DIY Motorized Trailer Dolly / Trailer Mule 

Nice overview and build... love the fact that you didn’t get too into the details but covered pretty much everything that needed to be covered.

This is awesome! I’ve been looking for ideas on how to make a tug for my airplane as ready made models are $1500+. This will solve that problem and always have a jump pack in the hanger just in case it’s ever needed. Thank you for posting

Great idea. I just bought a 24-foot pontoon boat that I'm staring at a parking facility with very tight spaces. This is exactly what I was looking for! Thanks for sharing.

Love it. I myself been looking for ideas for a motorized cart to use for transporting wood this winter and this is perfect. I will use different size gears to make it faster since I don't need much torque

I have several trailers to move around. I'll be copying yours. Simple but does the job. Thanks for sharing

Best video, and i searched them all. I am starting mine tomorrow, thanks

I like. I did by one from Harbor freight thinking it would help to push manually in the back yard to move my popup trailer. Yeah no, it wouldn''t budge. But your idea is awesome. i like. Thanks for posting

That is absolutely genius. Mind blown.

cool progy. im building my welding cart with a similar steering system with chain w/ an independent suspension guided from behind the cart im wondering what would you do next. perhaps a 12vdc system w/ an alternator?

This guy's "quick and dirty" is better than anything I've ever built.

Very good this is one of the details is closest vedio as soon as I finish building my shop I am to build me one saving this for my build

Thanks for sharing. That's like cool build.

nice build indeed. thanks for sharing. just wondering about the weight of your trailer. I have a 6200# travel trailer with a 645# tongue weight. I know I would need to use higher rated tires. However, I would only be using it on a level flat surface (asphalt/concrete). I wonder how well the winch would hold up maneuvering the trailer 100-150' per use. Any thoughts?

Pretty cool build!

That's a great idea. Time to build me one .thanks

Have you tried it in the snow? Thinking of building one of these to move a loaded sled trailer around. Awesome job by way :-)

I was looking for a simple idea to build a power puller or pusher for my enclosed generator and this should do it. Thanks

Nice unit and great video -- quick and to the point! How long will the battery pack allow you to operate your mule under load? It looks like you're using the one that has 1700 peak amps and 425 cranking amps, but if I'm wrong please let me know the specs as that certainly affects the duty time of your reply. Thanks in advance!

Great project and well throught thru. How might one give dolly more traction/grip? Different tyres? I am thinking for launching and retrieving a 1200Kg boat and trailer on a slipway.

Great idea, how long will the battery jump pack last if you used the motor for a long period. i'm thinking or using your idea for a powered beach wagon using 2 motors. thanks

Cool i have a wind and solar hybrid trailer that i need to move and position it to hook to my rv hitch. It has a huge 12v 1410 ah battery bank i could power it with that

So I have a 6-7 lb travel trailer i want to make this for to adjust in my yard. Will thus allows me to move it and about how much money did you spend making this or how much money can I expect to invest in building one of these?

Jump pack is such a great idea

Great job, Thanks for the inspiration!

A question I don't have a welder do you think I can use nut& bults and bolts for the motor

I am looking to make a similar product but I do have a couple questions. How did you get the cover off the spool on the winch? And, I do not have a plasma cutter, would I be able to grind it off without damaging the spool?

is it possible to get some measurements like how high is the ball and over all measurements

wow, I do upholstery work in my house, I have a workshop behind the house and I use the alley to put the boats on my property and I always fight to put the boats over 20 feet on my property are heavy and difficult to maneuver , and I was thinking about buying a motorized dolly but they cost more than $ 1000 and that's a lot, if I'm interested in doing this design or something similar. excellent work!

What a world of opportunities opens up when you have a shop and can weld!

What sort of weight have you managed to move with this unit? I need to move approx 2 tonne trailer.

Put your welding rods in the oven at 300 deg. F let them heat soak for 1.5 hours then cool in the oven, then seal in an air tight container. I keep my welding rods in a small fridge with a 100 w to 150 w light bulb depending on the outside temp to keep them dry right from opening them.

great idea and great video , thank you for posting this !!!

