Loading 4 wheelrs on bed of pick up

[paul_judd]

Trying to solve the age old problem of the perfect travel trailer.

Have been looking at 5th wheels, bumper pull etc.

For what we want to do it seems like a pumper pull with some sort of loading platform on our truck would give us the most flexibility.
Not in love with driving up a steep narrow ramp to load 4 wheelers on a platform on the bed of our truck.
Are there any loading system that are easier, safer to use?
Any suggestion would be greatly appreciated.

[Chuck_thehammer]

I use these..

ScreenHunter_11 Aug. 17 12.33 by , on Flickr

many sizes..

I put my 800 pounds motorcycle in the bed of the truck.. and pull a 9,000 pound travel trailer.

Discount ramps dot com.
.
truck bike and trailer by , on Flickr

and my ramp sits beside motorcycle in the bed of truck.. lots of room
.
.

[Captain_Happy]

I camp host in a RV Park up in Utah during the summer, and there's a guy that comes up 3 times during the summer with his ATV & UTV. Carries the ATV in the bed of a F-250, just uses regular loading ramps and puts his ATV right up into the bed of the truck, fits right in between the fender wells. He also pulls a drag 30 foot toy hauler with his UTV inside. And he's been doing this for years.

[Jebby14]

all the toys I get to play with are old 2 strokes. no clutch to deal with means even less to worry about. give'er

[Sprink-Fitter]

Jebby14 wrote:
whats wrong with ramps? don't dump the clutch and stay ready on the brake. also can use an atv winch to pull them up the ramp.

Have you rode an atv lately, most don't have a manual clutch.

[Ivylog]

lanerd wrote:
I use a tri-fold ramp to load my Quad in the back of my truck. Really simple and once loaded the ramp folds up narrow enough to slide it under the Quad.

Ron

X2 plus I added a 2x4 to stop the front tires instead of the rack into the back window.

[KD4UPL]

Around hear lots of people have bale beds on their truck. These are used to haul hay bales around to feed cattle. They have a hydraulic arm on each side of a flat bed that can lower down to squeeze a big round hay bale and put it on the flatbed. Same for unloading the bale in the pasture. I've seen some of these fixed up with a platform attached to the arms for a 4 wheeler. They drove the 4 wheeler onto the platform on the ground and used the hydraulic arms to load it on the truck just like a hay bale.

[morphrider]

Agreed with the finding of a toyhauler. We purchased a front deck system which is perfect for us and there is zero lost room in the trailer for sleeping. No need to move machines to get sleep area ready. But....also have the right truck for these toyhaulers. Don't even think of using less than a 3/4 ton.

[BB_TX]

I like the tri fold ramps much better than the two narrow ramps. Gives more room for error.

[Ductape]

Toy haulers are nice, but only if the camping and trailheads are at a single location. Often that's not the case and you need to transport the quads from the campsite to the trail.

[LIKE2BUILD]

paul judd wrote:
For what we want to do it seems like a bumper pull with some sort of loading platform on our truck would give us the most flexibility.
Not in love with driving up a steep narrow ramp to load 4 wheelers on a platform on the bed of our truck.
Are there any loading system that are easier, safer to use?
Any suggestion would be greatly appreciated.

There are several vendors like Truck Boss or Diamond Back Systems that make pickup bed covers meant to haul 1 or 2 ATV's. Unfortunately if you put 800-1000 lbs of ATV on the rear axle you'll quickly run out of capacity for the hitch weight of a TT. You might be okay with a 3/4 or 1 ton truck, but a 1/2 ton will be out of CCC by the time you load ATVs and people.

Like others said, you're probably best off looking for a toy hauler. you get the benefit of the enclosed garage and ease of parking ATV's without the steep ramps you mentioned.

KJ

[boosTT]

Using the ramp isn't fun, but its not that awful. Get a really long tri-fold ramp. I use 10' ramps.

I'd prefer a toy hauler, but I didn't foresee my camping trips turning into atv trips and already had a TT.

Most UTV's will require a toy hauler or long bed truck with some sort of "sled bed".

The truck bed carriers seam to be popular in Canada.

[lanerd]

I use a tri-fold ramp to load my Quad in the back of my truck. Really simple and once loaded the ramp folds up narrow enough to slide it under the Quad.

Ron

[Boon_Docker]

Go with a bumper pull toy hauler. By the time you put a couple quads on your truck you are not going to have much payload capacity left for a trailer.

[Jebby14]

whats wrong with ramps? don't dump the clutch and stay ready on the brake. also can use an atv winch to pull them up the ramp.