Before I even had a sled, I had a bone stock 1/2 ton light weight raft trailer and my raft. Then the sled came around 2007, but was tired of moving the aluminum folding ramp four times to get the sleds on and off. Not to mention that the sleds were getting absolutely hammered by road gunk and spray. Sometimes I had to stop at the power washers and hose down the snowmobile covers off. I originally was going to weld up some steel drop down doors but was missing all the welding equipment I needed, but I had wood working tools, so away we go! The first pic was just after the doors were finished in 2008. The other pics were taken recently with the wooden slides and the track grips. This modification is going on it's fifth year now!
I made the door frames out of 2x4's, skinned over the outside with 1/2" plywood and finished the inside skin with some cedar T&Groove that I had left over from doing my ceiling at my house. The doors are bolted to the trailers frame post pockects with heavy duty fence hinges. The doors look a little tall, but the machines at the end of the day when I get home are spotless!
The two doors are held together at the top by two eyelet bars and have a fence pin sliding down both of them, with a cotter pin in it. There are 90 degree "L" brackets at each of the lower outside part of the doors so once one of the other doors is let down, the other door won't fall towards the machine and the straps are for keeping the door from falling towards the truck. Yeah, I know it's not perfect, but it works great.
I had some plywood left over and made glides for the platform. After four years, I though they would be trash, but they're still hanging in there.
The thing that didn't hang in there was the axle! Just replaced it with a 3500lb axle. This should work fine for years to come until I make the move to an enclosed trailer when I can afford it. With kids in college, you learn to get creative at a low cost!
I made the door frames out of 2x4's, skinned over the outside with 1/2" plywood and finished the inside skin with some cedar T&Groove that I had left over from doing my ceiling at my house. The doors are bolted to the trailers frame post pockects with heavy duty fence hinges. The doors look a little tall, but the machines at the end of the day when I get home are spotless!
The two doors are held together at the top by two eyelet bars and have a fence pin sliding down both of them, with a cotter pin in it. There are 90 degree "L" brackets at each of the lower outside part of the doors so once one of the other doors is let down, the other door won't fall towards the machine and the straps are for keeping the door from falling towards the truck. Yeah, I know it's not perfect, but it works great.
I had some plywood left over and made glides for the platform. After four years, I though they would be trash, but they're still hanging in there.
The thing that didn't hang in there was the axle! Just replaced it with a 3500lb axle. This should work fine for years to come until I make the move to an enclosed trailer when I can afford it. With kids in college, you learn to get creative at a low cost!
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