Zero turn with my Airstream

[Devanan]

Hi community, I am renovating a 76 land yacht. I need to turn it around on my property. There is not enough space to do it with a pickup truck and because of the steepness of my driveway it's not really an option to drive the trailer to the road and make a turn there. I will have to make a zero turn. People have recommended a skid steer or a crane. But none of these seem to be clear-cut options. I am wondering if anyone on this forum has any experience with his and/or ideas/advice about what to do?

[sgschwend]

More information on the space available would helpful.
There is a method where you turn the trailer part way, then unhitch the truck, drive it to the other side of the tongue, then hitch it again and complete the turn.

[Lumatic]

There are motorized trailer dollies out there. They have been covered in previous threads. Maybe you can find one with a forums search.

[featherbedder]

Originally Posted by Devanan

Hi community, I am renovating a 76 land yacht. I need to turn it around on my property. There is not enough space to do it with a pickup truck and because of the steepness of my driveway it's not really an option to drive the trailer to the road and make a turn there. I will have to make a zero turn. People have recommended a skid steer or a crane. But none of these seem to be clear-cut options. I am wondering if anyone on this forum has any experience with his and/or ideas/advice about what to do?

A skid steer will take some sawing back and forth, plus if not on cement or black top will tear up grass. I move my AS with skid steer freq. it will make ruts & as stated any sharp turns will tear grass. IMO take to road w/skid steer, turn there to prevent damage to yard, crane would not be option as would take a bigger crane to handle weight of AS. I have had cranes do some work for me, expensive and need room to move [swing] and deploy stabilizers.

[AlinCal]

If its a hard level surface you could use wheel dollies.

[ROBERT CROSS]

A single axle trailer would be the easiest to zero turn, take one tire off from each side, get a tongue wheel, scrap plywood to roll on, some helpful neighbors and push. 🥴
Worth a try. 👍
Done it with our boat trailer on the pad.

Bob
🇺🇸

[joshjack]

A skid steer, tractor, fork lift, etc that has a front loader capable of lifting the tongue is def the way to go. Skid steer makes sense because they are so short and can zero turn themselves they are good to maneuver.

Pro tip - whatever you get look for a front fork attachment with a hole in the forks. You can bolt a trailer ball on the forks thru that hole and it will be much more secure than trying to chain anything up.

[r carl]

Originally Posted by ROBERT CROSS

A single axle trailer would be the easiest to zero turn, take one tire off from each side, get a tongue wheel, scrap plywood to roll on, some helpful neighbors and push. 🥴
Worth a try. 👍
Done it with our boat trailer on the pad.

Bob
🇺🇸

Good idea, that would work in a really tight area.

[majorairhead]

Originally Posted by ROBERT CROSS

A single axle trailer would be the easiest to zero turn, take one tire off from each side, get a tongue wheel, scrap plywood to roll on, some helpful neighbors and push. 🥴
Worth a try. 👍
Done it with our boat trailer on the pad.

Bob
🇺🇸

I was thinking similar, get it to one axle/two wheels, pull on to pre built dollies, chock it down, spin her around. Dollies would have to be substantial for the weight involved, and sitting on a solid surface to improve potential to turn it around.

[RandyNH]

If it's under 6,000lbs then you could do it with these, if on a hard surface.

Dolly

[ROBERT CROSS]

Originally Posted by majorairhead

I was thinking similar, get it to one axle/two wheels, pull on to pre built dollies, chock it down, spin her around. Dollies would have to be substantial for the weight involved, and sitting on a solid surface to improve potential to turn it around.

Yep...a rope on the tongue and a lawn tractor or ATV would also supply the muscle. 🇺🇸

Bob
🇺🇸

[OTRA15]

Originally Posted by Devanan

Hi community, I am renovating a 76 land yacht. I need to turn it around on my property. There is not enough space to do it with a pickup truck and because of the steepness of my driveway it's not really an option to drive the trailer to the road and make a turn there. I will have to make a zero turn. People have recommended a skid steer or a crane. But none of these seem to be clear-cut options. I am wondering if anyone on this forum has any experience with his and/or ideas/advice about what to do?

First of all -- welcome to the forum!

You have not really supplied enough details for anyone to give meaningful feedback IMO, such as these location etc. issues:

-- slope of parking and nearby areas
..... [define "steepness" pitch and locations -- may rule out dollies entirely IMO]
-- clearance to fixed objects like barns/garages/fences/etc
-- Airstream is 31' long and status [why not drive to road?]
-- side yards etc. clearance to maneuver tow vehicle
-- do the trailer brakes work incl. 12v electric feed
-- etc.

Have you considered having a machinery rigger or house-moving firm come look at the job? They will usually give a free estimate, if you are not too far away.

Good luck,

Peter

[Acheron2010]

https://pantherrvproducts.com/traile...BoC0_kQAvD_BwE

[tbaugh]

I have use a power caster 3 for years to move my trailers around.

[kjbishop2]

I have to turn my 27FB airstream before every trip... not a zero turn but still quite a tight one. I use a Parkit360 and do frequent and very short 'back and forths' to minimize side drag on axles. Taking one wheel off each side is not a bad idea as the turn circle will be much tighter (although makes the process way much longer). If I end up with wheels or dolly on grass, I roll them onto a plywood sheet and then turn to minimize chance of significant grass damage or wheels cutting down and trailer getting stuck.

[Belegedhel]

I was going to suggest the approach of removing one wheel from each side as well. I have a single axle 21' trailer, and spin it 180 degrees in my driveway every time I park it. I used to use a manual trailer dolly (which looks like an axle with a hitch ball on it and a long handle that you pull on). You can buy one at places like Harbor Freight or Northern Tool. The advantage you get with a dolly is that you aren't putting any stress on your tongue jack (ie., by adding a wheel to the bottom), and if you have a friend help you with some extra grunt, they aren't pushing on the body of the trailer and risking making a dent.

You might also look at what you could use in the vicinity for anchors, and use a winch/chainhoist/come-along to do the pulling.

good luck!

[Manning G]

https://www.ebay.com/i/254026059390?chn=ps

[OTRA15]

Originally Posted by Devanan

. . .
. . . because of the steepness of my driveway . . .
. . .

Until the OP clarifies this, most trailer dollies/casters are TBD as a solution IMO.

[tugdiver]

- I f all all fails or is not a match for your situation consider welding two trailer axial with wheels in a cross. Put a wheel under the hitch 90 degrees to the long axis of the trailer. Jack up the trailer. ( remove the existing wheels) level the dirt for the four cross wheels. lower the trailer axials onto the cross axial. Have someone inside as ballast to load hitch wheel. then push or tow the hitch wheel. Jack up the trailer and remove the lazy susan.

[Belegedhel]

Steep driveway? Gravity is your friend. I had to spin a single axle trailer on a narrow mountain road without the use of a vehicle because of the narrowness of the road once. Basically, just remove a wheel form each side to achieve single axle agility, then un-chock one sheel and allow it to roll downhill with the other side blocked, until you are at 90+ degrees. Then block the formerly moving wheel, and unblock the formerly stationary wheel to complete the rotation. When I had to do it, I only had a few large blocks of wood to work with, so conducted the operation a few feet of movement at a time to ensure things didn't get out of control. Again having a winch or chain running to an anchor to help keep things in control would be helpful.

good luck!