Storing your trailer in tight access area's!

[rokcrln]

The house we just bought has an area between the two building (25x45 shop and 12x20 out building) that is about 25' deep and 20"+- wide that I will use to store my car trailer and Grandma's pop up trailer in the winter for her (she lives in Tahoe year round). The access for this are is eather from the front of the house around a tight corner between the house and shop and accross a soon to be landscaped area. Or from an alley access. My problem is with the alley it is also a tight turn due to other buildings accross the way. My PSD will not make the turn hooked to the trailer so I am thinking about finding an older lawn tractor (front engine style for weight offset) to move the trailers around for parking and what not.

Here is the question?? Do any of you do this now and if so what type of lawn tractor do you use.
Belt or gear drive?
What size motor?
Any old cheap brands you know of?

It will not be used for mowing so I dont care about that. Just one that will do the job and has a decent frame and running gear for the task. The trailer is an 16' Carson car hauler steel deck.

Any thoughts or pics of movers would be great.

Kevin

[fj40guy]

Kevin,

There are motorized "pullers" used by large UHAUL yards. Also you'll see something similiar for aircraft. Small gas engine, driven wheel, and hand grip clutch. Would make it a piece of work to move stuff around.

Just an idea here on eBay (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=4533185112&category=26440&sspagename=WDVW)

Hey, this might also work (never heard of a Nissan diesel Jeep Tug before!). OSHKOSH TUG (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=4532995771&category=26442&sspagename=WDVW)

Tom :usa:

[rokcrln]

The small puller is a good idea but the tug is alittle to big! Only problem with the puller is tonge weight if I have the trailer loaded ready to go for the week end. I think a small lawn tractor would be more stable plus I could do a cool paint job to match the buggy :D

Kevin

[bigNATE®]

I use a old/cheap 3000# forklift with a ball on the back

[Murph]

How about mounting a ball to the front of the PSD and guide the trailer in that way?


Andy

[rokcrln]

I like the fork lift idea! I tried checking e-bay for prices but my search came up empty.

But in thinking about it a fork lift would be nice except for the dirt and gravel around my place. I think for my needs a small lawn tractor would be best.

But thanks for all the ideas!

Kevin

[pmurf1]

Why not put a removable ball setup on the front of your buggy so you can drive it in front ways?

[Toyota_Jim]

Ive cut a hole in the bucket on my 590 backhoe. I can put a ball in it and move whatever with it.

I cut a hole in one of the forks on our forklift at work and use it ocasionally to move logsplitters and chippers around./.

[heavytlc]

My friend in VA, has a old lawn tractor, just to pull his trailer behind his shop. I do not know much about it, but I know he has 100+lbs of ballast in the front of the unit, and he only moves the trailer empty.

I could move my small carhauler, with the buggy on it, with my 4wheeler. It was a Polaris 400sportsman. I had to be all the way to the front, and the buggy needed to be back a little on the trailer. I wish I had not sold the 4wheeler, I never realized how much I used it.

[1985CJ7Laredo]

The older Gravely tractors are pretty bulletproof and can be had for decent prices. They are all gear driven, full framed (so you can add front ballast), and run forever.

[BadDog]

Considered a front ball mount? Makes turning and maneuvering easier, or even possible in some cases.

[ChiScouter]

How about a snowblower with the chute assy removed? I have one that breaks apart in the middle with 2 bolts in order to change the belts. I don't know if any other blowers break apart the same way in the middle, but I believe that most of them use the same basic design meaning you could cut the blower assy off and weld a hitch on the front. The handle has plenty of leverage for you to easily lift and hold the tongue up while manuvering a trailer around.

[McPeePants]

You could probly modify a old roadatiller to do the job.

[EMG7895]

Considered a front ball mount? Makes turning and maneuvering easier, or even possible in some cases.
Makes a huge difference, one of the marinas I've been to had and old scout( or scout II cant remember), all original and in pretty good condition with a front ball mount and its only purpose was to move boat trailers. they could get that thing in some tight places too.

[flimmy]

Maybe an old Troybuilt tiller ? They had a big bumper on the front you could make a ball mount for. Then in the spring you could go around a till gardens for little old ladies and make some xtra $$$ .

