help with garage storage question

[wavery]

You may take a look at these if the driveway slope is minimal and there is no possible way of the PUP getting away from you..  There are usually several similar ones listed. Just a thought.  Enjoy your new PUP..

Ebay:

TRAILER-TOW DOLLY-JET SKI,MOTORCYCLE,CANOE,CAR,ATV,BOAT  
BIG12"Wheels-HEAVY DUTY-600LB,  Item number: 4614839929

I don't see the point of a tow-dolly if you have a wheel on the front of the trailer. Some of the trailer jacks are not very efficient. In that case (or if your's doesn't have a wheel), I would just replace it with one of these:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=92372

[DGrant09]

I don't see the point of a tow-dolly if you have a wheel on the front of the trailer. Some of the trailer jacks are not very efficient. In that case (or if your's doesn't have a wheel), I would just replace it with one of these:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=92372

Duhh!!  
OK, it's been a long day..   :eyecrazy:  
Harbor Freight has some good deals!!

[wavery]

Duhh!!  
OK, it's been a long day..   :eyecrazy:  
Harbor Freight has some good deals!!

No Duh about it. That was a thoughtful suggestion. A lot of people don't know that those exist and if he doesn't have a wheel, it is one option.

[cbird]

No Duh about it. That was a thoughtful suggestion. A lot of people don't know that those exist and if he doesn't have a wheel, it is one option.

Thanks for all the great suggestions...I had been thinking about the difficulty of getting it back out again too.

We will give it a try at least once while having a backup storage facility lined up in case its too frustrating. Don't expect the homeowners association will care about the line on the driveway, the subdivision is pretty laid back, fences etc. go up unapproved all the time. And the model we are looking at does have a jack with a wheel. If we can get the trailer wheels in I like the idea of doing the rest by hand. I should post a video of our first try! If it really gets annoying we may just remodel the garage to a single wide door, something we have been talking about even before the popup idea got in our heads.

[jensspark]

Good luck!  I'm glad I'm not the only person out there having garage difficulties.  I definitely feel for you though because no matter what, you've definitely got it worse than I do.  
 :yikes:
We've got the double door, so width isn't the problem for us.  We just need to get it up the incline and into the garage without bottoming out or tearing up my clutch (the truck is a standard).  I will say though that there's a lot of knowledge out there.  This group has been extremely helpful with any problems I've had!

[ScoobyDoo]

I think that if I didn't have the backing practice that I have I would build a couple of PCV ladders 2-3 ft wide and set them 2-3 ft in front of the door. If you clear them you will clear the door, if you bump them nothing broke. I used to park a short enddump trailer in a dark building, with some other equpment (the trailer disapered as it went thru the door). I set 2 pipes in the drive and hung a ball from the door, if I missed all 3 I knew the trailer wouldn't hit anything before the mirrors got inside.

[Tim5055]

Our previous house had the double garage, and the exact same 1.5" on each side.  Backing in didn't really work for us.  I purchased one of the trailer dollied from Harbor freight and rolled it in by hand.  Even with a good wheel on the tongue the larger tires on the dolly made it roll easily.

[cbird]

Our previous house had the double garage, and the exact same 1.5" on each side.  Backing in didn't really work for us.  I purchased one of the trailer dollied from Harbor freight and rolled it in by hand.  Even with a good wheel on the tongue the larger tires on the dolly made it roll easily.

Sounds like your setup is closest to ours...I am afraid we will have to purchase an electric dolly because we have a slight grade. The AC2 by Power Mover is probably what we need. Bummer though cause with shipping its probably gonna be $959! Reviews are good though, the brake hooks right up to the trailer brake and runs off the trailers AC.

[aw738]

This reminds me of a story my dad told me about one of his experiences at work. Before he retired he worked for the West Virginia DOT. He mowed in the summer and plowed snow in the winter. The tractor he mowed with had a mower on each side and measured something around 20' wide with both of them down. As luck would have it something happened to the hydraulic system and the mowers would not raise. The problem was the mechanic needed to get the tractor inside of the garage to work on it and the door was only 12' wide. The mechanic was going to remove the side mowers to get it through the door. My dad told him to leave the mowers on and he would put the tractor through the door. For any of you who don't know a farm tractor has indepenant brakes on each of the rear wheels. Ok this is how he done it. He started the front of the tractor in and applied the brakes in such a way that he was able to slide the mowers in one at a time. He proved that you can put 20' though a 12' hole.

[wavery]

I just had a thought :yikes:

You could hook an electric winch on the inside of our garage and pull it in slowly with the winch while steering the trailer from the front wheel.  

That would actually be kinda slick, (relatively) cheap and easy to do. If you mount the winch in the center of the opening (at the back of the garage) and attach the cable to the center of the bumper on the trailer, you could hardly go wrong.

A $50 winch would be a lot better than a $1,000 dolley. This is a 12v model and would require a car battery but I am sure that you could find a 110v model too.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=92860

[TexasCamper]

Here is a tip from a home builder.  You can take off the 1 x 2 's on each side of the garage door.  They are installed with 6d or 8d nails and replace them with screws for easy removal. Now you have 1.5'' more clearance.  That will cost about 50 cents.  Its not alot more room but  it may save a running light.

[cbird]

Here is a tip from a home builder.  You can take off the 1 x 2 's on each side of the garage door.  They are installed with 6d or 8d nails and replace them with screws for easy removal. Now you have 1.5'' more clearance.  That will cost about 50 cents.  Its not alot more room but  it may save a running light.

I see a couple more good ideas! The DH likes the winch idea alot. I am growing more fond of the electric dolly as I think about the other options this would avail us, like being able to move the trailer around to pop up in the front yard or across the driveway. Without some way to securely move it by hand we would be limited to poping up at home in the street in front of our house, the driveway is short and slightly inclined. As I am the most likely of the two to go solo, i.e I am the families camping fanatic, I like the idea of being able to move the trailer around confident that my lack of upper body strength (never seem to make it to the gym) won't be a hinderance. Of course it will all come down to cash in hand.

Cheers. Once this all comes together I am going to post some pics.