I’m moving to Montana in a few weeks. I can save hella huge money if I rent a 6x12’ enclosed trailer, load it and truck up as much as I can, and ride off into the sunset. Now, when I get to Great Falls, I have a place to stay temporarily, but have to look for a more permanent solution. I could drive around town for a week or so with this twelve-foot trailer in tow behind me. :rolleyes: Or, I could unhitch the trailer and park it to go forth on my househunting. Upon finding a place, I’d re-hitch it up and take my stuff to my new abode.
Here’s my question: Has anyone ever successfully unhitched a relatively smaller double axle trailer without much of a problem? The trailer doesn’t have a third (dolly) wheel. I went to Tractor Supply Co. and found one that can be bolted onto the tongue frame. I also plan to use a sturdy jackstand to set the tongue onto while it’s in the lot (for safety’s sake) as well as to chock the tires.
Does U-Haul recommend this, or has anyone ever gotten flak for doing this? The kid at the U-Haul counter had a vapid expression reminiscent of Sean Penn in Fast Times at Ridgemont High, so he wasn’t much of a help.
Suggestions?
Tripler
And if you could get me Phoebe Cates to ride shotgun with me, that’d be much obliged too. . .
Being from Great Falls, your first mistake is moving there but since you are committed…
U-hauls are amazingly well balanced. If you load it carefully, keeping most of the weight over the axles you should have little problem unhitching and hitching back up.
I don’t know what it currently costs for daily u-haul rentals but wouldn’t it be cheaper to rent a storage unit and after you find your place to land, move yer stuff with your pickup. I assume you are driving a pickup if you are hauling a 12’ trailer and if you are going to live in Montana 'ya just gotta have a rig.
bare, I’ve thought of keeping most of the weight either on or to the rear of the axles, just to help keep the tongue weight down. I’m glad to hear the trailers are fairly well balanced though.
I did think about renting a storage unit for the week or so (I’ll end up getting one later anyway), but the idea of packing things up and unpacking them multiple times just doesn’t appeal to me if the monetary cost might be the same. I’d rather take my lumps at $20 a day from U-Haul than to start packing and unpacking things . . .
But then again, now that I’m thinking about it. . . That may not be such a bad idea.
Tripler
I’m still looking for Phoebe Cates. Paging Phoebe Cates. . .
Heres another option. My farther in law, when he moves, buys a used trailer, then sells it when he’s through with it. If you bargain hunt, you can even turn a profit.
I’ve done the same thing, problem is, Great Falls is the LAND of trailers. All that farming makes for a plethora. In this particular case, it is a great place to buy a trailer rather than try to sell one.
Why not call U-Haul and ask them? Of course, they will probably try to talk you into keeping it for the week, but they might have a suggestion or two on how to unhitch it safely.
Okay, first off, you want to load the trailer so that there’s more tongue weight than rear weight.
IE, load towards the front. It doesn’t have to be “as much weight forward as possible” but it does need to be a fair percentage- this is a towing/stability thing.
With the weight on the tongue, not only is there additional downward force on the hitch (a security measure) but the trailer tows better (vague analogy- like a dart, the heavier tip leads the lighter tail.)
Most trailers will have some sort of tongue jack- when you park it, still loaded, chock the wheels, lower the jack, (extra blocks help) unlatch the hitch, then jack the tongue clear of the ball.
With just one of you (assuming Ms. Cates is unavailable) rehitching will be an exercise in patience, but it’s not impossible. I also suggest an anti-theft “ball hitch lock” for while you’re not there.
I pulled a 5X8 from NY to CA and unhooked it a couple of times at motels so we could drive around. I blocked the wheels. 6X12 is a lot larger, but it seems feasible. Also, I had a trailer broken into in a motel parking lot; they used a crowbar to break the lock. After that I would back it up to a wall so even if they broke the lock they couldn’t open the doors. And given it’s a hit and run type operation, I thought they wouldn’t bother.