Any experience with a golfcart trailer for the sled?

[BikerPepe`]

Just got a pretty good deal on a tilt-load, golf cart trailer. Found it up on craigslist for $800. emailed the guy... "if you'll take $600, I'd like to come take a look." Got there and the little trailer was in excellent shape. 10 yrs. old. Locally manufactured, professionally. Kids dad owned it... but lived so close to the golf course, he hardly used it. Kid says he used it maybe 3 times in 3 yrs. for hauling small loads around town. Looks like it too.

It's about 4',4" wide (between rails) and 10' long. Has a hoist crank loading strap on the front, easy tilt lock-in latch and came with a mounted spare and two extra tires. I love the screen mesh floor... no major worries replacing wooden floor boards every year or so.

My sled's just under 11'. One of the first things I installed after picking up my sled was the reverse gear, so ride on/off isn't a real issue.
This should be perfect for hauling just myself and pulling with my yota pickup, instead of my old F250 guzzler. I'll save the "beast" for going out with others... I can potentially take 3 sleds out now, if someone's splittin' the gas bill. 2 on the bed (when i finish the hoist) and 1 on the trailer.

It's not the absolute best, but the price was right and I thought it should work awesome to haul the Hog, the 4 wheeler, the lawn tractor and a billion smaller loads with ease.

I plan to replace the bearings and convert to bearing buddy setup. Was also considering a lock bar potentially, like you see on all the little flatbed sled trailers.
Does anyone have a clue what a trailer like this should be weight rated for? I figured it should be at least 1000 lbs. to haul a battery operated golf cart, maybe 1250 lbs?
Any tips or tricks on using a trailer like this for hauling a sled?

 

[volcano buster]

Looks like it should work.

I would make a removable bang board to keep the road grime off the front of the sled, removable so you can take it off when using it in the summer.

I would put a small utility light inside each front corner of the bang board shining back so you have loading/covering lights when you get back in the dark.

Possibly some sort of slide guide for the skis. Either store bought, or pickup bedliner pieces if those are available.

Tie down bar. Shouldn't take too much to get a piece put together.

Tie down points in the rear corners just inside the slide guides would let you tie the sled down to keep it from shifting side to side. These would also work good to anchor the quad/mower.

If you had room, a medium size tool box on the front or side might be handy to put your cover and tools in when you are off riding. I hated putting gritty covers inside the truck during the day.

Since it has the expanded deck, small flaps behind the trailer wheels may help keep a lot of road grime from blowing up through the deck and into the sled suspension.

Good luck.

 

[Coldfinger]

Awesome. If the tires are older than 6 years or so, may want to get new ones.

You could throw a sheet of 1/2 plywood down on it, then put some old bedliner strips for the skis to run in. I'd stop the bedliner just short of where your tie down point is so you have the wear bars resting on the wood.

You could drill a hole thru the wood to mount a normal tie down bar. Weld the nut onto some angle iron or strap iron, then fasten that to the wood with some stainless steel bolts or grade 8 bolts and self locking nuts.

 

[BikerPepe`]

Looks like it should work.

I would make a removable bang board to keep the road grime off the front of the sled, removable so you can take it off when using it in the summer.

I would put a small utility light inside each front corner of the bang board shining back so you have loading/covering lights when you get back in the dark.

Possibly some sort of slide guide for the skis. Either store bought, or pickup bedliner pieces if those are available.

Tie down bar. Shouldn't take too much to get a piece put together.

Tie down points in the rear corners just inside the slide guides would let you tie the sled down to keep it from shifting side to side. These would also work good to anchor the quad/mower.

If you had room, a medium size tool box on the front or side might be handy to put your cover and tools in when you are off riding. I hated putting gritty covers inside the truck during the day.

Since it has the expanded deck, small flaps behind the trailer wheels may help keep a lot of road grime from blowing up through the deck and into the sled suspension.

Good luck.

Some decent advice, thank you. I totally agree with the tie down points. Was thinking of some small D-rings around each of the four corners.

Lighting shouldn't be an issue... but I might go with a single back light on the yota. Easier to justify and useful for more than just the trailer.

I've got a sled cover and don't want to waste a bunch of the trailers weight capacity to soaked, temporary wood solutions. Part of the reason I picked this sled up was to avoid that "deck maintenance" problems and expense. When you live on SSDI, sledding is an expensive enough hobby as it is.

Last season I went out, my buddy and I used his standard utility trailer... the ones with the heavy ramp/tailgate. The gate was a major pita, but the sled went really well across the mesh-wire floors and to my surprise, the road grime was minimal. I thought about floor rails, using old truck-bed liner, but the trailer is so narrow anyway... for my king cat, I don't really see the need. It's got nice side-rails, so it can't slide off, like a flatbed setup. With the D-rings and straps on, it really shouldn't move at all. For those reasons... I'm still waffling on the need for the "tie down" bar.

As for the toolbox... as you can see by looking at my yota:

I've got a covered, locking canopy to hold all the tools, gas, cover, etc.
(That's why I wasn't looking for a sled in the truck-bed solution)

Small mud flaps might be a good call too. I've got a good roll of old rubber conveyor belt. I can trim some up easily enough and use the rivet gun to slap 'em on.

Awesome. If the tires are older than 6 years or so, may want to get new ones.

You could throw a sheet of 1/2 plywood down on it, then put some old bedliner strips for the skis to run in. I'd stop the bedliner just short of where your tie down point is so you have the wear bars resting on the wood.

You could drill a hole thru the wood to mount a normal tie down bar. Weld the nut onto some angle iron or strap iron, then fasten that to the wood with some stainless steel bolts or grade 8 bolts and self locking nuts.

No idea on the age of the tires, but it came with an extra set and the spare w/rim. None of them have any weather checking or any visible issues and the tread looks good too.

thanks guys. discussion and advice help me work through any potential issues and get them addressed before they become problems, so I appreciate all the input.