Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Bowhunting New bowhunting (and gun deer hunting) tool

Picked up a trailer and an extra wheel (spare) on Monday and got the Polaris sportsman 570 yesterday. Now I need to trick both out with specific mods for my needs. I picked up a new 160 acre lease for hunting and the ability to get a dozen or more ladder stand in there and deer out is daunting since I cant even get my 4x4 Dodge Ram to some of the places. This will make things a bit easier on this old guy. I added a ball hitch to the ATV so I can pull the trailer with it. The bulk of the year this thing will sit idle. Its reason for being is mainly bowhunting season and gun deer season. When not used for deer hunting it will reside at my parents place up state. It may get some winter ice fishing use.

Going to do any food plotting on that lease?

I've been looking around for a used ATV....what guys are asking for a used beat up machine you can just about get new for a few dollars more.

Yep, nice bait spreader you got there.

No Its a real farm with crops and such..



Aint it cool? Time to modify the trailer. taller wood sides, a spare tire holder and a place to secure it, tie down hooks, Thompson's water seal, and some security features.



The trailer has been modified so it can be used for my business (hauling stuff to the shows I do) I bought it intending to raise the sides. Here is how it came.





Then after a little work adding a place for the spare tire and taller sides and treating the wood and some security.

A little Thompson's water seal.





Ready for business.

😂🤣😎

adding a jack to the tongue (It got heavy.). Got a heavy, canvas tarp and will add a whole lot more grommets around the edges. A gas can, a lug wrench and some ratchet straps.



There is a lot of storage in the front. I got a 15 foot cable (security) and I sewed a hook and a loop to the ends of 25 feet of towing webbing.





There is also storage in the back that I will fill with useful stuff like tools, flashlight, rope, folding saw, etc. I ordered and after market silencer for the muffler. Its already very quiet but If I can make it quieter, I will.

Ronnie did the old gal finally die and you cashed the life insurance check? LOL
Just joking l!! glad to see you are back on your antipsychotic. 🖕

Nope she is doing well. I picked up another lease and life is going to be a whole lot easier with this stuff. My company is taking off beyond my expectations and my consulting work for other bowhunting-centric companies is also doing very well (too well at times). The bulk of my patents are for medical devices but others are for hunting products and all are doing well. Thanks to the President, Our oil wells in the Dakotas are also paying off too so all in all, life is pretty good so I bought some toys. Still lots of mods to make to them.

I got the jack installed.



And a heavy duty canvas tarp and I put extra grommets every 10 inches for another idea Im concocting.



Still more to do on the trailer and ATV but this weekend Im doing bow tuning for the masses at our club's shoot.

Sharp: That treated wood will rapidly corrode the metal of the trailer.

Sharp: Use non oxygenated fuel (no ethanol). Ethanol fuel begins deteriorating in 30 days. Put Seafoam in the gas. Have your parents start it once in a while during the off season. Hook up a small solar charger to the battery. If you let a lead acid battery discharge below 50% the life is drastically reduced. Trojan recommends charging at least every 3 months.

Other trailers on the farm and other trailer owners I know have not seen what you describe. The metal is painted and the wood coated with a lot of Thompson's water seal. I dont doubt your concern but my experiences differ.



This I agree with. The ATV will reside on the farm from Sept to Dec. But I will be using it every weekend and even more during the rut. I dont expect it would ever sit for more than a week at a time.

This tailer has nearly double the storage of the 8 ft. bed of my truck and I will use this trailer to carry product and my booth to hunting shows I attend so I need a cover. I added 2 feet of small rope at each grommet on the canvas tarp and since its real canvas, I soaked it down with two cans of silicone waterproofer..



I dont want sag in the canvas as water will build up and destroy it. I added one additional row of wood to the front of the trailer and cut it to roughly a 2-12 pitch and used the hooks along the side to create a ridge and rafters made of rope. This pitch and the silicone will shed water well.









I will seal up the front corners to keep tire splash water from entering.

Im thinking of making another canvas cover with a little more head room using 1 inch PVC I would heat form for the task.











Our practice bending PVC without crushing it.

You go brother. I love it when a plan comes together.

Hmmmm.....

Before I spent that much time and money on a project like that, I would have just bought a small enclosed trailer. Much easier to lock up and make weather tight than that thing.

I need an open trailer about 80% of the time and an enclosed about 20% so buying an enclosed one would be a mistake. Hauling firewood in an enclosed trailer sucks. You really cant haul things larger than an enclosed trailer but with an open trailer things can extend out in every direction. Driving an ATV into a small enclosed trailer sucks too. This was the best of both worlds and I get to do a project (the joy is in the doing and creating.)

Yesterday, the Benz Silent Rider muffler silencer I ordered, arrived in the brown truck. I fired up the MIG welder and attached it. (you only weld a small collar "adapter ring" to the existing muffler outlet) The rest of the silencer attaches with bolts. Wanting to know the difference it would make I set up a video camera to capture the before and after.

Interesting.

^^^Same thing I was thinking. Now it looks like he will be pulling a chuck wagon.

Not much difference with the muffler. Waste of money IMO.

If you don't have much money and/or are cheap then I can see worrying about cash and penny pinching. Thankfully I am not plagued with such issues. Money is not a problem. It was only $187. The noise difference is significant (can be noticed on the video but is even more impressive in person). I wear hearing aids so Im always doing things to reduce damaging what hearing I have left. It removes the sharp "Crack" and mutes and softens it and also reduces the decibel level. (Exactly what I was looking for). I was impressed enough that I actually consider it a bargain price for it does.

Yes the bigger covered top will give it the look of a covered wagon. Perhaps a more "hoop" style would look even more like that instead of the pitched type I designed. I like that.

SWEET!. Thanks for the input.

Thanks for your interest in this project. Happy for your input and concerns. Glad you have invested yourself in this. Continue to follow along.