Maneuvering the trailer into tight spots by hand - dolly?

[John E Davies]

The Ollie is a heavy trailer for its size. Has anyone tried other methods for maneuvering and backing it into a garage or tight parking area?

 

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/TRAILER-MOVER-PLANS-12V-Electric-Power-Dolly-Caster-/232026859532

 

Harbor Freight sells a dinky little hand dolly rated at 600 pounds tongue weight but there is no way short of using a football team that you could push the larger Ollie with that unit. Maybe the smaller one, on a hard flat surface.

 

I may add a front 2 inch receiver to my truck, so I could use it anywhere, I am just exploring options.

 

Thanks.

 

John Davies

 

Spokane WA

 

 

[mountainborn]

Using the search window at the top right of the forums page I did a search for "trailer power dolly" and found these conversations on the subject, which includes your topic also:

 

http://olivertraveltrailers.com/search/trailer+power+dolly/

[Overland]

The EZ tug looks like a nice solution since it stays with the trailer.  I can see it being useful turning the trailer around if you're being adventurous and find yourself down a dead end trail.

 

Unfortunately, it looks like it's only rated for 3000lbs.

[John E Davies]

Thanks for the link, I missed that stuff somehow. I think a front receiver makes the most sense for me since it will always be there and there are no weight limitations or extra batteries to be concerned with.

 

Warn makes a very nice Trans4mer grill guard for my Gen 3 Ram and one option is a receiver, mounted nicely high off the pavement. I will probably get one of those.

 

http://www.truckstuffusa.com/transformergrilleguardbywarn.html

 

John Davies

 

Spokane WA

[Try2Relax]

John,

 

Warn makes products for winching not towing, different directional forces, I would be sure to do a lot of research first before purchasing one thinking it will be able to deal with a 700lb tongue weight and then the forces applied in moving a trailer around.

 

Other than that, I had purchased the other powered dolly, can't remember the name you could run it with a drill, it had the proper weight ratings, I don't know if it was the product or the bull dog hitch that didn't play well, but it kept buckling under. Returned it, bought a true front hitch and installed it and haven't regretted it yet. I would definitely recommend a front hitch for tight moves.

[John E Davies]

John, Warn makes products for winching not towing, different directional forces, I would be sure to do a lot of research first before purchasing one thinking it will be able to deal with a 700lb tongue weight and then the forces applied in moving a trailer around.

Yah, I did research this. Many front grill guards are junk, but the Warn units are very impressively strong, with huge reinforcing brackets that tie into the frame at multiple points. The receiver is indeed intended for a plug in winch, but it is rated for a 12,000 lb winch, so with a double line pull that is 24K. No way is that going to be distressed by moving a loaded Oliver around at 5 mph.

 

I did talk to the guys at my favorite 4x4 fabricating shop, and the were very adamant that the Warn guards are darned good and would be fine for what I intend.

 

My objection to most of the other choices of receivers is that they are so darned low down that they make the truck unusable offroad. There is one brand - I can't recall the name this second -  that clamps over the front recovery hooks. That is a very stout unit and is high up, but I like the look of the full grill guard better and I need to protect the expensive intercooler and radiator of my Cummins from deer and such.

 

The Trans4mer guard is used on a lot of forest service and other government vehicles, they would not use them if they had any weaknesses. The receiver crossbar would replace the winch mount shown in this (poor) pic:

 

 

It's item E in the following diagram, shown next to the portable winch tray that can go into it....

 

 

John Davies

 

Spokane WA

[trumpetguy]

I have a reciever on the front of my Avalanche for a bike rack, but can't see using it to push a white wall around.  That's what you would see...just a white wall, no rear view mirrors.  I have put my Ollie in some pretty tight spaces without even a backup camera (I just added the Tadi Brothers digital).

 

I saw a Teardrop camper maneuver into a space using an electric winch wheel with remote.  That was pretty cool, but it weighed less than 1000 pounds.

[Overland]

Some people will do an offset hitch of the front for that reason.  The receiver goes toward the passenger side so that the driver can see around the trailer.

[SeaDawg]

We have a manual trailer dolly, the ez tug, and a parkit 360, and the smaller Legacy I.

