Getting trollied: how easily can a jockey wheel be fitted?

Greenheart

Greenheart

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Same old theme from me, but with a practical slant I hope.

How to make a hefty dinghy moveable ashore, singlehanded? I've pushed enough cars out of mud-holes and snowy patches to know I can shove usefully from astern, but that's no good if the front of the vehicle doesn't have wheels...like most dinghy trollies.

A jockey-wheel must be the answer, and oh my lord, there are plenty on the market...but none of them look like they'd attach easily to the types of trollies I've used in the past...

...most of which had a lateral, horizontal, 2" tubular cross-bar at the front. How can that make a secure join to something like this?

View attachment 29725
 
I thought jockey wheels generally came with a bracket designed to bolt onto a square frame member. I guess you could either drill extra holes for U-bolts to grip around a round tube, or if you're lucky a scaff clamp might fit around tube and wheel leg?

Pete
 
Thanks. There certainly is a lot of useful ironmongery available. And I guess almost anything can be done with welds.
 
I think OP described a cross bar handle for his trolley. This might still prove to be the easiest way to move the dinghy/trolley. I don't think pushing would be any easier. With the pull bar some of your pull will tend to lift the trolley out of the sand etc. While pushing can shove it deeper in.
As from the link to ebay jockey wheels are usually mounted on the side of the draw bar. You probably have a centre spine of some sort to which a jockey wheel can be added. However the jockey wheels are usually so small that they are not much good except on smooth hard surface. A bigger wheel might suit you better. good luck olewill
 
dancrane said:
Same old theme from me, but with a practical slant I hope.

How to make a hefty dinghy moveable ashore, singlehanded? I've pushed enough cars out of mud-holes and snowy patches to know I can shove usefully from astern, but that's no good if the front of the vehicle doesn't have wheels...like most dinghy trollies.

A jockey-wheel must be the answer, and oh my lord, there are plenty on the market...but none of them look like they'd attach easily to the types of trollies I've used in the past...

...most of which had a lateral, horizontal, 2" tubular cross-bar at the front. How can that make a secure join to something like this?
Click to expand...

If the tube is as large as 2" diameter, or even if not quite that large, the solution is simple

Simple inexpensive jockey wheel and clamp.

Drill the tube to take the clamp fixing bolts.

Cut a rectangular plate and drill matching holes.

Bend up a couple of U shaped straps.

Bolt on the clamp through the plate and the U straps


scan0144.jpg
 
Surely fitting a virtual jockey wheel to a virtual trolley for a virtual boat is very easy.

PS Unlikely to be relevant in the real world but the few heavy dinghies that use a front wheel on the trolley typically use a completely different lightweight and non adjustable wheel
 
:) Thanks, I hope you're right Pete.

I was in doubt about how to ensure rigidity in the join between the tallish jockey wheel 'stem' (which is sure to encounter large twisting forces as the boat moves forward) and the rounded handle of the trailer, which won't easily resist the twisting movement.

I'll post photos of my 'Trollenstein' design when it's done. Frankentrail? Jockenstein? :rolleyes:
 
dancrane said:
Same old theme from me, but with a practical slant I hope.

How to make a hefty dinghy moveable ashore, singlehanded? I've pushed enough cars out of mud-holes and snowy patches to know I can shove usefully from astern, but that's no good if the front of the vehicle doesn't have wheels...like most dinghy trollies.

A jockey-wheel must be the answer, and oh my lord, there are plenty on the market...but none of them look like they'd attach easily to the types of trollies I've used in the past...

...most of which had a lateral, horizontal, 2" tubular cross-bar at the front. How can that make a secure join to something like this?

View attachment 29725
Click to expand...

If it is just a trolley you do not need an expensive screw jack type jockey wheel. We have recently made a couple of launching trolleys and fitted castoring
type wheels. These can be found in all sorts of places ready mounted on a flange which is easily welded to the frame.


