ATV trailers?

Rotaxpower

Rotaxpower

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Well I finally got a axle and a couple of rims to make a trailer to pull behind my quad for hauling that moose I am going to shoot this year :) . Now the only problem I have is figureing out how I am going to design it :rolleyes: . I have 15" tires for it, I figure they will roll over logs and though rough terrain better than small ones. I need some ideas and pictures of some other trailers.
 
The best trailer I've seen had a walking beam setup. Use your existing axel for the walking beam center pivot, then mount two wheel bearing assemblies from the back end of a fwd car near the end of each beam (looks like a tandem trailer with a single axel). The trailer will tend to climb over obsticles rather than bounce over them. The trailer I saw was a tub trailer that used three bearing assemblies per side instead of an axel. Only down side I saw with the trailer was a lack of suspension, which seemed to be mitigated by the walking beam design. If you would like more info or a sketch, PM me and I'll email something to you.
Neil.
 
These folks have some pretty good looking ATV trailers. Unfortunately it looks like they are redesigning the ATV page so the pictures are missing.

http://www.nicholstrailers.com/

I have the old pictures saved so if you want me to e-mail them to you PM me your address.

Basically it is a 3X6 feet, 2inch angle iron frame for the base and it looks like 1inch angle for the box, 5/4 pressure treated for the floor and steel mesh for the sides. Springs and fold down rear gate. I figure it will be good for my hunting, firewood cutting, fishing, woodlot management and trapping needs.

I have also bought my hubs and rims, now I just need to buy the steel, I estimate about $150-250 worth if I buy all the steel new. I have been trying to scrounge some from the metal scrape yard for the last year with some success
 
The trailer I built has a angle Iron square frame 4'x5' with smaller angle iron as bracing underneath to suport the deck better.
The Deck was 1/2 inch plywood coated with porch and floor paint
The axle was built with square 1/8 inch wall tubing and the spindles came off a 1997 dodge neon cut the brackets off and weld to the tubing. The tires are also Neon space saver spare tires. I mounted the axle to the frame ridgid with spacer blocks that I made up so that the trailer height was the same as the ATV Wheel centerline.
The tounge is just square tubing which welds to the axle and to the front of the deck for strenght.
The whole thing was primed with rust paint then coated with boxliner.

Later I might add a leafspring suspension but for now this is the cheapest solution. Even the leaf springs will be bouncey until you load some weight on them

AutoWreckers are great places for materials. This trailer should hold more weight than my quad can tow due to the bearing system on the neons and those space saver rear tires have a real high weight rating on them. The guy at the autowrecker sold me the 2 spindles and 4 space saver tires ( 2 for spares) for $100, most of the metal I had on hand. Preso ATV trailer

If your interested I can take some pictures of how it looks, just P.M. me
 
i think a neat idea would be a tilt and load trailer with an atv winch. pull the moose onto the deck no problem. just make some rollers on it too so it slides easy then make stake sides and u can haul anything.
 
A lot of the walking beams are not all thier cracked up to be. They don't handle logs as well as you would think, they don't go over holes as well as you would think and they don't ride as smooth as you would think.

Two solid axles spaced a little ways apart seem to work much better.

The trailer I built has only a single axle and most of it was made from junk yard parts. 15'' rims & axles from dodge shadow, 3/4 plywood, angle iron, square tube and a hitch all put togeter. I put an entire moose quarted in it one time but that was quite a load.
 
Thanks for the info on the walking beam. Looked like a really good idea, but real life trumps theory...

Has anyone tried the self contained little tortion housings. They have about a 12" arm sticking out of a rubber ribbed puck in a holder that is bolted to the frame. Looks like an easy way to get a decent suspension, but again...just theory.
 
Don't be totaly discouraged from the walking beam, just that I have not seen one that was realy all that great. Design is everything, I am sure that there are a few out there that are better than good.

I remember seeing a fancy aluminum trailer, store bought job, problably over 1000 bucks. It was on the side of the trail, the stub axle assembly busted off the bottom of the tub. We stopped to take a look and it was realy pooly made were it counts but looked very nice. We saw the guy that owned it a day later. It was it's first trip, made it about 7 miles and piled up. Check the critical components if you are looking at store bought.
 
I built my own trailer last year. I used the front spindles off of a volkwagon beetle. Welded the spindles on a plate. Mounted the plates on a frame. Made another frame to hold the box. Made the box frame a tad larger than the frame so it can tilt. Used quad tires and rims that i got from a friend. Viola. Nice little quad trailer. No suspension because the quad tires are the suspension. Very light. Very simple.Very strong.
 
Trailer

Zedex hits the nail--ATV tires and rims are the best suspension because there's way less weight and complexity than other types. Also cleaner undercarriage for hauling over rough terrain. Walking beam SHOULD work but like everything the make or break is the design including choice of wheels/tires. Two solid axles probably wins due to simplicity and the fact that even with a moose on board the axles are never likely overloaded.

I used trailer wheels and it's so stiff firewood gets pitched overboard hitting rocks, bumps, etc. Not good.
 
The problem with ATV tires when moving very heavy loads is that the tires squat too much. They are a low pressure tire and just get squished down all to hell. If you wan to move over say 1500lbs on a two axle trailer car tires handle the load much better.
 
Each type of tire has its pros and cons. Automotive tires let you carry greater weights, while atv tires act as a type of suspension and create a wider contact area with the ground. That being said, when I made my ATV trailer, I went with ATV tires. It is a 5 km drive into our camp, with some wet areas. Because ATV tires are wider they tend ride up on the ground in wet spots, unlike narrower automotive tires which have a tendency to sink and plow mud in the same conditions. My trailer can haul 700-800 pounds comfortably, although I'll admit that with regular trailer tires it could be a lot more.
 
Rotax,

go to www.trackshare.com and look around the site a bit. If anyone is not familiar with it it is a great ATV/Snowmobile forum. There are loads of ideas for trailers. Walking beam are easy to make if you can weld. I thought I had some wheels but I may have to revisit my project. I was going to use JD combine pickup wheels. They are wide and think they will have decent flotation.


Calvin
 
Trailers

cycbb486 said:
go to www.trackshare.com and look around the site a bit. If anyone is not familiar with it it is a great ATV/Snowmobile forum. There are loads of ideas for trailers. Walking beam are easy to make if you can weld. I thought I had some wheels but I may have to revisit my project. I was going to use JD combine pickup wheels. They are wide and think they will have decent flotation.


Calvin
Click to expand...

Looks like a good site Calvin. In what forum did you find the ATV trailer discussions? I joined because it looks like there's lots of relevant stuff going on in there. It just wasn't obvious from a quick trip around the site where trailer related stuff might be hid.

Thanks
 
Republic of Alberta said:
The problem with ATV tires when moving very heavy loads is that the tires squat too much. They are a low pressure tire and just get squished down all to hell. If you wan to move over say 1500lbs on a two axle trailer car tires handle the load much better.
Click to expand...

Small car tires tend to sink in soft areas with a good load!

My next ATV trailer will have dual axle with 13" car tires or considering a walking beam !!
 
Rotaxpower - try this link -"http://www.scotttrailers.com/" I have one of the 48"x approx 70" ATV trailers with the horseshoe axle and ATV tires....dumping capability with a 10" railing on front and sides..1 3/4 in ball hitch....very well constructed and popular in this area..Mule
 
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