I have bent the jockey wheel on my trailer - help

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dizz4

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It was going to happen one day and saturday was the day, I drove off without raising the jockey wheel and now it is bent and cannot wind it up or down, I can move it up and down the hole it is in but not wind it at all..... I cannnot figure how to remove it so that I can replace, I am sure I am not the first to do this or indeed the last, can anyone help....!! for what it is worth it is a Richardson Trailer quite old now but the hitch was replaced about 10 years ago..... any suggestions please it is currently languishing on bricks at the stable yard....!

Izzy...
 
I think the best thing to do is to get an agricultural repair man to it .
I use a small company near me two people and they spend their time mending broken agricultural stuff this would be up their street .
 
Hi not had a Richardson but there is a simple way to do it as had to do it with our 1st trailer as it was bent - I'm sure that there is a bracket somewhere maybe at the bottom where wheel is & it only took a couple of minutes to do - You can get replacement wheels etc from tow sure & places like that - sorry not much help , I will have a look at my trailer when I get to yard x
 
You should be able to jet a spare jockey wheel off e-bay which are cheap or most trailers centres will have several types of spare. Put a lot of weight in the very back of the trailer to take all the weight off the front and unloosen the jockey wheel clamp as much as possible and see if moving wheel to another position helps or you can at least get it to wind apart. Don't panic this happens all the time, I've done it a least 3 times, in fact my wheel is bent at the moment but as it still works I've decided to leave it for now. If you can really not move it at all you may have to get someone with an angle grinder to cut it off but if you loosen the clamp you should be able to wiggle it out.
 
angle grinder.... eek... it is propped up on bricks at the moment and I can move it up and down but it will not wind at all as it is really quite bent, I did a really good job on it as they say if a job is worth doing..... etc... thanks for advice...
 
I have looked to see if you can take off the wheel and there is a bolt but the bit the wheel is attached to is at a right angle and will not possibly go up through the hole....?? jees as this is not an uncommon event you would think it would be easy to remove a bent jockey wheel wouldn't you...

cheers...
 
I don't know about Richardson's but these jockey wheels are fairly standard.

You'd need to screw the handle right up until it comes off the screw in the middle, dropping the draw bar or lifting the outer section out of the top of the draw bar. As you say you can't do that, an angle grinder does sound the easy way to go. A mechanic might be able to drive the roll pin out of the handle and push it down out of the draw bar but that will mean lifting the draw bar high enough.

Don't throw the bits of the damaged jockey wheel out as you can bet your life the next time you'll mess up the wheel bit which by the sound of it is intact.

Anyone handy with tools will get the jockey wheel off for you and I think a replacement is about £30 - £40. Everyone does it at some time! (Think I've done at least three!).
 
Hi only just got back from yard - did have a look but I think others have left better instructions than I ever could :)
 
Everyone who tows does this at some point! I've done it at least twice.

Ditto the above suggestions for using an angle grinder. Had to get an agricultural firm out to cut away an old wheel clamp which had rusted on my trailer once, they cut it off in no time even though though it was made of strengthened steel, which was quite disconcerting, actually.
 
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