 

The manual dolly works best in tight corners on a flat, smooth driveway, with two or three people to push the trailer. The ez tug works, but is slow, the tire goes flat, and runs the battery down quickly. Also best suited to flat and smooth terrain, it requires an extra person or two pushing on a slight incline or rough surface. I do like how the wheel is mounted, and that it doesnt use the hitch as the pivot point.

The parkit 360, much like the ebay kit, has its own battery, but uses the hitch as the pivot point. It takes some finicky adjustments and a learning curve to use it, but it gets the job done without human auxilliary power. On grass or soft ground, we move plywood 2 x 8 sheets under the trailer and tug whheels to ease travel. It will handle a slight incline, and allows us to back the trailer through the gates and onto turf block parking pad with shell fill.

The tough part of the 360 is the tongue isnt quite level, so it puts more weight on the tongue. We bought a used large model (they come in sizes m,l,and xl). I doubt ours would work for tbe bigger Legacy II. I do not remember the rating on the xl, but I would be skeptical.

Sherry

 

 

 

 

 

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[hardrock]

When I was recently at the Oliver facility, I saw a battery operated trailer mover. I asked about it and was amazed the cost, rather expensive.  It has extra large wheels.  I was also told they were not real well pleased with the performance.  I was especilly interested because I am terrible at backing into a tight space.  I will pay extra for a pull thru campsite.  I have a 90'long driveway, downhill, with two turns and put my Ollie into my man cave garage.    I do all of this very easily with my front mounted trailer hitch.  I can both push and pull the TT, turn it extremely easy in an accurate path and get it through a 10 X 10 garage door.  The only downside is there is a lot of weight on the front (truck drops several inches when the TT is lowered onto the front hitch) thus when turning, it leaves black marks on my driveway.   Recently while camping in Savannah Georgia, I had to park in a back in campsite.  I unhitched, turned my truck around, and pushed it in.  There were large overhanging trees and a few turns.  I was able to easily maneuver it in.  I can see clearly on the drivers/TT door side, no problems.  On the passenger side, I only had to turn the truck a small amount to see on that side.  I have a rear view camera on the back of the TT but did not use it.  I stacked two bricks I found near by to mark my final stop and maneuvered to the brick.  My wife watched for the overhanging branches and gave me a few course corrections and we got it in perfectly.

 

Below are shots of my driveway from street curb to garage, my garage where the TT rests, and of my front trailer hitch.  My simple solution for tight spaces, turns and a mentally impaired back in driver is a front hitch. It is always on my TV and works great.

 

Coy

[John E Davies]

If you can find a used small aircraft tug it will do the job without any problems, but you would obviously have to modify the attach point to accept a trailer ball: ...  http://www.redboxaviation.com/specs-new/tugs/specs-tug-702.pdf

 

Check with industrial surplus sites and craigslist (use Search Tempest) and you might find a warehouse "load mover" that would work: ....

 

However, a BIG word of warning: Never try to maneuver a trailer up or down a slope with any brand of electric dolly or tug. That is asking for a serious accident. Level ground only! That way if something messes up, everything will roll to a stop.

 

John Davies

 

Spokane WA

[RobertH]

For me a Hand dolly would not fit the bill. Its not that they dont make one powerful enough because Im sure they do its because when parking mine I have to move over a crest of a hill of sorts. If the hand dolly didnt have a plug in capable of using the trailer breaks things could get ugly fast. I built a attachment for my Kubota B3300. I move my trailers around with it because it makes quick work of it. For those of us that have some land and a use for a tractor it just makes sense to use the tractor as it can move the trailer much easier that my 23ft truck.

 

That being said anything with a short wheel base could potentially work. You might be able to use something like a hitch helper to hold the weight of the trailer and use something smaller to push it around like a 4x4 quad in low gear but I would want to be all level ground when using it for sure.

 

http://www.mrtrailer.com/hellya.htm

 

Hardrock the above item might even help you out to keep some of the extra weight off the front end of your truck.

 

I would say just be extra careful.  On my Toyhauler it weighed enough that when moving it with my Kubota tractor it would push me around a bit so I would recommend taking that into consideration for sure.

[SeaDawg]

John, your warning is correct and useful, and I agree. Both power dollies came with warnings about slopes.

