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Old 04-06-2017, 12:29 AM   #1
Tin
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Moving Bear

I have decided to park Bear (5.0TA) further back on our property. There is not enough room to accommodate this maneuver with our Tow. I have been keeping my eye out for a nice gently used Power Caster PC-2 and a nice one popped up. I have started fabricating an adapter / A - frame, will see how it goes.
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Old 04-06-2017, 05:10 AM   #2
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How will you move a 5.0 with that, are they not set up for pull behind units?
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Old 04-06-2017, 05:45 AM   #3
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I would be extremely concerned about stability. Should that device topple, you are not going to be able to prevent undesired movement. Even if deployed so that there is an inch or two of clearance, I would not want the weight of a 5.0TA slamming down on the landing gear. Perhaps if the device had a much larger footprint. One wrong move could result in serious damage. Perhaps Bear would be better off "hibernating" in his/her current den. But good luck with your endeavor. Please let us know how it turns out.
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Old 04-06-2017, 07:18 AM   #4
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I have looked at Power Movers on the off chance I may need one.

If you stabilize the dolly that the OP picked up with a solid vertical connection, with an A frame from it to the corners of the trailer, it will be very stable. This would be no different then than using it with a bumper pull trailer.

Leaving the landing gear close to the ground as you move it will make it safe no matter what happens.

As long as the dolly can handle the weight, you can do like Chris R did add a attachment point to the frame. Of course, the dolly Chris used is much more stable on it's own. This is a more simple connection.

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Old 04-06-2017, 07:30 AM   #5
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Originally Posted by Jim Bennett View Post
I have looked at Power Movers on the off chance I may need one.

If you stabilize the dolly that the OP picked up with a solid vertical connection, with an A frame from it to the corners of the trailer, it will be very stable. This would be no different then than using it with a bumper pull trailer.

Leaving the landing gear close to the ground as you move it will make it safe no matter what happens.

As long as the dolly can handle the weight, you can do like Chris R did add a attachment point to the frame. Of course, the dolly Chris used is much more stable on it's own. This is a more simple connection.

Jim, I presume that would be stable if going over even ground. I would be a bit concerned. If it does turn out to be stable, I might be interested in doing it myself. How would you attach the king pin to it? Or would the king pin sit in a cup?
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Old 04-06-2017, 07:33 AM   #6
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How would you attach the king pin to it? Or would the king pin sit in a cup?
I would just weld/bolt a 2 5/16" ball on top having an Anderson Ultimate, but with a regular hitch, I imagine it would be easy to do something like a cup that holds the pin. No need to lock anything down while moving at a crawl.
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Old 04-06-2017, 07:43 AM   #7
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I would just weld/bolt a 2 5/16" ball on top having an Anderson Ultimate, but with a regular hitch, I imagine it would be easy to do something like a cup that holds the pin. No need to lock anything down while moving at a crawl.
I wonder if you could modify it to slide at an angle under the frame below the propane compartment and then pivoted down to engage the frame with a three sided channel. A low contact point would definitely improve stability and if the channel were wide enough, would eliminate the need for an A-frame assembly. Do you think that would be possible?
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Old 04-06-2017, 07:47 AM   #8
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I wonder if you could modify it to slide at an angle under the frame below the propane compartment and then pivoted down to engage the frame with a three sided channel. A low contact point would definitely improve stability and if the channel were wide enough, would eliminate the need for an A-frame assembly. Do you think that would be possible?
Do you mean like Chris R's solution? Though with an A frame back to a post to the king pin, that would make the point under it very solid, just not as simple.
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Old 04-06-2017, 07:48 AM   #9
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ooooh... what's the brand/model of this power mover?
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Old 04-06-2017, 07:52 AM   #10
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Do you mean like Chris R's solution? Though with an A frame back to a post to the king pin, that would make the point under it very solid, just not as simple.
I haven't seen Chris' solution. Do you have a link to a thread? I'm not sure you could use a A-frame to the king pin if you had to pivot the whole thing up to slide it under the frame unless the connection to the kin pin would be removeable or would telescope once the Power Mover was in place.
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Old 04-06-2017, 07:57 AM   #11
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I haven't seen Chris' solution. Do you have a link to a thread? I'm not sure you could use a A-frame to the king pin if you had to pivot the whole thing up to slide it under the frame unless the connection to the kin pin would be removeable or would telescope once the Power Mover was in place.
It is on his blog, and I attached a photo above. The A frame would go back to the dolly from the lower frame corners, not to the king pin.
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Old 04-06-2017, 08:01 AM   #12
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I would just weld/bolt a 2 5/16" ball on top having an Anderson Ultimate, but with a regular hitch, I imagine it would be easy to do something like a cup that holds the pin. No need to lock anything down while moving at a crawl.
With the type of unit posted you cannot use a ball. There needs to be a rigid attachment to the frame. The small wheels on the unit come up off the ground when in use.

