Cargo Trailers

I am wanting to start pulling my Polaris Ranger 400 out west with me on a few hunts to save wear and tear on my brand new truck. What trailers do you guys recommend for cross country trips.

Thanks

baz77 said:

I am wanting to start pulling my Polaris Ranger 400 out west with me on a few hunts to save wear and tear on my brand new truck. What trailers do you guys recommend for cross country trips.

Thanks

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For a long trip, with gear and a toy inside, and enclosed trailer probably makes sense.

Lots of good quality ones, and, if you are just using it once or twice, look on Craigslist for a used one. Lots of former contractors are always selling them for about 1/2 what the new ones cost.

Not sure what brand to recommend but I always make sure to have a spare tire and spare bearings. If the hub does not have a grease fitting slap some bearing buddies in and grease throughout your trip. Trailers are great but can be a real pain when things go bad. I spent a beautiful fall day in Rapid City, SD watching a guy replace the bearings on my trailer back in 2010.

buckbull said:

If the hub does not have a grease fitting slap some bearing buddies in and grease throughout your trip. Trailers are great but can be a real pain when things go bad. I spent a beautiful fall day in Rapid City, SD watching a guy replace the bearings on my trailer back in 2010.

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Good Advice.

baz77, I have been using an enclosed trailer for my 2010 Ranger 400 since the day I bought it new. I have pulled it all over out west. Last year I finally had some issues that my welder had to fix but now it's bomb proof. I would HIGHLY recommend a dual axle and minimum 14 ft long. I bought a Carry-On and customized it. I made the interior 7 ft. tall and then put in RV windows, new flooring, heater, cabinets, shelves, and lights throughout the trailer. I also insulated the entire trailer. My trailer is a 7x16 V-nose dual axle. The 400 fits nicely and you have plenty of room for gear. I also always have 2 spare tires. Having a ranger to use on the forest service roads and gumbo prairies is worth gold. Park the truck and trailer and leave the rugged crap to the ATV. Good luck

I picked up two used enclosed cargo trailers like Jose stated above and saved a bunch of money. Both are flat front (not V-Nose), one is a 6x12 single axle with barn doors and the other a 7x16 tandem axle with drop ramp. Ground clearance isn't really a strong suit of enclosed cargo trailers, they are pretty much made for pavement use. I drove into the mountains with the single axle when there was no snow on the ground, then drove out a week later with snow on the road. The trailer wheels were wider than my Suburban wheel tracks and the trailer had a tendency to try moving the vehicle around on the switch back roads (under the influence of deep snow and mud).

I don't have an ATV, but would recommend camping with the trailer at an established camp area and driving in deeper (up) with your ATV. The height of your side by side will be the key to trailer size, it'll take a pretty tall trailer to allow room for the roll bar to clear (my father-in-laws Honda MUV700 Big Red was too tall to fit into my trailer). I'd recommend a tandem trailer with adjustable (height) hitch so you can get it level with the receiver on your vehicle (versus drop hitch on your receiver). My tandem trailer is a "Work Force" brand (made by Wells Cargo) and is very nice. I can't imagine pulling something much bigger than a 7x16 into the mountains (at least not very far).

Mine doubles as a way to move our kids to/from college each year. You can pick their stuff up from college in May and leave it in the trailer until August, then it's empty come hunting season. I've seen a couple trailers on this site where guys converted enclosed cargo trailers into some cool toy haulers/campers. Check them out, some good ideas for sure!

Save wear and tear on your truck by hauling a trailer half way across the country...huh?

COEngineer said:

Save wear and tear on your truck by hauling a trailer half way across the country...huh?

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Hahaha yeah I know what you mean I just don't want to beat the piss out of my new truck on the forest service roads and such like I Did in my old truck if I don't have to.

COEngineer said:

Save wear and tear on your truck by hauling a trailer half way across the country...huh?

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Here's how it works, you pull a 3k lb trailer/camper loaded with gear and your ATV on the interstate and to a campsite in the foothills that is typically off of a maintained gravel road. Then you park it and set up base camp for the week. Then you use your ATV on gnarly and beat up rocky forest service trails and roads hence saving wear and tear on your truck. Then, rather than ripping the front end off of your truck and taking 2 hours to get to a trailhead, you use your ATV that was designed for terrible trails/roads and make it to the trailhead in 45 mins.

I've found the bed of my truck to be the most dependable method to get hunting with my quad. I have yet to use a trailer that didn't need fixed on the side of the hwy.

We've used a truck bed shell pulling a tandem utility mostly. We did take a 16' enclosed one year when we took two trucks...it was nice. I recently priced a 14' aluminum tandem shaped nose flat top enclosed....went with Ranch King 6'10" x 14' tandem utility instead.