Trailer Mover

[Firefighter615]

I have a boat and trailer that sets on gravel and is very hard to move by my self. I have wanted a lawn tractor to fab up a ball mount on it to be able to move the trailer much easier. Well as luck would have it my friend has an older Deutz Allis Model 512G lawn tractor that he said needed some work and if I wanted it to come pick it up for FREE. Well the price was right and the carb was gunked up so after fiddling with it I got it to run very well so I thought what better tractor to put the ball mount on so I started fabricating it today and this is what I ended up with.

Thanks for looking, if you have any suggestions please let me know how I can make this better.

Thanks again.

[tanglediver]

Ball mounts, even for a lawn tractor, need to be solidly built. I am guessing that your ball-mount bent after its first use. I make ball mounts and hitches occasionally, and I consider your material choice to be too thin to last very long. The actual plate for a good ball mount, even on a small tractor should be closer to, or more than 1/2" thick. But the bracketing must also be sized accordingly. It always pays to keep the structure as simple as possible, but beefy enough to handle more than you expect it to see.
You could incorporate a receiver style hitch, I have seen them smaller than 2 inch versions, such as 1&1/4 inch. That makes it possible to attach other devices that come in handy
Is it bolted or welded at the point it attaches to the tractor?

[Weldordie]

Don't know what you've got for tongue weight on that boat trailer, but you might consider putting the ball on the back of the mower. Steering/suspension on the front of that mower is pretty light to carry much more than the mower. Better traction if on back, also.

Towing a man lift around the yard was a real challenge for my little Snapper rider, but towing on the front wouldn't have been possible.

[markfuga]

The major weak point that I see is you have no upper support to brace the latteral movement when you pull/push the trailer. Your assembly is going to get stretched and compressed where it mounts to the tractor and will likely fail soon.
The rear of that tractor looks like it's a flat verticle surface which would be better for building a hitch onto. Typically those lawn tractors have a "hitch point" on them for pulling implements and you could build off of that. here's a quick sketch of an idea that's simple, easy to build, will hold up the weight and be sturdy enough to pull/push the trailer around. The "black part" represents the existing back of your tractor.

[Firefighter615]

It is bolted to the tractor so it can be removed. The reason that I put it on the front was because when backing the trailer I couldnt watch the trailer as well as when the ball is on the front. This setup will only be used a few times a year, one to park the boat for the winter and also to pull it out in the spring Thanks for the replys

[Firefighter615]

Thanks Mark, I like that layout.

[dumb as a stump]

I have my ball mounted on the back of my mower and I'll tell you why.
1 My hood tips forward so it cant be in the way.
2 Better gear ratio in drive to handle small bumps and dips
3 Larger higher and stronger mounting surface (at the right height.)
4 Turns better and I can see when driving.
I just used wide flat bar bent to a 90 and drilled to mount the ball and to bolt to the rider . Mine also still cuts the grass too. So whatever works for you is the best but there's my TWO CENTS...

[little Jeep]

Here is what a buddy (non welder) just built..... I am not sure if his contraption has been tested yet or not.

http://www.itsajeep.org/vBulletin/sh...ad.php?t=18811

[Vince_o]

Little Jeep, nice tugger, but its the wrong collor! Heres my movers on my mowers.

[MrBill]

Great idea, but as some have said you will probably need to keep an eye on it or beef it up a bit. I agree with your idea for putting it on the front. I have moved airplanes for years and it is so much easier to back them into a spot when you have it on the front. Yes , for pulling something any distance, driving forward is always better but for moving something around and backing it into a spot, the front is the way to go.