Boat Trailers & Back Pain

[Guest]

I need some advice on loading and unloading my boat trailer.

Okay,

I've got a couple of herniated disks as a result of loading the boat trailer.

Lifting, tugging, pulling, jumping on the bumper, etc.

This routine drives me nuts.

If, I don't get the trailer hitch under the tongue, perfectly. It never goes on the first try.

Or the subtle slope is causing the trailer and truck to push against each other,

I'm debating on buying an electric power jack for the old ranger.

It seems that most of these jacks are manufactured for RV's.

The only jack designed for boat trailers has a shitty review,no deal.

Question:

Have any of ya'll used or installed a power jack?

If so, could you give me some idea as to what I need.

[Quillback]

Haven't tried the power jack, but it sounds to me that your trailer doesn't match up well with your boat. I drive my boat onto the trailer and usually I can get it lined up correctly and I just need to crank it a little to get it on all the way, if I don't get it on the trailer, I back off and try again. You shouldn't have to do all the pushing and pulling stuff you mention.

[Gilly]

I don't understand the inconsistent height problem. The ball and tongue heights shouldn't change much. Lining up vertically can be a pain. I've tried everything from a tennis ball on a whip to a mirror. Either gets you close. I finally splurged on my new truck and got a backup camera. I stuck a very small dot on the screen so when that dot passes over the tongue of the trailer (screen view) I'm dead nuts on every time.

But no, I've never used a power tongue jack.

......and the least amount of success I've had with any 'aid/assist'....is my wife.

[Guest]

Its a truck and boat trailer issue.

I made a confusing statement in my 1st post.

The camera idea is something that I can look into.

[Quillback]

Ok, I understand now..

Is your trailer ball bolted directly onto the bumper of your truck? It sounds like the height of the trailer ball is not level with the trailer. If you have a receiver for the hitch you can buy angled hitches that will allow you to set the ball to match the trailer tongue height (don't know if I'm using the right terminology here). I don't have to back my truck directly under the ball to get it to work, I can move the boat trailer over the ball and lever it down, lock it, and I'm good to go. It should not be a difficult excercise.

[Guest]

Ok, I understand now..

Is your trailer ball bolted directly onto the bumper of your truck? It sounds like the height of the trailer ball is not level with the trailer. If you have a receiver for the hitch you can buy angled hitches that will allow you to set the ball to match the trailer tongue height (don't know if I'm using the right terminology here). I don't have to back my truck directly under the ball to get it to work, I can move the boat trailer over the ball and lever it down, lock it, and I'm good to go. It should not be a difficult excercise.

You hit on something that I didn't take into consideration.

I need to buy a reciever hitch that drops 2" lower than the one I currently have on the truck. I think its a 2" offset, so I need a 3-4" offset.

I can't roll the trailer into position, b/c it on a slightly sloping hillside.

I have to figure "roll back" from the truck when I park it on the hill.

I have to use wheel chocks on the trailer to keep it in place.

Pain in the butt, or lower back in this case

[Quillback]

Cool, yeah I understand about back pain, my back bugs me all the time, it sucks.

[Dutch]

Bigger drop hitch plus back up balls should alleviate the problem.

http://backupballs.com/

[CVHoss]

Have you thought of something like this ?

[Daryk Campbell Sr]

That seems too good to be true. :-) I like it. ( now I just need a boat and trailer, and storage, and .....) I have a 10' boat that fits in the bed of my truck, Please don't send me messages of your boat for sale, I can't afford it. Thanks though.