Cordless drill cranks tongue jack just fine!

[thehamguy1]

That's only on the "big" days.

[Mamacast]

OK, so we did this mod on our BAL tongue jack last year, worked like a charm. Had the trailer at the dealer all winter while they replaced the water tanks and added a gravity water port (long story) and when we got it back they had replaced the BAL jack because they thought it had fallen apart! Now we have an Atwood side wind and I am not sure if this can be rigged for a drill, I have searched for some sort of jack manual to help me understand how to disassemble but no luck. Any ideas on how to do this on an Atwood? (And if that is what these pictures are showing then mea culpa)

[thehamguy1]

I don't know enough about the construction of the side-crank models to help, except to suggest that it might be necessary to drill out some rivets or other connectors to get the handle off. I would imagine you could leave the other gearing in place and make a drill adaptor that would go on from the side. Wish I knew how to advise you further. Others here will be along to help I'm sure.

[Roodz]

I too am interested to know if anyone has modified a side wind jack to handle a drill?

[MinneweeseMI]

Awesome mod! It works great. The only thing I can add is that the part is probably not with the "Nuts and Washers" section at Home Depot. I was just about to go home empty-handed and then passed the section with the threaded rod and angle iron. The coupler nut is in that section, part 19156. Grabbed one and it took less than 10 minutes to drill it out and hook it up.

Thanks for sharing this!

[Pooneil]

Originally Posted by Roodz

I too am interested to know if anyone has modified a side wind jack to handle a drill?

I haven't, but I'd bet you could take a medium depth socket and cut a slot for the crank arm in the socket. At the right depth, it should turn the crank without the socket end scoring the jack body. Just watch the handle as it comes flying around or you could loose a few teeth. Maybe put an extension between the drill and the socket to mitigate the risk of the inevitable inattention.