Is something wrong with the jack on my trailer?

[HRG]

I bought a new EZ Loader trailer for my 12 foot jon boat. The trailer weighs 250 lbs and the boat with motor weighs about 255 lbs. So it's quite a light load. The tongue weight at the ball coupler using a bathroom scale is 69 lbs (with the boat on the trailer).

When I move the trailer (with boat on it) around by hand, it's easy to move but the roller on the front jack refuses to act like a caster. So the trailer moves in which ever direction the jack's roller happens to be facing. This is on smooth concrete.

I can kick the roller to face in the direction needed and then the trailer moves in that direction but it does require pretty firm kicks.

Is this normal?

FWIW, with the trailer's ball coupler supported by the ball on our van, when I raise the roller up so that it isn't touching the ground, the roller assembly spins horizontally just by turning the jack's handle. So the roller assembly can spin very freely like a caster with no load on the roller.

 

[ThomW]

When you are trying to roll it by hand, it the jack all the way down? Sometimes that will cause the wheel to not turn easily. Try jacking it up a little and see it that makes any difference.

 

[HRG]

When you are trying to roll it by hand, it the jack all the way down? Sometimes that will cause the wheel to not turn easily. Try jacking it up a little and see it that makes any difference.

The jack is usually about midway high or higher to match the ball on our van. It's not been all the way down.
Thanks for the help.

 

[roscoe]

That’s the way they are.

Be glad you don’t have 400# of tongue weight.

 

[HRG]

That’s the way they are.

Be glad you don’t have 400# of tongue weight.

Thanks much for confirming that's the way they are.
Now I don't have to try finding a trailer jack that does caster by itself.
Thanks!

 

[flashback]

You may just need to lube it. But when pushing around the drive way set the jack height perpendicular to the ground or a bit lower..

 

[tpenfield]

I would just lift the tongue and make the trailer go where you want it to.

 

[HRG]

You may just need to lube it. But when pushing around the drive way set the jack height perpendicular to the ground or a bit lower..

I have had the trailer level, tilted down and tilted up. The roller on the jack won't act like a caster with load on it. I've put the jack all the way up and lubed the shaft with Super Lube. No difference.

I think it's like Roscoe said "That's just the way they are.".

I'm going to try to making a 3 foot handle that will fit around the roller's frame like this:

--------, ===================== --------'

Then I could manually turn the roller without having to kick it in the proper direction.

Thanks.

 

[HRG]

I would just lift the tongue and make the trailer go where you want it to.

Did catch the emoji at the end of your post .

I'm going to make a handle as described in post #8 to be able to change the roller's direction without kicking it.

 

[ahicks]

Mine caster as expected. Try some lube...

 

[JimS123]

If the ball is not turning in the direction you want it's because its extended too high and the shaft is binding. I have the same problem on my little boat like yours, plus my bigger ones.

Lower the tongue so it's just slightly below level and try again.

When I detach from the car obviously I have to crank it up above the ball. It doesn't work well then. But, if I then lower it below the ball all is well.

 

[Grub54891]

Mine broke off the jack the other day. I didn't see it was sideways and it broke when trying to move it. I'm thinking of finding a better caster and bolting or welding it to the jack. They always fight ya.

 

[poconojoe]

My wheel won't change direction by just pushing the trailer around. I have to kick the wheel to the direction I want it to go.
If this is what you are encountering, I think it's normal.

 

[JimS123]

My wheel won't change direction by just pushing the trailer around. I have to kick the wheel to the direction I want it to go.
If this is what you are encountering, I think it's normal.

It isn't normal on any of the many jacks I've had over the years.

 

[ahicks]

My wheel won't change direction by just pushing the trailer around. I have to kick the wheel to the direction I want it to go.
If this is what you are encountering, I think it's normal.

Just another opinion of course, but that sounds like it's in need of lube here. That entire lower tube needs to be fully extended occasionally, and wiped down with a rag with 30wt oil on it - or whatever you prefer.

 

[poconojoe]

My wheel has never rotated when pushing the trailer. It just skips along. I've always had to kick the wheel to rotate it. I just thought that was just the way it was. However, when I bought the boat it was already 10 years old. It's now almost 20 years old.

I think I'll take the advice and try lubricating the shaft. Maybe the OP should do the same.

Unrelated, but I recently had to replace the gears on top of the jack due to a pin missing. The gears were ok, but the pin holding one of the gears fell out and was nowhere to be found. Cheap fix, but now I'm thinking about the wheel and maybe I should have bought a whole new jack.

 

[JimS123]

I used to buy Fulton jacks and they worked OK but were kinda cheap. The last was a Dutton and that was a good one. Currently I have 2 Knott jacks that were oem on the trailer and they are exceptional.

Lubrication goes without saying. I thought lubing the jack and greasing the wheel bearings were on the boat trailer annual maintenance checklist!

 

[aspeck]

My wheel has never rotated when pushing the trailer. It just skips along. I've always had to kick the wheel to rotate it. I just thought that was just the way it was. However, when I bought the boat it was already 10 years old. It's now almost 20 years old.

I think I'll take the advice and try lubricating the shaft. Maybe the OP should do the same.

Yeah, mine never rotated freely either ... had to do the "kick" method to get it pointing the right way, but then my tongue weight is a lot more than 69lb. Lubed the wheel caster and it rotates freely with no weight on it, but add the weight of the boat and trailer and I am left with kicking it for direction. But then again, even on a flat surface my boat and trailer are heavy enough that they don't freely move in ANY direction.

 

[poconojoe]

Yeah, mine never rotated freely either ... had to do the "kick" method to get it pointing the right way, but then my tongue weight is a lot more than 69lb. Lubed the wheel caster and it rotates freely with no weight on it, but add the weight of the boat and trailer and I am left with kicking it for direction. But then again, even on a flat surface my boat and trailer are heavy enough that they don't freely move in ANY direction.

Yeah, I'm sure my setup is also a whole lot heavier than the OP's. Mine is an 18.5 bow rider with a 4.3L Mercruiser.

 

[aspeck]

Yeah, I'm sure my setup is also a whole lot heavier than the OP's. Mine is an 18.5 bow rider with a 4.3L Mercruiser.

Mine is a 19.5 ft dual console with a shortened trailer so it will all fit in the garage ...