CONTINUOUSWAVE

Back on 20 October 2020 I ordered a Park It 360 trailer dolly from Canada. It was shipped on 21 November 2020 and finally arrived yesterday. Altogether one month and a day which is not bad for a small company which probably does not keep every model in stock for immediate shipping. Rather they build units as orders are received. The units must be processed by US Customs which accounts for some of the shipping time.

They are heavy and I needed an appliance dolly to move the package into our garage for assembly. Assembly was straight forward with only a couple of frustrating moments due to a lack of specificity in the instructions. Much more specific instructions are available in a YouTube video which I recommend any potential buyer to view.

This thing is heavy. It comes with a charged AGM battery. The unit has a built-in battery voltmeter and charger with connector to plug into a wall outlet. It is much larger than expected so it would be a good idea to make sure it will fit where you want it before ordering. The price delivered to your door is US$1670. It seems a bit on the high side but after examining the features and robust construction I'm not disappointed.

I don't intend to use it anytime soon but will report on it's performance later. Feel free to ask questions.

What is the purpose of the Park It 360 Trailer Dolly?

The Park It 360 Trailer Dolly is a motorized trailer dolly. The trailer tongue hitch connects to the dolly. The electric motor on the dolly is powered by a battery. The operator steers the Park It 360 Trailer Dolly as desired to move the boat on the trailer.

FYI - https://parkit360.ca/collections/trailer-dollies/products/trailer-mover-10000lbs-capacity-base?variant=102111379472

Phil - Thanks for the link. I see the price has increased to US$1950 in the month since I bought the B2 model.

Masbama - As Jim said the dolly is to move trailers relatively easily without connecting to a tow vehicle. In our case as we age we find it more difficult to wheel the dolly around using only the trailer jack. Going up or down any kind of ramp while negotiating close quarters (garage entrance) is particularly challenging. This is simply another expense of being able to continue to use our Boston Whaler into advanced age.

Nice looking piece of machinery.

Jefecinco wrote:In our case as we age we find it more difficult to wheel the dolly around using only the trailer jack. Going up or down any kind of ramp while negotiating close quarters (garage entrance) is particularly challenging. This is simply another expense of being able to continue to use our Boston Whaler into advanced age.

I bought a like new Power Caster 3 sometime ago, never found used "Park it's" and could not justify the cost of new. Same principal but a different way of achieving it, Park It probably has the advantage.

Two things I found using the dolly with a 21 Outrage (the heavy 1999 version). On grass or dirt is was about useless.
On concrete it worked well, even on my sloped driveway. On the Power Caster you can't use the dolly itself to brake, although mine has the connections for electric trailer brake activation with a toggle switch.

FYI, I found for the twice a year parking of the trailer for the winter removing the tires from one axle made close quarter maneuvering much easier since one axle wasn't scrubbing.

Duane - Thankfully we foresee no need to use the Park-It on dirt or grass. We have the same trailer brake feature with a receptacle for the trailer connector (RV type). I'm looking forward to a full test on an upcoming fair weather day. It's been chilly here for a few days. This AM we had so much frost on the lawn it looked almost like snow, never likely.

Butch, have you had a chance to use the Parkit yet?

And I see you are in Gulf Shores. I got to spend March and April there in 2019. Great place to winter.

Duane - Not yet. Between various periodic medical appointment and getting vaccinated against Covid we have been busier then we like. We are about to have our garage attic insulated so may be forced to use the Park It. Who would have known retirement provides so little spare time. Truth is I've slowed considerably at 80.

Gulf Shores is a great place for snowbirds and they are always welcome. We've seen far fewer this year. So many condos were badly damaged by hurricane Sally that many of our regulars had to go farther afield for accommodations.

Yesterday we tried the dolly for the first time. Fall is here and, although we realize hot weather will return soon, we felt fired up to get on the water. This is our favorite time of year for boating on the Alabama Coast.

We connected the dolly to the trailer. It was a little difficult and will be easier with two people. Aligning to ball on the dolly requires some jockeying with the steering handle to get the alignment perfect. I'm sure it will become second nature with a little more practice. I had charged the optional AGM battery a few weeks ago using the on-board charger. The volt meter on the dolly indicated the battery voltage was 13.0 volts. The dolly operated as promised.

One thing users need to expect is that when towing uphill the handle requires a bit of extra effort to maintain the dolly in a more or less level position. It was not difficult for this 81 year old.

Steering was easy and precise. Forward and reverse is in one switch and it is simple to switch from one to the other.

We have about six inches of clearance on both sides of the trailer so it is useful to center the dolly when going through the garage door. I plan to put a marker in the center of the opening to simplify centering. We sue the space in front of the trailer so we want the boat as close to the garage as possible. I will mark the spot right next to where the trailer jack wheel will be when the right clearance is achieved.

Rather than get into the details of the dolly they are easy to find on YouTube and that includes assembly instructions.

We are pleased with the purchase and every indication is that is is a high quality piece of gear and a decent value despite it's cost.

I highly recommend it.

I've used the Parkit dolly several time over the past few weeks. It has a high or low speed setting. Use of the high speed setting is best reserved for moving a trailer in fairly open space. Low speed is better for maneuvering in tighter spaces. It handles modest slopes well. Going over a steep incline such as a garage apron requires a little extra attention and some downward pressure on the dolly tiller. When attaching the dolly hitch ball to the trailer coupler it is helpful to keep the dolly as level as possible. I use a one foot piece of three inch thick lumber spacer for the purpose. Just lift the dolly tiller and slide the spacer underneath the dolly rub strip. When the dolly is securely attached to the trailer the spacer can be put aside.

Once the dolly hitch ball is attached to the coupler a collar is screwed upward to provide complete contact with the coupler. The collar has three holes drilled 120 degrees apart to accommodate a lever supplied with and clipped to the dolly tiller when not in use. The lever is inserted into the holes in the dolly collar to aid in turning as the collar approaches the coupler. It is important to insert the lever full into the holes to prevent hole deformation as the collar is turned. I filed the lever ends to round the outer edges to make insertion easier.

When decoupling the dolly using the aforementioned spacer is helpful. The spacer is almost a necessity when using the dolly without a helper.

The dolly can be more easily moved around without using the battery if the gear case is shifted to neutral. I leave the dolly in neutral when it is not in use.

Per a Parkit email this morning there is a $200 off sale now in progress.