Does anyone have experience with hauling their portable on a hitch carrier behind their vehicle? Looking to free up some space in bed of the truck on longer trips.
I can’t find any wide enough to hold the sled without modifying the hitch carrier. Does anyone know of one that would work? Any experience is helpful! Thanks.
My buddy did it for awhile. Not sure which hitch carrier he used though. He stopped because he got pulled over because it was blocking out his tail lights. Before you buy one you might want to take some measurements to make sure it isn’t going to block your lights.
Great advice!
My only thought would be road salt covering my house, but if its your only option its better than sitting at home.
How wide does it need to be? I see these all the time on the roads in the summer but they all seem to be just wide enough to hold a cooler.
If all else fails, you could always call up a local metal shop and have one custom built.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Feathers wrote:</div>
My buddy did it for awhile. Not sure which hitch carrier he used though. He stopped because he got pulled over because it was blocking out his tail lights. Before you buy one you might want to take some measurements to make sure it isn’t going to block your lights.Great advice!
My only thought would be road salt covering my house, but if its your only option its better than sitting at home.
This ^^^^
The few I’ve seen on the road hauled this way we’re basically puke stained white from the road salt.
I’ve done it with my 1-man before to save space. I’d think you’re best bet is to have one made for you that’s wide and secure.
As far as the salt goes, I just basically sacrificed an old sled cover that went over my portable. Under that everything was fine.
I built one to haul my otter lodge. I built lights into it. I also use it to haul a 3 wheeler or older small 4wheeler. As far as road spray goes, my rack is as wide as a vehicle and i use plywood as the floor of the rack, it acts like a big mud flap and keeps most of the spray and slush under. I do cover my house but its never all sloppy and salt covered.
You could use any hitch rack, just attach some 2x4s or plywood to make a larger platform. You could add a set of emergency/ tow lights to the rack.
I will try to remember to snap a pic before work and add it.
My buddy did it for awhile. Not sure which hitch carrier he used though. He stopped because he got pulled over because it was blocking out his tail lights. Before you buy one you might want to take some measurements to make sure it isn’t going to block your lights.
You also need to be certain your license plate isn’t blocked.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Feathers wrote:</div>
My buddy did it for awhile. Not sure which hitch carrier he used though. He stopped because he got pulled over because it was blocking out his tail lights. Before you buy one you might want to take some measurements to make sure it isn’t going to block your lights.You also need to be certain your license plate isn’t blocked.
So, every plow truck is a problem?
So, every plow truck is a problem?
Does a plow block the rear plate?
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>mark-bruzek wrote:</div>
So, every plow truck is a problem?Does a plow block the rear plate?
On jobs I cant bring my kenworth and I need a hitch carrier, I haul a hydraulic pump for my saws and I’ve never been stopped for blocking my rear plate. And this is in a commercial truck where they can make serious money off a traffic stop.
12 years now no issues.
If any one wants a hitch carrier, we build them to your needs, just send me a message.
Just buy a small enclosed trailer. Best thing ever not having to lift all the gear . Just drop door on trailer and pull right in and done. And everything stays clean!
If you can grab some pics that would be helpful. I’ve considered building one but wanted to see if there were any options on the market first. Thanks!
I built one to haul my otter lodge. I built lights into it. I also use it to haul a 3 wheeler or older small 4wheeler. As far as road spray goes, my rack is as wide as a vehicle and i use plywood as the floor of the rack, it acts like a big mud flap and keeps most of the spray and slush under. I do cover my house but its never all sloppy and salt covered.
You could use any hitch rack, just attach some 2x4s or plywood to make a larger platform. You could add a set of emergency/ tow lights to the rack.I will try to remember to snap a pic before work and add it.
If you can grab some pics that would be helpful. I’ve considered building one but wanted to see if there were any options on the market first. Thanks!
Just buy a small enclosed trailer. Best thing ever not having to lift all the gear . Just drop door on trailer and pull right in and done. And everything stays clean!
I can weld up a pile of hitch haulers for the price of used enclosed trailers right now. I got nearly double what I paid for my 1994 6×10 trailer last week.
How wide does it need to be? I see these all the time on the roads in the summer but they all seem to be just wide enough to hold a cooler.
If all else fails, you could always call up a local metal shop and have one custom built.
Most of the bigger ones are 60″ x 24″ which would work for the length of the sled, but the sled is 32″ wide so it would either have to sit in at an angle or ride on top (which makes me nervous about tie downs coming loose).
Most hitch haulers have a 6″ rail around the sides and I’ve considered cutting the back rail out so the sled can slide in and only about 8-10″ would be hanging off the back.
I’ve used a hitch hauler behind my yukon to haul clam guide/nanook shacks for 8 years. Tail lights are still visible with that setup, but now that i’m going with a larger shack for this season, I’ll add lights to the hauler to be safe. Shack only gets road grime when the roads are really sloppy, and most of it stays off the travel cover even when it’s slushy out.
