Hydraulic trailer hitch - The Hull Truth

peconicwaters · 11-29-2008, 07:22 PM

I am looking for pictures or a diagram of a hydraulic hitch. I see alot of boat haulers near me with them but never seem to have a camera at the right time. It seems very similar to a wheel lift on a tow truck. If anyone could help that would be great.

rwidman · 11-30-2008, 03:48 PM

Quote:

peconicwaters - 11/29/2008 9:22 PM

I am looking for pictures or a diagram of a hydraulic hitch. I see alot of boat haulers near me with them but never seem to have a camera at the right time. It seems very similar to a wheel lift on a tow truck. If anyone could help that would be great.

What does a hydraulic hitch do? That is, why would someone want one?

peconicwaters · 11-30-2008, 05:56 PM

Rather than have a conventional weight distrubuting hitch the hydraulic hitch moves up and down. It therefore moves the tongue of the trailer up which causes the back of the trailer to be closer to the ground, when the tongue goes down it does the the opposite with the trailer. This makes loading and unloading a boat from a trailer much easier.

rwidman · 11-30-2008, 07:33 PM

Quote:

peconicwaters - 11/30/2008 7:56 PM

Rather than have a conventional weight distrubuting hitch the hydraulic hitch moves up and down. It therefore moves the tongue of the trailer up which causes the back of the trailer to be closer to the ground, when the tongue goes down it does the the opposite with the trailer. This makes loading and unloading a boat from a trailer much easier.

Thanks. I've never seen or heard of that before. Learn something every day.

patrickg · 11-30-2008, 10:18 PM

They are used on 99% of Mobile Home Toters. They are very impractical for a 3/4 or 1 ton.. especially if you are not towing many different trailers on a regular basis. The weight of the hydraulic hitch also lowers your tongue weight capacity. It can cause a serious accident if a seal blows on the highway.

Why do you need a hydraulic hitch? Would something similar to this work?