Moving a large boat trailer?

[Gary Fowler]

I move all my trailers with my RTV900 using the front ball hitch. Your BX should weigh about the same thing as my RTV It is so much easier to maneuver a trailer from the front of a vehicle. You could likely attach a ball hitch to the front of your truck if you cant use the tractor but I dont think that your tongue weight will be too much for the BX to lift with the FEL.
Just get a bolt on hitch that is secured with two clamp type bolts for the FEL bucket. You can install and remove it in 5 minutes or less. It take just a few minutes to learn to drive the trailer backward using the FEL (just move the tongue to the left for the rear to go right).
When I put my boat into the shed, there is only about 4" of clearance between the shed door and my fuel tank and it is an uphill slant so I could never push it in by hand so the RTV front mount is a must for that. Try it with your BX and I think you will like doing it from the front of the tractor.

 

[cscpianoman]

Excellent input everyone! The pillars are ancient brick and they aren't put together well. Will be super easy to knock over. this is going to be fun I just walked the stretch just to get a feel of it and to appease my fears. apparently, the property right behind mine decided to have about a 1 foot rise at the edge of the road that immediately drops right after. Essentially a large road bump with hole on the back end. I suspect whatever dozer or grader they used to level the property just pushed everything back behind the fence. Given the elevations and land drainage, I bet the guy gets flooding in his backyard. Almost looks like a pool. It is a narrow road - 24ft compared to the 30ft on the road over. Certainly taking out the pillars will give a lot of cushion, but if all else fails, I will have several ways to go about tackling the problem. I would hate to leave a brand new boat right out front for others to enjoy and walk off with.

The driveway is about 300ft to where the boat is going to stay and will need to get close to the house. I have had no problems doing this with the truck trailer, but sometimes it's also nice to be able to make fine movements/turns with something smaller. I will certainly give the FEL a consideration - the nice thing with the receiver add-on is it can stay there with the backhoe in place. I also have an adjustable ball/hitch which should accommodate the trailer tongue. If worse comes to worse, use the tractor the first time to make the bend then use the truck the rest of the way. I will let you all know how it goes and how bad a trailer driver I really am.......

 

[groundcover]

And then there is landing the boat at the boat launch, they say more divorces start at the boat landing than anyplace!

 

[zoltanthegypsy]

And then there is landing the boat at the boat launch, they say more divorces start at the boat landing than anyplace!

... and piling on the OT ... I used to go down to the local ramps on the first nice day of spring and just watch. Always saw some hilarious, profoundly stupid, and near-tragic antics.

I trust the OP isn't of that ilk

happy boating,
Z.

 

[Leejohn]

You might be able to move it, but when you start to turn is when the fun starts. I would not try to back it in with a little tractor, it could dump you over real quick.

 

[Mowbizz]

I would not hesitate to move the boat with the BX.
Not sure if anyone thought of this though. Get yourself a new trailer jack with a wheel on it and set the height of the wheel to just make contact with the road/driveway. On smooth surfaces the wheel will roll and take up some of the tongue weight!

 

[Deere Dude]

I would make the situation so you don't need to unhook it from the truck at all. Seems like a lot of screwing around needlessly. Take down whatever is in the way and drive right on in. But, it would be nice to be able to move the bot with your tractor anyway/

 

[cscpianoman]

... and piling on the OT ... I used to go down to the local ramps on the first nice day of spring and just watch. Always saw some hilarious, profoundly stupid, and near-tragic antics.

I trust the OP isn't of that ilk

happy boating,
Z.

Oh heck no! I have trailered boats and done the ramp bit. It is quite hilarious watching some people launch a boat. thankfully, I have never had any problems. Usually the really stupid stuff involves alcohol.

 

[cscpianoman]

I would not hesitate to move the boat with the BX.
Not sure if anyone thought of this though. Get yourself a new trailer jack with a wheel on it and set the height of the wheel to just make contact with the road/driveway. On smooth surfaces the wheel will roll and take up some of the tongue weight!

Yeah, my understanding with the stock trailer is the jack is the horrible cheap things. That is an upgrade worth getting.

