Side Note:
Are Explorers STILL rolling over???

 

Most cheap ones I've seen are usually 2K......I have a 6K like you and have used one to pull 6'RCP together that was even larger.......it was about 6' in length......don't remember the capacity.

 

A piece of steel works good too. channel iron, I beam, 2 inch x 1/4 square tube, pipe, etc. Steel is very slippery which is why the hood works too.

 

I have a 8K come a long. Pulls anything I want it to. If you are getting the vehicle from a junk yard they will have a payloader to load it with if not just use some plywood and pick up a 8K come along and drag it up on the trailer. Anouther thing that will minimize how far you have to pull it is to bring a flore jack and a few large blocks along and jack the front of the vehicle up high enough to clear the trailer then put the blocks under the frame as far back as posible to where it wont quite tip forward when set down on them. Then you can back the trailer under the front of the vehicle as far as posible and not have to slide it up the ramps. A budie of mine used old 55 gallon drums on there sides and they acted like great big rollers and the car literaly just rolled rite up and on the trailer. He picked the front of the car up and put the barrels on there sides under the car as far back as posible then backed the trailer under the nose of th car and got behind the car with his little skid loader and pushed. The barrels rolled till the hit the back of th trailer then the car just slid over them and onto the trailer with minimal effort. It had no tires on it at all. This would work great with a come-a-long. It would minimize the distance you had to hand crank the vehicle onto the trailer and give a sliprier serface to slide on.

 

Thanks for the great tips. I would be getting this Exploder directly from the owner so what I bring is what I have to work with. Those 6 ton come-a-longs are $45+, at least at TSC. I checked today. The wheel dollies are $55. Free is better though

 

Have ya considered backing it on? Most of vehicle would be on trailer before dragging the broken wheel on.

 

Got it on after 2.5 hrs. The knuckle broke off so the A arm with the lower ball was on the ground. I pulled it out to be able to line up the trailer. Had a dollie strapped to it, that did not work, just rolled into a ball.
Once the trailer was lined up, we put a new dollie under it and had plywood on the ram for a solid surface to roll on. The plywood really did not slide, the dollie really did not roll, it slid more. The wheels bent. The winch was a 8000lb from Harbor Freight for $25 (so were the dollies) it worked fine the first few times bringing the Explorer up the ramp. I had to reset many times because I had it doubled over to get the best advantage I could. After about the 4th time, the spindle where the wire wraps around started to warp and come apart binding it up. I had to take it appart 3-4 times just to get it loose and start over.
This really kicked my butt. Not sure what I would do different, maybe a big power winch.
Now it is home and I will be putting a salvage knuckle on it so it will roll off the trailer easier, and if need be put back on a trailer.