it's your age boy!

dalenoel wrote:
My Hensley is done without bars to lift and I use the cordless drill to do all of the lifting. Along with an electric tongue jack it all can be done one handed by a 10 year old.

I'm a Hensley owner and agree. However, the "stinger" that connects the hitch to the truck is darned heavy. Of course, I have a big drop "stinger". If little to no drop is required, it would be a bit lighter.

Mike

Back problems have been an issue for me also.

With my Blue Ox hitch, I connect the trailer and I crank the combo up a few inches above level and the chains rotate into the locked position with a minimal effort.

Be careful not to raise it too high or you will overstrain the tongue jack.

Here is one Posters resolution........LINK

My Hensley is done without bars to lift and I use the cordless drill to do all of the lifting. Along with an electric tongue jack it all can be done one handed by a 10 year old.

I always like the Equal-i-zer because you don't have to remove the bars. You can just push them up against the tow vehicle. No lifting at all, except of course for the initial trip prep. You can even secure them to the hitch head with locks.

Of the three hitches that I have, the most dificult would be the Drawtite with 1200 lb trunion bars and snap up brackets. All the parts are dirty and heavy. Lots of up and down inserting the bars. Then adding a sway bar, or two. Pulling on snap up bar can strain your back.

The other two (Andersen and Blue Ox sway Pro), the one that requires the least amount of bending is, the Blue Ox. Hitch head is haevy, trunion bars are somewhat lite and easy to slip into position. Chain tension is done with one pull (each side) on the wrench. Pretty much like snap up brackets, except, the lifting can be done with your legs, instead of your back. This one is cleaner than the drawtite. Greasing for the trunions bars, is done (with a grease gun) through grease zerks in the hitch head.

The one that is the lightest and easiest to lift / slide into the receiver is, the Andersen. This one is also the cleanest, as there is NO lubrication of any kind. Chain tightening requires bending and pulling on a wrench or ratchet handle. This one would probably be best for a bad back. After coupling truck / trailer and lifting with the tongue jack, one could sit (on a bucket, stool, or the ground) and finish the hook up, with a long handled ratchet and maybe an extension. Drawback to the Andersen is, it is a little soft on weight distribution. Depending on your truck / trailer combination, it may not transfer enough weight.

Use of the tongue jack, to raise trailer / truck, is required with all of them.

Use of an extension on the wrench / snap up bar, or ratchet handle, makes the job easier.

How about an Anderson hitch? No bars.

clicky
I think this might be easier on your back as far as bar hook up.

It may be kind of an expensive fix, but a FW is much easier to connect/disconnect than a TT.

Works for this old boy!

Jerry

I know what you mean...it's getting tougher and tougher to bend, crawl and other movements required to do the things we need to do around TT.

I found that by using the electric tongue jack to raise and lower the trailer once the hitch is latched--- you can make it easier to flip or release the bars into place by taking the load off of the hitch.

That's about as easy as it gets without going to a 5th wheel or MH.