Heavy Duty Tow Dolly

[gforce]

Hello Everyone,

Just bought a used sport nautique and had a heck of a time maneuvering it into the garage due to the double axle trailer and positioning. Took 4 people and 2 hours! Does anyone have any experiencing using a heavy duty tow dolly such as the one in the link below. Would love your input as i'd like to be able to maneuver it into the space with minimal effort. Thanks!

http://www.saferwholesale.com/5000lb...rs&Click=24688

[Quinner]

Putting dolly's under the trailer tires might be much easier and not as tough on the trailer tires/hubs/bearings, assuming you have the height clearance.
Cheap ones you jack the trailer up and put under tires, more expensive hydraulic versions will go under/around tire then lift vehicle/trailer up.

[CanadaNautiqueGuy]

Agree with Quinner. I use two of these and the trailer manoeuvres just like a single axle trailer.

http://www.tooltown.ca/Hydraulic-Vehicle-Dolly.html

[nukemustang]

Agree with the above, I had to stick the boat in the garage at pretty much a 45 degree angle and put the wheel jacks under the rear tires (I had the tongue jack lowered all the way down to clear the door anyhow) and was able to swing the boat like it was on a single axel trailer by pulling/pushing on the tongue (leverage).

Before I bought the boat, I measure the garage and physically knew it would fit in there, but underestimated the effort to twist the trailer. Like you it took my family 4 hours in the July heat of South Carolina, pushing, pulling, hooking up, unhooking the truck and by pure luck ended up getting it in the garage. After that fiasco I started doing research and picked up the jacks from harbor freight for under $100 with coupons.

http://www.harborfreight.com/1250-lb...lly-61917.html

[gforce]

Thanks guys. I'll look into these Dollys. Definitely easier to carry those around than a heavy duty dolly. Price is also much better

[Beg4wake]

Those would be perfect so long as you don't have to push the boat up any type of incline. The heavy duty dolly is really only necessary for un-level grounds.

[kend]

I ended up getting a single axle trailer and mounting a winch where I can hook it to the back of the trailer and pull it into place. I'm switching to electric winch this year; manual labor is no good at the end of a hot summer day.

[gforce]

Only issue might be moving such small wheels on pavers in my yard space.

[Joshf]

The jacks from harbor freight says it is rated for 1250 lbs. Even with 2 of them, I know my nautique weighs 4000 lbs. Are they durable enough to support the weight of the boat and enable good motion?


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[nukemustang]

The jacks from harbor freight says it is rated for 1250 lbs. Even with 2 of them, I know my nautique weighs 4000 lbs. Are they durable enough to support the weight of the boat and enable good motion?


Sent from my iPhone using PLANETNAUTIQUE mobile app

you have to remember you aren't picking up the entire weight of the boat/trailer, you are really lifting one of the tires/axle assembly up so that you can pivot the boat, so the tires and axle that are still grounded will carry a majority of the weight. I could watch as we jacked up the rear tires, the "equalizer bar" between the front and aft set of leaf springs transfer weight to the forward set of leaf springs. I needed the jacks to be able to swing the boat once we backed it in far enough to be in line so the bow would clear the garage door and the stern was clear of the water heater.

We had it down to a system, back the boat in the middle of the garage, lower the tower, back the boat with the truck until the tower was close to the garage header, unhook the boat, lower the front jack all the way down, push it back till the tower legs were clear of the garage header, remove the swim platform and jack the back two tires up, then pivot the boat to be in line with the marks we made on the floor, drop the rear jacks, and push it back the remaining few feet. Sounds like a lot, but once we knew how it had to be done, we could get the boat in the garage in 10-15 minutes tops.

Are they the best quality? Not really, but at that price, I figured I could break a set of them and replace them and still be okay. There are the more expensive versions, I think those are really designed for tow truck operators to be able to lift entire cars for aligning them for towing, or shops that have to move cars in a garage, but they are immobile.

[jhiestand]

I have a buddy that has to maneuver his Mastercraft 90 degrees in very little space to fit into his garage. Impossible with their truck so he uses an electric dolly. Originally he had a single axle but now he has a tandem and it still works well for them. There's a thread on TeamTalk regarding this exact same subject. He's P-Hat_in_Cincy and has the gorgeous 205v on the second page.

http://www.mastercraft.com/teamtalk/...ad.php?t=17966

[gforce]

Thanks all for your recommendations. The wheel dolly seemed good, but considering that i'll be moving the boat on uneven surfaces (pavers), it probably wouldn't roll very well between the pavers. I went ahead and ordered a trailer valet xl https://www.trailervalet.com/xl which seemed like a good alternative at 1/2 the price. ($600). Will post here about how it turns out!

Thanks!

[BrickBrock]

Gforce, please give us a review of the Trailer Valet XL after you have used it a few times.

[jtryon]

for those using the hydraulic dolly's, are they wide enough to use one per side for a tandem axle trailer or would i need one per tire?

[nukemustang]

for those using the hydraulic dolly's, are they wide enough to use one per side for a tandem axle trailer or would i need one per tire?

it would be one dolly per wheel, but you have to remember, I jacked just the two rear tires up so I could "pivot" the boat to fit at a 45 degree angle in the garage, not really to move it around a shop.