Help with loading on sled deck

[dmkhnr]

My Father and I just finished this sled deck, but we're having a problem with loading and unloading.

Take a look, is my beavertail too steep? I have to take a major run at the ramp to get the sled to go up without stopping and hanging up. It is sketchy when doing this, and I feel like a jackweed because I can't see myself doing this after a long day of riding out in the middle of nowhere, nor by myself.

I'm thinking of plywood on the beavertail so that the carbides don't hang up. I even went and bought a winch today hooked it up and slowly pulled the sled up, but it was a 2 man operation as the carbides hooked up on the beavertail.

What am I missing here???? I did take a good run at it once and almost landed on the cab of the truck, as of right now, I'd rather pull my 25' trailer all winter then deal with this.

 

[Spud]

sure enough! angle that tail up aout 8-10 degrees and you'll have her.

 

[Ex-Member]

My guess is you're losing traction when the skis start up that angle. The only part of the track that's giving you any grip would be the tail end of it, almost like a wheelie. I experience this as my skis get about halfway up the ramp, if I don't have the momentum to get the track on the ramp, have to back up and take another stab at it.

UHMW slides where the skis go will help loading too.

 

[Spud]

Superglides do work great but the angle of the ramp & beavertail need to be the same, most ramps are 8-10 foot long.

 

[dmkhnr]

Ramp is 9', and it's hanging up on the beaver, if I go 8' my angle will be close but the ramp will be steep. Carbides are hanging up on the metal so next step is to plywood the beavertail to see how that works.

 

[EricW]

I agree with those above on flattening the beaver tail angle. As far as the glides, I like the style in the pics below. I can't remember the name, but all sled shops and web sites have 'em. The little raised nubs work to keep your skis tracking straight going up the ramp, and they are way better traction for you coming back down on foot. I took several run away spills coming down with the smooth super glides before I put these on my ramp.

The shouldered bolts and slotted holes work way better too in the spring hot sun that will warp and pull on the regular glides. Good luck. EW

 

[EricW]

With that ramp, do you need a beavertail. I have a MotoMikey deck with no beavertail and I can still pull my 28' Carmac enclosed with the deck in. I don't see the need/benefit of the beaver tail if you have enough ramp. Just a thought.

 

[ski-doo junkie]

Looks like a very simple fix.
I'd slit the welds where the beavertail and the bed meet.
Then cut a small V and find the angle that matches the ramp and reweld at the correct angle.

Just an idea.

 

[turboxp]

ramp

The angle does not look right and use puck board where ski's run and it look like you could have a few more cross peices so your track has something to grab when it starts up the ramp.

just my two cents

 

[07rev800R]

My Father and I just finished this sled deck, but we're having a problem with loading and unloading.

Take a look, is my beavertail too steep? I have to take a major run at the ramp to get the sled to go up without stopping and hanging up. It is sketchy when doing this, and I feel like a jackweed because I can't see myself doing this after a long day of riding out in the middle of nowhere, nor by myself.

I'm thinking of plywood on the beavertail so that the carbides don't hang up. I even went and bought a winch today hooked it up and slowly pulled the sled up, but it was a 2 man operation as the carbides hooked up on the beavertail.

What am I missing here???? I did take a good run at it once and almost landed on the cab of the truck, as of right now, I'd rather pull my 25' trailer all winter then deal with this.

just delete the beaver tail completly should work fine...

 

[dmkhnr]

If I delete the beavertail the ramp will be at the same angle??? Cutting the ramp would be easier.
Beavertail is at 34*, so flattening it would take some work but I have all summer.

I hit that beavertail today and the whole front of the sled popped up, and I thought I was going to land on the roof. After that experience I thought I'd better get a winch and load them slow. I know if my father had been behind the throttle the sled would have landed on the hood and him on the ground with his head split open.

 

[Wheel House Motorsports]

get and old bedliner from a spray on place, you can get em for free or just a few bucks. with MUCH less resistance on the skis you can hit it WAY slower and i think it will deal with the binding issues. i had a ramp on my buddies trailer that you would stick to and have to hit it pretty dang fast to get on, added some bedliner, now you can litterally coast up it, the skis glide right up.

your beavertail is definately to steep, BUT, i think if you hit the whole setup with runners for the skis and you should be in the clear, and no cutting and rewelding.

