Electric trailer jacks-help with comments

I installed the Atwood with my Fastway Flip foot today. Works great. As far as noise, the only thing I have to compare it to is the winch on my atv. It's quieter than that. Doesn't seem annoying at all.

I plan on getting one tomorrow. I've had six surgeries on my left arm and shoulder over the years and found out this weekend it's a bear to crank it up to get the stabilizing system on. Glad I read this post and I took notes!

My only real experience with an electric tongue jack is the one I now own… it is a Barker, has a 2-1/4" diameter post, 3,500 lb. capacity and 24" stroke… it was originally on my Terry resort, then on my new Sunnybrook and now on my Hornet… I don’t know how long it was on my Terry but I bought my new Sunnybrook in 2000…

I can assure you it can lift the tongue and the rear TV weight well beyond off-loading the compressed springs…

Another electric jack I have I don’t even know who made it, but it’s only 2500 lb.…. the plan for it was/is to build an electric mobility scooter lift platform… I just haven’t found the roundtuit yet…

I'm going to go with the Atwood 80718. Great reviews, price is between the cheapies and spendy ones, free shipping from Amazon and made in the USA! It appears to be a new model so maybe the noise has been addressed, but that isn't an issue for me as I won't be using it early in the day.

Dog Folks wrote:

EldIr wrote:
I ask because budget has me leaning towards a less expensive Ultra Fab gambling that I'll get a good one that will last a while yet knowing I can still operate it manually if need be.

You can manually crank...maybe. When our last Ultra Fab failed, I hit the down switch, got a loud bang and the trailer tongue dropped straight down! The jack failed completely! As luck would have it, the truck ball was in position so the tongue only dropped on the ball. We did not at the time, have an alternative jack. We do now.

I had my old manual jack under the queen bed just for instances like this. I was happy with my ultra-fab but I used it for less than one season.

Thanks

EldIr wrote:
I ask because budget has me leaning towards a less expensive Ultra Fab gambling that I'll get a good one that will last a while yet knowing I can still operate it manually if need be.

You can manually crank...maybe. When our last Ultra Fab failed, I hit the down switch, got a loud bang and the trailer tongue dropped straight down! The jack failed completely! As luck would have it, the truck ball was in position so the tongue only dropped on the ball. We did not at the time, have an alternative jack. We do now.

I think there is some confusion about raising the tt/tv combo to hook/unhook the bars. Doing this, the rear springs on the tv are helping lift. They've been compressed by the weight of the tongue. It's not harder lifting those few inches when hooked than lifting the unhooked tongue. If you doubt that, go back to a manual jack and it's much easier to crank up a couple inches when hooked than it is to lift the tongue free of the hitch. At least it is with my rig.

On a related note, my 20 year old manual jack stripped out the last trip so I am also in the market for an electric jack. One question I'm not sure I've seen answered is if it's harder to manually crank an electric jack if it fails than a plain manual jack. I ask because budget has me leaning towards a less expensive Ultra Fab gambling that I'll get a good one that will last a while yet knowing I can still operate it manually if need be.

renojack wrote:
My current electric jack is about to quit (Ufab). It has become wobbly and clicks or skips every so often as it inclines.

I am considering a Barker VIP 3500 capacity for about $240 from Amazon or the Husky Brute 4500 Capacity, for about $206 both free ship and both 2.25 posts.

Everyone really praises Barker, but I can't find much about Husky because maybe it is new?

Any experience with either is appreciated.

Is 1000 lb. capacity drop worth the Barker name. My tongue weight is about 1200 lbs. hooked to a 3/4 T Suburban and using an Andersen hitch which requires some lifting to get the chains off. Both tout ball bearing quiet operation.

Thanks for the input if you have it.

Our Husky is three years old now, without a problem. Before we got it we went through TWO Ultra Fabs.

We were on the road at the time and stopped in at an independent RV dealer. He sold only Huskys as he has had many bad experiences with other brands. We are glad we bought ours.

I also have the Bulldog 4000# with an equalizer type hitch, meaning that when I unhook, I have to lift the tongue while attached to the ball to get the equalizer bars off the hanger. That raises both the trailer front & the back of the pick-up. Have used this on two winter trips and a one year around the USA trip, BUT just recently it stopped extending the entire way (18" originally, now only about 12" or so). I asked a tech about it and he thinks the scew shaft may have bent or is binding at 12". It is still under that 5 year warranty and I will be contacting Bulldog shortly. Otherwise totally happy with it, and it doesn't require lubrication which I also like.
My suggestion with equalizer type hitches is to get the heaviest jack you can.

Bulldog 4000(made by Fulton) has a 5 year warranty. Quiet and has worked well for me. Barker has great reputation for customer service.