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Can't decide on drive on vs. tilt snowmobile trailer

JScott

Asked by JScott,

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JScott Enthusiast

JScott

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I'm going to buy a snowmobile trailer, and I want to be able to bring my permanent wood ice house out on the lake and back off again with it as well as haul sleds occasionally, but not do both at the same time.

My thought is to put a boat trailer-type winch on it for loading the house but I'm not sure how that could work with a tilt bed. If I go drive-off style I could pull the house up on ramp(s) but how would I get it off of the trailer (slide it off the on the ramps too)?

Anyone have any experience with this or ideas I haven't thought of yet on how this could work. I would like to be as self sufficient as possible, but do have access to help with the ice house. The ice house is 6x8.

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Macgyver55 Grand Master

Macgyver55

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For hauling a fish house, loading and unloading would be easier with a tilt. I set one up for a friend by mounting a removable 12 volt winch on the center of the bed. He could then plug it into his battery and pull the house on with that. Unloading was done by tilting the trailer and with some help it would slide off easily. Securing it to the trailer was the trickiest part, but he installed some real heavy I bolts to strap to and that made it pretty solid.

For my sleds, I now use a covered drive on drive off, but I still have my tilt for the ATVs and other stuff.

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Gus Veteran

Gus

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Having a tilt bed trailer is the way to go for a fish house I think. I mounted a ATV winch on the front of my trailer and pull my 8x10 right up and slide it right off. Once she hits the ground just drive the trailer the rest of the way out from under it.

That being said, I hate having a tilt trailer for loading snowmobiles. It's a PITA to load 2 sleds by yourself. I can never seem to get the thing to balance right to get the second sled on. Or they both end up too far back and I can't get the thing to tilt forward at all. It can be done, just a bit tricky I guess. If I didn't have a fish house to put on the trailer I'd sell it and get a drive on/off style.

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jerkbait Mentor

jerkbait

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I would go drive on-off. Load the fish house with the ramps and when you unload just auger a hole part way down at an angle and wrap a chain, rope or tow strap around the post and hook to the house. Then just drive the trailer out form underneath. That is how I did it and it worked great. For sleds drive on-off is way easier, exspecaily when unloading. Much easier on the back. My thoughts.

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Xplorer Proficient

Xplorer

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How bout have both!!

I have an 8.5' x 10' Floe tilt. I simply purchased an $80 48"x66" folding aluminum loading ramp. I added 1/2" OSB to the outer @18" of each side with 3 u-bolts centered (leaving @4" of open space on the inner part of the ramp so I could still carry it when it was folded in half. I use this to load my 2 sleds with no issues by myself. Unloading, I use the tilt. The folded ramp fits in my truck bed.

Last year on a trip to Saganaga, we went to leave and it had snowed-melted-froze and the trailer was a skating rink. It was a royal pain to load two big 2 ups on it even with 3 guys. That's when I ordered the ramp. I did drill a 1/2 inch hole on the 3 "fingers" that lay on the trailer, and drilled the trailer so that I could put 3 bolts thru the fingers and trailer to hold it in place. So far, verrryy happy!

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LightningBG Grand Master

LightningBG

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For sleds drive on-off is way easier, exspecaily when unloading. Much easier on the back. My thoughts.

I've always wondered why people felt this way. I have a tilt (2 of them actually 8ft/10ft) and when we unload, we just pull the pin, lift up on the front (which only weighs a couple pounds) and the sleds just slide right off the back.

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311Hemi Grand Master

311Hemi

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Tilts are nice if you have reverse on your sled.....but I absolutely hate trying to pull a sled off a tilt bed if the deck is dry (or you don't have the plastic runners on there). For loading you can get a shock system for the front to keep it tilted.

Drive on/off are nice if you have the drop down ramps in the front, but I was always annoyed with mine because I had to haul the ramp from the rear of the trailer to the front so I could drive off. Also, not a big deal by any means but depending on where you are parked you may need additional room with the drive on/off.

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      By rundrave · Posted

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