For the tongue-jack, I use a 12 inch piece of 1" X 6" solid plastic board (left over from a porch project) on the bottom next to damp, or wet ground, and various pieces of wood 2" x 6" as risers.
I also add this adjustable Hitch Helper (but I don't usually need it) to adjust my tongue sideways for perfect coupler/ball line-up (or stinger line-up on a Hensley).
HITCH HELPER
I have other similar plastic-wood bottom pieces for the stab jacks. The plastic does not absorb moisture, or pick up much dirt from the ground, and stores cleaner. I carry most of my blocking in an aluminum front tongue toolbox along with a pair of deep cycle batteries. That locking tool-box addition has turned out to be very handy, although time consuming to install.
Wes
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* This post was
edited 06/22/12 07:39am by Wes Tausend *
Days spent camping are not subtracted from one's total.
- 2000 Excursion V-10 - 2004 Cougar Keystone M-294 RLS, 6140# tare
- Hensley Arrow - Champion 4000w/3500w gen
- Linda, Wes and Quincy the Standard Brown Poodle
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I bought a flip-jack (wrong size) from CW and returned it. Not just because it was the wrong size (needed the 2 1/2") but the instructions warned of not using it on sloped sites (side to side or front to rear). I don't recall the % or degree but it wasn't much.
I use scraps of 6x8x12 and 2x6x12 and x-bal chocks.
I think soft earth at about 28% moisture content (equal parts sand, loam, silt, clay, and organic material) can support around 250 lb/sq in., so if your tongue is 1200 lbs, you'll only need about 4.8 sq in to get the job done. The average steel foot that comes with the trailer is what? 3"x6"? 18 sq in.? More than adequate, 'specially since most folks crank on the stabilizers some.
Now,of course loosely compacted stone is more capable, but it squirms and moves a little, so spreading that out more works better. And, as always, pads with asphalt compact and squish pretty easily on a hot summer day, as evidenced by all the "foot marks" seen in campgrounds all over America.
I use a piece of 2x8 about foot long. If that ever wears out, I'll get another piece. I admit it's an intriguing subject, but I'm gonna go lay down in traffic now. If we are down to examining this issue with a microscope, I guess we got it all covered. Ouy!
"It`s not important that you know all the answers, it`s only important to know where to get all the answers" Arone Kleamyck
"...An unarmed man can only flee from evil, and evil is not overcome by fleeing from it." Col. Jeff Cooper
Sunset Creek 298 BH
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