Trailor Dolly

[zachp]

Has anyone used one of these to move your boat/trailer around. I live at a apt building and do not have enough room to back my boat into the garage, so I have to pull up, unhook boat/trailer, park pick up, manhandle the trailer into garage...Last summer I had a 16' smokercraft which was fairly light, but still a pain in the butt to manuever. this year I upgraded to a 17' lund angler which weighs quite a bit mroe than the smokercraft, would a trailer dolly be able to give me a little more ummph? Another thing I considered doing was mounting a small winch to the back of the garage and pulling it in, the landlord would frown upon it, but she lives in a different building so I think i could hide it. Anyone have any recomendations...Other than moving which will be done at the end of summer.

[theoilman]

Have you thought about putting another hitch ball on the front of your truck. Some people find a front hitch makes it easier to maneuver in tight spaces.

[Bobby Bass]

I think both are good ideas. I have a trailer dolly that I use a lot to move trailers at home here. As long as you have a hard surface they work well, even better if you have two people doing the moving. I have seen front bumper hitches and that to may be an answer for you if the weight of the trailer is a factor.

[zachp]

I've thought of putting a ball on the front of my pick up, but I don't think there is enough to manuever it that way either. Really the main part that I am having trouble with is keeping the trailer straight while pushing, there is somewhat of a slope I have to push it up, and then about a 2" lip to get up into the garage...I need to get a good head of steam to get it over that lip, while making sure I keep my 3 inches clearance on each side of the wheels to get it through the door. I'm sure many people in that apt building have had their laughs watching me give my all to get it up the slope, and then the trailer turns a little bit and I have to stop and try it all over again, and again, and again.

[Water Hazard]

I bought a trailer dolly from Fleet Farm last fall (they are about $50) with the thought that I would pull my boat behind the house for storage. The dolly moved my 16.6' G3 all over my sloped concrete driveway without any problems. Once the trailer got onto the lawn though, it just sank right in and no amount of pulling on the dolly would budge it.

That being said, here are some things I noticed with the dolly:

The one that I bought came with a 1 7/8" ball. I didn't like that as it allowed the dolly to fold up under the tongue of the trailer (handle pointing straight into the air). I am thinking about putting a 2" ball on it.

The bigger tires seem to help. The one that I bought has 10" nobby tires on it.

Are you going to be able to pull the trailer with the dolly, or are you going to push it? I haven't tried pushing before. If you do, let me know how it works out.

Hope that helps.

[zachp]

My plan is to push it in, if that doesn't work i'll cuss and swear at it until it makes it's own way into the garage.