Got an oddball question:
I've seen a few tow dollies over the years, most of which look home made. The largest I've seen was made from a heavy truck I-beam front axle, but most were of tubing and angle iron.
They usually have a hand cranked hoist and either a tow bar or wrecker sling.

I've never had a chance to photograph or measure one, but they appear to work well.

Anyone have one of these or info to share?

Info on cool home built wreckers welcome too, and thanks in advance!

 

Go by your local U-Haul and take a look at theirs, they may even have one to sell.

 

http://www.dankim.com/assets/td.jpg

 

Thanks for posting but those are standard "tray style" dollies.

I'll add capitals for emphasis:

"They usually have a hand cranked HOIST (not winch) and either a tow BAR or WRECKER SLING. "

They can lift the nose of the vehicle being towed, including wrecks without wheels a tray dolly cannot haul.

 

I used a tray type with a come-along off the hitch to pull a disabled vehicle up. Never seen anything but a wrecker or a tilt bed that would haul a vehicle without wheels. This seems to be more of a towing question so I have moved it to the trailer/towing forum.

 

They'll lift the front end of most cars and light trucks with or without wheels. (Of course the rear needs functioning wheels or dollies)
I 've got all the pieces to do one but am not sure how I want to do the boom, since center of gravity and tongue weight are players.

 

hey i have this unit out in my garage.

 

Thanks for responding to this old thread.

Some detailed pics when ya get a chance would help others who want to build one or just view some interesting tow gear. I have a wrecker but I'd still build one because they are handy.

They were common when I was stationed at Pope AFB from 1993-1996.

 

i have pics in flickr .com as ed1869 , by the way do you know what they are called this one is from 1955 is what i was told.

 

Thanks very much! That looks like the ones I saw around Fayetteville.

I don't know their official name, and have been looking for old adverts showing them with no luck.

The hydraulic surge brake does look like a commercial touch.

By the way, you can sling tow modern cars with plastic bumper covers (we don't do it with valuable vehicles) by securing the bar below and behind the cover. Of course, front-end wrecks are no problem at all.

 

do you have a pic of how you do this thanks ed

 

as i rebuild this unit i will post pics.

 

I realize this is an old thread but....If anyone has any pictures or info on these Sling Type Tow Dollies, I am very interested. I would like to get one of these but have been able to find very little information about them. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

I later found a few pics but after switching hard drives I don't know where they are. I got a Century hydraulic wheel lift so I didn't bother building a personal dolly. (Old wheel lifts are easy to rebuild and also make a great tow hitch with a ball adapter since they can lift heavy trailer tongues without a jack.)

Sling dollies are mostly good for hauling wrecks nowadays because most people don't know how to use a tow sling.

Here's a commercial unit though not the more popular style which duplicates old slings as on Holmes 440 and similar. It's nice and rigid (note the frame). I'm sure the dolly is long gone but I'm glad they put up a vid.


Note the load bears on the dolly axle and NOT behind it. That leaves some tongue weight without which towing would be dangerous. What both have in common is the lifting mechanism does NOT support the load under tow. You can see the dolly in the video has holes for pins to support the load once it is raised. Early dollies often use a manual winch with a ****** block to reduce effort.

You can also take old wrecker booms, replace the winch with a strong commercial grade electric worm drive winch (the classic Ramsey electric version is mechanically the same as their hydraulic except of course for the motor and you can score them cheap used when inexperienced people fry the motor- I've gotten them for 50 or 100 bucks then put motor and solenoids on 'em for another ~150), and mount them to a pickup frame. You don't need the shrouding etc and booms themselves aren't complex. I put one on my F250 and use it for a boom truck. The square tube is standard so I bought a longer stick, cut off the socket from a bent 440 boom and welded it in. Study the geometry of wrecker booms and you'll learn a lot. It's raining now but I'll try to get pics this week.

Tow411 is an outstanding towing forum. Check the Vintage and Vintage Holmes as well as the light and medium duty forums. Pics of dollies turn up too but the most popular use of the term "dollies" is the fixed axle type placed under the rear of the towed vehicle when sling or wheel lift towing.

Tow411 Forums

 

Here's a pic I saved from a local Craigslist post. You can see the theory of operation clearly. This is the most common design I've seen over the years.

Note ALL the geometry. It matters.

If you make one you may want a much wider track. Remember you can't make very tight turns with these, or back up easily.