Loading ramps used as mounts for Hauling?
 

I am a new quad owner and have a few questions about hauling quads safely. I have a 1/2 ton pickup and I'm thinking I've buying a cheap HF folding trailer off craigslist. My question applies to both the truck and the trailer. What I was thinking of doing was purchasing some heavy duty loading ramps, say 5'-6' in length and laying them across either the trailer or the bed of the truck, basically they would be perpendicular to the direction of travel. The rails would be longer than the width of the truck bed and the width of the trailer, so they would extend past the edge somewhat. Hopefully this makes sense. At any rate, I would either chain them or bolt them down in some fashion. Then I would sit the atv on the ramps and secure it. First of all, would the truck bed walls support the weight? I believe the ATV is about 400 lbs. I think the trailer would be fine, I just don't see any pictures of anyone doing it, so I'm not sure its safe. Please assume everything is securely mounted and tied down. I'm just wondering if its feasible, if I'm breaking any laws, or if the weight of the ATV would destroy the side walls of my pickup. Its a Tundra. Thanks!

Welcome to the forums.

Not to promote this brand, but to show the walls will hold the atv with no problem.

Not that I don't have a bunch of harbor freight stuff, but I don't know that I'd trust their ramps to hold the weight. They may be good for it to roll across briefly, but not so much to used as an actual support.

Ramps were never designed to hold up to the constant flexing of the machine on them going down the road. You would also have to mount lights front and rear of where the ramps overhand the box of the truck. The above system may look good but give it a few years of constant weight on the rails and you will start to see stress cracks. Thats why snowmobile decks always have a frame that goes to the box floor. You can buy a 2 spot trailer from your local motorsports dealer or trailer dealer for not much more than you pay for the cheap fold up trailers. I paid $1200 CAD for my 2 place trailer new

:yup:

The idea of using one of those scares the crap out me. Even if I made it up and stopped when the tires hit on the other side, I would still have to change my pants when I'm done, twice, once for each ATV. I accidentally over-rode the front of my trailer once. I little slip of the thumb and the front wheels were over the top of the rail that's at least a foot high at a 90 degree angle. It was already in 4WD so I backed up and tried it again. If I did the same thing with that system, most likely I'd be on the ground with the quad on top of me. If I wanted to haul 2 ATVs I'd get a 2-place trailer.

That's what I did. And for what I paid for it, I wish I wouldn't have sold it to my nephew when he needed one worse that me.

400 bucks for a flat 5x10 with 3500lb axle and 16" wheels. Brand new.

Here's what I had in mind:

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/atvconn...70dc22c867.jpg

The idea is to mount the loading ramps to the trailer so they are fixed. I could use another set of ramps to load it. Once loaded, the weight of the quad would rest mostly on the ramps just above the trailer frame. There would be no weight on the middle of the ramps, so there should be very little risk of the ramps bending or failing. I would also do a similar setup on the rear half for a smaller quad. Thoughts?

Here is my idea:

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/atvconn...317d324d41.jpg
The ramps would be attached to the trailer. I could use another set of ramps to load the quad up onto the attached ramps. Most of the weight of the quad would be on the trailer frame since the wheelbase is basically be the same width as the trailer. There would be no weight in the center of the ramps, so no real risk of them bending or failing. Everything would be tied down tight. I would also do a similar setup on the rear half of the trailer for a smaller sized quad. That would allow me to tow two quads on one small trailer. I would be well under the weight limit of the trailer. Thoughts?

The folding trailers I've seen all looked like junk. I was reading what this guy did to his to make it actually work but got bored before I finished. It may have been cheaper for him to buy a regular trailer and store it somewhere else. A friend might settle for a 6-pack as payment when you come to get it. After all that time and money he still only had a 4'x8' trailer. My ATV is 4' wide and would have to be dead center. I just looked online and Harbor Freight doesn't even have those trailers listed anymore. Maybe someone else actually makes a good folding trailer.

https://tearitupfixitrepeat.blogspot...g-trailer.html