Trailer Dollys

[Retirement Dream]

My driveway is about a quarter of a mile long. It is made of compacted gravel.

It is also only 8" wider than my R27/trailer; has a very gentle "S" curve in it; and, has trees on both sides so there is no room for steering error. Yes, I can back it down the drive with my truck but it is very unpleasant experience. Especially if I get home after dark.

I'm thinking of getting a trailer dolly so I can use the truck to get the trailer off of the road into the drive and then use the dolly to walk it the rest of the way back to its parking space. Do any of you have experience with/a recommendation for a trailer dolly that will work well with an R27?

 

[stwendl]

You will need a motorized dolly to do this. The trailer with boat is quite heavy as you know when towing. The problem with those dollies is that they may not have enough friction to move the trailer unless they have more than 2 wheels and that gets expensive quickly.

I saw a once a product that attached to the trailer wheels themselves and produced the propulsion in which case you only need a wheel capable of supporting the tongue weight and be able to steer. Escapes me who makes it and what limitations it had.

 

[Crewdog]

How about a front mounted trailer hitch?

When towing aircraft, these made all the difference in spotting a bird into a tight space; inside a hangar or out.

 

[baz]

How mounting a strong winch on your truck. Position the trailer at the end of your drive way with some sort of wheel on the trailer's tongue and winch it up to the S curve and then reposition the truck and winch it the rest of the way.

I assume one could place a hook pickup on the trailer's rear cross bar member or maybe a duel line attached to the U-bolts used to tie down and secure the boats stern to the bunkers.

 

[knotflying]

I think the front trailer hitch may work best.

 

[S. Todd]

I feel your pain. I have a double s curve driveway with trees and fence posts. The hard part is getting the exact angle to get through the 9' 10'' garage door. Mine is also gravel and has a hill in the middle so I have completely ruled out the motorized trailer dolly. Years ago with a different boat and a different house I had two large trees and fences that made getting the boat into the garage impossible with even a front mounted hitch on the truck. But with its shorter wheel base I put the front mounted hitch on my front wheel drive Mercury Topaz and got the job done. It looked like a mismatch, and beyond the driveway it would not have been very safe, but it worked for the couple of years we lived there and used it most every weekend during the summer months. Fork lifts or tractors with short wheel bases also work very well for the task.

 

[tugnnaweigh]

The front hitch makes the trailer far more responsive to steering input plus it's right there in front of you. We still use a safety person on the far side, just in case.

 

[Retirement Dream]

How about a front mounted trailer hitch?

When towing aircraft, these made all the difference in spotting a bird into a tight space; inside a hangar or out.

Thanks for the front trailer hitch idea!! I've been doing some looking and all of the hitches I've found so far are rated for 500 pounds tongue weight and 9000 pound maximum pull. That seems a little light for an R27. Do you have any experience with a front hitch that you know works?

 

[NorthernFocus]

Thanks for the front trailer hitch idea!! I've been doing some looking and all of the hitches I've found so far are rated for 500 pounds tongue weight and 9000 pound maximum pull. That seems a little light for an R27. Do you have any experience with a front hitch that you know works?

I went through this analysis before putting a front hitch on my truck to push an R25 classic up a long curved driveway with a 15 percent grade. The rating on the hitch is "maximum pull" not weight of the object being pulled. Those hitches are designed for use with winches and that is why the rating is stated that way. Even with the angle I was dealing with the max load on the hitch was only a couple thousand pounds. The horizontal force required to push/pull the boat on the trailer on level ground is only the rolling resistance which is only a couple hundred pounds at most. And if you don't trust the math, just think about it, you were considering using some sort of hand truck. How much force did you think it was going to take with that?

With regard to the tongue weight rating, well you're not towing down the freeway with associated impact loads of going over bumps etc.. The bigger issues is whether the front suspension on your truck can handle the weight. Good luck hunting down that rating. I drive and F250 and it squats about the same on the front hitch as it does on the rear.

The front hitch that I installed has the same/similar rating that you quoted. I wasn't able to find anything heavier which is what prompted me to do the analysis to start with. It works for me.

 

[tlkenyon]

I used to operate with a front-mounted hitch in a previous life. It is WAY different than using a rear-mounted hitch and kinda easy to get in trouble. Be very cautious and go slow. If you can, practice with a light trailer...your empty boat trailer would be perfect to practice with while the boat is in the water.

TK

 

[NorthernFocus]

I used to operate with a front-mounted hitch in a previous life. It is WAY different than using a rear-mounted hitch and kinda easy to get in trouble...

It is different to be sure. Not sure about getting in trouble. Easy to get the truck into odd position. If you have to back up that is really weird. If one has the luxury of practicing it sure wouldn't hurt.