Power Caster, electric trailer mover dolly, boat dolly, toy hauler

www.powercaster.com/Info/Answers.html

It does indicate that fifth wheel adapters would need to be fabricated by a welder, but sketches are available upon request. If it were me I would speak with the company who has probably seen a few things go wrong since 1967 and can help with a safe, efficient setup.

I would also seriously consider the kit or some other modification that allowed one to engage the trailer brakes. The unit does not have a braking feature.
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Old 04-06-2017, 09:09 AM   #13
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With the type of unit posted you cannot use a ball. There needs to be a rigid attachment to the frame. The small wheels on the unit come up off the ground when in use.
I agree this design dolly is not optimal, but you could do this with the setup I described. All the ball is, is a connection point. It does not swivel at all.

After believing I was thinking outside the box with this idea, I found something very similar online. I will try to find it.
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Old 04-06-2017, 09:11 AM   #14
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That was easy, I had it bookmarked. A picture (video) is worth a thousand words.

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Old 04-06-2017, 09:13 AM   #15
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How will you move a 5.0 with that, are they not set up for pull behind units?
Honestly I do not know if it will work ? but it should, I like the fact that it has a small footprint and fairly light (77 lb I put it in the back of the truck) and the price was right $650. If it does not work I will have no problem selling it to some one with a bumper pull.
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Old 04-06-2017, 09:21 AM   #16
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ooooh... what's the brand/model of this power mover?
Hi Donna, It is a power caster pc-2. I will post with the results wish me luck.
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Old 04-06-2017, 09:24 AM   #17
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Hi Donna, It is a power caster pc-2. I will post with the results wish me luck.
Thanks for the info and absolutely wish you luck!
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Old 04-06-2017, 09:33 AM   #18
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I agree this design dolly is not optimal, but you could do this with the setup I described. All the ball is, is a connection point. It does not swivel at all.

After believing I was thinking outside the box with this idea, I found something very similar online. I will try to find it.
Hi Jim, That is exactly what I am doing. The owner of power caster gave me a rough sketch of the adapter/A-frame. This is what I've got so far. Please note the adapter metal is much thicker than needed but it was all I could find with the right dimensions.
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Old 04-06-2017, 09:38 AM   #19
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Hi Jim, That is exactly what I am doing. The owner of power caster gave me a rough sketch of the adapter/A-frame. This is what I've got so far. Please note the adapter metal is much thicker than needed but it was all I could find with the right dimensions.
That looks great. Plenty strong. It should certainly do the trick. I would consider using 1/4" pins to connect both ends of the angle pieces to make it easier to store.

Looking forward to seeing the video of it in action.
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Old 04-06-2017, 09:51 AM   #20
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That looks great. Plenty strong. It should certainly do the trick. I would consider using 1/4" pins to connect both ends of the angle pieces to make it easier to store.
You got it. Don't know about a video , all you would hear is my wife screaming "Left I mean Right! Oh STOPPPP!"
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