Trailer Jack- Flat Bottom or Wheel??

[Capebuild]

I see the benefit of having a front jack with a wheel (being able to roll the trailer around easily), but I'm wondering what the advantages are of the jack having a flat plate (rather than the wheel). Is it mainly for stability?

Thanks

John

[flboy]

Stability is the main reason for the flat vs. Wheel, but both have their place. On my trailer, I can switch as needed given they go on with a pin.

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[working on it]

from a previous post

I can no longer lift the 266 lb trailer tongue to shift position in the garage bay, nor can I swing it around outside to be able to use my front hitch, to store it in the garage bay. So, I figured that a 500 lb limit, industrial swivel caster would work fine, when mounted to my current jack's sand foot.


For $20, and an hour of my time (looking for some locknuts, mostly), I now can move it around OK. The eight inch diameter wheel rolls easily on my mixed surface driveway, and also raises the tongue high enough to easily hook-up to my tall hitch. Win-win.

* Well, I was wrong; adding the 8" jockey wheel made the tongue sit too high to easily hook up, or unhook from either the rear or front hitches, so I added a 5000 lb 24 inch lift scissor jack on the tongue, next to the detachachable jack (now with a wheel).https://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=70954&hilit=+scissor+jack&p=1238323#p1238323 Now I use the scissor jack to lift and lower the tongue, adding or detaching the "roller" jack as needed.

WD spring-bar is removed prior to stowing-in-garage procedure

tongue-mounted scissor jack.JPG (66.87 KiB) Viewed 1070 times

* At campsites, I'll roll the trailer into final position, if not quite perfect after backing in, then detach the rolling jack, and use the scissor jack and two rear stabilizers to level it. It takes a few extra steps, but it works for me.

[halfdome, Danny]

John, we keep our teardrop in the garage and when it comes time to hook it up I have to roll the tongue towards the wall about 10".
If I don't do this I won't be able get out of the tow vehicle drivers door, as the door won't open enough without hitting another vehicle.
Crawling over the center console is not an option for me, ugh!
Danny

[twisted lines]

Wheel is nice,
Helps anyone move it
What's the perfect wheel chock?

[Socal Tom]

I took a 4 INCH caster wheel with a brake, and mounted it to the flat plat ( bolted through some holes). It rolls much better than the standard wheels and the brake holds on flatish ground ( till I chock the wheels).

[halfdome, Danny]

On our first teardrop I cut a hole in the center of a 2x6 and placed it under the wheel on soggy ground.
Took care of the problem.
Danny

[Tom&Shelly]

I see the benefit of having a front jack with a wheel (being able to roll the trailer around easily), but I'm wondering what the advantages are of the jack having a flat plate (rather than the wheel). Is it mainly for stability?

Thanks

John

We started our Summer trip with a wheel. On at least one occasion, we had a problem where the terrain was such that, once we connected the tow vehicle, it was difficult getting the wheel off because it is too tall. Guess the TV was in a little valley or something, and we'd reached the limit of how high we could crank the jack. So we bought a plate and have used that since.

The wheel lets you roll the tear around if it's on a concrete pad. It's too difficult to do it over natural terrain anyway, so we lose that advantage. From now on, the wheel will stay in our garage and we'll take the pad.

Tom

[western traveler]

I took a 4 INCH caster wheel with a brake, and mounted it to the flat plat ( bolted through some holes). It rolls much better than the standard wheels and the brake holds on flatish ground ( till I chock the wheels).

Great question John!
I went with a plate (All my other trailers have a wheel). I am able to slide the plate around on the concrete floor of the garage. Not so much on any other surface. What a royal pain compared to my other trailers. With them I often place a piece of plywood under the wheel on uneven ground (or shim for height if needed) to make swinging the tongue into position easy and to keep the wheel from sinking into soft ground. I just chock the wheels when those trailers are parked.

I’ve been considering the change that SoCal Tom used. However I’m thinking to tack the bolts to the wheel plate and not bolt it through the holes in the upper plate to ease removal if desired.

[Socal Tom]

In my case, my trailer hitch is too high for a flat plate to do the job anyhow, so putting the wheel on the end accomplishes 2 things. I think plate vs wheel depends on lot on your situation.
Tom

[tony.latham]

Our previous teardrop had a 6" wheel you had to slip under the jack before lowering it. (I only left it behind once. And yes, it was still there an hour later.) Even while parked on flat concrete, I don't recall trying to move it around. Getting thirteen-hundred pounds to move isn't easy.



With our current teardrop –-and hopefully our last-- it's a flat plate. It's more stable. I like it better.

Tony

[gudmund]

use the plate, once parked it stays - have a wheel that can be switched too -'but'- it's been so long ago since I even saw it that I don't even remember where it is......

[Tom&Shelly]

Getting thirteen-hundred pounds to move isn't easy.

Tony

Once moving, getting it to stop may not be a picnic either!

Tom

[Squigie]

What about both?

I prefer flat feet on most things that sit low, or have 100 lb or less tongue weight. I'll just pick it up and move it.
But get some more height and/or tongue weight, and I prefer a wheel.

But I also tend to like sticking my trailers in nasty little spots into which they cannot be backed. Manual labor is required, or more driving to find a lower quality but more accessible spot.

The last camping trip with the pop up tent trailer, for a more 'extreme' example, had about 90 feet of manual trailer handling. About 1,600 lb, with a wheel on the tongue jack, and about 250 lb tongue weight.
I wanted to be in the aspens, but I could not back the trailer in with my truck, due to the location of some nasty volcanic 'boulders'. But I had myself and two nephews available. We pushed it on up the hill and snaked around the boulders fairly easily.
When it was time to leave, gravity did the work. We just had to keep it from rolling away. I wouldn't have been able to do this if it was just the wife and I. But that was not the case, so I took advantage of the help.

I do, however, only use the wheel styles that allow me to put a block under the support tube, or I weld on a 'foot' that I can set on a block for stability. Best of both worlds.
My trailers are all wrapped up for the winter and I can't find a photo. So, here is a simple illustration:

tonguefoot.png (99.96 KiB) Viewed 916 times

I also add a spike or two to the bottom of flat feet, so they don't walk when placed on a board.

[JasenC]

They make dish shaped wheel chalks for this, $15-20 on Amazon