Still going round and round on what will be the "final" RV for retirement. We were going to go with another Moho, but have decided to keep the dually and TC and just add another, either a 5er or TT, I'm leaning to a 5er for the better towing. If we go with a 5er I need some way to bring the Harley along.I've looked at the Idaho tote and the swivel wheels platforms. Anyone have one? How does it perform?

Man! That's an expensive trailer.

Idaho Tote isn’t a trailer in the same way a booster axle on a concrete mixer or dump truck is not a trailer. It’s a platform with a self steering axle that auto adjusts its caster angle for reversing without needing to be raised. It does not trail by a single hitch point it attaches to the frame at two points.

I've used a SmartTrailer which is a swivelwheel type trailer to carry a couple bikes. I had one several years back and it does work very well. It does enable you to back up with no issues. Mine had two wheels, not the single wheel. Whether it is viewed as a second trailer depends on the DMV of the state you're in and, more importantly, what the LEO thinks. It will add quite a bit of length and, of more concern, adds a lot of "swing" of the rear. Some states consider any add-on trailer to be a second trailer if it can be removed. No way to tell for sure.FWIW I pulled our 5th wheel with swivlewheel through several eastern states that don't allow double tow, and was never stopped. Like Dirty Harry says "Do you feel lucky?". :)

mountainkowboy, I see you list SoCal and Oregon. I believe you will find Oregon is a state that you can't use an Idaho Tote type equipment.

mountainkowboy wrote:Still going round and round on what will be the "final" RV for retirement. We were going to go with another Moho, but have decided to keep the dually and TC and just add another, either a 5er or TT, I'm leaning to a 5er for the better towing. If we go with a 5er I need some way to bring the Harley along.I've looked at the Idaho tote and the swivel wheels platforms. Anyone have one? How does it perform?What about a 5'er toyhauler ?

Anyone use a swivel wheel platform? | Good Sam Community

Cummins12V98
Explorer III
Apr 25, 2020
mountainkowboy wrote:
Cummins12V98 wrote:
OP, I see you are in NW OR. One option depending on where you travel is to just double tow. Take MC Trailer across Border and then hook n go. Or do as I do and simply double tow in WA, OR and CA plus all the other West Freedom States.

I have a Kendon stand up trailer that is AWESOME!!!

NE Oregon, Wallowa Valley. Trailer wont work for us, but yes they make an excellent trailer.

Oops, yes NE that’s why I suggested the trailer.
mountainkowboy
Explorer
Apr 25, 2020
Cummins12V98 wrote:
OP, I see you are in NW OR. One option depending on where you travel is to just double tow. Take MC Trailer across Border and then hook n go. Or do as I do and simply double tow in WA, OR and CA plus all the other West Freedom States.

I have a Kendon stand up trailer that is AWESOME!!!

NE Oregon, Wallowa Valley. Trailer wont work for us, but yes they make an excellent trailer.
mountainkowboy
Explorer
Apr 25, 2020
VoodooMedicineMan wrote:
I went with one of these

An 87 FLHTP is 800 pounds
mountainkowboy
Explorer
Apr 25, 2020
bukhrn wrote:
mountainkowboy wrote:
Still going round and round on what will be the "final" RV for retirement. We were going to go with another Moho, but have decided to keep the dually and TC and just add another, either a 5er or TT, I'm leaning to a 5er for the better towing. If we go with a 5er I need some way to bring the Harley along.

I've looked at the Idaho tote and the swivel wheels platforms.

Anyone have one? How does it perform?
What about a 5'er toyhauler ?

I can't find a TH that I like....they are to "desert toy" oriented for us. Plus the Harley won't always go with us.
valhalla360
Navigator
Apr 24, 2020
laknox wrote:

My "hitch guy" here in town, mounted a swivel wheel on the back of a customer's FW and ended up taking it off due to poor handling. Guy didn't want to add weight to the nose, as he was already close to his GVW.

I suppose you could build your own swivel-wheel and mount the wheels a bit forward, then load over them, to reduce the weight on the FW. Not sure how it'd handle, though.

Lyle

Swivel wheel trailer is much better as only around 50% goes on the back of the 5er. With a lift, it's 100% plus the example was a big heavy structure in itself.

I did see one swivel wheel where they effectively had two axles (4 swivel wheels) and claimed hitch weight (on the 5er) was negligible.
bob_nestor
Explorer III
Apr 24, 2020
I looked at doing a hitch mounted carrier for my motorcycle, but didn't like the weight calculations related to the Moment Arm. Some of the reputable motorcycle carrier manufacturers won't even do one for anything but a larger Class A. The two main problems they worry about are frame extensions and the Moment Arm which unloads the front end of the vehicle or 5th wheel.

I used a small motorcycle trailer for a few years, but pulling a trailer has some limitations such as being able to easily back up.

So I ended up with a Swivel Wheel trailer that I bought from CruiserLift (FastMaster), a trailer manufacturer in Katy, Tx. Visited their shop, talked with the owner who had one set up for me to look at, and ended up buying it. He and I talked a lot about the engineering of the trailer and some of the problems people run into with it. The biggest problem is poor handling caused by improper mounting - the trailer should be mounted with the hitch side lower than the wheel side so the trailer is always tracking by "going downhill towards the towing vehicle". I towed my new purchase back home behind a 2-DR Jeep Wrangler which was sometimes squirrely when towing my old trailer, but the swivel wheel tracked behind the Jeep like it was on rails.
Cummins12V98
Explorer III
Apr 24, 2020
OP, I see you are in NW OR. One option depending on where you travel is to just double tow. Take MC Trailer across Border and then hook n go. Or do as I do and simply double tow in WA, OR and CA plus all the other West Freedom States.

I have a Kendon stand up trailer that is AWESOME!!!
Cummins12V98
Explorer III
Apr 24, 2020
VoodooMedicineMan wrote:
I went with one of these

Looks to be a front mount receiver. Are you saying to carry a Harley at 800#+ in front of your trucks radiator?

So then are you going to re mount your turn signals and headlights? What about blocking off most of the air flow?

Also what about the vertical load 500# rating?
laknox
Nomad
Apr 24, 2020
valhalla360 wrote:
laknox wrote:
Someone here made a really nice hydraulic lift for their bike. Beefed up the FW frame aft of the axles, IIRC, and installed it. Lots of pics and they've been posted several times. One pic shows it strapped to his front end loader to test, prior to paint and install.

If it's the one I'm thinking of, he was also looking to put several hundred pounds of lead shot in the nose because it was tail heavy and swaying.

My "hitch guy" here in town, mounted a swivel wheel on the back of a customer's FW and ended up taking it off due to poor handling. Guy didn't want to add weight to the nose, as he was already close to his GVW.

I suppose you could build your own swivel-wheel and mount the wheels a bit forward, then load over them, to reduce the weight on the FW. Not sure how it'd handle, though.

Lyle
VoodooMedicineM
Explorer
Apr 24, 2020
I have a 500 Harley