Ratchet jockey wheel

G'day Greg

We have a Manutec Easy Mover ratchet jockey wheel. Cost was around $350 from memory. It has a solid rubber wheel, which is an advantage for our purposes. I reckon it moves about a metre + with each 120 degrees of push. We use it on concrete, up a slight grade. We've had it for three years, with no problems.

My only hesitation is performance on grass, where the weight on the draw bar may mean that the wheel slips. Maybe a pnueumatic tyre would be better for that purpose.

Overall, it beats the physical effort to move the camper.

Good luck.

John

I would in your situation get a boat trailer winch! dig a hole and put some concrete in it, and use that with some reo as an anchor point! then winch your van into position.

All you need is to make a tripod or similar to hold the winch just above the ground so you can wind the handle, tie the back of the winch to the anchor point and an extra lengh of rope to reach the van on the winch cable if required.

I bought a camper trolley but as you say quite a few dollars to invest there.

Cheers

I have a Chinese copy of the ratchet jockey wheel, with solid rubber tyre. My van is nearly 2 tonne, and occasionally the tyre will slip on wet concrete wit very small slope. I have worn most of the tread 'grip' from the tyre on mine. I reckon you would have trouble on grass. My unit has a single wheel. Dual wheel ratchet jockey wheels are available and should give greater grip.

As far as distance travelled per stroke:
Most of these jockey wheels are about 200mm in diameter. Circumference is therefore about 630mm (Diam x Pi). You can work on about 90 degrees of handle stroke as the average, so 630/4 = 157mm travel per stroke.
If the wheel is different diameter, adjust the figures.

Have you considered laying pavers or concrete across the grass for the van wheels and jockey wheel? That would greatly improve the grip of the jockey wheel and reduce the resistance of the van wheels.

Another alternative you could consider is to have two sheets of strong plywood... place one under the jockey wheel on the grass, and the other next to the first but in the direction of travel. When your jockey whell moves onto the second sheet, move the first sheet along to be ready to be next. The grip on the ply should be good enough, and much better than the grass.

There are 12 volt jockey wheels available at reasonable cost. eg, look at:
http://www.tradingpost.com.au/Automotive/Wheels-Tyres-Parts-Accessories/Caravan-Accessories/AdNumber=AD004978323
My neighbour has one for use on concrete, and very happy with it.

good kuck,
glids

Hi Greg,

I've got a pneumatic ratchet wheel on my small van and it works OK on hard flat surfaces, but is useless on grass. I'm not sure of the brand as it was on the van when I bought it and I'm not home at the moment to check.

Graeme

Hi Greg,

I own a Maco Mule dual wheel mover and absolutely swear by it.
They are not cheap (hell, I saw $600 quoted during a search) but leave any other device, (short of a battery powered one) for dead.

One modification I did make was to replace the pneumatic wheels with semi-solid rubber ones, as I found every time I went to use it, the pneumatic tyres were flat and the required pumping up became too much of a hassle.

The dual wheels give greater purchase on wet and grassy ground and I have little trouble moving my 1 tonne+ camper trailer around, including a short section of driveway that has a gradual but constant rise up to the garage.
This in fact was the reason I bought the Mule.

The Mule requires mounting on the drivers (right hand) side of the A frame.
I mounted a second jockey wheel clamp for this purpose and it works a treat.

There are times when the A frame "interferes" with the operation of the handle, thus reducing the stroke distance, but as I stated above, short of a 12 volt powered device,
The Maco Mule dual wheel mover is the next best choice.

I went over to Camec and looked at the Maco and the Alko ratchet jockey wheels. The Alko is about $160 as opposed to the much dearer Maco. However, the Alko only has a rubber/plastic tyre and not a deep tread pattern on it. Unfortunately, Camec said they would not replace or exchange it if I used it the first time and it slipped on the grass.

I look a photo of the back yard only to find I can't upload it here. It is pretty well flat. As I said 2 of us can push the van into place with a bit of effort. It has to go up a very, very slight rise (more of a lip) when it is moved from the crusher dust parking area onto the grass.

The guy at Camec thought the Alko would be OK but if its not I am stuck with it. Obviously the Maco dual wheel would be a better option but I don't want to fork out nearly $800 for a ratchet wheel.

Can you get better traction from putting more weight on the draw bar if it did begin to slip?

G'day again Greg

In the interests of not leading you astray, I went out to the carport and conducted a practical test. I over-estimated the distance, but with each push of about 120 degrees movement, on concrete and with the bit of momentum that comes once the camper gets going, I can move 300-400 cm, a bit more if I put my shoulder into it.

I reckon the idea in one of the responses, to put in place some concrete pavers, would solve the problem of working the wheel on grass. I've tried using mine in camping spots, on grass and dirt, with very limited success. I did start out looking at the Maco double wheel, but gave it away because of cost.

Good luck with it all

John

Greg this is what you need !
(Copied)
DON Geering was forever shifting his caravan from his carport to the front lawn so he could get into his garage.

Annoyed by the constant shifting, Mr Geering designed a bracket for use with ratchet jockey wheels, enabling trailers to be easily positioned in tight spots by hand.

The caravan industry has snapped up the device, called the Caravan and Trailer Mate Bracket, since its release last October.

Judges in the Riverina Field Days Inventors' Competition were equally impressed and awarded Mr Geering Inventor of the Year.

A former dairy farmer, Mr Geering lives at Wangaratta, in northeast Victoria, and designed and built assembly lines for computer manufacturer IBM for 22 years.

