Power Trailer Dolly

Half Share

New member
Does anyone have experience with a powered trailer dolly? Either the electric or battery powered ones. I saw some old posts from 05 on the forum but thought there may be more recent experiences.

The two I am looking at are the Parkit 360 and the Powermover

http://www.parkit360.ca/

http://powermoverinc.net/

It appears the Parkit 360 hooks up to the trailer ball and some reviews questioned its stability.

Thanks

Mitch
 
When I returned from a cruise to pick up my stored (triple axle) trailer, I found it was in a position where I could not reach it with the Chevvy and it was way too heavy to lift and pull by hand. Yard owner brought out his lawn tractor fitted with a ball hitch and solved the problem.
Jus' sayin"

M
 
I have a power caster. I tried using it with a ball and it tends to be way to tippy and can get you in some bad situations. I have a SS coupling welded to a piece of flat stock that is bolted to the bottom of the tongue. Then a post that screws to that coupling and fits the socket on the power caster. Much better this way it is ridgid and can't tip over. My shop is a 90 degree turn and across the backyard. You couldn't get it there without the mover.

http://www.c-brats.com/modules.php?full ... _photo.php

Can't get the picture to show up on the iPad . The link works.
 
Tell us a little more about your needs - where the trailer needs to go, grade, surface, obstacles etc. I've found all of these come in to play, and some solutions work much better than others given your particular environment.

I've become somewhat adept at moving trailers around my property...I've got 5 of them, including two with boats atop. They all go in/out of tight places routinely. My tools of the trade:

- Front mounted hitch. Much more maneuverable than a rear mount hitch, but not always the best when trying to squeeze something into a garage corner.

- Ball hitch on back of tractor's 3-point. It's very fast to hook up (can do it from the seat), as maneuverable as the front mount hitch on the truck, and gives me the ability to place trailers where I can't/won't drive my truck. Certainly not an option for everyone, but for those who have one - just do it. You'll never use your vehicle's front or rear hitch around the house again.

- Electric trailer dolly. By far the most maneuverable, but it's slow and is limited to flat/smooth ground. It will usually work across level and groomed gravel, but not always - any small obstacle a trailer tire encounters can hang it up. It's ideal for asphalt/concrete - nothing better. Also, I wouldn't go with one that has a ball mount. Those with their own adaptors (Powercaster and Powermover) are much easier to attach, more stable, and maneuver more easily given that they mount back of the ball.

- Manual trailer dolly. I actually use this one a lot on concrete for smaller trailers. Works nicely with my 16 and 5x8 trailer, but too small for anything bigger/heavier.
 
It will be on concrete without any lips or uneven spots. It is almost flat with a very slight slope in one spot.

I thought about the hitch on the front of the truck but do not have enough turning room. The farm tractor would be perfect but it is 3hours away.

I do not have a use for a garden tractor but that raised the idea of using a 4wheeler. It would require raising the hitch but I would think you would need to do that with a garden tractor

Has anyone used a 4 wheeler to move their boat.

It is a 26 foot cape cruiser.

Thanks

Mitch
 
I have had a power mover for several years and use it often. The trailer has a cylinder mounted on plates that are permanently bolted to the trailer. The mover has a solid metal 2 1/2 inch round stock that slides into the trailer cylinder. That way the mover will not tip over. Much better than a trailer ball hitch arrangement. It is slow but very manageable and maneuverable. Well worth the investment. Ron
 
Half Share":1o7dnp69 said:
It will be on concrete without any lips or uneven spots. It is almost flat with a very slight slope in one spot.

Powercaster or Powermover would be my choice. You'll be able to put it anywhere you want with ease.

Half Share":1o7dnp69 said:
Has anyone used a 4 wheeler to move their boat.

You mean a quad? Personally, I'd not use one given the tongue weight involved. Maybe on a 16, but for a 22 or larger - I'd be concerned with damaging the quad. Regardless, even if that's not a concern - it won't maneuver anywhere near as well as an electric dolly.

The beauty of an electric dolly, is the ability to change the direction of push/pull within 180 degrees instantly, without disconnecting anything. Pushing directly from either side, you can easily pivot the trailer on its wheels - even if it's a tandem. No tow vehicle can do this.
 
Tried it with a 3 wheeler once it was to much weight for the tires and I couldn't steer. My Razor says it can tow 1200 lbs. and that means 120 lbs. tongue weight. The Powercaster is great wish I would have bought the dual wheel one when I did. The one I bought works just fine the only time I had trouble was when I was moving across grass. I just had to put some boards down.
 
Aurelia":w956xnn4 said:
...plus it lives on the trailer so you always have it with you.