 

[cscpianoman]

I would make the situation so you don't need to unhook it from the truck at all. Seems like a lot of screwing around needlessly. Take down whatever is in the way and drive right on in. But, it would be nice to be able to move the bot with your tractor anyway/

that is the goal - I don't want to have to use the tractor if I can get a way with it. Your right, I don't like the needless screwing around, but what I didn't want to happen is getting stuck with the truck/tractor and not have a backup method. Besides, it gives me more justification to having the tractor Maybe even a future upgrade....

 

[ccsial]

And then there is landing the boat at the boat launch, they say more divorces start at the boat landing than anyplace!

I remember a couple that when he finally got the boat on the trailer he drove off and left his wife standing there. I don't imagine that ended well. I always move my trailers with the end loader, much better than the rear hitch. Our boat stays at the marina now since it is too big to tow. I don't miss boat ramps.

 

[mcfarmall]

Use the BX23 to remove the ugly pillars FIRST and then back it in with the truck. If you can't thread a needle backing up the trailer, then you need more practice!

 

[aczlan]

I built one of these, it's nice to be able to lift tongues up an down.

We have one of those as well. The nice thing about a three-point trailer mover like that is that it pushes the pivot for the tongue of the trailer back a couple of feet from where it would be if you attached to the back of the tractor.
That means that it moves more for a given movement of the front wheels and it lets you turn sharper, perhaps even to 90° with a boat trailer.

Aaron Z

 

[LD48750]

Without question I have learned how much easier it is to move a trailer around using a FRONT mounted hitch rather then anything rear mounted.
You can get a 2" receiver for your truck and/or your tractor and thread a needle with it or run a slalom course up or down hill between buildings.
It took me nearly 60 years of trailering to find this out & can't recommend it enough.
It will cost you VERY little to at least try it.

 

[Ford850]

Use your tractor to cut down the undergrowth along the road, across from the drive (that has grown in since your photo). That looks like plenty of room to swing in a truck and trailer especially if the ROW is clear across the road. What's the distance between the pillars?

 

[Hanshans]

I have a 24' boat and moved it around quite a few times with my old bx2360 with no problems. Pick up an attachment for the 3 point hitch with the 2 inch receiver (I think Titan sells them on eBay) and you should have no problem.

 

[RaydaKub]

I'd use whatever is convenient. The picture doesn't look that bad to me to use the truck.
As for taking it slow with the tractor, you're talking about a BX here. Flat out they do between 7 and 8.5 mph forward, reverse is a fraction of that. Slow is the only option here. If it lifts it on the 3ph, I bet you have no problem.

 

[MossRoad]

Without question I have learned how much easier it is to move a trailer around using a FRONT mounted hitch rather then anything rear mounted.
You can get a 2" receiver for your truck and/or your tractor and thread a needle with it or run a slalom course up or down hill between buildings.
It took me nearly 60 years of trailering to find this out & can't recommend it enough.
It will cost you VERY little to at least try it.

THIS! :thumbsup:

Put a hitch on the front of your truck. You'd be amazed how easy it is to maneuver a trailer when you're facing it. Also, with the truck's steering wheels so much closer to the trailer hitch and pivot point, it gives you a lot more maneuverability.

 

[aczlan]

I have moved trailers around on the front (RTV front hitch), on the rear hitch and on a 3 point trailer mover.
Of the three, I prefer the trailer mover for haywagons as the RTV isn't heavy enough to push around a loaded haywagon, it just spins its tires (when trying to make it turn into the shop) and the trailer mover works great on the back.

Aaron Z

 

[Fallon]

I really dont use my 3pt trailer mover now, or even with my old L3200. I got pallet forks with a shank sized hole pre-drilled in the tip. Way easier to grab my SSQA forks than mess with the 3pt (even with TnT & a Quick Hitch). Even with longish forks way out there I had no issues with 4-5k lbs trailers on the L3200. Even less of an issue on the L4060.

The offset from the ball being on one fork off to one side is somewhere between s mild annoyance & a benefit being able to see around the trailer a bit.

It can put s good load on the front axle, especially on a smaller machine. Lifting the rear can be extremely dangerous. A 3pt trailer mover can be just as bad if the tongue of the trailer bounces or ends up with negative weight the 3pt will lift. If the force is off center at all that can tell the machine as well. Not usually a concern on flat ground, but if you arent careful it can get the best of you.

All things considered I'd take a slow tractor over a truck for maneuvering a trailer short tight distances any day. As long as I wasnt pushing lift capacities to much.