"I retired in 1998 and helped our children renovate homes until my wife Lois and I bought a caravan to do some travelling," he said.

"I had to continually move the caravan in and out of a single carport so I could get into the garage."

Mr Geering bought a ratchet jockey wheel to make the task easier, but found manoeuvring the caravan difficult.

He kept the ratchet wheel and worked on a design for a bracket, to allow the lever to operate in a 300-degree arc without restriction.

Suitable for horse floats, boat and car trailers, the bracket includes a jockey-wheel clamp and a locking device.

It attaches to the caravan or trailer ball coupling and can be installed or removed in seconds, with no tools needed.

The locking plate can be inserted through the bracket and safety chains, and a padlock is installed to give a secure lock.

There is no welding or drilling needed on the drawbar to install a second jockey wheel clamp.

Three models cover a range of electric brake-type cast couplings, with 50mm tow ball and load capacities of up to 3500kg.

"It took me five years, on and off, from the drawings to the finished product," Mr Geering said.

"I've sold 50 brackets so far since its release last October, with a caravan dealer buying 11 on the first day."

Mr Geering said the bracket made moving trailers up to 3.5 tonnes a one-person operation.

"A trailer can be moved by hand within centimetres of the car's tow ball, enabling the driver to then reverse easily to the trailer," he said.

"It is also good for getting out of tight caravan parks, where the car can be parked on a 45-degree angle and the caravan walked to the car."

Mr Geering was thrilled to win the inventors' award for his first major invention.

"I'm impressed with these field days and the amount of work that's gone into staging them," he said.

"They really need supporting, as the farmers are having trouble with the dry seasons."

For details, phone Don Geering on (03) 5721 2457.

Note there is a phone number above.
I wish this was around when I needed one.
Regards,
Barry.

Greg, this maybe what you need.
(Copied)
DON Geering was forever shifting his caravan from his carport to the front lawn so he could get into his garage.

Annoyed by the constant shifting, Mr Geering designed a bracket for use with ratchet jockey wheels, enabling trailers to be easily positioned in tight spots by hand.

The caravan industry has snapped up the device, called the Caravan and Trailer Mate Bracket, since its release last October.

Judges in the Riverina Field Days Inventors' Competition were equally impressed and awarded Mr Geering Inventor of the Year.

A former dairy farmer, Mr Geering lives at Wangaratta, in northeast Victoria, and designed and built assembly lines for computer manufacturer IBM for 22 years.

"I retired in 1998 and helped our children renovate homes until my wife Lois and I bought a caravan to do some travelling," he said.

"I had to continually move the caravan in and out of a single carport so I could get into the garage."

Mr Geering bought a ratchet jockey wheel to make the task easier, but found manoeuvring the caravan difficult.

He kept the ratchet wheel and worked on a design for a bracket, to allow the lever to operate in a 300-degree arc without restriction.

Suitable for horse floats, boat and car trailers, the bracket includes a jockey-wheel clamp and a locking device.

It attaches to the caravan or trailer ball coupling and can be installed or removed in seconds, with no tools needed.

The locking plate can be inserted through the bracket and safety chains, and a padlock is installed to give a secure lock.

There is no welding or drilling needed on the drawbar to install a second jockey wheel clamp.

Three models cover a range of electric brake-type cast couplings, with 50mm tow ball and load capacities of up to 3500kg.

"It took me five years, on and off, from the drawings to the finished product," Mr Geering said.

"I've sold 50 brackets so far since its release last October, with a caravan dealer buying 11 on the first day."

Mr Geering said the bracket made moving trailers up to 3.5 tonnes a one-person operation.

"A trailer can be moved by hand within centimetres of the car's tow ball, enabling the driver to then reverse easily to the trailer," he said.

"It is also good for getting out of tight caravan parks, where the car can be parked on a 45-degree angle and the caravan walked to the car."

Mr Geering was thrilled to win the inventors' award for his first major invention.

"I'm impressed with these field days and the amount of work that's gone into staging them," he said.

"They really need supporting, as the farmers are having trouble with the dry seasons."

For details, phone Don Geering on (03) 5721 2457.

Note there is a phone No above, may have a supplier near you.
Regards,
Barry.

I have an Arc version of the cheapy with a "deflatable" wheel. Moving a Trak Shak so about a tonne loaded. Ok on flat concrete (but I can push the TS with a bit of help in the same spot), useless on gravel as the tyre slips, and where I wanted it most, moving the TS from gravel onto a concrete pad over a 2 inch bump would spin the rim inside the tyre and rip the valve off!! Tried it a couple of times (replacing the tube each time) and it now sits in the corner of the carport (anyone want a slightly used unit with a flat tyre - going cheap).

I suspect that grass would be a problem if at all damp.

I have an Ark brand of wheel on mine and am quite disapointed in it, I don't think that it would suit your needs as mine won't even push my off road trailer around on dirt, it just skids most of the time and will move only a few cm per stroke.

The problem I can see is that the skinny jockey wheel is not good enough (to smooth)to push the two van wheels along over humps and holes and the buffalo would only make it worse especially if the tow ball / front of van weight is not very high.

hope this helps

Trevor

Greg,
simple and easy way to move the van. All you need is an anchor point and a detachable bracket so you can move the winch around.

Just use one of these. About $80



RA

Thank you all your replies and helpful advice. I managed to buy an unused Alko ratchet jockey wheel for $45 so I am going to give that a try first. I was told to put shade cloth over the grass and it would work ok because of the yard is fairly flat. If it doesn't work then I haven't lost much. I will let you know how it works after I pick it up.