I figured I'd put the creative minds of ATOT on this one.
Background info:
Here's the scenario. I live in a small house that sits about 19' from a 1 lane road. (well, it is a 2 lane road, but there is a large concrete median in the middle.) So the distance from my front door, to the far spot of the median, is about 35 feet. (this is important information that you'll need later)
Along the side of my house, there is room to park a boat. The "parking spot" measures approx 9.5 feet by 30 feet.
I have found a boat I want to buy. The boat and trailer are approx 22 ft long x 8.5 ft wide.
As you can see, the boat will fit nicely (without much room to spare, but it'll work) in the spot.
Here's the dilemma. Because the house is so close to the road, and because the road is bordered by a large concrete median, it becomes virtually (and perhaps physically) impossible for me to back the boat into the driveway. The trailer+my truck together would be about 35 feet long, which is approximately the total distance between my house and the median. So basically to be able to back the boat straight in, I'd have to have it lined up perfectly already, which of course is impossible. Because the dimensions of the "parking spot" are so close to the size of the boat, I will have SOME leeway side to side, but definitely not a lot.
The real problem:
Now, here's the funny thing. If I remove the length of my truck from the equation, the boat will clearly back in just fine. So the question becomes: What can I use, OTHER than a car/truck, to reposition a 20 foot, 2000 lb boat on a trailer? I need to move the boat ~50 feet, and there is a slight incline, although not a lot.
I found some "electric trailer dollies" which are basically EXACTLY what I'd need, but they would cost me somewhere around $750-900, (seems way high) and only move about .5 foot per second. (that is a little slow for my taste) These run off 1/2 horsepower electric motors, so clearly I don't need a TON of power to do the job.
My alternate ideas right now would be a riding lawn mower, or perhaps an ATV, but in either case I would only be looking to shell out a few hundred $$$ and a quick search didn't turn up either for me. Also while I'm sure a newer 18 hp $1000 lawn mower would do it, I'm not sure I could find a cheaper used one with the power/gearing that would work out well...
Any other suggestions? Ideally I'd find something like that electric mover, but faster, and cheaper. Lol.
Edit: Now with crappy diagram
Background info:
Here's the scenario. I live in a small house that sits about 19' from a 1 lane road. (well, it is a 2 lane road, but there is a large concrete median in the middle.) So the distance from my front door, to the far spot of the median, is about 35 feet. (this is important information that you'll need later)
Along the side of my house, there is room to park a boat. The "parking spot" measures approx 9.5 feet by 30 feet.
I have found a boat I want to buy. The boat and trailer are approx 22 ft long x 8.5 ft wide.
As you can see, the boat will fit nicely (without much room to spare, but it'll work) in the spot.
Here's the dilemma. Because the house is so close to the road, and because the road is bordered by a large concrete median, it becomes virtually (and perhaps physically) impossible for me to back the boat into the driveway. The trailer+my truck together would be about 35 feet long, which is approximately the total distance between my house and the median. So basically to be able to back the boat straight in, I'd have to have it lined up perfectly already, which of course is impossible. Because the dimensions of the "parking spot" are so close to the size of the boat, I will have SOME leeway side to side, but definitely not a lot.
The real problem:
Now, here's the funny thing. If I remove the length of my truck from the equation, the boat will clearly back in just fine. So the question becomes: What can I use, OTHER than a car/truck, to reposition a 20 foot, 2000 lb boat on a trailer? I need to move the boat ~50 feet, and there is a slight incline, although not a lot.
I found some "electric trailer dollies" which are basically EXACTLY what I'd need, but they would cost me somewhere around $750-900, (seems way high) and only move about .5 foot per second. (that is a little slow for my taste) These run off 1/2 horsepower electric motors, so clearly I don't need a TON of power to do the job.
My alternate ideas right now would be a riding lawn mower, or perhaps an ATV, but in either case I would only be looking to shell out a few hundred $$$ and a quick search didn't turn up either for me. Also while I'm sure a newer 18 hp $1000 lawn mower would do it, I'm not sure I could find a cheaper used one with the power/gearing that would work out well...
Any other suggestions? Ideally I'd find something like that electric mover, but faster, and cheaper. Lol.
Edit: Now with crappy diagram
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