Stratos Trailer Dolly

[norcal bass]

I posted this in the trailers & towing forum ... but no takers ... I know you fellow Stratos people will give me some feedback.

Does anyone have this product for moving your trailer in and out of tight spaces?

http://www.eztug.com/index.shtml

This one mounts directly to your trailer as a motorized jack.

I am also considering the powrhitch which is a separate motorized dolly:

http://www.powerwheel-usa.com/...h.htm

There is also one called the powercaster:

http://www.powercaster.com/

Any other ideas or products would be greatly appreciated. I thought about the manual Cabelas dolly, but it seems like the motorized ones are the way to go. I have a 17' Stratos. Tight driveway & a small garage ... hence the dolly.

Thanks!

[skinnywater]

I had trouble getting my 18 1/2 foot 186 in it's parking spot, so I bought this one

http://www.northerntool.com/we...rch=1

It made all the difference in the world, I don't have any trouble now with moving it around.

I bought it from a local Northern and paid $60, well worth the money

[norcal bass]

Skinnywater -

Thanks for the reply. Can you use that dolly to push the boat up over a 1" to 2 " driveway curb? And if you crank it hard to one side or the other, does the dolly become unstable? Just want to avoid having the tongue pop off that thing or have it slip out from under the tongue. My driveway is level, but I will need to get it up a slight curb and incline where the street and gutter transitions into the driveway.

Thanks again. And how do you love your 186? Great boat I am sure.

[skinnywater]

I have a 1 inch lip leading into my driveway, and the driveway has a little down slope to the road. I use my truck to back it onto the driveway, then unhitch. The dolly has a 1 7/8, so it's a little loose, but I have never had t pop off. I use the dolly for the final part. I have my son watch the prop, to make sure I don't push it back to far. This last time, my 8 year old even helped pushed it in place with my supervision. I usually crank the jack all the way up, but leave it pointed down, just incase, but I have not had a problem so far.

Before I had the dolly, I tried to just back it in with my truck, but even with my wife's help (talk about putting a strain on a marriage ), I could not get the job done. I then tried to just muscle it in place, but about killed myself and was sore for a couple days afterwards.

I looked hard at the ones from BPS but they were a lot more ($200) and not worth the risk. I would make sure you pick one that has the inflatable tires, and the bigger the wheels, the easier it's going to climb your curb.

If you want, I will take a couple pictures this weekend, showing my specific setup, and post, if it would help you any.

[norcal bass]

That would be great if you could take a couple of pictures. If it is a pain, don't worry about it ... don't eat up valuable weekend fishing time trying to load pictures on the BBC! It sounds like my situation will be exactly the same as yours. I can back my boat over the curb to the driveway ... then it's flat to the garage. I was just curious if I ever had to hand roll it up the approach. Didn't want to block the whole street as I am trying to get the trailer in the driveway. Leaving the wheel jack down too (but up as far as it will go) is a good call for safety.

Thanks again!

[skinnywater]

No problem, I'll post some this weekend. Hope it helps you out. Like you, I don't want to block the street, but can't take a chance of tearing something up either.

[skinnywater]

Norcal, here are a couple dolly pictures for you. Hope this helps


In this shot, you can see the trailder resting on the dolly. The tries squat a little, but not bad. Again, I like the air filled version better than the solid tires. Also, the bigger the tires, it seems the easier to push.



My 8 year old can push it around, but can't get it over the lip in the driveway. I normally back it into the driveway with my truck, over the lip. Unhitch, and drop the trailer on the dolly. From there, it is pretty easy to push it into place. Notice the 1 inch lip at the end of the driveway. I have pushed it over that, but normally, don't have to.



In this shot, you can see the regular trailer jack. I have it cranked all the way up. This is not shown, but it's about 1/2 inch off the ground. Again, I don't need to do this, but normally leave it down, just incase. I have never had a problem but.....
I also chock the tires, using a set that I bought for $5 from Northern at the same time that I bought the dolly. Black rubber, with a yellow 1/8 inch line connecting them.

The pictured boat is a 186XT with a 115, so a little heavier than yours, but pretty close. I hope this helps you. Good luck on what ever you get. Let us know how it turns out.

[norcal bass]

Skinnywater -

Thanks a ton for the pictures! This really helps me get an idea how it works. I am going to order one and give it a shot. I'll let you know how it works.

Norcal

[Lookin4Bass]

Does anyone have any experience using these with a dual axle trailer? I would expect it to be significantly tougher than with a single axle, just wondering if it's too much trouble to bother with.

In regards to having the wife guide me into the garage... I have to put my boat into the double side of our 3 car garage then slide it in diagonally to fit. There's a post that separates the double from the single side.

My wife was guiding me back and I tapped the post with the fender. I jumped out and asked why she hadn't warned me and her response was "oh, I was only watching the other side. I didn't know I was supposed to watch both sides".

I back it in on my own now, and I watch both sides.



Modified by Lookin4Bass at 12:15 PM 10/28/2008

[KellyJoe]

Some people use these for dual axle trailers.

http://www.northerntool.com/we...52117