A pad is more stable, but a wheel is good for moving the RV around on a paved surface. I use both because I do not tow the RV with the wheel on because it is to low to the road. If you have a flip up jack it will work fine. Buy a GOOD wheel, the first one I bought would not “caster” and the next one is very smooth. I like to use the caster to push it up to the building and then change back to the pad to make it harder to steal.
Make sure to block the trailer wheels if you have the wheel on the jack when unhooking from the TV. Many a trailer has gone off on its own when the wheels were not blocked!
I love the simplicity of my Scamp, and just have the pad. I suppose if you had to wedge your Scamp into a tight corner of a pole barn it might be handy. I had a wheel on my 3000 lb. horse trailer and never used it in 10 years. Plus if you had a wheel, you would be tempted to move the trailer vs. lining up the TV perfectly to hitch up. I love the challenge of that, and when I get it done in one try it makes my day! Ha ha ha, it usually takes me a few tries, but once in a while I get lucky.
I like having the wheel. The wheel does not fasten to the shaft of the jack, by the way: as soon as you crank the shaft up far enough, the wheel falls off. My 13 is so light and easily shoved around that having the wheel makes it that much easier to get the trailer onto the hitch. Really really grateful for back-up cam on my Subaru Outback. Not having a helper to gesture, the camera serves a similar function and reduces the amount of hopping in and out of the car, checking distances. Having a wheel so I can at least nudge the trailer that last inch also reduces the time required for getting on the hook.
Having said which, anytime I'm on anything of a slope, especially on a small site, or a dangerous site (top of a hill: some of the friends I visit have very rustic Scamping spots), I always use the pad.
For me, the only "con" of using the wheel is that you have to put it on when you need it, and then stow it while driving. Kind of a PIA step, but worth it for me, the single-hander.
In all cases, chock the wheels. For belt and braces, chock *both* sides of the wheels.
We're new to having a trailer. We have a 13', with a 2014 Outback to tow. We're looking at getting a trailer jack wheel.
I'm curious about Scampers' experience with one vs. two wheel jack wheels, and whether having a rounded wheel face would be better than square or flat wheel face. Our parking spot is gravel (more like crushed rock), rather than paved. The tongue weight is a bit too heavy for me to lift it, but we'd like to be able to move the tongue around a few inches when hooking up.
The Jack wheel was fairly worthless and mine ended up getting donated. The trailer dolly made minor adjustments much simpler when positioning the Scamp in the garage and the large wheels would work much better on gravel.
A pad is more stable, but a wheel is good for moving the RV around on a paved surface. I use both because I do not tow the RV with the wheel on because it is to low to the road. If you have a flip up jack it will work fine. Buy a GOOD wheel, the first one I bought would not “caster” and the next one is very smooth. I like to use the caster to push it up to the building and then change back to the pad to make it harder to steal.
Make sure to block the trailer wheels if you have the wheel on the jack when unhooking from the TV. Many a trailer has gone off on its own when the wheels were not blocked!
The pad can live on the jack shaft. The wheel normally has to be stored somewhere while traveling on the road. For me the pad is the way to go.
Eddie
I love the simplicity of my Scamp, and just have the pad. I suppose if you had to wedge your Scamp into a tight corner of a pole barn it might be handy. I had a wheel on my 3000 lb. horse trailer and never used it in 10 years. Plus if you had a wheel, you would be tempted to move the trailer vs. lining up the TV perfectly to hitch up. I love the challenge of that, and when I get it done in one try it makes my day! Ha ha ha, it usually takes me a few tries, but once in a while I get lucky.
Rhonda Riebow
I like having the wheel. The wheel does not fasten to the shaft of the jack, by the way: as soon as you crank the shaft up far enough, the wheel falls off. My 13 is so light and easily shoved around that having the wheel makes it that much easier to get the trailer onto the hitch. Really really grateful for back-up cam on my Subaru Outback. Not having a helper to gesture, the camera serves a similar function and reduces the amount of hopping in and out of the car, checking distances. Having a wheel so I can at least nudge the trailer that last inch also reduces the time required for getting on the hook.
Having said which, anytime I'm on anything of a slope, especially on a small site, or a dangerous site (top of a hill: some of the friends I visit have very rustic Scamping spots), I always use the pad.
For me, the only "con" of using the wheel is that you have to put it on when you need it, and then stow it while driving. Kind of a PIA step, but worth it for me, the single-hander.
In all cases, chock the wheels. For belt and braces, chock *both* sides of the wheels.
We're new to having a trailer. We have a 13', with a 2014 Outback to tow. We're looking at getting a trailer jack wheel.
I'm curious about Scampers' experience with one vs. two wheel jack wheels, and whether having a rounded wheel face would be better than square or flat wheel face. Our parking spot is gravel (more like crushed rock), rather than paved. The tongue weight is a bit too heavy for me to lift it, but we'd like to be able to move the tongue around a few inches when hooking up.
Any help on this is welcome.
When I had my 13 and would store it in the garage, I used one of these trailer dollies:
https://amzn.to/3dQFNtF (SOI sponsored link)
The Jack wheel was fairly worthless and mine ended up getting donated. The trailer dolly made minor adjustments much simpler when positioning the Scamp in the garage and the large wheels would work much better on gravel.
Our Trailers:
2015 19 Escape
Buying or Selling Molded FG Trailers:
Fiberglass-RV-4Sale
Thanks. I appreciate your experience.
the air pressure in the tires did not hold the weight of the 13ft Scamp, It was usesless
gwhaile