I had a close call this weekend. I live in Minnesota. I was going to wash my HO this past weekend because I hadn't done so from the last ride, so I wanted to get all the mud off of it.
It was SUPPOSED to snow pretty heavy here this past weekend and I didn't want my driveway to be slick ice after I washed it. So I went to load up the HO into my Dodge Dakota (6ft box)to take it to the carwash. I've got the aluminum tri-fold ramps. I have to back my machine onto my truck as I have a winch on the front end. Because if I drive it forward onto the truck, the winch would go right through the rear window of the cab. Anyway, I'm at the bottom of the ramp and in 4wheel drive. I give it a little throttle with the override button pushed in (otherwise the machine won't go up the ramp)and the thing jumped up and off the end of the ramp, through the air (backwards in mid air, mind you). The rear tires came down on the front rail of the box and the rear rack of the atv CRUNCHED the top rear of the cab just ahead of the brake light on the backside of the cab. Over $1600 in damage to my truck. Front rail of box was pushed forward into the cab. They have to put a new roof skin on the cab of the truck. It almost sent me up over the cab of the truck. I've got one of those large cargo boxes bolted to the rear rack of the atv. If it weren't for that being bolted down, I think I may have been ejected right over the top of the truck. Who knows what injuries may have been inflicted on my body. I don't know because it happened so fast, but I think the throttle stuck in full from the sound it made. But after I landed, the thing was back at normal idle speed.

 

tcdal0

Glad to hear you are all right. Sorry to hear about your damage. I have been using my 2000 Dakota Quad cab to haul my wifes tboss around with my Magnum on my 10' utility trailer. I have already dented the front rail of the bed and scraped the hell out of the wheel wells loading the quad in it. I plan on buying a bigger trailer this spring. It really unnerves me to load it into the truck, plus the damage to my truck bed. You are not the first person in hear to have damage to their truck trying to load their sportsman into their pickup backwards. I believe it was "SPinNS" that had the machine slide sideways off the ramp and land on the side of the truck and almost land on him.

I would serious look around for a small utility trailer to start hauling your quad around in. You can pick up used utility trailers for around $300-400 that would haul the sportsman just fine. That is probably less than your deductible for your insurance, plus you are not risking your life everytime you load it.

 

Yes, that was me. Becareful with the insurance though. They made mine out to a colision claim because the quad colided with the truck. This of course means more $$$$ for insurance!

SP500 in NS