I should have explained the slight incline better... Even moving up a normal short suburban driveway with its drainage pitch of perhaps an eighth to a quarter inch per foot is tough with the eze tug, unless we add weight to the bed in back to lighten the tongue.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mountainborn]

Here is a video where they claim it is able to climb grades, ect..

 

[John E Davies]

Here is a video where they claim it is able to climb grades, ect.. https://www.facebook.com/trailervalet/videos/1205852852800222/

I like that device, it is elegant and simple. At around 19 inches to the top of the ball (no load)  is a little short to work with an Oliver with it's nearly 2 foot coupler height, perhaps. It will surely settle quite a bit under heavy load.

 

eTrailer has a bunch of answered questions here:

 

https://www.etrailer.com/Hitch-Accessories/Trailer-Valet/TVXL2.html

 

This video from that page is great:

 

https://images.etrailer.com/static/images/video/review-trailer-valet-xl-trailer-dolly-tvxl25_web.mp4

 

The $580 price isn't too bad for what looks like a high quality piece of equipment. On even the slightest slope I would still like to have a second person nearby with a set of chocks in case it got away from me.....

 

https://www.trailervalet.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/xlmanual-en.pdf

 

BTW the operating manual says to NOT use it on any kind of grade.

 

I sent an email to the manufacturer asking if it can work with a tall coupler like on the Oliver.

 

John Davies

 

Spokane WA

[John E Davies]

 

The manufacturer does not recommend using the Trailer Valet with a coupler as tall as the Ollie's:

"Thank You for your interest in Trailer Valet. Our engineer reviewed your email and suggests that our product could be dangerous for your application. Check back in 2017 and see what we're offering next!"

That is both discouraging and encouraging. I have no clue what that last statement means.

John Davies

Spokane WA

[mdernier]

John:

 

As a yet-to-be LE2 owner (pickup April 2019), I've been reading up on many topics using this forum.  It's a great resource - but only because thoughtful people post.  You have posted many useful details on many different topics.  Here, once again, you have given me some great insight.  I've been thinking and thinking about how to best maneuver my future LE2 into its spot next to my house.  The route is somewhat complex given a 6 percent uphill grade on the driveway and the need to zig-zag to stay on pavement and avoid hitting the house to get into final position.  A front hitch on my truck is a brilliant idea!  I know you didn't invent it but you were the first to actually SAY it (at least in all of my research thus far).  Thank you.  THANK YOU!  I may actually sleep tonight for a change.

 

Matthew

 

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[KenB]

I had a parkit360 that I bought and later sold for same money on Craig’s list. Can’t remember what model it was, but it couldn’t hardly move my old 3,500 lb hybrid trailer on the slight incline in my driveway, so I thought I might as well sell it off. It wasn’t going to have a chance with our new Elite II.

 

After selling the Parkit360 I bought a front mount hitch for our 2013 Land Cruiser.  It was an easy install that took only about 30 minutes.  Inexpensive too, barely over $100.

 

The winter storage spot I have for our Oliver is up a steep driveway, around the side of the garage, through another bend, before ending under a carport attached to an outbuilding.

 

This fall was the first time I used a front mount hitch to put the Oliver to bed for the winter. My son was spotting from the top of a ladder to make sure I didn’t hit anything on the roof of the Oliver on the underside of the carport. My father and wife were watching the sides of the camper and the building since my view from behind the wheel is obviously very obstructed.

 

It didn’t take long to move the camper into position, probably the quickest I’ve ever done in the 14 years I parked various campers in the same spot. I did get out a few times to look at the progress with my own eyes.  All three of the spotters kept giving me the thumbs up, so I just kept moving. Positioning the trailer around the garage, into the back yard, and under the carport was EASY with the front hitch.

 

The fit is so tight, but was so under control, that I’m going to need to unscrew the lightbulbs that hang down from the carport ceiling so I don’t break them off on the top of the Oliver on the way out. My spotters guided me around them on the way in. Everything was that close. And all easily done with the front hitch on the Land Cruiser.

 

Unfortunately the front hitch hangs down so low I’m going to need to temporarily remove it for two 4x4 trips planned to Utah and Colorado this year.  I’m sure it’ll drag when drving off improved roads.

 

HTH, Ken

 

 

[ScubaRx]

We’ve used front hitches on all our tow vehicles since 2007 for all the same reasons as everyone else. One saved our bacon down a narrow road in West Virginia.