How helpful are trailer dollies?

[Bill in Pittsburgh]

In anticipation of picking up our new Lil Snoozy, I ordered a trailer dolly.
My asphalt driveway is on a moderate grade and I have a minimum amount of room to maneuver a trailer into the parking space where it will be kept. I was able to back my 900lb and 13' tent trailer into this spot but think this will not possible with a 17' trailer.
The dolly I ordered claims a 600# max. tongue weight for usage. This exceeds my new trailers tongue weight by more than 400 lbs.
I am curious to hear from other dolly owners just how effective these dollies are when moving a 2000 lb. trailer.

[Donna D.]

I've owned a HF trailer dolly for almost as long as I've owned my trailer. I can move my 2150# trailer around on flat asphalt by myself. It mounts on the dolly tongue down which makes the tongue pretty dang heavy. With some grunting and groaning I can move it where I need it. Not bad for an over-the-hill woman!

[floyd]

Originally Posted by Bill in Pittsburgh

In anticipation of picking up our new Lil Snoozy, I ordered a trailer dolly.
My asphalt driveway is on a moderate grade and I have a minimum amount of room to maneuver a trailer into the parking space where it will be kept. I was able to back my 900lb and 13' tent trailer into this spot but think this will not possible with a 17' trailer.
The dolly I ordered claims a 600# max. tongue weight for usage. This exceeds my new trailers tongue weight by more than 400 lbs.
I am curious to hear from other dolly owners just how effective these dollies are when moving a 2000 lb. trailer.

Keep the tire pressure up and the dolly will do a great job! I have one which I use all the time and my trailer is intentionally tongue heavy. Of course shorter trailers respond quicker to steering, but the longer trailer may actually give more overall control. Put something heavy inside your door(like a passenger) and it will steer even easier with the dolly.
I have used mine on level grass on trailers as large as a 17 WB Burro.It's a breeze on concrete!

[Kevin K]

This might help

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DoKAIFAnzs

[Don'n'Deb]

I, like Donna, have a HF trailer dolly. The greatest thing for moving not just the camper, but all of the trailers I now have around the yard. And the guys at work call me "old Man" at 64.

[Reid Larsen]

With a gravel drive way and complicated storage location and add compromised backing skills we find a trailer dolly totally necessary. On a paved and mostly level drive you might get by with a wheel on the tongue jack but the dolly is one of the best investments we made for moving the Trill around. Friends just bought a 13' Casita and borrowed our dolly. After using it once they went out and got one of their own. Harbor Freight sells one for around $50 that is adequate for light weight trailers.

[WildBirder]

If your planning to stick to paved areas this unit is great and cheap. I picked mine up for $9.99. I found my tongue jack (no plate or wheel) fit securely in it and it was very easy to steer due to the wheel configuration. I got mine from Princess auto, the ad states a 200 lb limit, packaging states 2000 lbs. Ad is probably incorrect.

6 in. Tri-Dolly | Princess Auto

On edit I think a plate would sit on top securely, there are rubber pads for such.

[Donna D.]

What I forgot to say in my original posting, is I (personally) wouldn't want to use the dolly on any kind of grade without someone prepared to chock the trailer tires. If you should slip to your knees, it's possible a ton of trailer would start moving quickly toward you! It would be handy if there was some sort of brakes on the dolly, but there's not on the one I own and because I only use it on the flats.. I don't need them... but as "they" say... YOUR MILEAGE MAY VARY (YMMV)

[lamimartin]

Hi,
I'm very happy with a home made dolly I made out of a recycled base of snow blower. I simply welded a square socket on the top to receive an old 2" or 1.7/8" ball. The critical aspect is to position the ball just over wheel axles in working position (horizontal), so whenever I lower the handles it can be left alone with part of the weight on the rear stand I welded out of scrap metal. All you need is to stip a snow blower of his front end and defective engine, cut out all transmission chains, weld a few pieces of scrap metal and you are in business.

Net cost :about 6 welding stick and an hour of work. Lots of fun too. (I'm not a welder) I own a 230 Amp stick welding machine I use to recycle old metal. For such simple job, any 90 Amp welding machine with a welder mask could do. This is the welding equipment I used to weld upside down two Honda jacks under the front corners of my Trillium 4500 1977, simply because they had they did fit the same hexagonal socket crank I use for my original rear jacks.

I also use this dolly for my 19' sailboat on a trailer. I found out the fat tires are a great advantage when steering on soft grass. I also welded a metal ring in line with the ball so I can use a winch to pull on the trailer to climb on my sloped driveway pavement, which is about 8 inches higher than the grass on my backyard. The clearance on the side of my house is too narrow to safely get in and out of the backyard with my SUV. My wife controls a 12V battery powered winch and I steer both my boat or my RV safely with this great heavy duty dolly.

Previously, I had a standard dolly but I kept bending the wheels whenever I did steer a little hard. This is no longer a problem with my big one.

