RE: Trailer Dolly Modifided

[whitestar505]

 Well, As I have written before, I have the new trailer dolly but have to say that I am not happy with it performance. Backing up for me is almost impossible. But I still need that something in the driveway or garage area. So see what you think about this idea.
 
   Lets talk about cutting the handle off so the rest of the dolly will fit behide the lawn tractor without interfering with anything operation. Weld a crossbar off the cutoff handle and weld it to the frame of the tractor so the ball is upright. Now you have your dolly with power. Do you think 18.5 hp is enought? What is your thoughts?[]

[Tim5055]

 whitestar505
Just off the top of my heat I think it may be more difficult to use.  You will be creating 2 pivor points 1 at the trailet " A"  frame and 1 at the connection to the tractor.  This is going to be hard to control.
 
 How about welding a bracket on the tractor and just adding a ball to it?

[wynot]

 whitestar505
I have a hitch ball mounted on my lawn tractor, I move all the trailers around with it...
 
 Ya oughta see that Utah rolling behind me...  Plan your stops.  Maybe that s the use for that old brake controller, wouldn t that be a hoot - a lawn tractor with a Bargman plug, and a brake controller?

[whitestar505]

 wynot
" have a hitch ball mounted on my lawn tractor, I move all the trailers around with it...
 
 Ya oughta see that Utah rolling behind me... Plan your stops. Maybe that s the use for that old brake controller, wouldn t that be a hoot - a lawn tractor with a Bargman plug, and a brake controller? "
 
 
   Wynot, what kind of a tractor do you have ? I have done this for my utility trailer some time ago but not the Utah. Breaking would be a problem. need to pull it in and out of the grage.
 
   I am interrested in this ?

[wynot]

 whitestar505
Cub Cadet - 18 hp (2815 hydrostatic).
 
 I also did it with the 12.5 hp Cub tractor I had before (2315)
 
 2"  hitch ball with a 3,500 lb rating in the hitch pin hole.  Only needed to round it out a little bit to fit it.  Depends what I am doing as to how tight I fasten it.  I usually take it finger tight plus a 1/4 turn for quick work.
 
 I m actually thinking about converting my hitch pin implements over to a normal coupler so I don t have to remove.
 
 Braking only becomes an issue if you get a lot of speed up.  Hydrostat works better for braking because if worst comes to worse, you can reverse without transmission damage.  In my case, the tractor pulls better than reverses with the trailers behind it, but I can back the Utah up a moderate grade on gravel, and stop it on the moderate grades.
 
 Let me know if you have any questions.

[whitestar505]

 wynot

2"  hitch ball with a 3,500 lb rating in the hitch pin hole. Only needed to round it out a little bit to fit it. Depends what I am doing as to how tight I fasten it. I usually take it finger tight plus a 1/4 turn for quick work.

 Wynot, Okay, have a 18.5 whatever lawn tractor, so where did you put the ball. In the same place the the pin goes for the utilty trailer? Bare with me I am confused. Do you have anything on the web to look see?

[wynot]

 whitestar505
No problem, I debated this a lot before I actually did it...put the hitch ball on the tractor.
 
 

2"  hitch ball with a 3,500 lb rating in the hitch pin hole. Only needed to round it out a little bit to fit it.

 Yup.  Where the pin goes for the trailer/lawnsweeper/etc.  In my case, the 7/8 inch threaded shaft was slightly larger, so I filed out ever so slightly enough until I could fit the ball shaft in the hole.
 
 What kinda tractor are you looking at doing this with?  Because you need to make sure you have enough weight and steel to not either possibly get a flip or bend down your tow mount.  On the Cub, they are pretty close behind the seat, so you have very little leverage exerted by the tongue, it all goes on the rear wheels.

[whitestar505]

 wynot

Yup. Where the pin goes for the trailer/lawnsweeper/etc. In my case, the 7/8 inch threaded shaft was slightly larger, so I filed out ever so slightly enough until I could fit the ball shaft in the hole.
 
 What kinda tractor are you looking at doing this with?

  Well, after a couple of days at looking at the tractors at Home Depot, I thinks I can do this. To answer you question about the tractor, it is an off brand and I beleive it is put out by Craftsman for Westerauto stores.  I looked at the Cub, and seen it was not much differants. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.[][]

[popupcop]

 whitestar505
I have a 9.5 horse John Deer riding mower and it moves the PU fine on level ground.  I also have a dethatcher that I use from time to time.  I did not want to have to remove the ball so I made the following modification:  
 I found a small piece of 1/4 inch thick steel that was 2 inches wide.  I cut a piece 5 inches long and drilled a large hole at each end.  I put the hitch ball bolt through one hole of the metal piece then through the pin hole on my riding mower. I tightened the ball and metal piece to the mower.   The other end of the metal piece still lets me pin an implement onto my mower if I need to but I don t have to take the ball on and off.
 
 
 I soon realized that the extra metal needed to be rounded on the end that stuck out to prevent shin damage. [&:]

[whitestar505]

 popupcop
Sounds like it is stronger that the tractor ifself. Does the back peice bend at all when the trailer is placed on the ball ?

[wynot]

 whitestar505
Another option would be to take the readily available coupler pockets and bolt it to the front of each of your towable implements.  They you just couple up.