Motorized Trailer Dolly Help

[theguyoverthere]

I have a 2016 33 ft Jayco Flight SLX camping trailer that is a massive pain to get in and out of my RV pad next to the house. I have 1 ft of clearance on either side of the trailer between the house and fence. My driveway at the peak is a 14% grade. I'm the corner house with no driveway across from me to help me maneuver. I have a Suburban that tows it so it is a really long vehicle with a long trailer. My street isn't very wide either. So I usually end up on the grass strip between the sidewalk and street with my car to get it in and out. The mailbox and 3ft fence along the driveway are a huge disadvantage to parking it as well.

Anyway, long story short. Does anyone know of a motorized trailer dolly that could handle the grade and weight of my trailer they could recommend? It has turned owning our trailer into a major pain because we get mega-stressed out getting it in and out. It take at least an hour to get it backed in and about 30 minutes to get it out.

[Sundancer330]

I don't think any of the power dollys could handle the weight on that grade, we use one on our airplane and it works great on a flat surface but on that much grade I think it will get away from you. . If it was me I would move the mailbox and get rid of the fence giving you as much maneuver room as possible.

[mohok1]

X2 on the dolly. Not having a full picture it is hard to comment. Having been raised on a farm and learned how to back tractors, I don't think I would have much difficulty. If you can back in towards the house as far back as you can go, then try to straighten the rig up by going as far forward as you can. That should take some of the angle off. Hope you can get the hang of it.

[oldmanAZ]

If I'm interpreting the photo and your description correctly, you are doing a great job of getting the whole rig in a straight line with so little tail-swing room!

I Googled 'a/c dolly' and found Power Movers. For a price ($1,000+ they will build one).

Have you exhausted the possibilities of removing a portion of the fence? Or making it so some/all of the fence can be removed and reinstalled?

EDIT: +1 for those suggesting a front hitch. Might be the quickest and most cost effective route.

[Grumpy]

Originally Posted by Sundancer330

I don't think any of the power dollys could handle the weight on that grade,

X-3 Having owned a standard power spotting dolly you will have a compounded problem, grade and fighting the tandem axle scrub while turning. I would have issues with the tire scrub on flat ground.

[LabMan]

Not sure if it's a option for you, but in my case I find if I back down my dead end street I can approach the parking spot (along the house) using the full driveway to swing the trailer into. Than I just jockey back and forth to line it up and ease into the spot. It's easier to back straight down the street for a block than to fight a similar set up, mail box (pipe set in concrete) and driving through the corner of the yard.

[Jagiven]

There have been a few posts on this site.

Google "rv power mover" lots of options.

Have you considered putting on a front hitch on the suburban?

I would love to switch driveways with you. I consider backing up, like a game of chess, you need to predict your moves three steps a head. In my case my DW is communicating to me via cell phone. I cannot see her for most of the time. Her primary roll is to tell me if I'm headed towards a collision, and if I need to get closer or farther away from the house. And when to stop. That is all she does, I choose when to do everything else. One more thing I do, once I have the worst of the turning done, I switch to 4L, never use the gas, just the brake.

[TakeItEasy]

Not sure if it is an option but a front receiver on the suburban may allow you to maneuver the trailer much easier.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

[wags999]

When I was in the Marine Corps I drove a duce and a half (among other duties). I had a hitch on the rear and another on the front. When loading artillery onto Mite Boats (small landing craft that take you to the mother ship) I would use the front hitch. Being able to see what your doing made it much easier to place the pieces within inches of each other, all while the boat is rocking and rolling. You many want to see if you can put a hitch on the front. It's only going to be used for a few feet and in your drive so doesn't have to meet all the requirements your std hitch requires. I bet you would have much less problems pushing rather than backing it in. JMHO. Good Luck.

[theguyoverthere]

Originally Posted by Sundancer330

I don't think any of the power dollys could handle the weight on that grade, we use one on our airplane and it works great on a flat surface but on that much grade I think it will get away from you. . If it was me I would move the mailbox and get rid of the fence giving you as much maneuver room as possible.

