Moving My Trailer w/ A Dolly: Flat Spot in Old Tires?

I've recently moved my trailer shelter to a place much more accessible than before. I set it up so I could pull the trailer in, tongue first, into its new berth. To do that I got a Trailer Tug 2.0... very well designed and sturdy BTW. My task is to pull the trailer with the TV as far as I can to the shelter, then put it down and pull the trailer a few lengths into the shelter over well compacted dirt and very level ground.  

Today I set the trailer down on the Trailer Tug and pulled it a full trailer length and started to get some momentum.  It was surprisingly more difficult than I expected.  I stopped to take a break, but when I tried to pull it again, it would not move but an inch or two.  Tried a few more times with the same result.  Then I tried pulling, then pushing to "rock" the trailer back and forth to see if that would get it going. But no luck.  It would go forward a couple of inches, then backward a couple of inches and settle in exactly the same wheel position as before. I inspected the condition around and under the tires and it looked clean and flat.

Background, is that these tires have been on the trailer too long and are old.  The trailer has been parked for a considerable amount of time in exactly the same position.  I've got a new set of Maxxi trailer tires waiting to be mounted.  Is it possible that the tires on the trailer have become eccentric, that is they have a flat spot and it is making rolling the trailer with the Tug extremely difficult?  Especially consider that if both tires have flat spots in the same place... I could see that as being a major hinderance to non powered movement!  At least that's what I am thinking because I can't imagine any other reason the trailer should be that difficult to move on a flat compacted surface.

Agree or disagree?  If agree, then it's time to get those new Maxxi's mounted and on the trailer... and try again.





My bet is you have one of two things going on, maybe a little of both.  Your old trailer tires are underinflated from sitting around, you did not state the current air pressure.  The other is the ground is not "as compacted as you might think" and the tires are sinking into soft soil.  The usual problem with a dolly is getting the trailer to stop once it gets rolling.  The other problem is when trying to turn a trailer with a dolly when the trailer has tandem axle.  Check your air pressure, and inspect the ground hardness.

By the way your tires are Maxxis, a very high quality tire brand.

John Palmer

Hi John. The ground was graded and compacted literally 2 days ago! I inflated the tires to 80 psi which is maximum for these trailer tires. I simply do not see evidence of the tires sinking at all. If they were you might see a berm of dirt on the leading edge that would be difficult to pull the trailer over. The tires just seem to want to "sit" in a particular position. I can tell because the tire valves are exactly where they were when the pulling got difficult.