Trailer Type likes dislikes and ?s

[yamadoo]

Have had and/or used these types of trailers;

-Open;
tilt 10 ft,
open ramp V-front drive off 14ft
open 4 place carry ramp around type.


Enclosed;
Clam shell Enclosed with fiberglass TOP CAP ramp on off... carry ramp around type

aluminum clam shell enclosed tilt

Full Enclosed was skeptical about inline 7 ft x 26 but now 2 years later- love it.
Why? easy to load :drive on front to back, Rt then lt. - tail of the 4th sled in front V: drive off from back
Great to be able to see when backing up or passing on Road.
Slightly less wind resistance

Full Enclosed 8ft - friend has 24 ft. -again 4 sleds just harder to see around and slightly more wind. More room to work if have just 1 sled in there, but 7 footer is not bad to work in.

Seems all obvious but just giving my baseline experience.( man I must be getting old ... as I remember all these trailers but that is since the mid 70s)

Brands Sled bed x 2 - nice
Triton- nice as well did have a weld fail no big deal just ramp pocket
Enclosed is a Neo and have to say I am happy with no complaints so far.

What are your type and brand experience and type of trailer experiences?




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[yzf1999]

I've used snowmobile specific ramp to ride my sleds into the bed of my truck and made a couple of small ladder holders that fit into the holes on top of the bed to hold the ramp during transport. This is great for one sled and obviously gas mileage. The downside is it's much harder than just riding your sled into a trailer..lol
I've also used open trailers..the downside to them is my sled covers always get trashed after a few 800 mile round trips to the UP. Every cover would rip eventually...I think I'm just getting old and I want to take the easy way out so I bought a aluminum enclosed...lol

 

[yamadoo]

What ramp do you use for sled into truck?

I was thinking if I am going to Michigan or Manitoba by myself bringing the big trailer seems overkill. But then I think it's only gas, tralering cuts the mpg in half . Gas is free right? But sure is easy.

If I could get the sled in and out of the truck easily that might be a good single sled option

 

[yzf1999]

This one

 

[nydiver]

We have a northern star enclosed 10' and a load rite 10' tilt.

The enclosed is "basic" and utilitarian, like that its enclosed and easy to just grab and go, once parked you can have a sled off in seconds if you wanted. Its probably a stupid thing to do, but most of the time we don't clamp the ski's down, just set the ebrake and go. Reason for it is that its a PITA to reach thru the front door down into the trailer, find and clean the hole out, maneuver the clamp bar around, and get the crank bolt turned down. Its too tight to get between the sled cowls to get yourself up there even with the lid up so the front lift door is the only choice to do this. I saw that other clamp system (big $) we might give that a try this year to make the sleds secure. Wish the tilt had a gas strut to hold it up while you load the trailer, we'll have to add one this year. Also the lid struts blow if you leave the lid down for the summer, so we take them off and set them aside extended in the summer. Like the aluminum deck, but the frame rails are now showing distinct signs of galvanic effect corrosion and this summer we'll have to remove the lid and flip the trailer over to replace the frame rails on this trailer too

The load rite 10' tilt. Bought this as a busted frame rail basket case. 2 weeks later the trailer was ready for prime time for this next season. Like that it is all aluminum except for the axle, but I think I have that licked now (see my writeup on how to repair a broken frame rail). It has 20" tires which I'm now figuring out are too tall and make the tilt a VERY steep angle. I will be buying 16" tall tires (165-65-8) for it soon from KMT or Kristi trailers right next door in Canastota. If you ever need parts for a trailer give them a call, they can usually get you anything you might need to make or fix a sled trailer, or you can buy a nice enclosed from them. I put all new LED lights on it and that lowers the current draw and they are BRIGHT!!! I didn't like the busted frame rail issue and the fact that its known to Load Rite and has a federal safety recall for it. They really didn't offer me much of help, the only thing they did offer was to sell me a new axle (mine was pretty crusty rusty) since I already had far improved their design with my repair, their offer: 320 for an axle plus shipping. KMT could custom order the axle for 220 drop shipped to me, hmmm, yeah no thanks. Anyways, 2 sleds fit on it with ease, there is now room between them to walk up front and install the clamp bars. Bad point is its open and like others have said, $60 or $200 covers, they're gonna get wrecked by the wind, and salt spray always works its way in.

