2-speed landing leg motor

[laknox]

It occurred to me that I've never seen, or even heard about, anyone making (even homebuilt) a 2-speed landing leg system. I think it would be very handy for those of us who might do a lot of boondocking, where parking is anything but level. Not necessarily an auto-shifting gearbox, but one that would allow faster extension/retraction when there's no weight on the legs. Just a thought...

Lyle

[bucky]

^^^^^^^Darn good idea^^^^^^^^^^^^^

[You_can_t_take_]

laknox wrote:

the bear II wrote:
Just a thought .... Why ???

It only takes a few minutes for my landing gear to deploy or retract under full weight. No need to save a minute or so with a two speed.

Mostly 'cause there's other stuff I need to do to set up or tear down during the 4-5 minutes it takes to extend/retract the legs on an unlevel site. The site we go to for our boondocker means that I have to extend the legs nearly 2' to have enough room to drop the nose back to level without running them all the way in. As I said, it was just a thought...

Lyle

I drilled two small holes in the side of the rocker switch on my Cougar. One on the 'up' and one on the 'down' side (while the battery was disconnected and the switch was being pushed in). Then I modified a small allen key to fit on my key ring. I inserted the short leg of the allen key into the drilled holes (up or down) as necessary while the legs were powered and I could do something else while waiting (like blocking the wheels etc.). Just make sure you stay close and DO NOT get distracted!!

[adayjk]

Assuming it is hydraulic, a properly built circuit and pump should solve the problem. Extending (and retracting) without load have little to do with pressure, and more to do with volume. Ie big pump parts and big lines. The pressure required for the actual lifting has more to do with mechanical advantage. Its high psi at low volume to generate the forces required.

The thing just needs one expensive pump and line upgrade. Pre charging an accumulator near each cylinder would serve much the same function. The control strategy would have to be intelligent enough to make sure the accumulators were charged while humans weren't waiting.

Your complaint is similar to ones I've heard from delivery drivers that use a lift gate.

[laknox]

NC Hauler wrote:

ChopperBill wrote:

laknox wrote:
It occurred to me that I've never seen, or even heard about, anyone making (even homebuilt) a 2-speed landing leg system. I think it would be very handy for those of us who might do a lot of boondocking, where parking is anything but level. Not necessarily an auto-shifting gearbox, but one that would allow faster extension/retraction when there's no weight on the legs. Just a thought...

Lyle

Looks to me like you are a good candidate for the hydraulic conversion kit. Out prior unit had hydraulics, sure is not fun going back to electric.

Why? I've had both, and other than deploying faster, there really isn't that much of a difference between the two types...we're talking a couple of minutes difference, if that much. More to keep hydraulics trouble free than electric...at least that has been my experience.


Again, it's just a couple of minutes out of a camping trip...not that big of a deal if front jacks are a little slower...

IF jack, once load is on them get slower, have you thought about checking to make sure batteries are fully charged?

I jack my trailer plugged into my truck, usually with the engine running, so batteries aren't an issue. As I said, it was just a thought...

Lyle

[NC_Hauler]

ChopperBill wrote:

laknox wrote:
It occurred to me that I've never seen, or even heard about, anyone making (even homebuilt) a 2-speed landing leg system. I think it would be very handy for those of us who might do a lot of boondocking, where parking is anything but level. Not necessarily an auto-shifting gearbox, but one that would allow faster extension/retraction when there's no weight on the legs. Just a thought...

Lyle

Looks to me like you are a good candidate for the hydraulic conversion kit. Out prior unit had hydraulics, sure is not fun going back to electric.

Why? I've had both, and other than deploying faster, there really isn't that much of a difference between the two types...we're talking a couple of minutes difference, if that much. More to keep hydraulics trouble free than electric...at least that has been my experience.


Again, it's just a couple of minutes out of a camping trip...not that big of a deal if front jacks are a little slower...

IF jack, once load is on them get slower, have you thought about checking to make sure batteries are fully charged?

[bpounds]

the bear II wrote:
Ok understand...Here's what I did for a spot we often visited. I built two 1 foot high platforms using 12" long 2X4 s stacked log cabin style with a piece of 1" plywood on top. These went under each landing gear pad. This allowed me to raise the 5th wheel up as high as I needed to get unhitched and still lower enough to hitch up.

Nice thought, but his example was dropping the front lower, not higher. I've had the same issue multiple times when the site slopes downward toward the rear. Sometimes the pinbox ends up down around thigh high to get leveled.

I think it would be a good idea Lyle. In fact, you could probably use the high speed even when lowering with the weight on the legs, since gravity is then your friend. It gets pretty boring standing there with my finger on the toggle switch. I'm afraid it would cost the manufacturer an extra $10, so probably ain't gonna happen.

[fj12ryder]

That's one of the things I miss most about our hydraulic landing gear: speedy raising and lowering. And ours sounds like it's about to grind to a halt when the trailer starts getting close to level, it goes soooo sloooow. When we first got our toyhauler I thought there was something wrong with it because it moved so slowly. I would love a 2-speed gearbox.

[laknox]

ChopperBill wrote:

laknox wrote:
It occurred to me that I've never seen, or even heard about, anyone making (even homebuilt) a 2-speed landing leg system. I think it would be very handy for those of us who might do a lot of boondocking, where parking is anything but level. Not necessarily an auto-shifting gearbox, but one that would allow faster extension/retraction when there's no weight on the legs. Just a thought...

Lyle

Looks to me like you are a good candidate for the hydraulic conversion kit. Out prior unit had hydraulics, sure is not fun going back to electric.

Not on a 10 y.o. FW! 🙂 Personally, I like the electrics more than the hydros. I've ingested and bathed in enough hydro fluid to last a lifetime; I don't really want to deal with any more. 🙂

Lyle

[FlatBroke]

laknox wrote:
It occurred to me that I've never seen, or even heard about, anyone making (even homebuilt) a 2-speed landing leg system. I think it would be very handy for those of us who might do a lot of boondocking, where parking is anything but level. Not necessarily an auto-shifting gearbox, but one that would allow faster extension/retraction when there's no weight on the legs. Just a thought...

Lyle

Looks to me like you are a good candidate for the hydraulic conversion kit. Out prior unit had hydraulics, sure is not fun going back to electric.

[the_bear_II]

Ok understand...Here's what I did for a spot we often visited. I built two 1 foot high platforms using 12" long 2X4 s stacked log cabin style with a piece of 1" plywood on top. These went under each landing gear pad. This allowed me to raise the 5th wheel up as high as I needed to get unhitched and still lower enough to hitch up.

[laknox]

the bear II wrote:
Just a thought .... Why ???

It only takes a few minutes for my landing gear to deploy or retract under full weight. No need to save a minute or so with a two speed.

Mostly 'cause there's other stuff I need to do to set up or tear down during the 4-5 minutes it takes to extend/retract the legs on an unlevel site. The site we go to for our boondocker means that I have to extend the legs nearly 2' to have enough room to drop the nose back to level without running them all the way in. As I said, it was just a thought...

Lyle

[the_bear_II]

Just a thought .... Why ???

It only takes a few minutes for my landing gear to deploy or retract under full weight. No need to save a minute or so with a two speed.