electric dolley

[WOOSAB]

Any of you folks using an electronic dolley to move the boat around in your drive way or garage. I need 1 to move around boat sx230 and double jet ski trailer. Or how are the non electric ones? Thanks in advance

 

[txav8r]

jdonalds has one Justin. I think they built it, but he moves the boat with it easily. A number of guys have had them.

 

[Ronnie]

Check out power caster, they offer at least 4 models with a varied number of wheels and power plants. They start close to $1,000 I think but there are other brands that may cost less. My neighbor bought a knock off last summer that couldn't climb the curb in front of her house, she ended up returning it and buying a front mounted hitch for her truck instead.

The non electric ones can be found for $50 at Harbor Freight. I have one and it works well for moving the jet ski trailer around on flat ground but that is about it. It would be useless on the a SX230.

I bet jdonalds will check in soon, I recall that he built it with a friend that had the will and skill to do it but that he wouldn't do it again. If could find a used one for $500 I'd buy it.

 

[jetboater4life]

I have the trailer valet and would not recommend it for your boat as you will be pushing the weight limit.

 

[DieselCamel]

I have the trailer valet and would not recommend it for your boat as you will be pushing the weight limit.

I also have a trailer valet works great for me. It moves the boat in and out of the garage with ease(flat ground) as have to disconnect and lower the tongue almost all the way for it to fit into the garage.

 

[jetboater4life]

I also have a trailer valet works great for me. It moves the boat in and out of the garage with ease(flat ground) as have to disconnect and lower the tongue almost all the way for it to fit into the garage.

I have a slight incline in my driveway and it makes it very difficult to move. What is the weight of your SeaDoo? Most Yamahas approach 5k pretty quick with gas and gear. Especially the 23/24 footers. The unit is rated for 5k but that is really pushing it in my opinion. I keep my fulton jack deployed as I fear mine is going to snap one of these days.

 

[DieselCamel]

I have a slight incline in my driveway and it makes it very difficult to move. What is the weight of your SeaDoo? Most Yamahas approach 5k pretty quick with gas and gear. Especially the 23/24 footers. The unit is rated for 5k but that is really pushing it in my opinion. I keep my fulton jack deployed as I fear mine is going to snap one of these days.

Not really 100% sure. I believe its around 4k ish, i’m really happy with the valet. i took the regular jack off.

 

[txav8r]

Not really 100% sure. I believe its around 4k ish, i’m really happy with the valet. i took the regular jack off.

 

[itsdgm]

Here are a few pics of our powermover electric dolly http://www.powerdolly.co/?page_id=19 . It's a must have to get both of my trailers on the side of our house. Otherwise it takes quite a while, and many trips in and out of the truck.

 

[Ronnie]

I have a similar parking situation Dennis with a little more incline I think. How do you like your power dolly? Do you put the boat on the grass with the tow vehicle then use the dolly to push it in the rest of the way? I didn't think it would do well on the grass.

 

[primedoc]

Here are a few pics of our powermover electric dolly http://www.powerdolly.co/?page_id=19 . It's a must have to get both of my trailers on the side of our house. Otherwise it takes quite a while, and many trips in and out of the truck.
View attachment 2222 View attachment 2223 View attachment 2224 View attachment 2225

Now that's a tight spot.

 

[itsdgm]

I have a similar parking situation Dennis with a little more incline I think. How do you like your power dolly? Do you put the boat on the grass with the tow vehicle then use the dolly to push it in the rest of the way? I didn't think it would do well on the grass.

It's hard to get the trailer to turn when putting it away because the axles bind up when I'm backing it uphill and then the dolly digs into the grass. So I do back the boat up into the grass with my truck, then push it in the rest of the way with the dolly. I can however pull it out and onto the street using just the dolly though.

 

[jetboater4life]

I have a slight incline in my driveway and it makes it very difficult to move. What is the weight of your SeaDoo? Most Yamahas approach 5k pretty quick with gas and gear. Especially the 23/24 footers. The unit is rated for 5k but that is really pushing it in my opinion. I keep my fulton jack deployed as I fear mine is going to snap one of these days.

I have a confession to make. The tires on my trailer valet were flat which made the thing look like it was really struggling. The trouble is it is very difficult to fill the tire with air because the valve stem is not very long making it very difficult to get a air tool attachment onto it for filling. I managed to fill the tires up to 70psi (max=80psi). And now it seems much better for moving the boat up my driveway. So I'm changing my tune somewhat on the trailer valet. It may be worth a look for those with 21' boats. 23/24 footer on flat surfaces would be fine too. Just make sure to inflate the tires before first use. I have know Idea why they were shipped flat. Because of the size of tire they don't look or feel flat upon initial inspection and nothing in the manual says to fill before first use. Anyway just thought I would share my change of opinion.
http://www.amazon.com/review/R3CN80...deID=15684181&store=automotive#wasThisHelpful

I wouldn't purchase this if you have a significant incline as the weight rating is significantly reduced.

 

[jdonalds]

Yes I do have a battery powered trailer mover. I bought the plans on eBay. The plans promised $500 cost but it was more like $1,200 and required a machine shop to build it. Here are photos of my kind friend Dan (jet ski not boat guy) doing two days of work to build my pusher. As some have related I wouldn't do this again; I'd just buy one. My choice would be an AC powered unit. I don't care for the trouble of keeping the 12V car battery charged, or the thought of having to replace the battery in a year or two from now. The bother of an AC cord would be a good trade off.

On the other hand now that it is built it works great. We built it in 2011 and it hasn't failed yet. I use it every time I move the boat in and out of the side yard. I have about 3" of clearance on either side of the boat. I also have a jog in the path leading to the side storage so I can't take a straight shot with the 4Runner. I'm pretty good at backing a trailer but there was just no way with this arrangement.

Here's a video of me operating the trailer mover.

There are quite a few trailer mover/pusher videos on youtube.