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I need a cheap & easy way to move several cars without suspensions and wheels around.

I need to move a few cars out of my shop and under the shed along the side to give me room to work.

This involves ONE PERSON (me) being able to raise, load, move & unload the cars.

Unfortunately part of the move will be across grass, soft ground and a small hill.

I have a trailer and I'm thinking there has to be an easy way I can raise the cars and back the trailer under the car, but that would require precision backing or I'd knock over what ever I was using to support the car.

Taking it off would be easier, but I only have 12' width with poles on one side and wall on the other so if I found a way to support the car above the trailer rails then I'd be back in the same boat of precision backing and under the shed will be difficult because I'm also dodging some steps at the front.

For these reasons I'm wondering if there isn't a hand powered way? I'm hoping one of you guys has had to deal with this in the past and have a simple, cheap solution. Since whatever this costs comes out of my "diff money & driveshaft" money I'm hoping the solution is cheap, but regardless I've got to be able to move these without help or I get to keep sitting there looking at everything.

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mobilito ergo sum
I drive therefore I am

I can explain it to you,
but I can't understand it for you.

Heavy-duty cart with good sized tires will make it over grass. I have 8-10" pneumatic tires that I can install on my engine-hoist: I've used it to haul cars, engines, stumps etc. That plus a decent bar to lever with and you can move some serious weight.

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Build log: viewtopic.php?t=9291

Jack front of car up higher than your trailer and put on stands as close to the back of the car as possible. Back the trailer up under the front of the car. Lower car with floor jack onto dolley on trailer. Jack up rear of car and put on stands as far back as possible and back up trailer allowing dollies on front of car to roll on trailer. Once the trailer is almost to the stands put more dollies under the car and lower the car onto the trailer. Roll it forward until you are happy with its location on the trailer. Unloading is the reverse.

Not easy or quick, but I have done this many times with large objects that I cant lift all at once. Other option is find someone with a skid steer with forks.

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Build on

Chris
Build: NA Miata based +221 Se7en

I pick up more things than I should with my engine hoist. I used it to pick the Mini off the build table and set it on a trailer. It's picked up the A mod, a few motorcycles, and the fully dressed 7.

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Too much week, not enough weekend.

OOPS I did it again
http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=17496

Blood Sweat and Beers
http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=15216

How in the world are you guys lifting and moving full sized cars with engine hoists? I've used it to raise and lower one end of a car, but other than scooting a car a few feet along the ground I've never been able to raise a full car nor roll it along anywhere with just a hoist.

The step by step on & off the trailer I've done before but it takes so long and I was hoping to be able to store the bodies off the ground which adds more steps so I was hoping someone had a simpler idea or cart like thingy concept.

Oh well, back to the "takes a lot of time and loads of manual labor" world. Sigh.

_________________
mobilito ergo sum
I drive therefore I am

I can explain it to you,
but I can't understand it for you.

Precision backing of a trailer can be solved with a front-mount hitch on a garden tractor. You face the trailer as the trailer is being moved backwards. As for getting on and off the trailer, I found these images on the 'net that may inspire you somewhat. They should easily fit in a 12 ft wide storage area. Integrating something like this with Come-alongs, Chainfalls, HF electric hoists come to mind. Of course, I take no responsibility for safety concerns.

You also might find a used boat lift on craigslist that could be adapted for on-off a trailer. If you don't destroy it, it can be resold on craigslist as a boat lift when done.

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Chuck.

“Any suspension will work if you don’t let it.” - Colin Chapman

Visit my ongoing MGB Rustoration log: over HERE

Or my Wankel powered Locost log : over HERE

And don't forget my Cushman Truckster resto Locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=17766

For moving the Mini and A Mod on/off the build table I built an angled boom for my engine hoist. I needed the angled boom to reach the center of the table with the boom pretty close to the end of the piston's stroke.

I grabbed a piece of 3x3 box tubing at the scrap yard, cut it at 22 degrees, and welded it back together to form a 45. I added a couple of 1/8 inch reinforcing plates. Make sure you keep the hook inside the area of the base. Mine is at max extension 3 feet from the upright section of the boom.

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Too much week, not enough weekend.