Good video! how much weight was it able to move up a slight incline? Thanks William

Is it possible to get some more detail on this build. I’m not handy but wanna try

Could this idea be used to push a car or pickup

How did you bolt the small sprocket on the winch. Did you dig the holes and used anchors to hold headless screws or did you weld the heads of the screws on it? Very nice job. I want to make one. Can it be done with a basic 110 v welder? Where can I find inexpensive chain and sprockets? Thank you.

Are you still available to answer some questions about this build? Thanks for your help.

I would like to see how you mated the wheels and sprocket.

Thanks for sharing.

Great idea to use the winch!!!

There is an available Front hitch for most trucks it’s Which In my case solved my problem

How /where did you weld the sprocket to the front tires? Also, that threaded rod, are those bolts bigger than the 5/8 threaded rod and used as spacers?

Thanks I found your links. I'll check them out, Be well.

This is a really good contraption. I have the same tow dolly. I don’t have to tools to do it myself .Would build one for sale? I have been thinking about how to do a construction but as I look at your video I see that I would Need a welding tool.

how fast can it move?

excellent. thanks for sharing.

Great job how do you added the sprocket?

I'm having no luck at all finding this drive sprocket on Amazon. Could you be a bit more specific about description and possible Amazon source? Thanks in advance.

Awesome job, 😉👍 amazing video 👏👏👏

great video - could you use a windscreen wiper motor? I want to pull a light 50kg boat

Hi do you know what ball weight it can take for a R V Cheers

What casters did go with?

Would be interested in purchasing a few.

nice engine.... were you bay the hubs ,,, and weels ,, for to build this... thanks in advance ... joan

the 21 tooth sprocket is not available do you have link for an active one that fits badlands winch ?

I agree I deal with heavy trailers

How big is the bore in the smaller sprocket that you attached to the winch? Or how big is the winch drive shaft?

What is the axle size with the 48 tooth sprocket attached, and to you have a link to it. Thanks

Hi could you tell me what diameter are the 2 sprockets you use thanks . Great machine.

would a 1500lb winch work just as well? i have access to a free one

It looks great. But how do you apply braking when using the Dolly on a slope? How does the Dolly perform on uneven and/or loose surfaces? What incline will the Dolly push or pull a 3000 lb trailer?

Really like your RV Tug. What size steel did you use for your fabricating. Thank You!

Can’t get the 21 tooth sprocket know any where else ?

i need one of this i have a Bad Back Pain moving boats

Need more details on how you connected sprocket onto the wheel? or did you weld onto axle? Should take closer video between the two wheels would have helped.

Hi can you please tell me were you got your sprockets and chain and maybe some specs it would be very helpful. Thanks for sharing

I built one similar to yours, I used the same amazon components. Problem I have it seems to want to flip forward when I pull trailer, I have the ball about 4 inch behind the axle. Did you find the same issue. My trailer is a duel axle bass boat 4000 lbs.

RanchEx 102584 Chain Sprocket - for X Series Weld Hubs - #40 Chain, 21 Teeth, 1/2" Pitch Isn't available on amazon, any advice on what to replace it with?

Did you ever do a tooth count on sprockets....I liked your speed

do you have a manufacturer?

This is genius...

How Did you drill through the small sprocket?

Can I buy one from you???

Genius!

What's the heaviest trailer you've moved. My largest trailer is an 8x18

Great work- Can you give more details for remote switch ?

Great video... Would you consider selling one? I don't have the welding equipment to build one. :(

Can you explain, briefly, how to get the release handle and shaft out of the winch? I just got one home and have been tugging on it without success.

Nice

I am having a hard time locating a sprocket to mount on the winch. Where did you get yours? Thanks so much.

I am going to build one of these for a good friend . From your description and your comments it appears you removed the tires and then welded each of the rims with the gear inside of each rim?

So I am planning to build one, and have a couple of questions... do you think a 2000 lb winch will be enough (for a ~3700 lb trailer) and do you think I could just run it off the trailer battery, which is right there anyway? That would make it more compact I'm thinking? Cheers -P

What size is the small sprocket on the winch?