Like this

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/6-Inch-Sw...pply_Material_Handling_ET&hash=item3f1c0393dd


Or this.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-x-260mm...pply_Material_Handling_ET&hash=item337bc1b9a2

.
 
I had a similar problem as I have a pair of the stainless drop down wheels on my dinghy transom and got fed up having to lift the front to pull it along so I fixed a 10" castor on a large piece of plastic, a bit bigger than a breadboard, and added a loop to it. Now I just lift the front of the dinghy, put the painter through the loop, then put the platform under the front of the dinghy and it fits between the tubes in the V at the front. Take it out when launching and it sits in the front out of the way.

Downside is the thing goes where it wants when you stop and you have to watch it on the launch ramp as it tries to run you down if you aren't careful.

I got one of the 10" semi-pneumatic wheels that are puncture proof like the second link about but sort of spongey, and one advantage of sailing on a lake is it should take a good while to rust away.
 
Dancrane
sorry to discourage your project but, as William H explained very well, to move a one axis trailer by hand is better done pulling by the front, with a large handle lower than waist height, pulling and lifting at the same time, looking backwards.
Pushing will only bury the little towbar wheel in the ground.
This I learned for many years from my trailer with my Drascombe Dabber on top - almost 500 kg all included.
A small wheel is nonetheless a boon on smooth ground (garage floor) and a purchase with blocks - I use the tough mainsail sheet of the Dabber - can be used if a strong fixed point is available onshore.
I also fitted my car with a front hitch that can be useful in some istances.
I also am mainly singlehanded.

Good luck

Sandro
 
Hmm. Thank you for these replies. The discouraging bit is convincing, I regret to admit. But isn't it related to the angle of the load that is being pushed? So, if I used a tallish post on the jockey wheel, so that the boat was almost horizontal on its single axle, and I shoved horizontally at the transom, surely I wouldn't be pressuring the jockey-wheel downward into the soft surface ahead?

I suppose ideally, I'd keep the boat perfectly balanced on the single axle, with the jockey wheel only being there to prevent sudden nose-dives.

Having seen a great many overgrown dinghy parks and squidgy launch-areas, I wonder if it isn't high-time for a revolutionary improvement in trolley-design...

...perhaps with big wheels - like mountain bikes - which aren't so easily halted by soft mud and low curbs? If the axle was a foot wider than the boat, big wheels wouldn't have to mean a weirdly elevated load. Otherwise I'd be coming close to recommending something like a Victorian bathing machine...:rolleyes:
 
dancrane said:
Thanks, I like the latter, 10" pneumatic variety.
Click to expand...

The only problem with this one is that its buoyancy can be counter productive it the launching trolley is light.....Especially when trying to get the boat back on the trolley!!!!!!! Done that got the tee shirt:) No problem on a heavy trolley or a weighted one.
 
I had this arrangement for launching my clinker dinghy. OK, it didn't steer, but a yank would re-direct it. I later replaced it with an 8" wheelbarrow wheel.

launchtrolley01.jpg


see how easy it is.


 
Last edited:
That's pure class, Lakesailor. I want a set-up like that. And an MP3 download to play that same music while I'm using it...

...or perhaps a team of Hill's Angels to pull the boat out? ;)
 
[if I used a tallish post on the jockey wheel, so that the boat was almost horizontal on its single axle, and I shoved horizontally at the transom, surely I wouldn't be pressuring the jockey-wheel downward into the soft surface ahead?]

In theory yes BUT if you push horizontally say at shoulder level a momentum is born turning the nose down, in an ideal world you should push horizontally at ground level. Moreover when one has to push hard and his own weight is not enough, he must brace his feet also vertically down on the ground thus bracing himself against the boat transom/trailer raising the stern and lowering the stem.
By the way my trailer of which in my previous post is a road one, so heavier than a launching.

Good sailing

Sandro
 
Google "Trident UK trolley nose wheel deluxe" to see how the professionals do it when necessary, eg as an option on their Wayfarer trolley. Even better get one of their excellent trolleys (I have bought 2 of them in the past)
 
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