OOPS I did it again
http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=17496

Blood Sweat and Beers
http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=15216

I've got a zero turn mower and they don't have provisions for hitches which means I'd forgotten about lawn tractors. This is the time of the year to get one cheap so I think I'll look into that.

I haven't seen a boat lift before but I'm betting straps and overhead contraption. I'll do some surfing for that too.

I'd be a little worried about the swingset style lift over rough ground. I'd been thinking of some sort of big wheeled cart, but I hadn't been thinking of an overhead hoist on wheels.

You've given me some ideas.

_________________
mobilito ergo sum
I drive therefore I am

I can explain it to you,
but I can't understand it for you.

Get yourself a trailer tug. Gasoline or electric versions. They also make versions for moving airplanes by the front steerable wheel but I think the trailer movers would work better in your situation.

Tom

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Sometimes, I'm as confused as a baby in a topless bar.

My short term memory is absolutely horrible and so is my short term memory.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sG16m2e4O6I

My thought about using the swing-set style hoist was for loading or unloading onto the trailer. Not for actual moving from point A to point B. Especially the unloading part in the 12 ft wide area.

Alternatively, if you can get the cars loaded on the trailer with a engine hoist, perhaps a simple shoe attached to the side wall of the building and a single 2x4 A-frame on the post side. tie them with a horizontal pair of sistered 2x10's or 2x12's should (might?) support the weight of a car. Certainly a small car.....he said with fingers crossed.

_________________
Chuck.

“Any suspension will work if you don’t let it.” - Colin Chapman

Visit my ongoing MGB Rustoration log: over HERE

Or my Wankel powered Locost log : over HERE

And don't forget my Cushman Truckster resto Locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=17766

[quote="carguy123"]I've got a zero turn mower and they don't have provisions for hitches[\quote]

Just fabricate a hitch for your zero turn mower. They sell one for mine, but I built my own. Makes it so much easier to move the wood splitter around.

_________________
Build on

Chris
Build: NA Miata based +221 Se7en

There's not an easy way to add a hitch to my John Deere. Although with enough ingenuity just about anything is possible.

I've never heard of a trailer tug so out will come the search engines.

I saw the wheels on the A frame hoist and my mind went straight to trying to roll that around with a car attached because I had been thinking an all in one solution.

It's looking like with a "tug" of some sort, an overhead hoist and an engine hoist (for the rear) to raise the car off the trailer and then the addition of concrete blocks or some other method of off the ground storage is going to be my solution.

I sure wish the shed had more than lightweight perlings up top so I could just hook a hoist up there and I also wish I had sold my little 9' tilting single axle trailer a couple of years ago because I never used it. That would have been da bomb!

My dual axle 16' trailer just isn't all that maneuverable in tight places.

Thanks guys. Unfortunately I wasn't overlooking some super simple idea that everyone but me was already using.

_________________
mobilito ergo sum
I drive therefore I am

I can explain it to you,
but I can't understand it for you.

My engine hoist is a commercial grade unit so it can handle more than your typical home use folding one. It's great because it's so big, but it also is annoying because it's so big. BTW, the off-road tires for it are just pieces of square tube with a wheel bolted on that slide into the tube of the legs. It could be replicated pretty easy if it helps. May want to do a Google image search for "engine hoist tires" for more ideas.

Cheers.

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Build log: viewtopic.php?t=9291

You know, I'm really ticked at Marty McFly and Doc Brown!

They promised me that we'd have those hover boards by this time and a couple or three of them would make short work of what I'd like to do.

I'm going to stop @ Northern Tools and Horrible Freight tomorrow while I'm out galavanting around and see what evil ideas they might give me, especially about some big wheels for my engine hoist.

I use the engine hoist to raise one end of the cars and if I could get a way to STABLE-EY move it with a car attached it certainly eliminates a couple of steps.

_________________
mobilito ergo sum
I drive therefore I am

I can explain it to you,
but I can't understand it for you.

Horrible Freight is a good place to start. You could build a crawler, a little smaller than one of these. It's hard to see but it's underneath all that other stuff. It seems they've managed to put almost over 3500 miles on this one and it's lasted for a lot of years.

Carries 5000 gallons of diesel and moves 1 MPH, which probably seems pretty fast with an 18,000,000 lb. load. Hmm, I wonder how long it takes to stop.

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