Power Hitches

**Sinker** · 05-13-2007, 05:47 PM

Well seems that Palm Bay (city where I live) has a major problem with my boat being in my driveway. They have an ordnance that your boat MUST be in the garage or behind the front portion of your house not adjacent to a road. Sucks for me as I am on a corner lot and unable to use the other side of my house because of the landscaping and grade. Can't afford the lot next to me as they want 100K for the empty lot.

Got the little green notice in the mail. This is the nasty warning.

Then came the Violation Fine. I contested that as the ordnance stipulates the boat being parked in violation for a 24 hour period of time. Seems that since I moved the boat out of the driveway for an hour each day found me in compliance with the law

.

Oh not so fast though, now they want to take it to the next step as they say I was using a loop hole and they will be revising the ordnance.

Guess I knew it was just a matter of time.

So I have things set up in my back yard for the boat. Got one of those tent garage things but the boat is a little long to fit all the way under it, actually got it for my old boat. The big problem though is that I have about 2 inches on either side of the boat before hitting fence posts as the beam on this boat is much wider. That and I can not drive my truck all the way in and have enough room to maneuver the boat into it's spot.

So I am looking at a Power Hitch http://www.powerwheel-usa.com/ and was wondering if you folks knew anything about them or other manufacturers, etc., etc., etc.

I have an 8% grade for about 20' on grass that I have to get the boat up as well. Boats hull weight only is 4000lbs, with motor, fuel and all the goodies who knows what.

Was hoping my lawn tractor would do it but ended up with no front wheels on the ground

. Can't seem to figure out a decent way to try and hook up a hitch to the front of it so that is out as well.

These things are not cheap though running 1k to 2k

.

Any info or thoughts, other ideas etc.

Thanks

fishkiller · 05-13-2007, 07:18 PM

looks cool to me

J Woodman · 05-13-2007, 08:47 PM

Several yeers ago my next door neighbor got one like that for his 20' bass boat. The driveway was no more than 3% for 20 feet. He couldn't get enough traction to push the boat, even with 3 adults sitting on the bow. The power wheels just spun on concrete. If you get one, check the return policy before you buy. I have never heard of those things working on any type of grade, unless the tongue weight is very heavy. Good luck on the problem though.

Corr · 05-13-2007, 09:07 PM

Traction, particularly on grass is what came to mind when I saw it. I helped a friend move a boat on a trailer past week end, damn heavy.

Ask the company to come and demonstrate the thing.

If its fairly straight , a winch may do the trick. With a good jokey wheel it can be steered a bit as well.

**Carnivore** · 05-13-2007, 10:40 PM

Tim an idea might be to put some weight on the front of the tractor and keep in down. YEARS ago when dinosaurs roamed the earth I worked for a dealership that had a unit like that with a big rubber push pad on the front. On dry pavement it would move dead cars but when it got wet it would slip.

A couple of 5 gallon buckets with cement in them tied together and draped across the tractor should hold the front in down if it has the power to pull it in the first place.

J Woodman · 05-14-2007, 08:43 PM

I just remembered that my next door neighbor ended up mounting an electric winch at the rear of his garage, a straight shot from his driveway, and pulled the trailer up the driveway, back end first and just steered from the bow as the winch pulled the boat and trailer. Again, good luck on the logistics.

scortch · 05-14-2007, 11:56 PM

Might take a look at this one's offerings. Looks like they have some beefy units.

AC Trailer Dollies,DC Trailer Dollies,Fifth Wheel Dollies,Electric ATVS

All the way up to 6 wheel units and they claim that it will work on up to 12% grade?

"In general, dollies do not work in loose gravel, especially on soft surface inclines and should definitely not be used on grades in excess of 12 percent."

Grass/lawn might be a problem?? But weight wise, they have you covered.

chance · 05-18-2007, 07:07 PM

tim use to work at an rv shop in torrance and we had 3 different power dollies and if they arent on dry flat ground they dont work worth a @#$$^%
have you thought about putting a ball hitch on the front of the truck that might help you manuver it better but other than that you need more room

AguaYak · 05-18-2007, 09:10 PM

Did you scroll down the page you linked to an use their power calculator to see if it would work on concrete? If it won't work there then you'll know you are out of lunch.

You could use an electric winch with the cable doubled to increase the capacity. You could make a gravel rock driveway just for the tires of the trailer, use a two X six for the front wheel of the trailer.

Dig out a spot big enough to back the trailer into, behind a gate.

Just some ideas, I cannot visualize your backyard.

Last option, give me a call, I will store it here, and when you come out to Calif you can use it.

lol.

Stringer · 05-19-2007, 08:40 AM

Could you make something like this? But with a ball instead of the fork, and centered over the wheels. The weight would not be on the lawn tractor, but would be on the tires, and the lawn tractor would simply push or pull the boat trailer. I think anyone could probably weld one together in an hour.