What is a jockey wheel?
On towable boom lifts, the jockey wheel is a small retractable, height-adjustable wheel located on the front of the trailer. It is designed to stabilize the lift when decoupled from the powered vehicle used for towing. The jockey wheel enables the trailer to be manually steered and moved into position on a jobsite.
Proper operation
Jockey wheels can be damaged if they are not correctly positioned. It is important to remember that before detaching the trailer from the vehicle, the jockey wheel is placed down and uncoupled before being able to manually maneuver the trailer into place. And when preparing to tow with a vehicle, the jockey wheel should be placed up.
New dual jockey wheel option
Many towable booms feature a single jockey wheel, which provides good performance on most types of terrain. However, for applications involving manually maneuvering the trailer on soft or uneven terrain, Snorkel has introduced a new dual jockey wheel option for improved stability on its ANSI TL37J and TL49J models.
Available as a retrofit option, a second jockey wheel can be ordered via the Snorkel spare parts department and installed on most existing ANSI TL37J and TL49J towable booms alongside the existing jockey wheel for improved stability. Snorkel has published technical communications bulletins – TCB 18.030 (TL49J) – outlining the correct procedure for the installation of this product improvement, which can be found on The Platform.
Now standard in North America
The new dual jockey wheel configuration will be factory-installed as standard on all new ANSI TL37J and TL49J towable booms sold in North America.
The dual jockey wheel is not available on CE-standard units, or on the Snorkel TL39, which comes with a heavy-duty single jockey wheel as standard.