 

[Vertical-Extreme]

get and old bedliner from a spray on place, you can get em for free or just a few bucks. with MUCH less resistance on the skis you can hit it WAY slower and i think it will deal with the binding issues. i had a ramp on my buddies trailer that you would stick to and have to hit it pretty dang fast to get on, added some bedliner, now you can litterally coast up it, the skis glide right up.

your beavertail is definately to steep, BUT, i think if you hit the whole setup with runners for the skis and you should be in the clear, and no cutting and rewelding.

great idea, I would agree, lessen the bend on the beaver tail or remove it and get a longer ramp. i wouldn't shorten your ramp any more.

 

[Spud]

If I delete the beavertail the ramp will be at the same angle??? Cutting the ramp would be easier.
Beavertail is at 34*, so flattening it would take some work but I have all summer.

I hit that beavertail today and the whole front of the sled popped up, and I thought I was going to land on the roof. After that experience I thought I'd better get a winch and load them slow. I know if my father had been behind the throttle the sled would have landed on the hood and him on the ground with his head split open.

do not cut your ramp its ok in length, just angle your Beavertail up like I said. You pop'd that wheelie today shows its too steep on that tail!

 

[07rev800R]

you don't need the beaver tail at all..... unless you are put a lift kit on your pickup

 

[MARCUSO]

The one I built is about that height, and I have a bobtail. My ramp is 9 feet, and at first it seems pretty steep, but it's not too bad. I can get a quad up mine no probo. I would cut your ramp a bit and you should be good. The deck is 8.5 feet, and the ramp sticks out, but it gets hung up in the garage when not in use.

Those superglides are great, but those screws suck. If you are mounting them into any kind of metal, they work out. I used a large headed standard steel rivet and jammed an old dinner fork under it while fastening, thus creating a gap. You also need support under them, all along the edges to last.

 

[powder79]

You need to put some thing for the skis to run on!!! I had a set of 4 wheeler ramps that i tried to load my sled in the the back of my pick up and i couldn't get the skis to go up the ramp so i hit it harder and it just pushed the tail gate shut so i laid some poly where the skis run and i was able to cost up the ramps no problem. the skis cut into the metel to much.

 

[dmkhnr]

I'm not going to lift the truck.
I guess I have nothing to lose by bobtailing as now that I've thought about it the beavertail is acting as a kicker, the ramp should be steeper than the beavertail so the front lays down instead of jumping up.

What length is your guys decks with a shortbed? I'm shopping for a travel trailer right now, and would like to be able to load the sleds on the deck and pull a travel trailer. I'm not sure this will happen as the sled is 10', ramp is 9', deck can be cut at 9'-.

 

[RGM]

Like others have said change the angle of the beaver tail. The other thing you want to do is get a chunk of old track and bolt it to the back of the deck and have a piece hang down over the beaver tail. As soon as your sled track touches that track you can walk it up as slow as you want. Use the cut up bed liners for the skis as well

 

[knee deep in it]

one idea i had a long time ago is to decrease the ramp angle by building a 2nd stage.

If we assume your deck height is 60" and your total ramp length is 120" (ramp + beavertail", then your loading ramp angle is 30 degrees. That is steep but it would be no problem if you could be just blipping the throttle. The problem is that you need enough speed to get you far enough up the ramp so that your track lugs are on the cross bars of the ramp. If you don't have enough speed, you end up with your skis on the ramp and just spinning the track.

My idea is to have a 2nd ramp just wide enough for the track. The skis won't ever touch it because it is too narrow. If you made the 2nd ramp 88" long, it could hook up to the mid point of the existing ramp. The height at that point is 30" so the approach angle would be 20 degrees.

At that point, your skis are on the original ramp but your track is in contact with the new ramp. You can now idle up the ramp by blipping the throttle. heck, a section of ladder would work if you could figure out a way to hold it to the first ramp without coming loose.