Vexing towing problem

James150 · Jan 1, 2012

I'm looking for suggestions for a vexing towing problem

I have a 1995 Ford F350 Single rear wheel, 4X2 7.3 Diesel that I use to tow my 1996 Holiday Rambler 32 camper trailer. Trailer weighs about 12,500 loaded.

The truck is 2 wheel drive with about 150,000 miles, new tires and runs great. I am taking my trailer to my new home site in the mountains of SE Arizona where the builder has excavated a place for it with electric and water hookups so I can live there while they build my house.

My problem is access, getting my heavy big trailer up a narrow, steep gravel road (1/4 mile) that is a bit rutted with a few small washouts and then up my short (160? but very, very steep soft gravel driveway.

The drive is the steepest one I have ever seen. When you first turn into it and go up you cannot see anything over the hood but the sky. After a few white knuckle seconds (with tires slightly slipping) you pop up into the yard where we are building the house.

I plan to re-grade the drive and make it concrete once the house is done but for now it is staying gravel. The driveway is so steep that the standard rear-unload concrete trucks had to back up in order not to spill their load when they poured the foundation.

The other problem is that there is no place to turn around my trailer except at the top of my driveway where I need to park it. No margin for error along the way up if I were to lose traction or get stuck. I can't imagine that backing back down is a good option either.

My plan all along was to get the trailer up to the house site and live in it. The problem dawned on me when I saw that the excavator with the backhoe and skid steer parked their smaller double axel trailers at the bottom of the first hill and driven their equipment up to the site rather than tow it up and parking it. If they don't think itｴs a good idea to drive up, how am I ever going to get my camper up there?

When I saw that I figured out that my 2 X 4 truck probably would not make it up the road and drive with the trailer. I thought I might add a 4 X 4 truck in front of my truck and chain the two together but I'm not sure even that would be enough traction and it would be really tight space-wise up at the top.

So, I'm looking for suggestions, a Chinook helicopter probably could get the trailer up there but I don't have any available.

Thoughts?

Jim

capt_met · Jan 1, 2012

let a dozer tow it up and park it. another problem is the tow vehicle being lighter than the tow. on steep hills this can cause quick problems. or maybe winch the trailer up the hill.

56FordGuy · Jan 1, 2012

is the excavator still there? See if they would help you pull your truck/ trailer combo with it. Tracked equipment should do pretty well.

Fixemall · Jan 1, 2012

I'm thinking you should talk with the workers, they might be happy to get your trailer up there. They probably left theirs down due to space considerations and the fact that they want to respect your privacy, seeing how you said there was already a spot where you will be living in.

Sutol · Jan 1, 2012

Pity you aint got a towball on the front or you could have pushed it up

RobertN · Jan 1, 2012

Find a wrecker with a winch. Have them tug you to the top.

Is it a 5th wheel? At least with a 5th wheel you can jack-knife it to manuever. Either way, you dont have to get it on one try. It may be easiest to get it up there, start the manuever, then disconnect and move the truck to make the final positioning easier.

micwzzrd · Jan 1, 2012

If you have towed much out west, then the first thing is the down hill you have too worry about. Very LONG grades 12 maybe 15 miles at over 6%. I use a exhaust brake know. The back of Sincks canyon. Switch back for about 6 miles,
use 4 low lock dullie from about 5000ft up to just over 8500ft on gravel. What ever you chose be safe.

ultrarunner · Jan 1, 2012

I know a guy that got the bolt on duals for his pickup just to negotiate the drive to his property... it worked for a couple years till he found a good deal on a 4wd.

The Duals with a load in the bed was all he needed.

For one time I would pay the cost to have the camper set in place.

flusher · Jan 1, 2012

Take a hint from the railroad-- if the load/grade is too large, add another engine to the tow:thumbsup:.

slowzuki · Jan 1, 2012

Everyone with a small dozer here has a ball welded on the top of the front blade to set mini-homes into bad lots. They can drag houses up/down some amazing slopes.

PoorMansCat · Jan 1, 2012

Any farmers near with a decent sized 4x4 tractor?...
Another thing to maybe consider is one of the little track type MULES that mobile home delivery companies use to manuver and put together doublewides.... Those little track type tow motors are extremely powerful.

