Otter pivot hitch

Hoping someone may have one of these and could be bothered to take a couple measurements for me.

Trying to figure out how far the bars stick out from the sled when folded up. I have about 3” from the end of my cabin flipover to the side of my enclosed trailer. Hoping these fit tight enough to the sled that I could still fit my flipover sideways across my trailer.

TIA!

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I just measured mine and i’ve got 4.5″ I do wonder if you mount it a little higher if you wouldn’t be able to swing it back further onto your house. Just for reference i’ve got a Clam X2 thermal house.

Not sure on the measurements but the main reason i got the pivot hitch was so I wouldn’t have to take the hitch off when I put it on the trailer. My trailer is 6.5’ wide an i have an otter lodge. I don’t see why it wouldn’t fit sideways if you have cabin.

hdog3385 wrote:

I just measured mine and i’ve got 4.5″ I do wonder if you mount it a little higher if you wouldn’t be able to swing it back further onto your house. Just for reference i’ve got a Clam X2 thermal house.

Thanks, hdog! I see what you’re saying, maybe moving it up a bit would help it tuck in tighter to the sled.

Parker Edgington wrote:

Not sure on the measurements but the main reason i got the pivot hitch was so I wouldn’t have to take the hitch off when I put it on the trailer. My trailer is 6.5’ wide an i have an otter lodge. I don’t see why it wouldn’t fit sideways if you have cabin.

Parker- my trailer is 6×12 and if I recall correctly off the top of my head, I think it’s 69″ inside wall to wall. Otter’s website says the Cabin is 64″ long wich seems about right when I factor in the cover and material hanging out the sides. I may just have to try and find one at FF or Cabelas here when they’re stocked and test fit and return if need be.

Hi Jamin,

I own an Otter Cabin with a hitch pivot installed. I’m unable to take a measurement because it’s currently in storage but one thing I can say is that you can pull the hitch back when folded so that the pivot sits flush with the front of the ice hut as it wraps around. It will not sit there on it’s own but you could pull it back and slide it into your trailer.

The only additional length to your cabin would be the inch or so width of the metal bar the pivot is made of.

Not sure if this makes sense but I’d say you have room with the extra few inches.

Not to derail the thread, rather to give you another option. I hated the otter pivot hitch and ditched that and got the clam pro series hitch. Yeah it is expensive but I picked it up cheap at the end of ice season a few years back and you just simply pull one pin to pivot the arm and take the whole hitch off every time and store it in the sled, no other pins to pull and it fit the width of the pull points of my otter cabin just fine. The sled end of the hitch just has curved steel flat bar that goes over the top and behind the pins in an otter, no need to mount the pull bracket from clam. Worked better for me and then I didn’t have the round bent bars dragging thru the snow, plow piles, ice ridges, etc…

My Otter is also in storage, but I agree with Blair. The hitch can be pulled all the way back to the edge of the sled.

Blair and stjoe- thanks for the input. Good to know that I can rotate it back far enough that I can snug the hoops up against the shack.

CBMN- Where was this idea last season when I bought the tow bar?? It’s pricy but no more than buying the Otter bars and then the pivot hitch. And it takes up less space. Glad you mentioned it! I may unload my Otter tow bar and just buy the Clam piece rather than also buying the pivot hitch.

Thanks, everyone!

Jamin,

Go watch the youtube video on it so you understand exactly how it attaches and removes, I think it has Chris Granrud explaining it about 4 years ago. Had a buddy buy a new otter the year before last with the tow bar and pivot and he hated it also, ditched it for the clam pro. I was glad they fit the otter molded in pin locations as it is nice to mix and match brands to get the best set up for your use…

I did find that video and it looked pretty slick. I also like that the crossbar can stay attached and protrudes very little from the side of the sled once you pop that one pin. Looks like a good setup and I agree, it’s nice when you can mix n match parts between brands rather than everything being proprietary…which seems to be the norm these days.

Thanks again for the suggestion!