I made a wooden frame that can hold my Otter Lodge that sits in my hitch hauler. Part of it sits in and the other part sits on top. I also added turn signals that plug into my trailer plug. The wooden part just sits on top and my straps hold the Otter and the wooden part down to the hitch hauler. The only downfall is when you are driving on the ice the hitch hauler can hit ground if the access is steep.
I’ve used a hitch hauler behind my yukon to haul clam guide/nanook shacks for 8 years. Tail lights are still visible with that setup, but now that i’m going with a larger shack for this season, I’ll add lights to the hauler to be safe. Shack only gets road grime when the roads are really sloppy, and most of it stays off the travel cover even when it’s slushy out.
What size hitch hauler do you have? Do you do anything special to hold them or just throw them on and strap down?
I went through this exercise last year after I got a 4Runner. Overall I’m really not a fan for many of the reasons above. I only use it when I need to take 3-4 people out on the lake which is once a year. Don’t want to use it more than I absolutely have to.
Do you do anything special to hold them or just throw them on and strap down?
Throwing it on and ratchet straps.
While I really don’t like using this if you do it regularly I’ll suggest the following: modify it with 2×4’s or plywood to be wide enough. Minimum to add reflective tape, better to add actual lights.
I’ve done some weird stuff trying to find the very best solution to haul my ice gear. For a while I put the wheeler in the bed then used a bed extender to hold the back end of the otter cabin while the front sat n the tailgate. Worked fine, looked silly.
I’ve used the $50 hitch hauler from Northern tool, works fine as well. taillights are visible above it. Slush doesn’t seem to be an issue.
This spring I bought an enclosed trailer from a guy up north. It was a complete POS but the price was right. When I started to re-do it I found out the manufacturer, “Play-Mor”, had glued AND stapled (not screwed or nailed) the interior paneling to the studs. The combination of staples and liquid nails resulted in a lot of damage during removal. Decided to scrap out everything above the frame and start over, but I’m not making an enclosed I’m making an open trailer. I might build a tonneau cover type of structure for it though. The frame and axle are in good shape and the surge brakes work well. it’ll be very heavy-duty which is nice
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>munchy wrote:</div>
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>mark-bruzek wrote:</div>
So, every plow truck is a problem?Does a plow block the rear plate?
On jobs I cant bring my kenworth and I need a hitch carrier, I haul a hydraulic pump for my saws and I’ve never been stopped for blocking my rear plate. And this is in a commercial truck where they can make serious money off a traffic stop.
12 years now no issues.If any one wants a hitch carrier, we build them to your needs, just send me a message.
I didn’t post about it to start a debate. I know, a blocked license plate is a minor offense. However it is still illegal, and I was just passing on the info. Many people do it with no issue, heck I’ve done it. But at least here in MN it is against the law to cover your plate with ANYTHING, you can’t even put a clear plastic cover over it. I don’t know about you, but the less issues that may draw attention to myself the better when it comes to police interactions.
Heck I’ve been pulled over in the middle of the night coming from work for a flickering license plate bulb. You know what the first thing that officer did when he stepped up to my window? Stuck his head in and took a big deep breath to see if I had been drinking. Thankfully I hadn’t, but there have been those days where I had stopped for a beer after work. A single beer may have drawn me out to the side of the road for a sobriety test. All over a stupid flickering bulb that had a bad ground.
Buy a matching sled for your shack and bolt it to your hitch hauler.
Your shack will nest perfectly, just toss a strap over it when going down the highway.
I did it for years 
I just battled this this past weekend. Planned to strap my cabin to a hitch carrier behind my truck only to find it blocks my taillights. Didn’t take that into consideration when buying all the parts. 
So I have a hitch carrier and 18” extension available if it might work for someone else. Shoot me a pm.
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I just battled this this past weekend. Planned to strap my cabin to a hitch carrier behind my truck only to find it blocks my taillights. Didn’t take that into consideration when buying all the parts.
So I have a hitch carrier and 18” extension available if it might work for someone else. Shoot me a pm.
Install trailer lights onto the carrier.
True but it’s one more thing I have to plug and unplug when removing the hitch to set the ramps to get the wheeler down and vice versa reloading.
Yes, I’m being lazy but I’m looking for easier/faster way to load. Original plan when buying the parts was to keep it all loaded on the ATV hitch but then learned that only has a 33lb tongue eight rating and things were sagging pretty badly. That’s when I tried the truck hitch. Oh well.
What size hitch hauler do you have? Do you do anything special to hold them or just throw them on and strap down?
60×32. Throw the shack on and strap it down.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Austin Britt wrote:</div>
What size hitch hauler do you have? Do you do anything special to hold them or just throw them on and strap down?60×32. Throw the shack on and strap it down.
do you know the make/model of the hitch carrier? I can’t find anything more than 24″ wide. 60×24 is all I’m finding. Thanks
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