Otter Pro Lodge for Ranger got one yesterday..

So after the Ranger being in the shop for nearly a month waiting for parts to come in it came home today and along with it came the Otter Polaris XT Pro Lodge. They installed it on the back of the Ranger at the shop. First thing I ran into is once I got it up on the trailer I found out I couldn’t latch the ramp in the up position because the Otter hangs about a foot over the length of the Ranger box. The pins for the ramp were about a inch from locking into the bracket. So I had a extra strap and strapped the ramp in the up position to get home. I will have to do some minor mods on the trailer. Always something right?
So once home I did a dry run of setting it up and taking it down. So here are my impressions. The cover for it is a TIGHT fit. It takes some working it to get it on and off. I expect it will stretch a bit over time but I like for it to be a nice tight fit actually.

The guy at the shop gave me a short rundown on how to put it up but we didn’t actually do it. I didn’t anticipate any problems.
I guess it took me maybe 10 minutes to get it set up but I was taking my time eyeballing for any rips, tears, out of shape poles etc. First glance everything looks good.
First thing I really liked are there are 7 windows so you get lots of light in and can see your tip ups if you are standing or sitting.
This will be perfect for days when you are flying solo which I do often because I’m retired and a lot of my fishing buddy’s are still working. However it will fish 2 but there won’t be room for much anything else in the fishing area. Once it’s set up you have the entire box of the Ranger to put your gear in. I ran the heater in it on low and in about 15 minutes it was toasty warm but it was 17 degrees out side with little wind.

Overall fit and finish seem to be very good. There will be some tweaking as I go along I’m sure. So we are going in the deep freeze the next several days so hoping to get it out on the ice this weekend if not sooner.

interesting, looks like the wind poles are a must to keep it pretty straight and upright? Do you have space in the box when it’s stored up? if you don’t mind me asking, how does the price compare with an Otter tow behind flip over?

Yep the tension or wind poles are designed to be used all the time. Yes you do have some space to put things in the box when it is folded up but it is limited. These price out at $1000 so depending on what you’re looking for you could spend less on a tow behind. What attracted me is once my wheeler is up on the trailer I don’t have room for a sled on it. I don’t have a pick up I have a Ford Expedition and I didn’t want to deal with trying to load a sled in the back of that as I do go fishing solo enough that I don’t always have help loading and unloading.
It seems the right fit for my application.

Ice Cap wrote:

Yep the tension or wind poles are designed to be used all the time. Yes you do have some space to put things in the box when it is folded up but it is limited. These price out at $1000 so depending on what you’re looking for you could spend less on a tow behind. What attracted me is once my wheeler is up on the trailer I don’t have room for a sled on it. I don’t have a pick up I have a Ford Expedition and I didn’t want to deal with trying to load a sled in the back of that as I do go fishing solo enough that I don’t always have help loading and unloading.
It seems the right fit for my application.

I absolutely agree! perfect fit for your application! I too have a tight fit getting everything on my trailer (ATV & Otter Cabin) I could use an extra 2-3″ of space when the trailer ramp is up, so i’m going to go buy some plate Aluminum and fabricate an extended trailer ramp lock bracket (I assume your trailer ramp locks are similar) so when the trailer ramp is locked in the up position, it actually leans back towards the road a few inches vs being perfectly vertical.

We might have the same trailer? Sure Trac galvanized 5X7. I have to reverse the brackets that my lock pins slide into on the ramp so I can lock the ramp in. As i said in my original post the Otter sticks off the back of the Ranger nearly a foot so the ramp was just short about a inch or so of being able to lock the pins in. Reversing them should give me enough room. I like your idea of extending the trailer but I’m not a very handy individual so I might next year go with a bigger trailer.

Maybe a path to getting tracks??

Can you just back the ranger on the trailer and not have anything interfere with your tow rig? That would save any modifications you would have to do.

Looks pretty sweet.
Arctic Cat had a contraption like this several years ago for ATVs, but it never took off. It was called the SpeedShack or something like that.

The manual for the otter says specifically not to back the Ranger onto a trailer for transport due to wind whipping. I think I could get away with it because my Expedition forces most of the wind to the top all the way back I don’t have a open box behind the cab and in front of the trailer for the wind to vortex into.

But I’m not going to tempt fate by trying it. I know how my luck runs. I’d probably have poles and canvas spread down 5 miles of highway!

Thought I would update this even though I have only been able to use this once this season due to all the snow and slush on the ice the wheeler isn’t going to get around.

As far as storage and transport of gear. I put my Ion on top of the Otter right behind the cab and strap it down. Now I have the carry bag for my Ion so the Otter cover is protected from the actual auger so it won’t wear a hole in the cover from bouncing around during transport.
You basically have the entire box of the Ranger available for your gear as long as it doesn’t stand up higher than the sides of the box itself. So things like my rod bag, minnow bucket, Dewalt heater, tripod fishing chair, slush scoop etc. will all go in the back. 5 gallon buckets and 20lb propane tanks will if you lay them down but I just put them in the cab of the Ranger.

For next season I’m going to get a 11lb propane tank that isn’t as tall and that will ride in the box just fine. So for me when i go solo fishing during the week days this is a perfect set up. Unless of course you got 2 feet of snow on the ice like we do now. with 2 guys and gear for 2 guys I think it will still work but you will have to get a little more creative with packing stuff in. I think I will get a carrier that will mount in the front or rear receiver of the Ranger to transport extra stuff when there is 2 of us and that should solve any gear storage issues.

All in all I’m very happy with this purchase even though I’ve only used it once it’s enough to know this will serve my needs perfectly. Another side benefit is when I’m not fishing I don’t have a ice fishing sled and all the gear taking up garage floor space everything is on the back of the Ranger.