Sliding ATV down trailer

[Khornet]

I own a couple of large atvs and have a side and rear loading trailer 6.5x10 with wooden floor. It is a bit short for hauling one sideways in front and one lengthwise in back. I want to slide the front one back on the trailer and then load the other one into the spot the first one occupied. Unloading in the reverse. Does anyone know of a simple system to accomplish this? I imagine a lightweight dolly on rails and rollers like a garage door track or something similar. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. The rubber tires don't slide on the lumber floor very well.

[chirochris]

UH--WHAT?

DO YOU WANT TO LOAD THEM BOTH FROM THE SIDE, BOTH SIDEWAYS...IF THIS I WHAT YOU ARE SAYING..I USE TRUCKRAMPS AND DRIVE THEM BOTH UP THE RAILS ON THE SIDE AND LOAD THEM SIDEWAYS..I ONLY HAVE A REAR LOADTHE SAME SIZE AS YOU, SO WHEN I NEED TO TAKE 2 QUADS I USE THE RAMPS

[Khornet]

My trailer has removable segments on each side of the front most area of the trailer sides. These segments are designed to act as ramps and are made of 2 inch angle. They drop into place and serve as the fence or sides of the bed. I can load atvs from either side or from the rear. When I load one sideways in front and one from the rear lengthwise, the fit is a bit tight and I cannot drop my rear tailgate board into place. I want to carry both atvs sideways on the trailer after loading from the side and sliding the first one backward down the trailer bed and then loading the second one in front. I thought someone might know of a cargo dolly or something that would allow one to slide a 600lb atv easier along the trailer bed sideways.

Thanks

[jaybeecon55]

Sounds like you'll need to make your own low dolly for the first ATV to sit on. I'm thinking either a wooden or steel frame big enough to have four areas to support the tires. low, non-turning rollers either running in two grooves cut into the trailer bed front to back or some kind of low guide to keep the dolly in line. You might want to add a couple of locking pins to keep it from wanting to move. If you could make it work then you'd drive ATV #1 up onto the front on the dolly, slide the dolly towards the back and then load ATV #2.

You've probably already tried this but I'll suggest it since it's so easy: Have you tried all the combinations of loading the two ATV's? I've had some success with smaller trailers by loading some of the quads backwards. Most ATV's have more of an overhang to the rear, if the sizes work, the bike on the back could be loaded backwards so that it overhangs the sideways bike up front.

Jaybee

[Khornet]

Sounds like we think alike. I made a bumper for the Sportsman and the Grizzly for the rear and haven't been able to squeeze them on together with the extended lengths. I wanted the rear bumpers for backing up in deep brush, etc. I have some old channel and some tubing so I'll make me a dolly I guess. I'll see how it works without a guide on the trailer floor first so I can remove it and have a clean deck on the trailer for other uses. I'll send a pic when and if I make something worth sharing.

[BKrukow]

I have exactly the same size trailer with no sides and i load my wifes Grizz across the front and strap it down good and then drive my machine on lengthways on the back. It has always worked great for me. If you realy want to do what your saying, I would think the easyest way would simply be to use a ATV/MC jack. One that has four wheels a handle and a platform that picks the hole machine up. They can be bought for around $70 and you could just strap it down under the machine and leave it rite on the trailer so you dont have to throw it in and out of the truck every time. When we go on trips with a lot of people we usaly just rent a 20+ foot enclosed to get all the machines in and run them up in there and then use a ATV/MC jack to pick them up and turn them in the trailer. Makes moving them around a lot less work.

[jaybeecon55]

One other thought, just because it's easier and less complicated than making the sliding dolly:

Put quad #1 in the front, loaded sideways. Then load quad #2 up the back ramp, going backwards. Make two low ramps to go under each rear wheel of quad #2, make them just high enough so that the rear bumper is raised high enough so that it can overhang the sides of quad #1. Here too, it could work, depending on how low your rear bumper hangs. One downside is that it will raise quad #2 so it will be more difficult to see behind you while trailering. Big plus is that it's easy and cheap to make - a couple of stacked planks with angled ends could do it.

Jaybee

[chirochris]

when we need the room we stand them straight up like in a wheelie and biggy back them..

example--first one side ways in the front, then #2 in a wheelie with the gas off of course with the front wheels on the sideways one and the 3rd on the 2ndalso in a wheelie...lock all brakes and tie them down and go

[Khornet]

I'll play with these ideas more and plan on loading them today. The atv jack idea sounds interesting. I have loaded the polaris first on front and used the winch on the Grizz to pull it sideways to the back along the trailer boards. It seems a little rough on the tires though and using a come along to pull it forward to unload is a pain.
I may try loading it on a half sheet of plywood and then winching it back and forth. This might slide easier than the rubbe tires on the wood floor. Thanks for all the advice and Happy Thanksgiving.

[jaybeecon55]

OK, idea #3:

Make your 'dolly' a 4' wide x 6' long piece of 3/4" plywood. Put a bunch of those teflon slides underneath, especially under the wheel areas. You may be able to slide it without having to hook up the winch.

Jaybee