I would love to get rid of that fence. It would make backing in a 1,000 times easier and I would not end up in my neighbor across the street's lawn. Unfortunately both the fence and the mailbox are on my neighbors property and he put them in. I asked if I could pay to have the 3ft fence removed and was told never going to happen.

[suzhou]

I feel your pain. We have a similar problem. We store our trailer about 5 miles away in a very nice open storage lot for $100 month and due to HO rules we couldn't store it at home regardless. The few times I've been able to maneuver the trailer and my super cab truck (50+ ft of rig combined) in and out of our circle drive and up near the house it's been a long and difficult chore. I've let a couple of my trailer backup expert friends have a go at it and it's still next to impossible without getting into the yard a bit and if the ground is not rock solid and dry it will make some very nice ruts. I purchased a trailer valet (very expensive) and while it helped a little, the incline is the challenge. One side of our drive has a slight incline and I can tell you from trying that just a little incline and that 6,000lb plus trailer will become a moving freight train that you won't be able to stop that can cause a lot of damage in hurry. The motorized dolly would move it but not enough mass to stop or slow it going down hill. I end up using my tractor (2,000lb) to move it around and I have to be very careful and very slow on the incline or it will push my tractor even with the brakes locked. We purchased ours last April as well and I am still determined to find the sweet spot and trick for getting it in and our of our drive for loading and unloading.

[bsponsler]

My in-laws in Australia have a travel trailer with a battery powered system that is mounted to the tt on each wheel and has a remote control. The system is made in the U.K. They have a 50' alley driveway with 6" on either side and the system works great. The little drive wheels retract when not in use and it easily has enough torque to handle the grade from your photo. Not sure if the system is marketed in the US, but I can find out the name if you would like.

[theguyoverthere]

Originally Posted by TakeItEasy

Not sure if it is an option but a front receiver on the suburban may allow you to maneuver the trailer much easier.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

I looked into the front hitch. So far I haven't been able to find one online that will work. The ones listed online have a 5,000 pound trailer limit and a 500 tongue weight limit. My trailer is 6,500 pounds and a tongue weight of about 750. Any suggestions? They only seem to go up to Class III and I would need a class IV or V for that to work.

[theguyoverthere]

Originally Posted by bsponsler

My in-laws in Australia have a travel trailer with a battery powered system that is mounted to the tt on each wheel and has a remote control. The system is made in the U.K. They have a 50' alley driveway with 6" on either side and the system works great. The little drive wheels retract when not in use and it easily has enough torque to handle the grade from your photo. Not sure if the system is marketed in the US, but I can find out the name if you would like.

Interesting idea. I would love to get more info on it. Thanks.

[oldmanAZ]

Originally Posted by theguyoverthere

I looked into the front hitch. So far I haven't been able to find one online that will work. The ones listed online have a 5,000 pound trailer limit and a 500 tongue weight limit. My trailer is 6,500 pounds and a tongue weight of about 750. Any suggestions? They only seem to go up to Class III and I would need a class IV or V for that to work.

IMO, those hitch limits are for towing a trailer. I believe I'd risk being over the limits for parking the trailer.

[Vaquero]

Originally Posted by oldmanAZ

IMO, those hitch limits are for towing a trailer. I believe I'd risk being over the limits for parking the trailer.

Agree.

[RayPayne]

I agree that the hitch limit would not be as big of an issue for low speed maneuvering of the trailer. The 500lb rating is based on driving with all the forces on the hitch from the bouncing truck and trailer. If you're worried then you can always get a custom hitch made. It can be made from scratch or they could just reinforce one that is close to your requirements.

With that slope if you do go with a trailer dolly you really need a way to control the trailer brakes too. I'd hate to be the one steering a tow dolly with a large RV going down that driveway.

[bsponsler]

Here is that system that comes from the UK.
http://www.caravanmoversonline.co.uk...van-mover.html

[theguyoverthere]

Originally Posted by bsponsler

Here is that system that comes from the UK.
E-go Caravan Mover

Thanks for the info. Here is the US version of the product from the same company.
E-go Trailer Movers | Trailer Mover | Remote Trailer Movers | Purple Line

[bsponsler]

Yikes! That's some cash!