have one per trailer you don't as much benefit though. This rig weighs 4000lbs all in............

[Greg Guimond]

Actually, now that I am thinking it through, you could probably set up each of your trailers to "accept" the drive mechanism. This way you could move it and plug it into the trailer that required it at the time........:nilly:

[gcarter]

Yeah, Powel is a bit shallow. Somewhere I've got a shot of a guy who backed a class A motorhome down well into the water until only the front 10' of the thing were dry. Apparently he forgot that it was a PUSHER and ingested water. We left before the tow truck arrived to retrieve him.

Man, I am sorely tempted to start watching for an old Snapper riding mower on craigslist just to see what I could do...like I don't have plenty of other stuff to take care of :bonk:

I like the Snapper idea. W/a 10-15 HP industrial engine and maybe a hydrostatic transmission, you could move anything.
You could even add a hydraulically operated arm w/a 2" ball on the top of it. Just imagine, running up to the trailer, raising the ball to plug into the hitch and move where you will.

[blackboat]

I have been thinking about trying one of these !

[Greg Guimond]

I've made a little progress. Seems as if we could improvise using one of these perhaps. Not that keen on gas powered but perhaps the dimensions would be small enough. Here is an excerpt

I was working a small salvage sale on the National Forest once when an old man looking for fire wood pulled into the landing. He was driving a 1958 IHC pickup he had converted to a 353 detroit. I recognized the sound right off, same engine that was in the old Clark skidder I was running. He claimed he got up to 60 mpg with it. Anyway, he also had a old heavy duty industrial wheelbarrow that he had converted. All he did was flange a starter gear to the wheel, built a bracket to mount a starter motor inline with the gear. He built a simple hanger for a battery behind the landing gear. He had a lever on the right handle, kind of like a brake/cutch lever on a motorcycle. He used the motor for an assist for steep grades and tough spots. All he had to do was pull the lever which engaged the bendix gear. When not in use, everything freewheeled. The weight of the load counter balanced the weight of the battery so you couldn't tell it was there. The thing worked very well and wouldn't be hard to build at all.

[Greg Guimond]

Nice if I attached the pictures!

[gcarter]

The wheelbarrow from Sweedon (?) is cool. I like the fact it has a brake, but doesn't seem to have a reversing motor, but maybe I missed it.

I can appreciate that you would prefer electric power. It's relatively safe and simple.
The lawnmower idea I was mentally developing was to cut off all the hardware in front of the power unit, add a pair of heavy duty casters about 2' in front of the axles. Remove the seat and all the hand contrrols. Mount a pair of extended handle bars aft of the power unit w/all controls mounted to them. A mower w/a differential coul simply use a brake on each axle to aid steering, but most steering would be done w/the handle bars. The throttle could be a bike twist grip, and so on.....
The engine could be converted to propane or CNG.

[zelatore]

The wheelbarrow from Sweedon (?) is cool. I like the fact it has a brake, but doesn't seem to have a reversing motor, but maybe I missed it.

I can appreciate that you would prefer electric power. It's relatively safe and simple.
The lawnmower idea I was mentally developing was to cut off all the hardware in front of the power unit, add a pair of heavy duty casters about 2' in front of the axles. Remove the seat and all the hand contrrols. Mount a pair of extended handle bars aft of the power unit w/all controls mounted to them. A mower w/a differential coul simply use a brake on each axle to aid steering, but most steering would be done w/the handle bars. The throttle could be a bike twist grip, and so on.....
The engine could be converted to propane or CNG.

Of course at some point it's just simpler to get a small lawn tractor and just weld a hitch onto it. It would be bigger and not quite as manuverable, but it could stil mow the lawn.

[Greg Guimond]

100% agree but the whole idea is to have a tug or a mule that takes as little space as possible. Again, I am famous for pursuing the most arcane option with this sort of stuff. Who else would try and get a hamster powered Baby to (hopefully) perform like an I/O when you could just buy a nice I/O and enjoy it. Now the options could include the grass cutter route, or the motorized wheelbarrow route that I think is USA, or the mini tug in either electric, propane or CNG. If it were an ELT jr that would be safest and a commercial battery is the smallest footprint + it helps because it is heavy. Now the propane would also be quiet like the battery approach to not piss off the neighbors but I suspect it might be a bit expensive and not give you the weight of the battery.

