Tongue Jack

[cesaro]

I have a 28' International. What recommendations for a top of the line Tongue Jack?

[uncle_bob]

Hi

Power or manual?

Bob

[batman]

For a power jack I think Barker Manufacturing, Deluxe Hi-Power 3500 has worked well for me. I ordered mine in black.
https://www.barkermfg.com/hi-power-3500.html

-Dennis

[BAB]

After my stock jack died I replaced it with a Husky HSB5000R Super Brute. It's a bit spendy at $270, but it has a 5000 lb lift capacity and a ball screw movement rather than the usual sliding friction jack. You can save $70 if you get the 4500 lb capacity model. A nice convenience feature is that it comes with a couple of key fob remotes. If you're trying to hitch up and need to move the tongue up or down you can do it without getting up and pushing switches on the jack itself.

Manual? I consider myself fairly fit, but the tongue weight on your trailer is around 980 pounds (I had a 28' Intl CCD). Maybe someone makes a manual jack to lift that kind of tongue weight. If so, it'd be interesting to see the gears it'd take to easily lift that much weight!

If you need more info or a photo, pls PM me.

[PKI]

Do not buy a 3500#. Get the Barker 5000 or the Husky 5000. The only down side is that it takes a little longer to spin up the trailer. Pat

[turk123]

Originally Posted by PKI

Do not buy a 3500#. Get the Barker 5000 or the Husky 5000. The only down side is that it takes a little longer to spin up the trailer. Pat

It takes a little longer cause the acme screw is finer. The motor is the same on most units.

[turk123]

I'm off to the Hershey RV show on Tuesday. One of the things I want to look at is a new power jack. My current jack seems "bendy", especially when using the ProPride jack that can be hard on horizontal forces. You are always pushing on the jack to get the stinger all the way in. It takes its toll on the jack for sure.

[turk123]

Originally Posted by PKI

Do not buy a 3500#. Get the Barker 5000 or the Husky 5000. The only down side is that it takes a little longer to spin up the trailer. Pat

Do you have a link to the Barker 5000? I don't think it exists!

[PKI]

Originally Posted by turk123

Do you have a link to the Barker 5000? I don't think it exists!

And you would be correct. Evidently the high end is a 3500. It does have a ball screw design. When I reviewed the Barker, I mistakenly thought it was a 5000 like the Husky. From the Barker link, it is not. Thanks for the correction to my flawed research. Pat

https://www.barkermfg.com/power-jacks.html

[batman]

Originally Posted by PKI

Do not buy a 3500#. Get the Barker 5000 or the Husky 5000. The only down side is that it takes a little longer to spin up the trailer. Pat

3500 lbs is plenty of power to jack your trailer.

Barker does not make a "5000#. They have been making trailer jacks for many years.

5000# Husky brand seems like a good option. It is a nice silver color. However it has a 15% negative review status on amazon with stories of poor quality, failures and poor cust service. Only 65% of 119 buyers liked the product.
I don't know anything about Husky power jacks other than what I have read.
By the way the husky 5000# is 2 dollars cheeper than the Barker VIP 3500# on amazon

I for one will stick to what I know, the standard tried and true.
Buyer be ware.

-Dennis

-Dennis

[RamRider]

Another vote for one of the Husky jacks, I bought the 4500 which was a major upgrade from the OEM Jack. No remote on the 4500, so if you want the remote feature then you need to ge the 5000.

[lsbrodsky]

Be advised that the 5000 with the remote has a parasitic drain on the battery as the electronics wait for a remote signal. Although there are some reports that it goes to sleep, Husky tech support told me that it stays awake listening for a remote signal. They could not tell me the current draw.
Larry

[PKI]

Originally Posted by batman

-- snip -- I for one will stick to what I know, the standard tried and true. -- snip --

The tried and true continues to fail. A jack that can not last four years might not be the best example of a reputable manufacturing organization. At least that was the conclusion that I reached. We'll see if Husky does better.

