# Hydraulic or electric jack



## churumbeque (Dec 20, 2009)

I found my new horse trailer. It doesn't have a power jack.
I realize hydraulic are faster and quieter but also more expensive.
Are there any electric that are faster? The one I saw was 3" a minute and my guess is you would lift it at least 6" so 2 minutes holding a button Does sound like a long time but would like to hear from those that have them. Maybe the time doesn't seem long.


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## mrwithers (Jun 25, 2014)

3" a minute is extremely slow. I have some jacks like that on my camping trailer but it weighs 20k lbs loaded. I was looking at a 4 horse trailer the other day that had a jack that did 10" in 30s. I was kind of shocked at how fast that was. Definitely faster than I can crank my manual jack on my 2 horse trailer.


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## GracielaGata (Jan 14, 2012)

All I can say is boy it is horrible when those hydraulic jacks don't work!! lol
A camping friend of mine has a big 3 horse gooseneck living quarters trailer. 
The jacks are propane run, and she didn't realize she was low on propane...
Considering that I am the youngest of the group of us by 10+ years, and she is 72+, I volunteered to be the muscle to get her jacks put back up out of the way of getting broken while she drove... LOTS of turning of one of those jack spinner handles... VERY sore arms when I was done some 20 minutes later. lol


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## churumbeque (Dec 20, 2009)

Never heard of an propane jsck


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## JCnGrace (Apr 28, 2013)

Every electric one I've seen is extremely slow but still better than hand cranking. We have a 4 horse Sooner with lq and it's a bear to jack up. I've told hubby numerous times to get the dang thing in somewhere and have either kind installed no matter what the cost but heaven forbid he admit that it's tough for him to get it cranked up these days.

I've not heard of a propane jack either.


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## PrivatePilot (Dec 7, 2009)

Propane jack? I think your friend is confused. 

If you never want to be left stuck fighting with a failed jack (dead batteries or mechanical failure) just opt for the good old fashioned manual ones. Ask the manufacturer to spec one with 2 gears - you pull the handle out for high gear that will lift about a half inch or more with every single handle rotation, or you push it in for low gear where you could lift a house with it. This is the style that is used on tractor-trailers as standard equipment, and if I am able to crank up the front of a 53 foot trailer with 45,000 pounds of freight on it, I guarantee you you can easily lift a horse trailer off the ball. 

I have exactly this style of crank on my own gooseneck horse trailer and in high gear with the trailer empty I can lift it completely off the ball in Under 10 seconds. I never really have to use the low gear unless the trailer is sitting funny and is a little stuck on the ball, or I have a load of horses in the trailer adding a lot of additional weight. 

My fifth wheel travel trailer had electric front jacks and although it was great from the lack of physical effort standpoint, an RV that is frequently plugged into shore power to keep batteries charged and such is a lot different than a horse trailer that might sit for weeks or months at a time and end up with dead batteries when you need the most for the jacks all of a sudden. 

All that said if I had to choose between electric or electric-over-hydraulic I would choose the hydraulic option hands down – when the simple electric only systems break it's usually a result of a complicated proprietary gearbox or difficult to access linkage that lets go – hydraulic systems on the other hand are drastically more reliable, it's very uncommon for hoses to split and usually the hydraulic pump is somewhere easily accessible.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## churumbeque (Dec 20, 2009)

I am splurging on the hydraulic. It will store in my barn right next to an outlet so keeping it charged shouldn't be an issue. They do have a hand crank as a back up also.
I have the 2 speed hand crank now and really want something nice on my new trailer


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## GracielaGata (Jan 14, 2012)

I have no clue lol. That was me saying the propane part, not her. 
I know that she couldn't get it raised up out of the way due to a lack of whatever provides it the oomph lol. Maybe it was a propane run generator that raised them, or a dead battery? She definitely was one who knew what she was doing and talking about, so all feel free to take guesses as to what the heck I am talking about, because I obviously have no clue.


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## churumbeque (Dec 20, 2009)

It could be a propane generator and the battery was dead. That makes sense.


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## GracielaGata (Jan 14, 2012)

churumbeque said:


> It could be a propane generator and the battery was dead. That makes sense.


Yep. There ya go.  I just knew propane factored in somewhere; she didn't realize she was as low as she was, and had stayed out camping more days that 1st planned, plus used more heat at night than 1st planned... which all added up to me being the lifting thing.


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## PrivatePilot (Dec 7, 2009)

You'll love the hydraulic jacks....just keep those batteries charged up.


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