Buying Advice Need a tractor to move my docks!

[boggen]

custom made cheap mini trailer...perhaps boat trailer or i should say, dolly with caster wheels.

two, 2x6's 20 foot long, some cross members below that. to attach caster wheels to. ((guessing a larger rubber caster wheels)) some eye bolts or like for tie down or lifting points.

let the dolly go down into the water, float a dock on to it. pull it up and out. and then turn tractor around for use of 3pt hitch forks. (lift both dolly and dock) up as a single unit. if need be set down were needed, and push it about with FEL or edge end of a fork. you would need a dolly for each dock.

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running gear = the metal frame work and wheels, that are under hay wagons. add a couple extra frame work out each side. (no deck) might be an option, 2 docks per unit. over winter. (just leave docks on the running gear.)

 

[legrandice]

WOW! I never expected this level of feedback. I appreceiate all of the information. Let me add some pictures to the mix. I am able to lift and move all of the dock sections with the ingersoll 6018. Not the smartest thing to do..but it can be done. I have a lot of counterweight on the back and use the bucket to hold the dock so it does not move while moving. I lift all of them from the top using a 4x4 spreader and lifting straps. I am very aware that i am lifting way above what my tractor is capable of, no people are around the sections while in the air. The ground is very level field. It drains very well and is solid.

I have about 5 different sections that I lift. The largest has:
4 2x10x20
40 2x6x8
2 2x10x12
3 float tanks (50lbs each)
hardware: 40lbs

I have sorted this out to be around 1000lbs. The wood is all PT but dried in the sun for a summer.


medium weight section being lifted onto horses


lightest section being moved


sections on trailer

 

[legrandice]

In reading all of the replies I have gone back to the drawing board. There are a lot of factors at work here.

I am going to try and borrow a scale and get an actual weight on the heavy dock sections (not pictured).

I am also going to see what the upgrade cost on a trailer is.

The launch ramp we use is VERY steep. I need to lift the sections on and off the trailer pictured and launch them that way. I have 14 dock sections.

I have used my 6018 to lift an move the sections, so either it can lift WAY more than listed...or the sections are lighter.

Perhaps I will bring a dock section to the tractor dealer and see how it really works.

I agree that a 2300lb tractor should not be able to lift 1000lb docks.

research...research..research...then spending money!!

 

[legrandice]

My current trailer is a Worthington aluminum 6x10 3500lb axle. Weight of trailer is 450lbs. It has wood sides and is a tilt trailer.

 

[legrandice]

View attachment 391090
custom made cheap mini trailer...perhaps boat trailer or i should say, dolly with caster wheels.

two, 2x6's 20 foot long, some cross members below that. to attach caster wheels to. ((guessing a larger rubber caster wheels)) some eye bolts or like for tie down or lifting points.

let the dolly go down into the water, float a dock on to it. pull it up and out. and then turn tractor around for use of 3pt hitch forks. (lift both dolly and dock) up as a single unit. if need be set down were needed, and push it about with FEL or edge end of a fork. you would need a dolly for each dock.

===========
running gear = the metal frame work and wheels, that are under hay wagons. add a couple extra frame work out each side. (no deck) might be an option, 2 docks per unit. over winter. (just leave docks on the running gear.)

I like the idea, but our launch ramp is very steep and I fear that this design would be hard to control going down the ramp. We have to move the docks about 500 yards down a road to the ramp. I also have 14 dock sections.

 

[s219]

Have you thought about building wheels into the dock sections? (either on one end, or all 4 corners). Could be permanent or removable (so you could potentially share a set of wheels for all dock sections). I used to see that done a lot back up North. That way you can either tow them or just have to elevate one end to move around.

You really want to have a tandem axle trailer with brakes to tow most tractors of size (including the little Mahindra). And you want the deck to be long enough that you can move the tractor forward/rearward until you get the proper tongue weight.

Without brakes or tandem axles, you'd end up having an unbalanced, unstable, unstoppable rig if towing a tractor on your current trailer.

An earlier post said it best -- don't let the trailer dictate the tractor.

 

[boggen]

have similar type of dock and a raft. i leave them in in the water year round. i put a gallon of RV anti freeze into each 50 gallon drum, and a couple gallons of water. (what ever got me around 0 to 10F degrees. ) and got me about 3 to 4 gallons of fluid in each drum. (helps stabilize the dock and raft when in the water). the lumber that makes up the dock and raft, seat roughly 1 to 3 inches up off the water. (on raft i have fold down latter, that side has more weight so that one side sets a tad closer to the water). i don't have a problem with the drums freezing solid and being crushed. they just set there. granted i am on a private lake.

i could see issue if on a river. and having bigger waves from speed boats and like lifting the docks, and possibly causing the straps to come un done. then again. the strap i had to hold the 50 gallon drums, only lasted long enough, so i could flip them over, after initially making them, and slide them into the water.

temps here get -10F for up to a week in coldest part of winter. but norm more like 0 F degrees. and have not had problems for yikes 4 plus years now? maybe more *i forget when i made them it has been a few years all i remember*

 

[DuckSlayer1017]

Have you thought about building wheels into the dock sections? (either on one end, or all 4 corners). Could be permanent or removable (so you could potentially share a set of wheels for all dock sections). I used to see that done a lot back up North. That way you can either tow them or just have to elevate one end to move around.

You really want to have a tandem axle trailer with brakes to tow most tractors of size (including the little Mahindra). And you want the deck to be long enough that you can move the tractor forward/rearward until you get the proper tongue weight.

Without brakes or tandem axles, you'd end up having an unbalanced, unstable, unstoppable rig if towing a tractor on your current trailer.

An earlier post said it best -- don't let the trailer dictate the tractor.

S219 has a good idea. If you didn't want to leave wheels on all the time you could get two axles made up with wheels. Roll them into the water, float the dock over the axles and roll it out. Kinda the same idea as the running gear but may be easier.

 

[boggen]

google "atv log skidder" then click on images. there are a huge amount of different styles out there.
Northern Industrial Tools ATV Log Skid Arch and Holder | Log Skidding| Northern Tool + Equipment

one end = set of wheels and a tounge to connect to back of truck or tractor.
other end = set of wheels. that you roll over the log. to other end of it, and then chain/lift the log up. and off you go, with entire log off the ground.

it looks like you have plenty of metal end tabs on the pictures posted. so you can connect each section together while in water. figure something out, to use same metal braces / tabs for some wheels.

as long as the wheels do not spin like caster wheels in above doing. it should pull just like a hay wagon or like.

 

[legrandice]

The ice where we are moves around quite a bit. That along with the spring floods where the water rises 10-15 feet would crush my docks. Everyone in our section of the river takes them out.

have similar type of dock and a raft. i leave them in in the water year round. i put a gallon of RV anti freeze into each 50 gallon drum, and a couple gallons of water. (what ever got me around 0 to 10F degrees. ) and got me about 3 to 4 gallons of fluid in each drum. (helps stabilize the dock and raft when in the water). the lumber that makes up the dock and raft, seat roughly 1 to 3 inches up off the water. (on raft i have fold down latter, that side has more weight so that one side sets a tad closer to the water). i don't have a problem with the drums freezing solid and being crushed. they just set there. granted i am on a private lake.

i could see issue if on a river. and having bigger waves from speed boats and like lifting the docks, and possibly causing the straps to come un done. then again. the strap i had to hold the 50 gallon drums, only lasted long enough, so i could flip them over, after initially making them, and slide them into the water.

temps here get -10F for up to a week in coldest part of winter. but norm more like 0 F degrees. and have not had problems for yikes 4 plus years now? maybe more *i forget when i made them it has been a few years all i remember*