I've loaded a trailer many times, but never with a non-running vehicle. I don't have a winch. The tires are nice and round, the truck wont start. I should be able to back right up to it. I have used ratchet straps to put a 4 runner on a dolly before. Seems like an aweful lot to get it all the way onto a trailer. Any ideas? I don't want to power push it with another truck.
Use a come along and some chain. Take a big wooden block or 2. You will need to block the wheels and reset the come along at least once but has worked great for me in the past.
Harbor Freight sells hand crank winches for cheap, and they even have 3000lb electric winches from $60-90. The electric ones are fine for pulling a car onto a trailer because they have around 9000lb rolling weight capacity. Or you can do the way I've done several times with no winch by using a long cable or strap hooked to another vehicle to pull the car onto the trailer. Here'e the little ******* my dad has. Perfect for pulling old cars onto trailers.. Portable electric winch has a power in/out function for maximum control. 3000 lb. single line pull 8500 lb. marine pull 9500 lb. rolling stock pull 10 ft. per minute line speed under load Crank for manual operation Fully enclosed, high-impact ABS housing for long life Carry handle for maximum portability Versatile application—boats, trailers, or cargo 30 ft. cable Line speed (without load): 6 ft. per minute; Power source: 12V DC; Trailer mounting plate: 8-3/4" L x 4-15/16" W x 3/16" H; Hook size: 5/8" opening x 4-1/4" L; Battery cable length: 10 ft. Weight: 40 lbs. ITEM 96455-4VGA $89.99
Put a bathroom scale under the nose jack, come along vehicle towards front of trailer until scale reads 250-300 lbs!!!-----------------Don
Get yourself a hand crank boat trailer winch. This one is a 1600# model, cost about $30. a few years back. Cable is extra, this one has a flat nylon strap. UV rays will destroy the nylon after several years, but this one did ok because it was covered with a plastic bag when the trailer was parked. Here's a couple pics of the 1800# - same manufacturer as the one above - winch, cost on it was $36. five years ago. It has 1/4" cable and is long enough to reach outside the trailer and beyond the door/ramp. Equip your trailer with a ****** block as well. You can pull at an angle, double your pulling capacity as well as pull the car sideways if necessary. We had to do that when we got a 32 Nash sedan with flat tires out of a barn where it'd been sitting for 50 years. Heavy rain at the time and it kept going sideways on the ramps. Interesting day. (Got a couple close-ups of the mounting stand if needed.) I've dragged a 39 Ford sedan, without engine onto the open trailer with a 2 ton chain hoist. Helluva lot of work it was and it took a while. Along with that, we had to chock the car, crank it up and take another bit a couple times. Dragged a fully equipped 50 Plymouth 4 door onto the open trailer. No probs even with the fairly steep 6' ramps. Dragging the about 2100# 31 on 32 rails roadster up into the box trailer was very easy with the winch. The shallower ramp angle helps make life easy. Both of these cars were loaded and unloaded by myself. Use the winch for the unloading process and use chocks not too far behind the rear wheels if you're dealing with a no-brakes car. Doesn't take long to move them.
No one is going to like this idea..but in a pinch i have done this. only had one vehicle and it was my tow vehicle with the trailer on the back , picking up a broke down Mini van. 1st i took the trailer off the tow vehicles hitch, ( landing gear down trailer level..or slightly nose up) Chock all tires of the trailer front and rear. place jack stands at the 2 back corners of the trailer. place tow cable around trucks trailer ball, and attach the other end to broke down vehicle. Place stops on trailer where you want the broke down vehicle to stop. (having a second driver really makes this part go better) put second driver in broke down vehicle to stop it and steer it.. pull it up on to the trailer and tie it down. put trailer back on tow vehicle and secure..off you go. ive got a small electric wench now so only had to do this a few times
Are your ramps 4ft or 6 ft? After mine were extended to 6 to reduce the slope, sometimes 2 or 3 guys can push a car on. Some enthusiasm required. Otherwise have winched dozens with a comealong. Takes forever but does the job. You must move alot to have loaded that many driveable cars good luck
12 pack of beer. Everybody likes free beer and I'm sure a couple of buddies could get it shoved on the trailer >>>>.
Don't forget to add a safety chain WHILE YOU ARE LOADING IT, NOT AFTER, to prevent a runaway if the winch or come-along skips or comes loose. I ALWAYS ALWAYS run a chain from the front of the trailer, to something very solid under the car. As the car works its way up the ramps and up the tilted trailer, I take up the slack in the chain. That way, if a hook slips loose, or a ratchet in the come-along skips, or something else goes wrong as things often do, the car can't run away any farther than a couple feet before the extra chain stops it from running over someone or taking off down the street.
I just picked up a 2000 lb. winch at Tractor Supply on sale on Black Friday for $49.95 and it has power in/out (for backing it off the trailer). You can find a similar one at WalMart too. I am going to make it a quick tach mount and carry a extra battery to power it. I did this after I unloaded my latest purchase, a '47 Ford COE on a Chevy 1T frame with a blown out tire by myself. It wasn't much fun. When I picked it up we used the sellers winch on his trailer by jack knifing my truck and trailer up against his truck and trailer to get a fairly straight pull to pull it up on my trailer. It worked pretty well and you could do the same thing if you jack knife your rig and use another car or truck to pull the dead truck up on your trailer with a long stretch strap. Make sure you are in the dead truck to use the brakes if you have to.
This is how I've done it 10 times last year. Only problems occur when no more come along and it's on a ramp...block the rear wheels, reset and keep cranking.
Man up , get some friends and push. Just finished pushing a 48 Chev on a trailer & back off again on ice, 11 degrees & 40 MPH wind ! New Man rule = "Next time I agree to help a friend it gotta be above freezing." Friend or not !
I don't mean to seem a smart ***, but if you can't load a dead car on a trailer an haul it off all by yoreself then maybe building hot rods won't be the most suitable hobby you ever picked. This ain't rocket science.
i always use the come along its a nice little workout for us young guys but if ya got neither that or a winch or a hill to push the car down and up onto the ramp do this just make sure you got some stops on the trailer or someone in the car to mash the brakes
I used a come along for a long time but it gets old REAL quick and takes forever. I finally got a cheap electric winch and mounted it to the front of my trailer. Now I can load a car in 5 minutes.
Depends on what you are hauling. The tongue weight should be 10% - 15% of the loaded trailer. Say your trailer weighs #2000 empty, and your car weighs #3500, you have a GVW of #5500. A #300 tongue weight would be too light!!! You'd want a #500 to #750 tongue weight, in this case. I don't know what you are hauling that is only #3500 loaded up, but that is a light load. My open hauler has a #7000 electric winch (NOT "wench"!) that is permanently mounted. I have not used a damn come-a-long in nearly seven years! If you can afford the right equipment, GET IT!
I agree with patrick66 but for one thing: 1000 lbs is the MAXIMUM tongue weight recommended on my Cl*** III motorhome hitch, regardless of load. Of course 1000 pounds should cover just about any vehicle short of a Sherman tank.
I like "Wenches" and winches . All of the above , plus in a pinch I've driven a few up on the trailer using the starter ****on . If it is a stick with a juiced up battery it will work , don't do it unless you really need to though as I'm sure it's hard on the starter .
Yeah and notice...its 2 chevy's pulling a dead ford..just messin with ya...i got a ford finally..ok..ok...but its got a chevy under the hood....just messing with ya..ok..ok
Couldn't you just back up to it, jack up your truck take your drive tire off and install a rim without a tire. Tie a rope to the non running car, wrap the other end around the rim and drop it in gear and wind it up.
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