I'm thinking about getting an ATV trailer (Bosski 800AL, single axle, 200lbs) and am wondering if anyone has any experience with pulling a trailer, and in particular, how it affected your abilities on the trail.

That is, how much did it limit the places you could go? I'm thinking about some of the hills, rivers, and bogs I've been through and don't know how safe it would be to try to pull a trailer through. Just not that much experience with trailers, but want one for hunting in AK, and didn't want to spend the money and then find it too limiting.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Griz

 

Welcome to the forums.

What would you be pulling the trailer with? If it's a truck, could you just load it in the bed and still make it through the stuff you're worried about?

 

One of my friends pulled a trailer with his ATV and it tipped over a couple of times when the trail was off camber. He also had some trouble getting through tight curves and narrow trails. It wasn't too bad overall.

 

Sorry Scooter, you're right a little piece of info missing. I'd be pulling it with a Sportsman 600 twin. The trailer is 48" wide and about 7' long including tongue. I've pulled a two axle pac-rat with a trackster before through the woods in tight places, and trough bogs with no trouble, but it is probably heavier than the 4x4 and has more ground contact.

Thanks Jumbo. Yeah, tipping over and losing traction on hills with loose rocks is most what I worry about. Getting stuck in bogs can be managed, although a pain. Sometimes you just need more storage than you can carry on the racks, you know, especially if you need plenty of gas and camping gear, and you expect (hope) to be bringing out a Caribou or moose too. ;-)

 

I got one of these: Bush Buggy Trailer It has a good width that tracks right along with the ATV tires for the most part. You want to get one that has about the same ground clearance as the quad you're using. Most 4x4s have about 10-12" of clearance. To answer your questions, I used it last year to help out with my ATV club's trail maintenance. I was pulling it behind my Sportsman X2 which in itself is a long quad. The only real troubles I found was having to plan out tight corners more. You really have to swing a little bit wider with the trailer. I didn't run into any issues on rocky trails or off cambers. (Anything that will cause your quad to tip will cause the trailer to tip also) We traveled over everything from smooth railtrails to muddy two tracks and I didn't run into any issues where I felt the trailer was hindering progress. Was a lot of soily black mud too where we were cutting in and out of a very badly rutted trail. I had maybe 150 lbs. in it of chainsaws, brush cutters, oil, and gas. I've also used it to trailer out wet firewood from the woods in VT, and NH. That's where it gets a little more tricky. On steep downhills, if the load is heavy enough, it will push all four quad tires down the hill with the brakes locked. You really have to stay on the brakes. I found pulsing the brakes (like pumping brakes on a car without ABS) to help. Also, going up steep slopes will require you to get a little steam up and keep your speed. It's very easy to lose traction if the trailer is loaded pretty heavy. Backing down a steep hill with a heavy trailer is not fun... Hope this helps.

 

No, I cleaned my glasses.

Read it too fast and thought it said 2000 instead of 200 and just figured it was a full trailer.

 

Great info Moose. Much the same concerns I had, and it sounds like it is doable, but prudence is the key. Have to think ahead a little more. Thanks!

 

Thanks everyone for the info. Great help!

Cheers,
Griz

 

Look into getting a rotating trailer hitch coupler. I had one on a atv utility trailer I owned years ago. Mine was home made from a modified split drive shaft.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3UGRV0dZ0c

 

That looks like a great idea! Only question is how does it effect backing up?