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Posted by: MrSummit
I use a Triton 10' tilt trailer for my sleds and my quads and dirt bikes.
No traction mats on my stock wood deck. Just adjust your brakes so they hold better.
Another option I sometimes use when hauling the 2 quads and 1 dirt bike - I bring a couple planks and don't tilt the trailer at all. The trailer is so low anyhow that it is easy to drive onto.
When loaded, I use the snowmobile tie down bolts to secure the ramps on the deck of the trailer. I just drilled a hole in the end of each ramp.
Another thought is - tilt trailer and as you run the quads up, hook a tie down strap to the front to help hold them while you load the other/s.
Posted by: crazy22
i have a 6 x18 that i replace the wood 12 years age and i leave outside i put 2x6 pt and still holding up
Posted by: tencubed
I agree the aluminum would be very spendy. For a small deck you might consider steel grating of some type but I don't really like a grate deck as road spray and crud comes up thru it and makes a mess of the load.
Depends on how thick the wood on your deck is now but you can get 5/4 T&G plywood that makes a super trailer deck. If you put a few coats of preservative on the wood after you cut it to fit and cover the edges as well as the top and bottom it will last for years. By using a good grade of construction adhesive in the tongue and grove joints the deck becomes virtually one solid piece which makes it very strong.
For traction on a wood deck you might try what I did. I used a rubber based mastic and glued down indoor/outdoor carpet on the deck. The rubber mastic helped protect the wood from the water the carpet tends to hold and so far no problems. The 5/4 is heavy enough to bolt tie downs to at convenient locations.
Good luck with your project.
Posted by: Seadog2
I use a tilt snowmobile trailer also & it's great. have the grips for the snowmobile treads to catch on mounted & use them for traction for the atv's also. When I get one on, I get it situated where I want it & put a tiedown or 2 on it to hold it in place, then raise the bed back up to load the 2nd one. No problems!!
KenS
Posted by: JeffinTD
I think you will find that most of the affordable aluminum diamond plate will be thin, so if you were to use it you would probably want to put it over some marine grade plywood. You could spring for 11ga diamond plate, but it would be really high $$$.
I used one of those double tilt snowmobile trailers (GF's Dad's) once, and I hated it. It had those little doughnut tires that don't ride well, and it had strips of slick plastic (presumably to be nice to snowmobile skids).
If you have the money, I'd browse for Zieman or other nicer purpose built ATV trailer...
Posted by: JeffinTD
Well, I suppose then the best plan would likely be some marine grade plywood. You could get some of that heavy duty adhesive backed rough stuff that they put on ramps of toyhaulers... as long as that wouldn't cause problems with snowmobiles...
If it's that old, while you have the decking off you might think about sandblasting any rust, repainting the frame, and repack the wheel bearings. Then it'd be good as new when you got done.
Posted by: JeffinTD
Yeah, when I used a snowmobile trailer, it was kind of a pain, too. It was one of those that both sides tip independently of each other, and it was so steep and slick that if you didn't hit it with a bit of momentium you would slide back down with all 4 wheels spinning.
You have to hit it with just enough speed to make it to the front half of the trailer, so the deck would pivot back to a flat position...
Posted by: downeaster
hree or four years ago I bought a used snowmobile trailer from a friend. It bed was the same as yours,
starting to rot and disentergrate. I thought it all over as the trailer was already 10 years or so old. I
went to home depot and bought pressure treated 8x10 boards, laid them front to back, and just screwed
them into the original wood plywood deck. It gave the trailer a little more weight, and the support for
two atvs is great. I also added tie downs in various places so that there were plenty of places to pull
down on the atvs. The boards dried out after a year and now weight about half, but still have all the
support needed. The boards were cheaper than replacing with plywood, and a lot stronger. No need
to remove the old.