F250DSLPWR · Jan 1, 2012

Is it possible you can add a tow hitch to the front of your truck and get a winch mounted on it with a receiver hitch. Use the winch to help you pull your truck and trailer up the hill. We installed a septic system down in a very steep draw and the 2wd backhoe could not drive itself back up the steep gravel drive way. We bought a 12k winch and helped pull it backup. I would go with a dozer or wrecker truck it that is feasible.

the6shooter · Jan 2, 2012

Now would be a good neighbor, and go visit with them, they may have a large tractor, and ask them If they could help you. an Ag tractor would have more than enough to get you up the hill, or check for a tractor service to come out and get you up there. I only charge $40. per hr. with 3 hr. min. but i'm not in AZ. check the local phone book, someone is out there that would be glad to help.
david

jeffsw6 · Jan 2, 2012

It sounds like your driveway is so steep once you get the TT up there you may have another problem if you want to get it back down before you change the driveway. :/

sparc · Jan 2, 2012

If you plan to regrade the drive later, why not do it now and eliminate problems for everyone during the build as well as making it easier on yourself getting the trailer to the top of the hill.

Barring that the safest thing in my opinion would be someone with a tractor or small dozer or other tracked vehicle as has been said. Its not worth losing the trailer and maybe your truck if the load gets away from you. Sometimes DIY is doing it wrong.

James150 · Jan 2, 2012

I knew you guys were the people to ask.

I thought I said it was a 5th wheel trailer, re-reading, I didn't, but it is. That does make it a bit easier to maneuver the trailer but the truck is a long box four door that is pretty clumsy in small spaces.

I'm going to live at the local campground for a while to buy me time to scout out the local resources. There is a huge dozer less than a mile away that would get it up there easily. Maybe he will help. Then again there is a wrecking service next door to the dozer guy I'm going to talk to them too.

I would get the driveway done in concrete now but the contractor advised against it with the heavy trucks they are using for construction . . .Yeah, getting the trailer down will be a chore too (that I can put off to next spring (2013). I still would have the quarter mile of rough uphill road to contend with even after the concrete on my drive. Guess I need the other ranchers to kick in for paving the hill road (yeah right).

Farm tractor was my first choice, unfortunately no one has one close by , . . this is ranch country and most have smaller tractors (which I have too).

sparc, you have hit it on the head . . . Sometimes DIY is doing it wrong . . .I have too much to lose not to seek (and pay for) help.

My wife would kill me if I lost the rig.

Thanks to everyone who responded . . you guys are great! I'll let you know how it goes.

Jim

James150 · Jan 2, 2012

My wife just said: "Drag it up there with the ROKON, you keep telling everyone it will go anywhere"

Smartass women.

Jim

flusher · Jan 2, 2012

James150 said:
I knew you guys were the people to ask.

I thought I said it was a 5th wheel trailer, re-reading, I didn't, but it is. That does make it a bit easier to maneuver the trailer but the truck is a long box four door that is pretty clumsy in small spaces.

I'm going to live at the local campground for a while to buy me time to scout out the local resources. There is a huge dozer less than a mile away that would get it up there easily. Maybe he will help. Then again there is a wrecking service next door to the dozer guy I'm going to talk to them too.

I would get the driveway done in concrete now but the contractor advised against it with the heavy trucks they are using for construction . . .Yeah, getting the trailer down will be a chore too (that I can put off to next spring (2013). I still would have the quarter mile of rough uphill road to contend with even after the concrete on my drive. Guess I need the other ranchers to kick in for paving the hill road (yeah right).

Farm tractor was my first choice, unfortunately no one has one close by , . . this is ranch country and most have smaller tractors (which I have too).

sparc, you have hit it on the head . . . Sometimes DIY is doing it wrong . . .I have too much to lose not to seek (and pay for) help.

My wife would kill me if I lost the rig.

Thanks to everyone who responded . . you guys are great! I'll let you know how it goes.

Jim

Or, find someone with a 1T dually pickup and use it and your pickup chained in tandem to pull that TT up the hill.

Treesanddust · Jan 2, 2012

Something else you may need to watch out for is the angle of the driveway at both the bottom and top.
If approach or departure angle is too much, you could run out of room between the bottom of the trailer and the top of your bed rails / tailgate.

beckmurph · Jan 2, 2012

I would check with mobile home movers. Those guys can put a double
wide in places that would make a billygoat think twice. If you have ever
been through West Virgny or Eastern Ky you would know what I am
talking about.