Parkit 360 Motorized Dolly

[chaseav]

I went ahead and ordered the Parkit360 10k HD B3 with the wide tires. Should be here late this week... maybe. One thing I can't seem to figure out is why I'd need or want to buy a battery for it if I can just hot wire to the main ship batteries. That would be just one more battery to maintain.

[lewster]

Originally Posted by chaseav

I went ahead and ordered the Parkit360 10k HD B3 with the wide tires. Should be here late this week... maybe. One thing I can't seem to figure out is why I'd need or want to buy a battery for it if I can just hot wire to the main ship batteries. That would be just one more battery to maintain.

Simple reason..........amp draw from the ParkIt's motor.

You will see some pretty large DC amp draws from a DC motor hauling around a 6-7000 lb. load. Your umbilical cable has a 12AWG, and possibly a 10AWG wire in it for the positive feed. If that DC motor has large transient loads on starting, there's a good possibility that your internal circuit breakers will pop under the load.

If it would have worked in all situations, don't you think that ParkIt would have designed out the battery requirement? My Trailer Tug came with 2 Crown AGM batteries and runs at 24VDC, but I have measured amp draws on that motor at over 25 amps while pulling a trailer around. That's at 24VDC. DOUBLE IT for a 12VDC system.

You bought the rig.............BUY THE BATTERY AS DESIGNED!!!!

Besides, they have their own internal battery charger so you simply plug it in....

[NWRVR]

Originally Posted by chaseav

I went ahead and ordered the Parkit360 10k HD B3 with the wide tires. Should be here late this week... maybe. One thing I can't seem to figure out is why I'd need or want to buy a battery for it if I can just hot wire to the main ship batteries. That would be just one more battery to maintain.

They do sell a longer power harness so that you can use the coach batteries. I have a mounted battery only because I also use the tug to move my boat trailer that has surge brakes, no battery mounted on the tongue. Congratulations, you will be pleased with your purchase, just be sure to follow the operating manual carefully to properly mate up the ball.
Steve

[chaseav]

Originally Posted by NWRVR

... just be sure to follow the operating manual carefully to properly mate up the ball.
Steve

Yes, this collar thing that has to be screwed on sounds easy to mess up. I may end up also buying the two extra wheels for the added stability.

[chaseav]

Originally Posted by lewster

Simple reason..........amp draw from the ParkIt's motor.

...there's a good possibility that your internal circuit breakers will pop under the load.

Electricity is NOT my thing. I'm under the impression that this power supply off the ship batteries attaches to the batteries directly and then plugs into the Parkit. That being the case, what breakers could pop? Where does the umbilical come into play? I assumed that was just used for providing power TO the trailer brakes.

[thiel]

Originally Posted by Romulus

Bought one for my husband, we have an L shaped driveway. He likes it a lot and it makes moving Romulus much easier. Make sure you order the correct ball size. It was a surprise and I ordered the wrong size. Ours is not as big as the one you want as our weight requirements are less. Before we were using a Fulton Jack Wheel. Ours is not as fast as some you see in videos, but we don't need it to be fast just reliable. Slow and steady. A bonus is that it works with our brake controller, Tekonsha Prodigy RF.

Can you tell me about your Fulton Jack Wheel? Did you just put it on instead of the foot of the jack? And then you could push the trailer around? Seems like a nice cheap solution..

[NWRVR]

Originally Posted by chaseav

Yes, this collar thing that has to be screwed on sounds easy to mess up. I may end up also buying the two extra wheels for the added stability.

The stability wheels won't help if the ball is not made up tight to the tongue as the power of the dolly will cause it to tilt back trying to pull the ball out of the receiver if it is not made up tight. Just be sure there is no tongue weight on the dolly when you are tightening the collar. Once tight as you can get it and you put the tongue weight on the dolly it is very stable. You will have to take the foot plate off the tongue jack to clear the dolly tire when making a turn. Easy once you do it once, but do read the instructions each time so that you don't skip a step if you only use it twice a year as I do. Don't ask why I know this is important.

[chaseav]

Originally Posted by NWRVR

You will have to take the foot plate off the tongue jack to clear the dolly tire when making a turn. Easy once you do it once, but do read the instructions each time so that you don't skip a step if you only use it twice a year as I do. Don't ask why I know this is important.

Dear God... what?! I have to take that off?! Most of what I want this for doesn't require turning but ideally I'd like to make some small turns.

[Caffeinated]

Originally Posted by NWRVR

This is our second winter using the Parkit-360 putting the 5K# boat and 8K# AS in the garage and it works great. I have a narrow slot to clear the AC, but the slow speed and excellent maneuverability of the dolly, not a problem. Be sure you order the 7-way plug for the brake which is applied when you have the switch in neutral. I recommend going with the 10K# model though with no grade you might get away with the smaller unit.

Sweet setup, NWRVR. I wish I could have my trailer at home under cover.

Mike

[lewster]

Almost bought the ParkIt, but need a much more stable platform to bring trailers up to 15,000 lbs. into my shop. The first client in the new shop needed 7 tries to line up properly to back into the place due to a narrow-ish approach. couple that with the lack of any significant wheel cut and turning radius from big pick up trucks, and this little beauty made a lot of sense. Usually, one shot is all it takes to bring the trailer right inside.

