Powered Trailer Dolly
 

Guys,

I've been keeping our boat in the overhead bay of my shop since I moved into it. While getting the boat in and out has been tight, we've been able to manage well enough, even if we have to pull into the vacant lot next door to get a straight enough shop at it. But, recently, the vacant lot sold, and the new owners have put up a fence, which has made getting the boat in and out with our truck impossible. I have access to a forklift, and had bought a forklift hitch attachment, and could make that work, but the owner of the forklift is leaving by spring. He's offered to sell me the forklift, but I don't want to invest that much into something I have very little use for, and, frankly, I don't want to sacrifice that much floor space. I've looked into powered trailer dollies, and I'm prepared to buy one, but thought I'd check here first to see if anyone has one they no longer need. The boat and trailer are 7K lbs dry. Anybody?

Thanks. Brad.

I had this built one year ago and used it twice prior to getting a different building. It worked fantastic with my dump trailer and 36' boat. Still has the protective film everywhere. Honda engine and 15,000 pound capacity. Would sell cost me around $4,000.00 make offer!
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Rocketman,

I appreciate the offer, but i can get an adequate option for $1900, and I don’t want to insult you. It does look like a nice unit, though. Curious, does it have a passive brake?

Thanks. Brad.

How much for the forklift?

I had no idea how much I'd use a forklift until I had access to one.
My landlord leaves his in the shop that I rent. I use that thing all the dang time! I've moved all my trailers with it including my 44' gooseneck toy hauler.

You could put some used pallet racking in and gain some floorspace which is what I did. And I use said floorspace to park the forklift.
And they don't have to stay pretty. You could always park it outside, out of sight, and throw a tarp over it.

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Sydways,

I hear ya, but I can’t imagine he’d let it go for less than $3K.

We don’t do much at all that involves any real heavy lifting. We did use the forklift a couple times to get heavy chunks of bar stock in and out of the lathe, but it was always pretty sketchy, making sure not to hit the boat. I’ve since installed an overhead wench on a roller rail that has proven extremely useful for this problem. That and I don’t really have much floor space to give up.

i did consider the forklift, but it’s just not the route I want to go. If I ever get into a situation where I actually need a forklift, I’ll probably wish I’d taken him up on it, but, in the mean time, I’ll just have to enjoy not having to work around it on the daily. I can park the powered dolly on the other side of the boat, where it won’t be in the way at all.

Thanks. Brad.

2 things in life that I never new I needed. A forklift and a skid steer.

Brian - what’s the depth on that garage?

I have some 5 year plans to redo my garage and want to span 60 feet total. Could break it up to a 40’ and 20’ section based on where the walls already are. Just curious….

Brad, I was faced with the same situation too. I needed a powered trailer dolly to move my boat trailer into some tight spots. There are a lot of people on youtube that have made one. Most common made style is using a old snowblower frame. Other people have used an old lawn tractor too. I see them come up for sakle on facebook oftern, but it depends on how heave your trailer it. I found these. https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...0297460217390/

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...9994153323446/

The Parkit is really considered the best and I know Wayne Klob uses that style to move his 38' Scarabs on triple axle trailers around in his shop.
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...8435684355234/

I made my own though. My 1st version was a snowblower fram wuth 2x2 11ga square tubing and 900 lb steel casters from Menards.
It worked well for a small trailer but didnt have enough guts to move my 30' Scarab on a tandem axle trailer
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Off topic but are those curb feelers on the Mark IV?

My second versoin I used a manual transaxle out of a Sears garden tractor, welded up a fram and used the same casters from Menards in the front and back. I got the idea of using the Harbor Freight ATV winch from here. The ATV winch has a gear reduction of 148:1. I used a 15 tooth sprocket on the winch drum and a 48 tooth sprocket on the transaxle. I also had to weld up the diff in the transaxle because it wanted to spin one tire. With the transaxle in 6th gear it had move than enough torque to push the front of the trailer sideways causing the front tires to scrub on concrete.
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Here it is in action. Its pushing a 24' Sea Ray Flybridge (6000 lb boat) on a tandem axle trailer.

Why yes, yes they are Bugle Boy pants I'm wearing. (old commercial)

Pic taken at an all Ford and Mustangs show last year. Yep, I do tow with it occasionally.


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My current shop is about 2900 square feet. I'm just renting for the time being. It's probably 45' by 65' feet or so. Only problem is 10' tall doors and one is loading dock height, so I can't fit my 44' toy hauler or the pontoon boat I was fostering, inside.
I did build a "trellis" that I park the TH on, so I can fold the rear ramp right into the shop and load/unload the race car. It's an OLD heavy steel automobile alignment lift, supported on railroad ties; and it turned out to work slicker than frog snot. (Sure was handy using the forklift for that!! :D )

My last shop was 1800 square feet that I had built. The next one will be different, depending on a few factors.


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How cool is that T tops and a big a$$ hood ornament. That is Neat.

Guys,

Electric Trailer Dolly Pro - 24V 9Ah Battery, 7500Lbs Towing Capacity | SuperHandy - SuperHandy - Shop Outdoor Power Equipment & Mobility (superhandyus.com)

Any idea why these say 7500lb capacity, but only 5500lbs for a boat? Weight is weight, right?

Thanks. Brad.

It might have to do with tongue weight and or number of axles.

Phughes,

Shouldn't all trailers be loaded about the same, tongue weight vs gross weight...?

Thanks. Brad.