FYI Harbor freight has trailer winches (electric ones) for as low as like 40 or 50 bucks. Ebay has the same style for 39.00 I believe

 

Ya know, reading this (and other related posts) has convinced me that wifey and I NEED to put our helmets on BEFORE we unload the ATV's. Our trailer isn't all that high, but sometimes, depending on the terrain we're parked in, the 'angle of attack' DOES get a little uh, extreme. I guess we're guilty of the old "Wow, look at that! Lucky thing nothing like that ever happens to US!" syndrome.

Gulp!

 

MrTommy, I hear you, I had one of those a few trips ago at Pismo. Except, I was putting the quad on the trailer when I didn't have the safety chain as tight as I should of. Talk about the "pucker factor" hitting a new high[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/img]

 

Hey Rescue, I have a cable attached to the front frame of our ATV trailer which runs through some rebar that is sunk in cement as an added precaution to 'grabbers' getting our 'outside kept' machines on their trailer. One day we decided to take them down and wash them in preparation to a trip. Like a dummy, I backed the front ATV off first and the instant the front wheels hit the ground (I was backing it off), the trailer wanted to tip up, and the only thing that saved me (and the other ATV) was the cable hooked to the rebar in the concrete. Now I put a block under the rear of the trailer to keep it from tiping. And of course I didn't have my helmet on. MY Hollywood career could have gone down the drain too... There's more to this "fun" stuff than meets the eye.

 

Tommy, that's a good way of securing the trailer so, it's not suppose to tip on you. I'm thinking about welding a adjustable brace on the back corners of our car trailer. This way, I don't need to attach it to the truck or have a couple people stand on the front as I drive a quad on it.

I have a question for you, why wash the quads BEFORE you go for a ride? Shouldn't you wash them AFTER the ride?? j/k Lt. Dan

 

Well Rescue, washing the quads "before" a ride IS after a ride - the "last" ride[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]. One of the things we learned the hard way is that trying to wash mud off right after a ride that produces some mud (which doesn't happen too often here in Nevada) is wasted time. The mud just won't blow off, no matter how much hose we give it. Now we wait for the stuff to dry on, then pop it off by hand. Then some hosing and sponging and VIOLA - "cherry off the showroom floor". Well, almost...

Most of the time, when we get home from a day or riding (or from vacation), the last thing we want to do is unload quads and wash them. I don't even want to wash the truck!

 

Tommy, I know what your saying, but I have to wash and put the quads away when we get home. If I don't, they will be dirty for the next trip. I'm lucky if I get everything packed up right before we pull away from the house. Don't think I could squeeze in washing them too[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

After watching my riding buddy accidentially pop a wheelie up his ramps the 1st time he used them, and almost go through his back window(spooky), I swore I'd never use them. I've always just put my quad in the back of my truck myself, by putting it on the grab bar, dropping the front tires on the tailgate, and lifting it up and in. If I take my wife, or anyone with me, I take my flatbed trailer for the other bikes.

 

Freakneh, your quad must be awfully light, or else I'm visualizing this while process wrong. I'm not lifting MY quad anywhere - [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

Lighter quads you can do that to, by picking them up. But, like Tommy said, I am not picking up my wife's quad, that thing weighs over 500 lbs. My back and shoulder hurt just thinking about it[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]