Hi what size it's the bore of the sproket o what tipe it's ?

My trailer has a 500 lb tongue weight . Will it work for that weight?

I don't have a plasma cutter, how would you recommend I cut it? Thank you

How did you weld the sprocket to the wheels? There isn't a lot of clearance. Wheels need to still spin on the bearings. Did you pop out bearings?

Where can i buy the sprocket you used on the winch?

is the sprocket welded to the axle, or wheels?

Where did you find the sprockets?

how do you attach the wheels to the sprocket/axle?

IVE BEEN WONDERING WHAT I WAS GOING TO DO..... Ok so I live in Florida and I make my living working at farmers markets. I built these 700lb trailers that are basically just big silly displays on wheels that are a huge hit. I've been thinking that I wanted to make something that could tote these trailers around on gravel and tar a few feet every day and they could just charge it up once they got home. this would be great! im ganna rig mine up so that the trailer can actually just lower onto a plate on top and it cant twist off somehow. might give it bigger tires just so that it can go into some looser sand but heavens yes, this is absolutely perfect, thank you so much. i love how you get to the point, its almost like you made this video for me.

do you want to sell it?

Nice little build.. pretty light weight... those tires are pneumatic.. and are only rated to 165 lbs.... means most trailers will have the tires flatened enough to bottom out the wheel tire gear.... Pratical application is everything... Hitch/tongue loads are rated up from 1000 lbs to 1500 lbs... the winch motor 2500 capacity is pretty strong.... Seen lots of these builds re-engineered with flat free wheels that you can find rated at 500 lbs per tire... dual wheels like your build is can support the 1000 lbs tongue weight... Flat Free wheels can tend to slip on concrete and asphauld in wet conditions... when under load... My Dual Wheel dual motor drive build has 6 inch rims.. the tires are 14 inch OD... using a #35 drive chain my individual tire/drive sprockets are 60 teeth which makes it a 7 inch OD Sprocket... If the weight of my cargo trailler, loaded, tongue weight should never exceed the 1500 lbs... but the trailers specs call out for it being a 20 foot enclosed cargo trailer... with no load... 1700 lbs... with max capacity load rating of 7000 lbs... The dual motors being 3500 lbs .... each... total 7000 lbs, will meet any load I may be dealing with... everyone should check out the version of the Trailer Hauler/Dolly with tank tracks... the design of the trailer tongue mount mechanism... out performs what we have seen in all other videos... where the step of having to dislocate/disconnect the Trailer Dolly from the trailer in order to connect the tongue to your ball on the back of your bumper/hitch.... is somewhat short of what you will see in the German Design... Which is Tongue frame depth adjustable... tongue height adjustable and a quick connect as well... good to drill the 2 holes in the side wall of the tongue channel where you are going to establish the suitable location for the universal trailer dolly interconnect... but you wil see it is not necessairy for a one time function... The dual motors allow me to carry the max trailer load capacity... but the reason I wanted dual motors is to remotely steer the dolly by reversing the direction of the wheels motion. Can get some completely sharp immediate responses with remote trailer movement. 4 button wireless remote system was only 14.00... that are wired in conjunction with 4 - 12 V solenoids... at 5.00 each. Battery tray is detachable... in order to lessen the footprint of the Dolly... for storage... which is 17" OD wheel to wheel and 26" Motor to single 10", 500 lbs load flat free caster wheel...

Does anyone know what size angle iron is used here?

New sub here. Thanks for the video and yes, I am looking for ideas.

Bad ass.....

I have a design problem. How far apart do the wheels have to be to avoid tipping on softer ground? Your wheels are close together. Is it stable on softer ground? It obviously works fine on concrete. My trailer has to run over the lawn. Its typical Florida country "lawn", which is kinda sand and some grass. Fairly firm. I hate running my truck over it. Design problem is: I hate counting on the casters, since they might dig in to the ground....

I built mine the same way..... Except I used solid tires cause the Horrible Freight tubes suck...

"If you don't have a jump pack, glare glare glare glare"