How to move a 5th wheel that has no wheels.

[TheLandYacht]

So. A little background.

Some dummy (insert my name here) decided to boondock his (80's model) 5th wheel, block it up...then had the brilliant idea of removing the wheels.

Then this same dummy built a 30 foot porch/extra room/etc on one side...close enough that it's impossible to get the wheels back on that side.

Is there such a thing as a "car dolly" for travel trailers? It doesn't need to be moved far on the dolly, just far enough out that we can get the wheels on it.

Thoughts? And yes, I know the first thought will be "what a dumbass".

[TheLandYacht]

Yep. Lesson learned

[schlep1967]

Glad you got it done. Next time I would leave the wheels on! Even if the tires go flat you can still roll it out to work on it.

[TheLandYacht]

Well with a combination of yanking it sideways... wasn't able to get it more than about 8 or 10 inches... and crawling under there with Jacks and blocks, and digging underneath where the wheels were supposed to go... I was finally able to get the wheels on.

Sorry, no pictures. Was too busy sweating my ass off.

[Dave_H_M]

do a mod on the porch with a chain saw.

repair your handy work later.

[schlep1967]

TheLandYacht wrote:
Well wish us luck, all. We'll be going with the "jack it up & (try to) slide it sideways with a come-along" plan on Thursday.

Worst case scenario, we bork up the frame of the trailer. The consensus seems to be it'll still be "rollable", even if we bork the frame & make it non-road-worthy. It's just going to another section of the property, so I don't really care.

And the results are?

[Sport45]

Have you tried crawling under there with a jack and tire to see if it would fit? Might have to dig a little under the edge of the patio, but it just might work.

[TheLandYacht]

Well wish us luck, all. We'll be going with the "jack it up & (try to) slide it sideways with a come-along" plan on Thursday.

Worst case scenario, we bork up the frame of the trailer. The consensus seems to be it'll still be "rollable", even if we bork the frame & make it non-road-worthy. It's just going to another section of the property, so I don't really care.

[mkirsch]

Look, it's got to move sideways some before you can move it forward. Otherwise you're just going to tear the permanent structure up trying to slide the trailer past it.

Like I said a week ago, some good planks, a couple of heavy floor jacks, and a comealong are all you need. Lay the planks parallel to the axles to act as a track. Put one floor jack under each side, with the wheels rolling along the planks. Jack the trailer up. Pull the trailer sideways with the comealong, rolling on the jacks.

You don't need to move the trailer 2 feet. I could get the wheels in there with only 6", but it will move so easily you could do the full 2 feet if you wanted.

[TheLandYacht]

qtla9111 wrote:
Do you have a picture to share? It would be interesting to see.

Here you go.
Pictures

[Grit_dog]

Know anyone nearby like a farmer with a forklift or forks with extensions on a tractor?
Presuming the frame hangs down a bit you could pick one end up,back it out a bit, then pick up the other end and do the same. Use the forks to raise it to block it up and put wheels back on?

[qtla9111]

Do you have a picture to share? It would be interesting to see.

[Sport45]

Can you fab up a skid of some kind to lower the axles onto and just drag it out?

[TheLandYacht]

discovery4us wrote:
You can also consider going up. How high would you need to go to get above the deck to allow installation of one tire?

A LOT further than practical. The center of the axle is nearly 16" below the floor level of the deck. And we'd have to raise it enough to not only make the axle accessible, but get the wheel on there too...talking what, 2 maybe 2.5ft (more) rise?

[TheLandYacht]

Grit dog wrote:

TheLandYacht wrote:

Grit dog wrote:
Gas can and match?
Tear down the porch/redneck atrium? What good is it if you're hauling the camper away?

Always has to be one in every bunch.

Answer: Because the value of the porch is something on the order of 3x that of the RV...in materials cost alone.

Also because "something else" will be taking the RV's place. Currently leaning toward a "tiny house", but that's as yet to be determined. So there's a good chance the porch and "redneck atrium", AKA the utility/laundry/etc room...will be just as useful in the new configuration.

Sorry dude. First comment was tongue in cheek.
My appumption about the porch was wrong. I apologize. I didn't realize it was finished living space.
Is the camper worth anything or could you just find some ole boy with a big truck or tractor to hook on and drag/skid out of the way? Then it's easy to jack/block it up and get some wheels on it.

Hmmm...a thought. It IS over 3 decades old. It does NOT need to ever move reliably down the road again. That's the reason I took the wheels off of it to begin with. My thoughts went something like "Well, it's boon-docked permanently, don't need these wheels in the way".

However, we need to at least set it up temporarily after, as it'll be our "porta-potty" until we get at least the plumbing built into the new space. What are the chances that "dragging it out of there" would damage things enough to prevent that use?

It needs to move either SIDEWAYS about 2 feet...or FORWARD about 16 feet in order to make the axles accessible.

Then it'll get moved to its new (semi)permanent home on the back side of the property (so we can use its facilities), about a quarter-acre away. After we build in the new building...we'll strip anything of value, then it's essentially scrap. Only paid $2k for it & got 2+ years worth of living out of it, I'd say it paid for itself.