 

[yamadoo]

This oneView attachment 108700

That is a nice ramp will consider if doing the long hauls for just one sled

 

[IA Rider]

Had a 1998 Karavan 4 place aluminum with removable plastic V nose salt shield on the front and ramp that slid under the back. Had to remove the salt shield and carry the ramp around to the front to unload. Bought it new. Replaced the coupler assembly with surge brake master cylinder twice in 15 years. The unit served its purpose well. 2 seasons ago I moved into an aluminum Legend 25' plus 4' V front inline. The enclosed trailer is a huge improvement in convenience not having to cover the sleds and deal with road grime, ice and snow is nice. The only down side is the length of the trailer when finding a parking spot. When I purchased it I knew it would be long but until I hooked on to it and pulled it didn't realize how long it really is. I pull with an F-150 ecoboost. The combo works very well. Once you go enclosed it would be hard to go back to an open trailer.

 

[yamadoo]

IA rider I also pull with 150 eco boost love the power! I am planning on a stiffer side wall on next set of tires as I feel the rear end is squirming with side gusts.

What are you running for tires and pressures.

 

[nydiver]

Stick 300 lbs of traction sand in the bed. If you still feel like the trucks getting moved around get a larger rear sway bar. For the tires I would recommend looking into Goodyear Workhorses or Goodrich Commercials, both are plenty aggressive for winter driving and have reinforced sidewalls that still have some give. Don't up your pressure to stiffen the sidewalls, this will belly out the center of the tire and make the tires "greasy" in the snow and slop, also makes them easier to blow out in bumps.

 

[IA Rider]

I have the 20" wheels with the pirelli low profile tires. I run 40psi in the rear when towing. The pirellis are more of car tire than truck tire. The next set of tires will be more of a truck tire. I too notice some squirming with a strong cross wind. I love the power of the ecoboost and the fuel economy is a bonus.

 

[yamadoo]

YZF1999 you sold a ramp. More expensive than the cheapies but looks and sounds like it works and is safer. Bought this week end !

So now my options are enclosed with multiple sleds or in truck box if just me and long pull.

Yamadoo

 

[yzf1999]

Awesome!!...it's super easy to ride up into your truck. If your truck is lifted your gonna need that little 3 foot section to get the track to grip..if not forget it. I'll snap a picture tomorrow of the two ramp holder things I made so you can hang the ramp on it next to the sled during transport and the ramp never touches the truck or your sled.

 

[yzf1999]

Oh yeah get two 8' sections of ski runners like what you have on your trailer. Lay them down in your bed between the wheel wells. It makes unloading the sled easy because the carbides aren't digging into your bed.
Also a cool thing about that ramp is the center section has the trail gate grabber fingers spaced wide in the middle so if you have a longer track you can still take the ramp off after you load the sled and on to get it off because the track won't be on any of the fingers.

 

[thor452]

I just upgraded to a triton 8.5X10 clam shell after my polaris 10'tilt w/salt shield was stolen from my yard. the polaris was a solid trailer but I did not like the track lock tie down system. it had the chanel down the center of each sled so you could hook in anywhere and tie dow any thing but the track was so weak my sled would be loose by the time I got to my destination due to the rail system bending out of shape and not holding the weight of the sled also the hold down bars would bend too. I have no reason to ever own anything with the polaris name on it and this trailer was no exception to that rule I kinda feel bad for the person who stole it as it was going up for sale and cheap because of how bad it was and instead my ins paid top dollar for it and i got the clam shell.

the triton clam shell is great it has the gas shock for holding up trailer for loading love that and it has eyelets bolted to the holes where you would screw into for hold downs and the hold downs have hooks that hook into the eyelets and a big wing nut type set up I like that alot never full of snow tring to get the screw started and they are quick on/off because you just have to spin wing nut a couple turns and un hook. untill my kids get older this trailer is perfect for my needs and tows nice behind crossover suv.

 

[Yamadog]

I have had many over the years from wells cargo 20' low profile to triton 24' aluminum v nose enclosed. I had a 4 place sled bed with a canvas Sno cap enclosure. No I have a 2 place with a taller sno Cap and a square front 24' car hauler with a full shop inside and heat. It is the best. set the heat on low put the sleds in over night and they are dry and warm for the next morning.