Man...I'd be very leery about getting one of those. Seems to me, being permanently attached is a major design defect - at least for a boat trailer.

One or two dips in the saltwater, and I'll bet its days would be numbered.
 
I don't recall ever having a jack go in the water while launching a boat. My current toy gets dunked to the top of the fenders but the jack is always dry. Also this model, like many, swivels so that the "works" could ride above the tounge while the trailer is in motion and during launching duty.
 
We have a Power Mover (a 4 wheeled model-1/2 HP Dayton Motor) that we've used with various boats and trailers for the past 10 years. Ours is a good unit, no problems, frame mount socket. The unit seems to move about anything that one can attach it to (our largest load was about 10,000 lbs.).

Power Boat Reports compared Power Caster and Power Mover a few years back, and both got good reviews. Ball mounts work well with small boats/trailres but as mentioned above lack stability with larger loads and heavier tongue weights.
 
I just ordered a Trailer Valet hand crank powered jack. I figured out that the jack assembly attaches to the trailer bracket with a simple pin like a ball insert to hitch so I can just take it off the trailer and store it indoors or even in the tow vehicle if I feel it gets in the way or is weathering while stored.

I will fill you all in on how it goes after I have some chances to use it.

Greg
 
I've been using a front mounted hitch on my truck to get my triple axled trailer into my driveway, i live on a very narrow street. Works great. Just saying.
 
cmetzenberg":3ixlggs7 said:
I've been using a front mounted hitch on my truck to get my triple axled trailer into my driveway, i live on a very narrow street. Works great. Just saying.

A triple axle trailer requires a lot of power to turn, due to the two axles (front and rear) that must scruff tires in even moderately tight turns.

I had a front bumper level hitch (actually welded to the vehicle frame) on a van I owned.

Was absolutely wonderful to push the trailer around effortlessly with great frontal vision for the driver, and much simpler to control & steer than backing up!

Biggest limitation is the extra room required, compared to a powered trailer dolly.

Won't work in extremely cramped quarters where room for the tow/push vehicle is an issue, or to turn extremely tight turns.

Now if you had a small, powerful garden tractor..............?

Joe. :teeth :thup
 
A front hitch would have us in the same spot.

We wanted it for the ease of boat put-away in our storage location. It is not a problem of backing. I am a trailer junkie at this point and like backing them. What I don't like, is how we have to pull forward down our long driveway (with no nearby turn around options) park the tow vehicle and unhitch on a slight slope. Then we push the trailer back and around 90 degrees on its jack wheel while using a couple of blocks to manage roll-away until we have it positioned for backing. Then we move the tow vehicle into that backing position and reconnect the trailer followed by the easy part which is backing the boat into the shed and that is the part I can actually do alone just fine. The manual pushing of the boat to get it into a backing position is hard and takes two people and I don't like the way the wheel jack protests and the manual dolly we have used for other trailers does not work well at the angle we need to use it based on the size and shape of the space.

A trailer valet should allow just ONE of us to unhitch-then crank the trailer around and back "effortlessly" and safely without the need to move the tow vehicle again. We want a shorter, single person process.

Greg
 
I have had a Trailer Valet for a month now and have moved the 22 several times with out any issues. We are on pavement not gravel so no issue there. I have a sharp dog leg in the drive way which was always a pain getting Thalassa back into place or out but now is a breeze by my self. It is easily removable if you are leaving the trailer somewhere or there is a security bolt if you wish to leave it on. As the season moves on I will let you know if we have any issues.
Terry
 
We have a Power Mover three-wheel model (about 15 years old) and it has worked great for moving: 26 Olympic, 25 C-Dory, and our present 23 Venture. Our situation is somewhat unique in that we only have about 5" inches clearance on each side with the Venture and less when we owned the Olympic or the 25 C-Dory. I can and do occasionally back the Venture in using the truck (drives my wife crazy).

Both Power Caster and Power Mover have made these units for many years so I would stick with those brands
 
I have had the trailer Valet for about 2 years now. Transfered it from my old 19ft Starcraft fiberglass runabout to the 22 Cruiser when I bought. It is cheaply made, rusts, but gets the job done. I have replaced a lot of the hardware with Stainless and I grease it and hit with corrosion x every so often. For the price of it versus the other options I am happy with my purchase. I always remove it when it when trailering and carry it with me. All it takes is removal of a hitch pin. Would also be easy to steal if left on. I cant imagine dipping that thing in saltwater after I've seen the rust on mine with just being stored outside while boats in storage.

I have pavers as a driveway and have to fit the boat in a very tight spot. Its pretty flat. Any hills and I wouldn't recommend it even though they say it works on them. It does go over surfaces that arent' smooth pretty well though.
 
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