Our 14-foot, double axle, enclosed utility trailer is in the neighborhood of 2,245 pounds and my 12-foot, single axle, open utility trailer weighs in a little lighter at around 1,800 pounds. As I’ve aged (now in my early 70’s) I’d swear they’ve all gotten heavier, over time. Honest.

I’m pretty good at backing trailers with my vehicles, but to squeeze more of my “toys” (as my wife calls them) into our outbuilding, moving them into those last few, precious inches of square footage takes skill, patience and muscle power. It also requires a second set of eyes so you don’t bend or break something (so far so good; it hasn’t happened).

For a few years now a company in St. Paul, Minn., has been making an electric powered (they call it “power-assisted”) wheelbarrow called the Chore Warrior. Chip “Charles” Michel is the owner/inventor and Tom Cullen is the CEO. Together they have a great team of employees to manufacture all their products in-house. Last year, a friend of mine reached out to Tom to see if the wheelbarrow could be modified to use on his plane as a tug to help get the plane in and out of his hangar. That’s where and how I ran into Tom and his tug. When I saw it I knew I had to test it. It hit all the buttons I like about products; it’s simple, easy to use, works like it should, helps me do something and is not too expensive.

Tom and Chip had already been working on their design to remove the “tub” of the wheelbarrow and add a bar for a 2-inch trailer hitch ball so Tom could move his 17-foot aluminum fishing boat around his yard. As testing proceeded, the designs were finalized and a metal-mesh basket was added so the tug could also be used to carry “stuff” (up to 350 pounds of coolers, PFDs, fuel tanks, etc.) around the yard or out to the boat at the dock. A nice feature of the “basket” is that the sides can fold down or be removed in case you just want the flat bed to carry larger or odd-sized items or just leave it empty. Yes, it works well for gardening. Don’t ask me how I know that.

I’ve tried manual trailer dollies before. Had several and sold them on Marketplace. One issue I’ve had with them is that the ball isn’t located high enough to lock into the trailer receiver to then “drive” the trailer. The Chore Warrior tug ball is at 21 inches above the ground. That’s just right for all my trailers.

And yes, having the power assist is a lot easier than pushing and pulling a ton, literally, or more of boat around.

I locked the ball of the tug into the receiver leaving a few inches of clearance below the legs of the tug. There’s no need to lift the trailer tongue when you have a wheeled tongue jack. To add additional traction on the tug’s tires, I just push down on the handles to give the tires greater grip.

The controls are on the right handle. The rocker switches are for power, forward, and reverse. They’re simple, handy, and intuitive. The thumb operated throttle is just like what’s on an ATV or snowmobile (for us folks in the great white north). There’s even a battery level indicator next to the controls.

If you don’t turn the unit on, the motor lets you push or pull it around like a wheelbarrow or cart. When you turn it on, the motor then acts like a brake to hold it and its cargo in place until you use the throttle.

To “scootch” the tongue to one side or the other, like sneaking it just past the open doorway, I just lift the whole tug to the one side, power it up and push the tongue in that direction. No more struggling to pull or push the trailer tongue to fight with the resistance of the double axle wheels.

The tug is easy to steer because it has an open differential designed into the 500-watt, brushless motor. There’s two, sealed, 12-volt, AGM, 9-amp hour rechargeable batteries housed under the basket deck putting out 24 volts of power. Should the batteries ever need replacing, they’re pretty common and frequently used for trolling motors. The plug for the charger is just below the handlebars. Tom says it can deliver eight hours of service. I haven’t run it that much… yet.

The cart with basket, charger, 2-inch trailer ball setup, etc. is delivered to your door (in the lower 48 states) for $1,115. Yes, that means shipping is included. The unit I tested was a demo cart. It had all the standard features plus what Tom calls “beach wheels.” They have more aggressive tread and those are normally a $50 option.

Explaining The 90/100 Rating

Portable