a-frame jack or folding jack

[Larwyn]

Aggie-

Here is a great product, all the benefits of a center mounted a-frame jack...

But retracts almost up to the frame. Eliminates the nose diving of conventional center mounted a-frame jacks.

The rack & pinion makes it much FASTER too

http://wholesaletrailersupplies.com/cat ... 29_296_190

Cheers,

Coop

Is this jack fairly stable? I wouldn't mind replacing my top winder Bulldog. It takes about forty winds to lift the ball off the hitch from full retract position. And I dragged it a bit last week in a parking lot, not paying complete attention. I'd like to be able to retract farther and quicker without giving up stability.

Yep, that looks like the gearbox for same jack that I posted and it is the one that I used on the Escape Pod. The jack is rated for 750 lbs so I think it is overkill for a teardrop but the reason I decided to use it is that it retracts all the way up. One draw back is that you need to grease the gear box and that results in grease on the the exposed shaft which will more than likely end up on whoever hooks up or unhooks the trailer. I have seen a plastic sleeve that is designed to cover the greasy shaft on these jacks, I think at Cabela's, but I do not have one of the covers. It is much more heavy duty than the top wind jacks and the rack and pinion make it easy to crank. I also like that the crank is down on the side instead of up top. The steel wheel can be removed but it takes a wrench (9/16" I think), it retracts far enough that I have not needed to remove the wheel though.

I believe the quoted link is to the gearbox only for these jacks. The complete jack can be found at Tractor Supply.

http://www.tractorsupply.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay_10551_10001_33542_-1______?rFlag=true&cFlag=1

[goldcoop]

Yep, that looks like the gearbox for same jack that I posted and it is the one that I used on the Escape Pod.

Larwyn-

MY BAD

Sorry brother!

Cheers,

Coop

[Trackstriper]

Larwyn, thanks for the tip about the grease....that could be an issue.

[Carter]

Thanks Carter,
You answered my next question before I asked it - recommendations for a compact jack. I try to find this one.
Tom

Tom,
You're welcome
The Reese part number is 7456000. It's 12" above the mounting flange and 9" below and says it has 14" of travel. 2000# capacity. Made in China but I haven't seen one lately that isn't. I also bought a Made in USA 2" coupler at Tractor Supply for $22 that is very well made.

They also have a tube mount 1000# that sounds interesting at http://www.tractorsupply.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay_10551_10001_43312_-1______59206|14339|43312?listingPage=true&Special=false
The picture is wrong. I have a Bulldog tube mount on my standy that works well.

[Larwyn]

Yep, that looks like the gearbox for same jack that I posted and it is the one that I used on the Escape Pod.

Larwyn-

MY BAD

Sorry brother!

Cheers,

Coop

No problem, I would never have mentioned it except I did not want somebody to order that gearbox thinking they were getting a complete jack.....

[Larwyn]

Larwyn, thanks for the tip about the grease....that could be an issue.

Sure, I only have one t-shirt with the sawtooth image of that jack on the front, I have since learned to keep away form it or wear a black t-shirt.........LOL
The plastic cover would be a good idea if you need the features of this jack without the danger of transferring grease to the operator. The only reason I did not buy one of the covers when I saw them at Cabela's is they only had red and green and I was holding out for black or white. Still am, I reckon........

[eamarquardt]

I have a dump trailer and put a folding jack on it. I cut off the facory stuff and make my own mechanism holding the tolerances very tight (mabye .010" or less as I can't remember i just got it really snug). It works great for the dump. For my teardrop I went with the a frame jack and cut the bottom of the tube as short as possible and then made removeable wheel or plate for the bottom. I can't see that it will ever bottom out and I have a choice of a wheel or flat plate foot.

Hope this helps,

Cheers,

Gus

[Larwyn]

I have a dump trailer and put a folding jack on it. I cut off the facory stuff and make my own mechanism holding the tolerances very tight (mabye .010" or less as I can't remember i just got it really snug). It works great for the dump. For my teardrop I went with the a frame jack and cut the bottom of the tube as short as possible and then made removeable wheel or plate for the bottom. I can't see that it will ever bottom out and I have a choice of a wheel or flat plate foot.

Hope this helps,

Cheers,

Gus

I was considering that approach before I found the rack and pinion Bull Dog jack and decided to go with it. Glad to hear that someone has actually tried modifying the top wind jack. Got any pictures of the jack mod? The only problem I could see with cutting the tube short was that I would also be cutting off the stop that keeps me from overextending the jack. I guess that probably would not be a real problem in actual use, and now that I am no longer working in that "prize winning" shop I could more easily overcome that problem too. Sounds like you found a good way around the problem...

[eamarquardt]

I cut off all of the original mounting stuff so all I had was the tube inside the tube. Then I made a new circular mounting plate and welded it to the outside of the tube leaving the little indented part on the outside tube (that mates with the groove on the inside tube) intact. I could have cut the top of the tubing off, made a new piece, and shortened the whole shebang but I left it long for the time being. I may at some later date shorten the jack by reworking the top. I agree that messing with the bottom is more troublesome and it's best left alone.

Will post some pics soon.

Cheers,

Gus