dwe8922

Do any of you have any experience with the battery powered trailer dollies? I have to move two trailers in to pretty tight spaces. I need about 8k lb capacity and the ability to work on grass. There are 3 brands that seem to be most prevalent, and have different characteristics. All except the last seem to be pretty small companies:

Parkit360 - least expensive, but very slow, 12v, winch motor

https://parkit360.ca/

Trax 6000 - faster, middle price variable throttle, 36v

https://traxpowerdolly.com/


DjProducts trailer dolly - seem to be an industry supplier, most expensive, larger cart, 36v

https://www.djproducts.com/product/trailer-puller/

Any experiences?

Thanks,
David

facelvega

I trailer rarely, so am not very good at backing them into tight spaces, so I got the Parkit. It is glacially slow, but works as advertised. At one time, I was keeping the car and trailer in a storage unit with literally one inch clearance on each side. The Parkit got it in with no drama, but again, VERY slow.

I have seen suggested using a lawn tractor / riding mower by fastening a receiver to the main structure behind the seat. For the price of the fancy electric dollies, it looked like a good way to go...

aryork

Wow - I didn't even know those existed! This may help solve my trailer parking problem...

Kein_Ersatz

aryork

Shandingo

I have the Parkit 360 10k model. I have only used it with the trailer empty and it seems to work fine for that, but as one of the other responses noted, it is very very slow. It is also very noisy. My understanding is that the 5k model is not quite as slow, as it uses a different size sprocket. I wish I had known that when I ordered, as I would have bought the 5k instead. I also had to buy a taller ball mount from Parkit 360 because the safety cables on my Trailex open trailer interfered with the tires on the trailer dolly. I would also note that it takes a bit of time to get the dolly hooked up to the coupler on the trailer and everything tightened up. However, as another response also noted, the trailer can be placed very accurately with this device.

The bottom line is that it works, but it is slow and loud. I prefer to back my trailer into my driveway, but when someone is parked across the street from the house, there is no way for me to make the turn without smashing into the parked car with my tow vehicle. That is where the dolly comes in. I can make a very, very sharp turn with that thing that would be impossible to do with the tow vehicle.

My dolly does have the built-in battery maintainer and brake controller, which I like having because I need to operate the dolly on a slight incline. I also bought a deep cycle marine battery to use with the dolly.

Driver8

https://trailervalet.com

tjsmaryland

I have a ParkIt 360, and I have wired it with a quick disconnect plug into the winch battery on my Trailex enclosed trailer. It works great! I move my trailer around in tight quarters both with the trailer fully loaded and with it empty. It beats getting the wife help move the trailer around with a manual dolly.

Drew_K

This may not work for your application, but another idea, if you have a truck, is to install a hitch on the front. I did that when I had a boat so that I could park it in my garage.

Martin S.

This is a great idea. You'll see front hitches on lots of farm trucks...I just park my trailer in front of my house, so no need for tight backing up!

aryork

dwe8922

I used to have Gravely commercial zero turn that I put a hitch on, and that worked really well for a smaller trailer. The tongue weight would be too much for the trailer I want to move around. I talked to Trax, and their unit seems pretty well built. My concern there is it is a solid axle, so you have to tug pretty hard to turn it for a heavy trailer. Their videos show mostly a 7,400lb trailer where they move it around. That's about the weight of the camper I will be pulling. It will likely have more tongue weight though. The JDProducts unit seems to have a differential, so it looks a lot easier to turn, but their videos and detail on their product are pretty limited, and the unit is larger to store. I haven't called Parkit yet.

aryork

That's cool!

dwe8922

Very cool! And compact. The largest one has a capacity of 9k lbs. I think Trax is coming out with a wireless model called the x2. I saw a youtube video on it, but just running around by itself.

brownan

We bought one from AirTug which I think is good for like 15,000 lbs. It's got two large marine batteries and keeps a charge well (we do plug it in). Makes moving the three trailers in our garage easy.
https://airtug.com