[JimP]

The other day I needed to move a 16' car hauler trailer out of my back yard to go pick up some building supplies. I found that with the independent suspension of the Kodiak that the tong of the trailer is quite low to pull out of the yard. I used to do this all the time with my 2000 Kodiak and had no problem since it had a solid axle and didn't get the squats when I hooked up the trailer.

So here is what I came up with.

A neighbor gave me a trailer dolly that you can maneuver a trailer around in tight places without a vehicle attached to the trailer. It is a simple dolly with a set of wheels and ball that connect to the trailer hitch with a long handle that allows you to maneuver the trailer around as others push the trailer into position.

I took the dolly apart and got some spare metal that I had on hand and started to cut and weld it up. I used a piece of metal to insert into the receiver hitch and welded it to a piece of flat stock with a 45 degree angle. This will bolt to the dismantled trailer dolly. I tried it out the other day and then again today to put the trailer back to where it lives in the back yard. This works great. The weight of the trailers tong sits on the two wheels of the dolly. It is just as maneuverable as if you had it connected right to the Kodiak's ball mount.

Here are some pictures of how it came out.

 

[Nomad]

:|Necessity is the mother of invention( as the saying goes). Great idea.

 

[Primethious]

Great job and cool idea!

 

[Pablo]

Great idea! Is the ball interchangeable with different sizes?

 

[JimP]

Yes it it, the dolly that I started with has a 1" hole for the ball so any ball with that size shank will fit. My neighbor originally had a 1 7/8" ball in it and I changed it to the 2" ball.

 

[Pablo]

That's a really good idea. How much $$ invested?

 

[JimP]

That's a really good idea. How much $$ invested?

The actual dolly was given to me. I also had the metal on hand so all it really cost me was a few minutes of electricity as I welded it up.

If you actually had to purchase the dolly I have found them for $70.00 from Harbor Freight. Other on line catalogs have them for a similar price and Tractor Supply has one that will mount onto a ball on the 4 Wheeler. But I like connecting it right into the receiver better for backing it up.

https://www.harborfreight.com/600-lb-heavy-duty-trailer-dolly-69898.html

The metal for it would be no more than $20 from a supplier.


If my neighbor hadn't given me the dolly I would of just kept on using my Kodiak as it was, it is just that with the dolly it puts all the tong weight on the dollies wheels instead of the back of the Kodiak. With just the Kodiak I am sure that I could pop the front end off of the ground quite easily.

 

[Laval]

I am thinking that rig must be fun to back up.

 

[JimP]

I am thinking that rig must be fun to back up.

With it attached directly to the receiver hitch on the Kodiak backing up is no different than if the trailer was connected directly to the Kodiak.

There is no extra pivot point like the ones that attach to a ball on the receiver hitch and then the trailer to the dolly which gives you two pivot points instead of just one.