Posted by: csr44
You will spend some big bucks for that Alum. I priced diamond tread for an enclosed trailer and it was way out sight. I replaced a deck on my snowmobile trailer by going to the home center and buying "Marine Grade" plywood. It is treated for the weather and has been holding up for 10 years now! I think I paid about $24/sheet?
Posted by: xFreebirdx
Scroung up a couple old snowmobile tracks / cut them and attach them to a new plywood deck. I think they would work perfect for your situation. just my .02?
Posted by: SafetySean
1. Replace your deck with marine grade plywood. Do remove the old deck, don't just screw the new over the old.
2. Drive one quad on and let the trailer go level & secure quad. Tilt trailer & drive second on. OR You have 2 quads so this means you have 2 drivers. Have driver 2 drive first quad onto trailer & stay there with the brakes on until you drive the second one on.
3. Utilize some sort of anti-slip device such as an old snowmobile track or some non-skid coating to provide enough friction for the ATV to stay put with the parking brake while you load up #2.
4. Leave the trailer level and use some ramps. The trailer height is quite low so you don't need that big of a ramp. They can slide underneath the quads & be secured for travel.
5. If you leave & go to the same place all the time and its secure just build a couple of ramps that you can back into.
Anyway a couple of ideas to think about.
Posted by: LaPurr
I use a tilt snobird snowmobile trailer to pull both my quads. They fit on there perfectly and side by side drive on style. But my wooden deck is rotting out, I was thinking about replacing the deck with that waflle style aluminum (SP) grip deck to better hold the quads on while I drive the other quad on the deck. Do you see any problems with this, and where can I get this type of deck grid from? If you dont recomend this type of deck replacement, what would you recomend? I do use the trailer to pull my snowmobiles as well, and was thinking I could just bolt on a wooden plywood deck over the waffle grid for the winter use. Thanks for the input..
Posted by: LaPurr
Replacing the board is easy and easy to get as well. But my problem is that when I get off my ATV, the parking brake cant hold it on the 25+% incline while I get off to ride the other ATV on. Thats why I am thinking about some tracking type board or something. I am thinking I might just replace the trailer. But it fits my ATV's perfectly, and the trailer weighs only 500 LBS.
Posted by: LaPurr
Another trailer is not really an option. I could replace my trailer with the one you mentioned, but then it wouldnt be Snowmobile freindly. I actually love using the snowmobile trailer. Its really easy to use, low profile, and low drag for good gas milage. The trailer is really old thou, pushing some 25 years old. Another great thing about it is the fact that Missouri doesnt recognize anything snowmobile related. So I dont have to pay taxes on it, or have to get plates for it. Saves me money all the way around.
Posted by: LaPurr
No not really. Just looking for something that I can either replace the wood with, or put on top of the wood so that when I load the quads, the tires have traction to get up the ramp/tilt bed. Right now I have to kinda come up the ramp hard, and have my wife jump up and hold the brake till I get the other quad on. I think its kinda dangerous and trying to find a way around it.
Posted by: angelhitman
Ok didn't read all the stuff here, but think i have the idea. What about looking at some kind of a spring loaded device that would push down when drove over, but pop up after the tires roll over it. You know like the use to use in the movies to keep peopel from driving in the exit. Of coarse not a sharp point. You could have a pin that would hold it when you wanted to unload and each quad could be loaded or unloaded one at a time.
Posted by: angelhitman
Sorry, that's what i get for trying to think late at night. what about just a piece of mesh metel. the stuff you use between the rails on some open trailers. my be called grill material. is is metal, pretty light, good traction and cost effective. you could have it easily removable for winter. this is what we use on race car trailers for traction.
Posted by: aqharoper
I have the same problem with my Karavan trailer. I would load one up and slide down. I purchased some antiskid material by 3m at a local home depot type store. It came in some different sizes. I bout 4 large pieces and since it had an adhesive back stuck it on the Marine grade plywood, then I hit it with a few staples. I put them in front where the front wheels are. It provides enough friction to hold the bike on.