Note - The original 3500 was strained when lifting our small rig for hitch installation. Your suggestion that a 3500 might be acceptable for a larger coach may be worth reconsideration, but so should the tried and true. Pat

[turk123]

Originally Posted by PKI

The tried and true continues to fail. A jack that can not last four years might not be the best example of a reputable manufacturing organization. At least that was the conclusion that I reached. We'll see if Husky does better.

Note - The original 3500 was strained when lifting our small rig for hitch installation. Your suggestion that a 3500 might be acceptable for a larger coach may be worth reconsideration, but so should the tried and true. Pat

That is correct. Most people don't realize that you have to lift the tongue weight, the trailer and the rear of the truck to adjust the weight distribution bars. That's is when my 3500 lb. OEM Airstream jack decided to freeze up on my 27 footer.

I hope Barker will be at Hershey to see how they fare in the 3500 lb. range. I like the idea that they are made in America. The last game in town looks like the Husky but I agree, talk of bad service, support, and just product problems when reading the Amazon reviews.

[PKI]

Turk - just a thought. Have you heard of any bad reviews of the Barker products? I would have purchased domestic too. However, once bitten, twice shy. Besides silver looks nicer on the coach. Pat

[daleyocum]

++ Another vote for the Husky. I have the 4500 non-remote jack n my FC25 and have been delighted. I use the Levelmate trailer leveling sensor with my phone so a remote jack wouldn’t do anything for me.

A funny story. Early on after installing this jack I was raising the tongue to take ALL the pressure off my Blue Ox WD bars. I just kept going until the bars could swing freely. My wife happened by and casually asked “Why are the back wheels of the truck off the ground?” The jack raised the tongue so much the truck’s wheels were airborne without even breaking a sweat! I was used to listening for the OEM jack to labor. I don’t do that anymore!

I also like how much quieter the jack is than the piece of junk Airstream includes.

The jack is a little deeper than the standard jack so take care when take care when removing the propane tank cover so as not to scratch it.

[GCinSC2]

Owners report HB4500, self installed Dec 2012. In service for 6 1/2 seasons.

Observations, much quieter up or down. Does not sound like it's "straining".
Used for raising hitch/truck to install bars. No issues.
Manual operation, power head does not have to be removed for manual operation.

Service or repairs required to date. Zero.

Failures to work. Zero.

Only negative it required a spacer to be fabricated to remount Sandlapper flag pole holder away from head.


Opinion: This is an electrical device, possibly one of the simplest to wire up but with the number of posts where the OP is troubleshooting a single wire 12VDC system and being pardon me "in over their head" it's no surprise that any new jack can be accused of being defective when the root cause for failure hasn't been found or repaired.

Gary

[turk123]

I have a question about the super brute 4000 or 5000. Does the jack's rear cable holder for the 7 pin TV cable have enough room to fit between the propane tank covers and the jack? It looks a little tight!

[GCinSC2]

Turk,

Husky correct?

I mounted the 7 way plug holder on the street side of the power head with VHB tape no screws. It works just fine.

Gary

[Zardoz]

Originally Posted by BAB

After my stock jack died I replaced it with a Husky HSB5000R Super Brute. It's a bit spendy at $270, but it has a 5000 lb lift capacity and a ball screw movement rather than the usual sliding friction jack. You can save $70 if you get the 4500 lb capacity model. A nice convenience feature is that it comes with a couple of key fob remotes. If you're trying to hitch up and need to move the tongue up or down you can do it without getting up and pushing switches on the jack itself.

Manual? I consider myself fairly fit, but the tongue weight on your trailer is around 980 pounds (I had a 28' Intl CCD). Maybe someone makes a manual jack to lift that kind of tongue weight. If so, it'd be interesting to see the gears it'd take to easily lift that much weight!

If you need more info or a photo, pls PM me.

Installed the Super Brute 5000 last weekend. It’s a world apart from the stock 4000. Deliberately angled my TV about 7 or 8 degrees while the trailer was on a fairly steep, downhill slope when I first hitched up. Neither angle phased the jack. It went up and down to its limits without breaking a sweat. The remotes are a bonus for leveling the fore & aft from inside the trailer while watching a bubble level.