Moving the camper without the front jack wheel

Silvertwinkie · 07-22-2003, 01:47 PM

Just thought I'd share with you all what I tried that worked extremely well for me until I can get my hands on a front tongue jack wheel.

See it all started with my 9' wide drive. It is not wide enough to make a good cut to be able to keep even the short 19' Bambi around the house and to one side of the garage so that I can use the other garage bay.

So while in thought mode, I looked at the situation. I needed to get the coach nose over, but the car was just not an option.

What I did was to take my Craftsman 3.5 ton floor jack (way overkill, but worked very well) and place it under the tongue jack bottm. Lowered the tongue jack a bit, jacked up the floor jack a bit to clear the hitch ball and quite easily moved the Bambi at will. Frankly, if I wanted, I could have moved the Bambi by hand up and down the driveway it was so light. It kind of surprised me.

To get the Bambi off the floor jack, I at final position could easily manuver the car to allow the tongue to rest on the hitch (you could also use another jack for this as well, but the car seemed like the best bet).

Finally, I just got the tongue off the car, leveled the coach out and there it was moved and happy.

The moral is simply that the wheel thing would have done the same thing, but if any of you find you need some extra manuverability and your toungue is light enough, you can really move these things fairly easily!

Of course, I make no warranty expressed or implied and for sure you don't push from the body of the camper, you push the a frame with your feet far away!

This may sound way off, but I am thinking of adding a small hitch ball to my snowblower (given that the coach was fairly easy to move by hand) or building my own small trailer caddy so that I would have a 5HP or smaller workhorse to do final adujstments in the tight drive that the car could not help with. Heck, I could also use it for my boat!

I can't even begin to tell you all how much more easily the coach moves into tight spots without 15-18ft of car to also manuver

Eric

3Ms75Argosy · 07-22-2003, 04:16 PM

I have two more options for you.....
I too have two sharp turns in my townhouse driveway. When I had a 16' boat, I bought a dolly with a handle from Boater's World that had a hitchball attached. Just lower the tongue onto the ball, and push away! However, just two months later, I upgraded to a 18' boat with a 4.3 l engine....a tad too heavy (but still doable) UP grade. Sooooo...

I bought a powercaster (powercaster.com). Oh, what a pleasure to use. For the boat, I attached an adapter (supplied by the manufacterer). For TT's, you do need to use a jack to raise & lower the jackstand onto the caster. For boats, I can use the jackstand to acheive the same effect because the adapter takes the place of the trailer's jackstand.....it sounds complicated but is really quite simple once you see it.

I bought the dolly (very simple to use) from Boater's World for around $75.00 - I'll sell it for $35 + shipping if interested. I'll post pictures if anyone is interested.
Marc

3Ms75Argosy · 07-22-2003, 04:46 PM

Here's the push dolly. It just hooks up to the hitch with the hitchball.

3Ms75Argosy · 07-22-2003, 04:49 PM

I'm not sure what happened to the rest of the above picture, but here is the powercaster. It attaches to the adapter behind the jackstand. In use, the two rear wheels lift off the ground.

Rickk48 · 07-22-2003, 04:54 PM

3Ms75Argosy

Those are both nice dollies. I'm curious as to your Hitch head on the tongue. Mine certainly does not look that elaborate. Is this a security device?

Chas · 07-22-2003, 05:35 PM

I think that is his boat trailer.

Chas

Silvertwinkie · 07-22-2003, 06:29 PM

Yea, that's surely a non RV tongue.

I like those.....I'm off to the site!

Thanks for the info!

Eric

3Ms75Argosy · 07-22-2003, 07:28 PM

I'm not sure if both images are showing...sometimes my mac doesn't show me what those in windows can see....and vs. versa. Anyway, the first dolly is the one that is for sale (if anyone's interested), and the second is my back / heart saver. I'll be glad to answer any questions. I LOVE my powercaster.

Yes, that is my boat trailer.
Marc

ajjohnsons · 07-22-2003, 07:36 PM

3Ms75Argosy,
Thanks for your post and pictures. I have an incredibly tight set -up here. I have been considering a storage yard , but the closest I,ve found so far is almost 1 hour away, also we like having the Trailer here. at least for the summer. I knew something like your motorized dolly existed, I just could not find one. In your opinion, would that pull a 25' safari up a slight incline and move it around some. Thanks again.

Al

3Ms75Argosy · 07-22-2003, 07:46 PM

Hi,
I'm pretty sure it would. My boat is approx 3800# plus the approx 1000# trailer. I push it up (backwards) up a dirt slope - the only limiting factor would be the traction. Sometimes I just put my weight on the tongue if the driveway is dusty and that's enough. Powercaster does have weight / power estimations on their web site - mine is the middle of the line one. There is one that is more powerful with dual wheels that would surely do the job. I know what you mean about storage space. If it wasn't for this, I'd never be able to keep a boat, as I surely didn't want to pay storage (too far) or moorage (mucho bucks!!). I have two SHARP ninety degree angles that is hard for p/u's (without trailers!) to go around. The boat makes it with ease. Best approx $300 (well, it was a present from by dad - he didn't want me to get a hernia pushing the boat uphill) ever spent.