I’ve just discovered a thing: 12v electric tongue jacks. Does anyone know if I can replace the hand wind jockey wheel assembly on my bumper pull with such a thing? Do I NEED a jockey wheel for any real reason?
I’m sort of dumb with the idea of electric and hydraulic jacks; it is an added upgrade on the trailer I just ordered. But I DO know it is a problem when the battery dies or hydraulics give it up and you don’t have a hand jack to use. I would strongly suggest having it as a back up, in the event that they primary (electric) goes out for some reason. Then you can still crank the trailer on or off the truck as needed.
I have a bottle jack so I feel like that’s my backup I guess? 
But can you put an electric jack on a bumper pull?
Ohh. I have no idea. My brain goes straight to goosenecks as that’s all I’ve ever owned…
I have an electric Bulldog jack on my bumper pull; it bolts into the A frame where the original manual jack was. It’s been in service for probably a decade now without failure. (Of either the jack or my shoulder.)
My jack is old and doesn’t seem to be available on the website, but I can get the model and look up the specs if you’d like.
It does have a (laughable) manual crank if the motor fails, but I think the bottle jack would be a much better solution.
I do have an onboard battery on the trailer, but it can run off the truck’s connection directly.
If you’re concerned about a battery losing its charge, Nogo makes a good charger/tender (although mine’s not solar.).
If power access is a problem, you could add a solar panel charger either to the roof or standalone. I have that on another trailer and it’s very effective.
greys
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I have an Atwood, and a Harbor freight electric jack, the Harbor freight is cheaper and better. as far as a back up they. both have a manual way to lift it. the atwood uses a special handle where the HF you can use a socket or power drill(it also comes wit ha handle)
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You can have both. Keep the original manual jack as is, and buy a side mount electric jack that clamps or bolts to the frame of the trailer nose. Or do the opposite; bolt on electric jack plus a side mount manual jack for emergencies. A manual side mount with 1000 pound lift capacity will cost about $100 from www.etrailer.com
Think of it as a belt and suspenders approach.
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I have a husky brute power Jack on mine, no battery required, it runs through the trailer hookup off the truck battery, you just need the truck to be running. It’s been on for about 2 years and my trailer gets used a lot. It has a manual override Jack handle if it ever fails or you don’t have power for whatever reason. It’s a tiny little handle and I’m sure it would be very much not fun to have to use it, but it’s an option, you aren’t left with it stuck on or off.
But I love that electric jack as much as anything I’ve ever bought. It makes life easy, especially when it comes to the equalizer bars I use on long trips. Also my trailer is fairly heavy, has a short hitch frame with a tire that’s front mounted, all of which meant that the non electric jack with the top handle had to go around like 3/4 and do a flip motion to clear the tire. I’m not even sure exactly how I did it because it was so damn annoying, I blocked it from my mind!
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Mine is like this too I 
it!
I just ordered a gooseneck trailer with a hydraulic jack. I also ordered a solar panel with it’s own battery for the jack. That way, if it sits over the winter and I need it for an emergency, it will power up. I also have a manual option. It is more $ because of the extra battery, to keep it maintained, but worth it to me for the peace of mind. I did a thread on here about electric vs. hydraulic and the hydraulic is twice as fast. I also noted that no one reported problems with the hydraulics. Of course, my current trailer (the one I am replacing) is 20 years old, so I tend to keep them a long time and my experience may vary. But for the 20 year old trailer, I’ve only had to replace tires, tie backs, some door weather stripping, the jack, the lining of the ramp (marine wood and the rubber matting) and butt bar padding… and it looks great still. None of these replacements was terribly expensive.