[Romulus]

We had the Fulton before the Parkit. My husband bought the Fulton so he could manually move our AS. It's mounted on the side of the A frame. He didn't remove the stand. Have a picture somewhere will find it and post. Hubby thought it was ok but I was worried about his back, etc. so ordered the Parkit.

[Romulus]

Ok, new to the whole posting thing so, sorry for 2 posts.
More info re the Fulton: it is a cheaper method but remeber that you'll be pushing the entire weight of your AS and have to be able to stop it too. Could be scary on any type of slope. Also check the max weight the Fulton can hold compared to your tongue weight.
Re the foot on the stand: we leave ours on as we don't have to make tight turns. Sometimes the foot rubs the wheel a little. Ironically, we've seen several trailers with no permanent foot. Folks using wood and wondered why. Now thinking maybe because it interfered with dollies they use. Anyway, hubby says the occassional rubbing our tires get is not a problem. And he commutes on a motorcycle so is always checking all our tires.

[Hittenstiehl]

Lester like that it's named the Airtug.

[lewster]

Yep!

Forget to mention the name. The Airtug also has a pair of front stabilizer outriggers and the heavy center rear wheel along with those beefy drive wheels.

24 VDC motor complete with a pair of Crown AGMs.

They also make smaller sizes for lower cost.


Lew Farber

[Romulus]

My husband attached it to the side of the Aframe. The photo also shows the switch he put in so that our running lights could be turned on manually.

[chaseav]

So my Parkit came it about a week and a half ago now but I've had little time to do anything more than unbox and partially assemble until tonight. Someone on here mentioned having a limited range of turn due to the foot of the jack stand. Of course, I ordered the wider tires so I may have exacerbated the problem but the turns do seem like they will be extremely limited. I'm hoping to have more free time tomorrow to connect to the house battery terminals and actually use the thing.

If I removed the "foot" from the jackstand I could just insert the leg directly into/ onto the Parkit but that seems infinitely less secure and could potentially do damage to the jackstand. At the same time, I could just use as intended with the better range of motion however, I really like having that "foot!"

Thoughts here are welcome on this somewhat pointless post!

[NWRVR]

Originally Posted by chaseav

So my Parkit came it about a week and a half ago now but I've had little time to do anything more than unbox and partially assemble until tonight. Someone on here mentioned having a limited range of turn due to the foot of the jack stand. Of course, I ordered the wider tires so I may have exacerbated the problem but the turns do seem like they will be extremely limited. I'm hoping to have more free time tomorrow to connect to the house battery terminals and actually use the thing.

If I removed the "foot" from the jackstand I could just insert the leg directly into/ onto the Parkit but that seems infinitely less secure and could potentially do damage to the jackstand. At the same time, I could just use as intended with the better range of motion however, I really like having that "foot!"

Thoughts here are welcome on this somewhat pointless post!

There is only one bolt holding the foot on the tongue jack. I use a floor jack or jack stand to hold the tongue and retract the jack to get a socket and drive under the foot to undo the bolt and remove the foot. I replace it when I pull the AS out of the garage when it is straight ready to take the dolly off. It only takes a few minutes. Like you, I would be concerned about too much horizontal force on the jack post if it was used instead of the ball though I have read on the forum where some have done so.

[chaseav]

Got it up and running thanks to valuable input from NWRVR. Once I overcame my fear of electricity, I got the terminals hooked up and off to the races. I'm not totally sure I had it hooked up perfectly but it felt like was having to "hold" a lot of weight on the handle when first starting or stopping. I'm assuming I just didn't have the collar torqued down enough. The way the Parkit connects to the trailer with a ball is pretty cumbersome to me. Plus the trailer chains are in the way of the tires and the unit is just about impossible to turn... no joke. I have no idea how anyone maneuvers this thing around. It's also pretty loud for being an electric motor. In short, I'd give this a 2.5 star review at this point but I may check in with the manufacturer with this feedback since the unit DOESN'T COME WITH AN OWNERS MANUAL.

[NWRVR]

Chaseav
Glad to have helped. You do have to move the chains out of the way and drape them over the A-frame. If you are getting any tilt off the ball you do not have the collar made up tight enough. If so, stop, chock the trailer wheels, jack up the tongue to take the weight off the ball and tighten the collar. Easier to turn when rolling but you do have to horse it around a bit. I can get mine 90 degrees to the tongue when needed. You can download the manual from the Parkit360 website.
Steve

[kjbishop2]

Public Service Announcement (!) - Just wanted to add that I just moved our 27ft Airstream with the Park360 10K using the trailer jack mounting method rather than the ball/coupler method - in my experience (i) way easier (did a full 360 turn on our drive without running over grass etc. in about 4 backward and forward motions - 2.5 mins) and (ii) significantly more stable and controllable. I was finding no matter how tight I tightened the ball couple collar to the hitch it would still feel very unstable. It also takes the jack post out of play meaning you can turn sharper as well.

Helpful video of the method here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8YnQ5fbm8s