Transportation for One Man Portables with ATV

[WolfpackFishNGuy]

This ice season I have an ATV and I will will have either my wife, one of my sons or go alone. I am considering putting a seat cargo box on the back rack which takes the back rack away.

I've been considering coming up with a way to extend off the back with a basket so I can haul my one man on top of the basket when I go alone. I can pull my Yukon connected to the hitch when I have two people but even with 2 people I might bring the one man with me.

Is it a bad idea to pull the one man hooked up to the hitch? I have the Hyfax intalled on the tub.

Does it make sense to hook my Yukon and my Pro or Kenai up in tandem is it difficult pulling a tandem like that?

[MinnGuy]

No problem pulling multiple portables. We pull two quite often with my wheeler. And even had to pull a dead wheeler and two portables one time....

[B-man715]

A hitch hauler works great!

The one I use is specifically for an atv (raised way up). Makes loading and unloading from the trailer easy without bottoming out.

My hitch on the wheeler is kinda wimpy, so I also run a ratchet strap from top of the hauler to the back rack. Without it my hitch (not the hauler) would slowly bend down from bumps.

I bolted a sled from an Eskimo QF II to it. Works perfect for hauling any size one or two man shack that will fit inside it.

The exhaust is also pretty close to the sled, so I bolted on a small peice of sheet metal to the sled to deflect the heat.

When using my three man I pull the hitch hauler off and use the tow bar to the sled/shack.

(my cover for the one man is sitting in the sled in the pic)

[LakeDocktor]

I have had the same set up that you seem to be leaning towards. This worked perfect for me. If you choose to pull in tandem, check out the Digger Anchor hitches and rear hitches that allow you to pull in tandem.

[WolfpackFishNGuy]

LakeDocktor

Is that a custom bracket off the back for the house?

The picture doesnt' really show me what it is for sure

Any issues with bending at all with going over rough terrain?

[dfeste]

Another option to think about is a drop down atv basket. This might give you two different options. First, it provides a place to carry things behind the seat that's on the atv rack. The one I have will hold three five gallon buckets plus additional items that can be put between the buckets and the basket. Second, it might give you a good platform to fasten a homemade shelf for your one man portable. I'm sure you could come up with a way to attatch something that would be easily removable when you wanted to tow the larger portable.

[Hardwater_Fan]

I made my own extension out of a piece of plywood and two pieces of 2x2, then painted it black to match. I just bolt it onto the rear rack at the beginning of the season and leave it. That leaves room on my rear rack for a bag that I keep extra clothes, food, beverages, etc in.

On my extension, I only have two holes for buckets, but you could make it wider and have three. If you use steel tubing or angle iron instead of wood, you will be able to support a lot more weight. If you are still worried about the weight you're going to put on the extension, you could run some supports from the back of the extension down to the ATV hitch.

I also added a few sections of PVC to the wood extension. It allows me to have easy access to a few rods when runnin' and gunnin'. I cut a small groove into the PVC sections so that the reel would fit into it, then I run a bungee over the top of the reel handles when going on longer trips.

[LakeDocktor]

LakeDocktor

Is that a custom bracket off the back for the house?

The picture doesnt' really show me what it is for sure

Any issues with bending at all with going over rough terrain?

It is a custom bracket. Basically, it is 1" square tubing welded so the house fits between the sidebars and the crossbars. It then slides into 1.5" tubing that is U-bolted to the back rack. I drilled holes in both and secure it with pins for easy removal. On the back of the rack is a 3 bucket holder that is welded directly to the back to the fish house rack. I never had an issue with anything bending, but I could definitely tell it was back there when I had the buckets in the rack.

I sold it with my Fishtrap Pro last year and plan on coming up with a different style in a couple weeks.