"Use your ELT jr to move your boat around as needed close to midnight without needlessly waking your loved ones or others that might sue you. The battery will last for hours before needing a recharge off a garage outlet. No smell, no noise, no safety concerns........ELTjr does it all! "

or

"1001 jobs around the yard are perfect for your gas powered wheelbarrow. Also comes with a dandy adapter that turns it into a boat tug so you can move your fishboat in and out of your garage with ease in between moving mulch to your beds and sand to that slope on the driveway in the winter. GPWjr does it all! "

[zelatore]

Powered wheelbarrow. Where have I seen that before?

http://www.drpower.com/twoStepInquiry.aspx?X=1&Name=Powerwagon_G&src=AW68141XE3013309&cm_mmc=Google-_-Powerwagon+Terms-_-Wheelbarrow-_-powered+wheelbarrow&crcat=Powerwagon+Terms%7eWheelbarrow&crsource=adwords&crkw=powered+wheelbarrow&crcampaign=6486422105&gclid=CLGP-_PAqKUCFQIGbAodTyoBJQ

Not exactly 'small' though.

I love DR stuff. Not that I own any of it, or even know if it's actually good. I just love the idea that I'd have enough property that I'd NEED some of their stuff. :shades:

[Greg Guimond]

How about this for $279 + shipping? It is being offered on the DR Power site as reconditioned. Take off the "barrow" top and weld a ball?

Tired of struggling and straining with traditional wheelbarrows and overloaded garden carts? The battery-powered, self-propelled NEUTON™ Garden Cart makes any hauling job easy. Ideal for moving 200 pounds of just about anything-mulch, soil, plants, firewood, fertilizer, seed, grass clippings, and much more. Just press the Power Pad and go. Let go and stop. The weight-forward design makes for easy dumping and having the load over the drive wheels gives the Cart excellent traction. Easily recharged using any standard outlet (battery and charger included).

Specifications
Weight: 70 lbs.
Length: 47-1/2"
Width: 25-1/2"
Height: 36"
Battery: 12-volt, 22-amp, sealed lead/acid type; battery charger included
Motor: Two 12-volt, 21-amp permanent magnet electric motors
Speeds: 2 forward (1 & 2 mph); 1 reverse (1 mph)
Transmission: Sealed, lubricated for life, maintenance-free
Capacity (weight): 200 lbs. on moderate slopes; 150 lbs. on hills
Capacity (volume): 5 cubic feet
Warranty: 2 years residential use (90 days commercial use)

[Greg Guimond]

I'm thinking this little bugger is the best price/performer you can get

[gcarter]

The price is right!
I hope it works out for you.

[zelatore]

The only thing that worries me is the 200 lb capacity. Sounds a bit low? The frame might not be too hard to reinforce, but the axles or motors could be an issue.

Pretty reasonable price though.

[Greg Guimond]

Draggin it back to the top with this little electric pusher...........

[Greg Guimond]

I stumbled across this little trailer mover and picked it up. It is electric powered and chain driven. I'm not sure how it will work with dual front tires but when the tongue weight drops onto it, the little rear wheels elevate. It has a switch for forward and reverse. Should be interesting. I got it in Texas and the seller had a friend coming east so he threw it on his truck for $50. My articulated tractor in the back was a pain in the neck to use. All the great stuff it can due because of it being articulated, works against you for moving trailers into tight quarters so I'll see how the little guy does instead :wink:

[Greg Guimond]

I was getting kind of excited about the weather breaking so I figured I should go check out the boat ramp. Now I'm depressed as the ENTIRE system was destroyed by Sandy :( Given what others have gone through I should count my blessings. Nothing left but the pilings! Not good.

[mattyboy]

Greg

port liberte nj ????

[Greg Guimond]

Ran across this used electric trailer pusher for sale. Looks to be pretty substantial. Guy is asking $700. I like the fact it has swivel casters.

[Greg Guimond]

And here is a much smaller used one that a guy is selling for $600..............

[Ghost]

Test drive