[jmhinescj]

Iv'e tried using a lawn tractor for that same purpose, not a car hauler but a boat trailer with a fairly small fishing boat on it. didn't move it at all...the belt drive just spun and started burnin.
Might want to look into an old 3 wheeler. Iv'e got an '85 honda 250 I got for $50, I use it mainly for movin trailers around the yard...good for negotioating around trees and stuff and also doesn't rut it up as much as it did when I used to use the jeep. I don't know about other makes but the hondas always (it seems) have a super low first gear and reverse, so they don't have any problems actually pushing the weight, however, I usually do put some weight on the front to help it turn (I welded a piece of pipe, vertically, onto the front rack and usually I just keep some barbell weights on there, 125 lbs or so). If you could get an old quad cheap enough it would probably be better weight distribution wise.
Kinda got off track from your original mower idea, but, just something else to think about

[Supergper]

honestly, you wont find much that will move your loaded trailer...we used fork lifts to move our boats around and they worked fine (like Jim, we drilled a hole in one of the forks for a ball mount). Occassionally I would try and move an empty or lightly loaded trailer with a fourwheeler (2003 Honda 450 Foreman) and it would have a hell of a time moving it anywhere but in a straight line. I think the lawn tractor would be even worse, if you coudl even move it at all.

[bspencer]

put a ball o nthe front of one of your vehicles...........you can maneuver just about anywhere with a front mounted ball

[yager]

same prob with small tractor with rear ball, wheeleed up and smoked belts... What rig do yo uwheel with ? Make a reciever hitch in the front and use that can almost turn it on a dime, worst case knife it in and drop it, to reposition..

I like the snow blower idea, or somthig with solid tires.. post up with you end up with...

[Les H.]

I agree with the front mount reciever.I keep my brothers flatty up at my house and use the front reciever to put my 8'3 wide trailer in a 9' wide tight raidius space,makes it simple.

[rokcrln]

I agree with the usefullness of a front mount reciever. The problem I have is the ally way were I will be getting access to my trailer pad is only about 12' wide and my truck is an extened cab long bed PSD. So I need to be able to back the trailer halfway in to the ally and spin it around 90* and the truck will not work for that. Also I can not drive a 3wheeler or quad on the road as were a small lawn tractor or even an old mini tractor (not much bigger than a lawn tractor) I could hook the trailer up and pull it around the block to the front of my house. I need to check with a friend of mine who collects old tractors because I have seen a few he has done that are real, real small but built to pull small plow's and disc's that might do the job.

Thanks for all the replys.
Kevin

[Dustball]

I use my old Toro 5 hp rear engine riding mower to move my 2200lb 18' car trailer around. It does a fine job with an unloaded or partly loaded trailer. Toro builds some good shit, the engine or drivetrain never complained and it'll smoke the tires without bogging down the engine. It's a chain drive axle, no slippage at all. The heaviest I ever tried moving was when the trailer was loaded with approx 2k lbs of wood chips ahead of the trailer axles. The first time I tried moving it resulted in an immediate sky high wheelie and I couldn't steer but it moved the trailer. I had to practically lay on the steering wheel to keep some weight on the front tires so I could turn. That being said- I'd recommend a lawn tractor if you're moving around an empty trailer but if you're going to move a loaded trailer, you'll have to step up to something much beefier. I can't complain much about mine since it only cost me $100 for it.

Pic of the mower-
http://ylobronc.users.superford.org/photo/garage.jpg

Pic of the trailer and where it goes-
http://ylobronc.users.superford.org/house/driveway3.jpg

[TLCObsession]

I used to use a little tug similar to the one in the link posted. We moved sailboats around the boatyard, and some of them weighed as much as a trailer loaded with a buggy. Some were gas, some electric. I would guess you could build one for $200 at the most.

[rokcrln]

Dustball~ That is all I am wanting to do with mine is move them around the yard and park them. I will need to start looking for one of those little guys.

TLCObsession~ What tug are you talking about? The little single wheel one or the actual airport tug?

Thanks Kevin

[elacruze]

Find a '60s vintage Jacobsen or John Deere lawn tractor. You can find the Jac's for free if you don't mind getting them running (deeres are collectible, but plentiful) Both of them have bulletproof cast iron tranny/axles, with belt inputs but low enough gears that you'll not burn a belt. When I was a kid (+30 yrs ago) the local 4H fair had a tractor pull for the kids (and dads) and the Jacs and Deeres always won the stock class because they'd stall before breaking or smoking the belt. Better than either, but very hard to find, would be a '60s vintage Wheel Horse with shaft drive. We have an old Ford 100 (badged Jacobsen) which we use to pull a 100 gallon water-filled lawn roller. It has traction trouble, but never driveline and the iron axles in these old tractors will take the weight of your trailer. You can tell just by looking at the hitch whether a prospect will hold or fold.
My $.02