[Bill in Pittsburgh]

Thank You. Had I seen this prior to ordering my dolly I would have followed suit. Then I would have owned a multi purpose tool!!

[theresa p]

we have a dolly and find it indispensable.

[Roger Kimble]

Originally Posted by lamimartin

Hi,
I'm very happy with a home made dolly I made out of a recycled base of snow blower. I simply welded a square socket on the top to receive an old 2" or 1.7/8" ball. The critical aspect is to position the ball just over wheel axles in working position (horizontal), so whenever I lower the handles it can be left alone with part of the weight on the rear stand I welded out of scrap metal. All you need is to stip a snow blower of his front end and defective engine, cut out all transmission chains, weld a few pieces of scrap metal and you are in business.

Net cost :about 6 welding stick and an hour of work. Lots of fun too. (I'm not a welder) I own a 230 Amp stick welding machine I use to recycle old metal. For such simple job, any 90 Amp welding machine with a welder mask could do. This is the welding equipment I used to weld upside down two Honda jacks under the front corners of my Trillium 4500 1977, simply because they had they did fit the same hexagonal socket crank I use for my original rear jacks.

I also use this dolly for my 19' sailboat on a trailer. I found out the fat tires are a great advantage when steering on soft grass. I also welded a metal ring in line with the ball so I can use a winch to pull on the trailer to climb on my sloped driveway pavement, which is about 8 inches higher than the grass on my backyard. The clearance on the side of my house is too narrow to safely get in and out of the backyard with my SUV. My wife controls a 12V battery powered winch and I steer both my boat or my RV safely with this great heavy duty dolly.

Previously, I had a standard dolly but I kept bending the wheels whenever I did steer a little hard. This is no longer a problem with my big one.

That is a nice unit Martin, I just have a trailer dolly I use on four small trailers all the time

[DannyH]

I bought one from harbor freight and have been happy with it. We have a narrow back alley road leading to our garage. The road is around 20 foot wide and drops 4 inches in the middle. I pull my 1900# trailer fine with it. I do have to push it toward my neighbors and get a little running start to bring it into the garage, since it is not flat.

[Mike Magee]

I have never had a trailer dolly, but I do keep a teddy bear in the trailer.

[Eddie Longest]

Bill
Since you said you are from Pittsburg what is your definition slight grade? It has been a while but I think I remember someone having a trailer getting away from them while using a dolly and they had to pull the electric brake breakway cable to stop the trailer. Does the surge brakes on the Lil Snoozy have a breakway cable if the trailer gets away from you?
The trailer dolly works great for me on level ground but I have had trailers try to get away and I had to drop one trailer off the dolly to stop it and that was on a slight grade.
Eddie

[ThomasE]

I use a trailer dolly as well to get my trailer onto it's parking pad next to my drive way. It's easy to move around as long as it's perfectly flat, if there's any kind of incline at all, I'd suggest having a helper. I have my son pull on a strap attached to the rear bumper while I push from the front with the dolly.

[Brian Van Snell]

When we first got our trailer two years ago we pushed it onto its parking spot using a trailer jack wheel, but it was a back-killer. We then bought a trailer dolly from Harbor Freight which eased the problem, although it was still tough getting up the slight grade from the back lane to the trailer pad. Finally we hit on the idea of just backing the trailer onto the pad. With a few years of experience backing up this seems to be the easiest and fastest solution. We still use the dolly sometimes for adjusting the location of the trailer on the pad. The jack wheel sits in the garage unused.

Brian

[Bill in Pittsburgh]

I will be careful as this scenario is cause of my apprehension.

[Bill in Pittsburgh]

Originally Posted by Brian Van Snell

When we first got our trailer two years ago we pushed it onto its parking spot using a trailer jack wheel, but it was a back-killer. We then bought a trailer dolly from Harbor Freight which eased the problem, although it was still tough getting up the slight grade from the back lane to the trailer pad. Finally we hit on the idea of just backing the trailer onto the pad. With a few years of experience backing up this seems to be the easiest and fastest solution. We still use the dolly sometimes for adjusting the location of the trailer on the pad. The jack wheel sits in the garage unused.

Brian

I wish I could just back it in, but lack the space to meuneuver a 17 ft. trailer. It has to go in on an angle. I can back my 13 ft. tent trailer in with no problem (which incidently turns on a dime and is trickier than any 53 ft. trailer I ever backed up.)

[Bill in Pittsburgh]

Originally Posted by Eddie Longest

Bill
Since you said you are from Pittsburg what is your definition slight grade? It has been a while but I think I remember someone having a trailer getting away from them while using a dolly and they had to pull the electric brake breakway cable to stop the trailer. Does the surge brakes on the Lil Snoozy have a breakway cable if the trailer gets away from you?
The trailer dolly works great for me on level ground but I have had trailers try to get away and I had to drop one trailer off the dolly to stop it and that was on a slight grade.
Eddie

I can't answer the question regarding the brakes as this is a new trailer that I have not taken delivery on yet. The grade does worry me. About 5%