Atv hitch on a portable?

[iowaboy]

Is it a must to have the tow hitch on your portable? I wondered if I should put one on my XL twin or just pull it by the rope behind my 4-Wheeler.

[hanson]

iowaboy-

Forget the rope! Every time you stop or slow down, that house will bang into the back of your wheeler!!

I did the same with my Otter sled for one trip out on the ice, I went out and bought the tow hitch the next day.

[Cliff Wagenbach]

Iowaboy,

I gotta agree with Chris! Get a hitch for your portable!

Also, if you don't have a cover on your portable, get one.

They will fill up fast with snow and slush while pulling them.

Cliff

[Neighboor]

untie your rope from your portable. tie a half hitch in the center of your tow rope so that the opening just fits over your ball hitch. thread your tow rope through 2 pvc pipes cut so that they fit snug agaist the half-hitch knot and knot that you retie your rope back to the fish house. Bam! instant trailer hitch for only a couple bucks.

[Northlander]

I would recomend the hitch for sure. The PVC trick works for a while but if ya pull for long trips or many times a year the ropes break and the PVC bangs on the tub. A solid hitch is the only way to go in my opinion. Well worth the $.

Also make sure you get a good pin and carry extras hooked to the hitch itself or in your gear bag. I once had my house pass me on LOW! I wondered whos house it was at 1st then realized it was mine and my pin had broke.

[psegriz]

Avoid using rope. After watching mine slam into a tree at 40 mph you'd probably agree. The house and sled wasn't damaged but my finder and heater didn't fare as werll.

[DavidH]

Quote:

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Avoid using rope. After watching mine slam into a tree at 40 mph you'd probably agree. The house and sled wasn't damaged but my finder and heater didn't fare as werll.

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Uhh...why in Gods name were you going 40 on an atv pulling a portable??????

[psegriz]

I wasn't driving an ATV it was a snowmobile. Doesn't matter it was my fault even though I was not driving it was my brother inlaws sled and he was driving. He don't do that stuff much and I should have told him to do things different. If I would have been driving we may have ben going much faster but that is why I own an older sled that would only go 55-60. I don't think I'd have lost the sled though? I've also pulled it behind my PU rather than fold it up. Most lakes I fish have no public access so the only person at risk is me and my equipment.

[herb]

I was told awhile back that in Minn. if you're pulling a portable or sled behind an atv or snowmobile, it had to be hooked to a towing hitch. Is this true?

[Ryan_V]

I believe that you only need a rigid hitch rather than rope if you're pulling a sled or anything else with a person behind it.

[iowaboy]

Thanks for the advice everyone ordered a hitch today!

[herb]

That's right, thanks Ryan.