Powered trailer tug.

[Greystone]

Not really racing technology but I couldn't think of where else to post this.

As I am getting old and decrepit I am looking for a way to manouevre my trailer with the car on it other than by blood, sweat, tears and a lot of swearing. All up weight of trailer and car is around 1600 - 1700 kg. My basic thoughts are for something that will attach using the ball or via a link at the rear end and push/pull the trailer as required.

There are caravan moving devices available which fix to the chassis and drive one (or more) of the trailer wheels but these don't look man enough for the job and are also very expensive (over £1000 in some cases). My thoughts so far are either to try and do something with a starter motor and battery or see if I could do anything with the remains a crashed small automatic scooter.

Has anyone here ever built anything like this in the past? If so I would be grateful if they could enlighten me how they went about it. Any other suggestions that anyone else has would also be warmly welcomed.

Thanks.

Andrew Cherry

[greenamex2]

I looked at fitting a couple of the caravan movers to a trailer. Some places are cheaper than others (look in the small ads in the Caravan or Camping and Caravanning club magazines) but it still worked out over a £1000.

Then my engine blew up and all interest/funds have been diverted.

I would be interested if you find something though, it could solve a race car housing issue I may soon have.

[Al Weyman]

I have an arse of a neighbour opposite me and everytime I have to put my big trailer away on my own I have to back it into my drive and as the road is so narrow it means going up on the pavement out side his house which as most people like this he naturally thinks he owns. The other week after returning from the Brands Motorsport show he comes storming out shouting I have hit his wall which I had'nt and stood there watching the whole time I was making the very tricky manouvere into the drive so yes I would be interested in something like this just to shut the old git up.

[GORDON STREETER]

Obviously if you're very limited for room then one of those motorised movers are the thing to have. With a bit more room I have fitted a tow ball to the front (as well as the back) on an old/small MOT failure car, and used that to manoeuvre caravans/trailers etc. Its much easier to shunt things about in confined spaces if you can look at where you want it to go .
One of my customers uses his ride on lawn mower !

[Mik]

Something I have been looking at recently too due to a large trailer and a narrow drive/road. The best I've come up with is http://www.shifta.com/ who produce a battery powered device that hooks on to the tow hitch but they're not cheap. I'll start be getting some reversing practice in I think before laying out any cash!

[MGDavid]

how about a Quad bike / ATV thingy? Not a kid's one but an ex-farmer's one perhaps?

[GORDON STREETER]

We use a quad bike all the time to tow "dead" cars in and out of the workshop. They are brilliant at getting in (and out) of small spaces for what they can do.
Decent one's ain't cheap. even second hand ones. The major problem with them is you have to keep them under "lock n key" otherwise they tend to just "disappear" if left unattended for more than a couple of minutes !

[Al Weyman]

Thats a good idea about the tow ball on the front Gordon, my mate does that when he launches his boat, it may well work if I can fit one.

[Greystone]

Thanks for the thoughts guys.

When I had my old Shogun I made a solid drag bar that went between the front bumper and the trailer so that I could push/pull while facing it. When that went and I got a Subaru Outback it didn't seem appropriate to fix it to that.

I have seen the front towbars advertised but I can't use one of those as I have to push it through a fairly narrow garage, with doors at each end and into the back garden and I have just bought an ex BT Transit that is being converted into a camper van and it won't go through the garage.

The Mr Shifta 3 is very much like the sort of thing that I had envisaged trying to construct. It is not cheap but looks a better bet for me than the the bolt on caravan movers. The question is can I make something that is serviceable for less out of a fairy liquid bottle and a roll of sticky back plastic?

Happy to hear any more thoughts on this and I will post on any progress that I make.

Andrew

[JamesH]

That shifta thing looks the same sort of shape as a small rotovator. Get one of those cheap, replace the tines with wheels, weld a bracket and tow ball on.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Maxtra-4HP-Pet...1%7C240%3A1318

Sorted.

Of course, you might want to have some sort of reversing feature, which might be a little more difficult, but you could always, with a small one, just move it around.

James

ps. You know, I've got one of those lying about somewhere - I think I might try to do something on those line - my trailers an awkward b***r.

[Al Weyman]

Maybe a cheap electric winch (I paid £200 for mine new from Ebay) anchored to the rear garage wall may do the trick, you would probably have to use some sort of extension rope with it and do it in two hits, depends on how far you have to pull it. BTW mine has a cordless remote which would be ideal as you could go to the front of the trailer and guide it while operating the winch. I did actually do something similiar myself onec and fitted a tow hitch to the back garage wall to drag the car in.

[Alan Cherry]

The Rotavator on fleabay looked interesting - Big rubber tyres, 200cc 6.5 hp engine - forward and reverse gears, all for £350 ish - buy now price. Just have to get rid of those sharp choppy things, and you are away ! ( attach a tow ball of course !)

Plan B ( cheapskate version ) I've never used one, but If anyone has, please advise - what's the pulling power like on petrol lawnmowers ? If it produced enough power, you could always glue some textured rubber matting to the powered roller, remove the blades, attach a couple of tow balls, and modify the handles so they flop over and can be used from either side. I suspect it wouldn't have the power, but if anyone knows different, and anyone has an old unloved mower lying about, I'm getting quite handy with the MIG these days !


Alan

p.s. I had to move the trailer last night, and I find the easiest solution is a
6'4" son. Trouble is, he's not always available !


edit: crap spelling !

[GORDON STREETER]

I wouldn't have thought that the clutch (auto or manual) would cope, but as I said I know somebody that used a ride on 6hp.

[Chris Y]

Another alternative could be one of those powered wheelchairs. A fair few years ago now I was looking into doing Robot Wars (based on a history of R/C car racing) - and one of the easier routes into building your own robot was using a powered wheelchair. It has the motors, batteries (may need refreshing if they're old), and reasonable gearbox arrangement. Most of them are powerful enough to tug a modest family car up a small slope.

The bonus of this idea is you can then fit armour and a pneumatic axe to your new device and terrorise the neighbourhood

[Alan Cherry]

Originally Posted by GORDON STREETER

I wouldn't have thought that the clutch (auto or manual) would cope, but as I said I know somebody that used a ride on 6hp.

Doesn't an electric motor have maximum torque at near zero rpm ? or something - perhaps a starter motor geared down suitably ? - You'd need the solenoid to switch it in and out, and probably have only one speed - anyone know the rotation sopeed of a loaded/unloaded starter motor, so we could have a stab at the gearing ? They are powerful enough to drag a car along in first gear, and turn the engine against compression at the same time, so should be ok, but taking into account how it's geared down in a car - driving through the flywheel, then reduced in the gearbox, then reduced again at the diff, I would guess the gearing would need to be pretty extreme !
Come on Greystone - do the maths, and we'll look to see what's available !


Alan