ATV Mod Ideas

[aiathompson]

Pulled the trigger today and have a new Polaris Sportsman Touring 570 SP in Blue Fire on order and should arrive in about 10 days. I have a young son who will fish with me on occasion, so the 2-up seat will come in handy when he’s with me. I upgraded to an Otter XT1200 Cabin last winter, so I’m looking forward to another run-n-gun winter. Mod’d out the Otter last winter to help keep me on the move. Plan on doing the same thing with the Sportsman ATV.

Decided from my earlier post to add a Digger Auger Rack to the front and I have a Lowrance Elite GPS that will go on the dash.

I’m constantly on the move and am looking for thoughts and ideas on simple mod’s to keep me fishing.

Let’s see photos of your ATV Mods.

[ncesi]

[gonehunting]

NCESI just beat me to it. A monster box or something similar would be a nice addition. Not sure if they fit with a two up seat though. Nice to keep the vexilar, heaters, tackle boxes and such from bouncing around too much. Even a couple five gallon bucket brackets would be nice. The Digger Auger Carrier is a must.

[guyonacouch]

I built this rack on the cheap with some old heavy duty plastic boxes from a business my Grandpa worked for and garage door rails and u-bolts for the mounting brackets to extend it off of the back of the wheeler some.

I always used to put my rods back into a travel case when I was moving and unscrewing/rescrewing the reel handles always took me longer than I wanted. Now I strap them to the outside of this rack I made or I've also got a 5 gallon bucket that I've got PVC pipe mounted to that I put into a milk crate I've got mounted inside of one of the boxes so that I can just carry my rods in and out of my shack when I'm on the move. I carry my Vexilar inside of that same 5 gallon bucket, so I can be on the move without worrying about breaking anything pretty quickly. I can carry 9 rods with this set up and everything rides nice even across rough terrain. Not pictured is a Digger auger rack on the front - definitely the fastest and most secure rack on the market in my opinion.

[LMITOUT]

I really like the Otter Monster Box on my ATV for ice fishing. You can stow all of your gear inside and have peace of mind that it is secure and out of the elements. It's nice to put the locator, rod bag, tackle, snacks/pop, hand tools, etc all in there and not have to monkey around loading it unloading from your pickup all the time. Another plus is that it's lockable to keep unwanted hands out when you've stopped in a public place.

A nice option to go with the Monster Box is the bucket holder that attaches to the side. I throw the bait bucket in there and I know it's not going to tip over when I'm heading out or in from fishing.

The only thing I'd be cautious about is that rear jump seat which is showing in your picture. I'm not sure the Monster Box will work with that and you might have to do a little research prior to buying. It looks like the Can-Am pictured above has one but something to think about. They're pretty flexible in how they mount up to the rack and there is some adjustability front-to-back. You just don't want to have it so far back that the bulk of the weight you're carrying is hanging over the rear of the rack, putting stress on that point of the box.

[ncesi]

The Can Am I have is a Max or two up and the monster box fits perfectly. I have to remove the rear hand hold bars but that is two bolts and easy. I am going to have to get a 5 gal bucket holder as it would be nice to hold the bait bucket in that instead of inside. I have picked up a few of the 5 gal pail screw on lids for my bait bucket so no leakage at all, I just run the aerator line thru the lid with a rubber grommet and it basically has no leakage at all. Have fun building the machine that is almost as much fun for me as the fishing.

[JSK76]

Nothing special but made my own box to fit a Clam one man flip over or hall all my gear to the wheel house. Digger auger carrier in the front, hand warmers and added a full size battery that fits in left front of box, chains on all 4, ifs lock for pulling the wheel house. I didn't do a drop with box is so I could flip up the jack on the tongue for the house.

[damdiver]

Nice looking quad S. Thompson. Goona want some storage on there. Always eyed the monster boxes but nevergot one.

[LMITOUT]

Nothing special but made my own box to fit a Clam one man flip over or hall all my gear to the wheel house.

Did you use some sort of bed liner on the box? Turned out pretty nice.

[JSK76]

Yes, I used Raptor Liner.

[aiathompson]

Thanks for the ideas. Keep 'em coming. I ran across this items on HSOList. Price is up there at $295.

POLARIS- 3 BUCKET RACK WITH AUGER CLAMP KIT

[BoxMN]

Here is mine - not sure of auger rack name, but the back is rear drop rack with tailgate, with a rear bag right behind seat. Two can sit pretty good, if a big person they just sit and push back on the bag a bit. Can fit up to three 5 gallon buckets in back. Takes a bit of bending over to hook up the sleds, but not too bad. Can remove the basket with 4 bolts pretty easy, though I have never felt the need to do it - it does make the steering a bit light in front when you load it down though.

[elkoholic]

This is my rig, i usually have 3 milk creates on the back rack for vexilar, camera, and other misc stuff. It's super nice havin the portable on the back to hold ur rod bag, and great to have the portable off the ice when moving so it's not getting full of snow slush.

[RJMOEN]

I have a question...just bought a fourwheeler this spring so Ive never pulled my otter behind it. Question is do I need the hitch adapter? Cant just use a longer rope? Thanks

[Gofishleech]

I have a question...just bought a fourwheeler this spring so Ive never pulled my otter behind it. Question is do I need the hitch adapter? Cant just use a longer rope? Thanks

IMO the hitch keeps it in track where as the rope will allow sled to swing side to side along everything in the sled. Hitched don't cost that much.

And by the way some of you guys have some great set-ups!!!

[Gofishleech]

In looking at these mods I was wondering if a wheeler could handle being hooked up and run an 12v auger? would be slick for drilling holes I would think.

[Ben626]

I installed the otterbox monster box yesterday I got used. It came with the bucket holder. I think I might have to get another one or the auger tube. I was able to leave the hand holds on. I put a 2"x12 " between the rack and box.

[BoxMN]

I have a question...just bought a fourwheeler this spring so Ive never pulled my otter behind it. Question is do I need the hitch adapter? Cant just use a longer rope? Thanks

With a rope it is cheaper, but it WILL eventually:

-hit the rear of atv (maybe rip cover or fabric, seen it)

-flip over (maybe break, seen it)

- Not track and dump your stuff out (seen it)

I now have 2 portables (one otter one Clam) and two tubs (both otter) and one old metal ski sleigh. I have an Otter tow hitch for each as it works great for ditches with sleds and each has the same size, so totally interchangeable. I even modded the Clam to take the Otter hitch, as it is the best IMO. I made a "rope inside PVC tubes" with hooks on ends and it worked a bit, but still flipped once coming down a hill on sleds and didn't track perfect.

Good luck, but i highly recommend using a rigid hitch, and the Otter in particular.

[MuskieJunkie]

I installed the otterbox monster box yesterday I got used. It came with the bucket holder. I think I might have to get another one or the auger tube.

I have the auger tube and it's not really what I was expecting. It only comes in 10" and it will dull your blades from bouncing up and down. I suppose if you put the blade cover on and strapped the auger down really well that would help but the reason I bought it was to be able to quickly throw the auger in and go.

If I was you I'd probably stick with the front auger rack you have.