Motorized Dolly

[DAKERS]

Hey everyone. Any chance anyone has info in regards to a motorized dolly? I have been looking for one to move my boat into a tight area where I can't fit a vehicle. The surface is aggregate concrete without much grade.The reviews are all over the place on these products that range all over the place. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks

[Skoot1123]

@DAKERS - you mentioned there isn’t much grade. Would a non motorized dolly work? We use a non motorized dolly in our shop to move boats around, it works very well and is easy to get the boats into tight spots.

 

I don’t recall the make of ours but I would think there are trailer dollies for that specifically too.

 

Sorry if this doesn’t help much.

[DW]

I have a small trailer dolly with air filled tires, works good on hard surface, mediocre on grass so would probably be a hard push by 2 on gravel with a slope. When you turn tight the dolly wants to tip on occasion. Lots of tire pressure lowers rolling resistance. I also have a Case 448 tractor that works great for tight spots as it can turn the trailer due to short wheelbase. Perhaps someone has a small tractor w/ hitch you could borrow.

[DAKERS]

I have found that the manual powered dollies don't work very well on aggregate. I used one pretty well with a 24' race trailer that was on asphalt and flat grade. I will am trying to use this often and want to make it as easy as possible so that is why I am looking for motorized. Thanks for your thoughts.

[ReallyGottaSki]

Front hitch on a clapped out garden tractor could be ideal. Could probably find something close to free if you take it away, on CL

[MDB1056]

Contact your local general aviation airport. Lots of motorized dollies for getting aircraft in and out of hangars.Go visit any FBO

[thager]

I use my lawn tractor with a hitch ball.

[Wayne]

How much do you want to spend? Throughout my career working in the auto industry I’ve seen devices like what they sell on powerpusher.com used. There are some other brands but I’ve seen this type of set up used on everything from smooth concrete to corse gravel to move passenger cars and trucks with ease.

[BraceMaker]

We used them at the marina, can be really helpful, if you have a dual or triple axle trailer getting one of the axles "lifted" helps a lot. We would crank the tongue down put a block of wood between the rear axle and the frame then crank the tongue back up which would put most of the load onto the rear axle and make it alot easier to force the trailer to pivot than when both axles were loaded.

[RGilmore]

Buy a gently-used track-driven snowblower, disable the auger and remove the chute. Mount a trailer ball near the front (some welding required) and use it in low-range reverse and forward. Plenty of snort, and really doesn't care about the ground surface (except on glare ice).

 

[DAKERS]

Thanks for the info. I really don't want to deal with the lawn tractor storage as far as size goes. These dollies looked decently compact. In a perfect world it definitely would be far less of an issue to just get a lawn tractor. That being said, I am curious what the marinas use? Again, the ones I have found have ranged in price but the reviews are all over the place.

 

I will check out the airplane ideas as well. Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[MDB1056]

https://www.amazon.com/Tow-Tuff-TMD-3500ETD-Electric-Trailer/dp/B089QX3CL2/ref=asc_df_B089QX3CL2/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=459710007596&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=6216718603885199875&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9025850&hvtargid=pla-943061567947&psc=1

 

Also check out DJ products aircraft dollies

[PurdueSkier]

Not sure your situation but I mounted a 120v winch from harbor freight to the floor in the back of my garage. I just hook straps to the back of the trailer.It works great to pull the boat into a tight spot.

[MISkier]

@DAKERS, I see marinas using forklifts with a ball mounted on an adapter spanning the front of the forks. I'm not sure that's the solution you're looking for.

 

I think some folks put a hitch ball on the front of their quad/ATV. That could be something to research.

[ReallyGottaSki]

[DAKERS]

Thanks for the great ideas. However I am trying to purchase an item not retro fit something. @MDB1056 brought an amazon dolly I had looked into. There are several that are all over the place as far as reviews go. Prices range from a few hundred on up. I just was curious if anyone knew of specific brand/model and had any experience with said brand.The snowblower is a cool Idea, but way too much work and I don't have the tools to try to manufacture something like that. Thanks again.

[LoopSki]

I had one that worked great. Cant remember who made it , but it was yellow. It has a clamp that you would mount on the trailer. Did not use the hitch. It worked pretty good on hard dirt and slight grade.

 

Looked just like this one

 

 

[DAKERS]

@LoopSki thanks so much. That would have been great. I will check more reviews out on amazon. Seems like they have the most reviews for most of these dollies.

 

[skimtb]

@DAKERS You may want to post similar inquiry on the “big 3” forums / MC, bu and nautique.

I would think there are certainly guys there using some dollies, and I assume there are far more folks on there to reply than BOS since it’s all watersports vs just slalom / 3 event people.

[teammalibu]