Pulling a travel trailer with sled on deck. Advice needed.

[goodngrubby]

Does 12" really matter comparing a 7' to an 8' deck? I'm not aware of any extensions for the older Marathon decks. The weight of the machine is on the front and securely clamped down, the back end is light and strapped in place to prevent bouncing or shifting. It is not going anywhere.

As far as towing fully loaded with a 2' hitch extension through the mountains, I would like to avoid that. I'm leary about those extensions, but looking for feedback and other ideas...

The trailer tongue extension is interesting but I'm a little unsure as it is not a straight tongue like a small trailer. I have a 30' Arctic Fox 4 season trailer that is our family camping unit. Not interested in camping in an enclosed or building a trailer. I'm more trying to bring the sled camping than bring the trailer sledding if that makes sense.

Yep, size does matter. An extension will give you approx. 16" of additional deck space. The difference between 6" of track and 22" of track on the deck is huge. Albiet there isn't a ton of weight on the rear skid, in that short of a contact point, it's all going to be preloading the front skid shock. If your track is hitting the propane bottles, then I would be willing to bet that the rear skid is hanging down from lack of support. An extension would rectify that. Cross-Trax makes a flip up extension for the Older Marathon decks.

 

[Kelso]

Thanks TKO but unfortunately those extensions aren't rated high enough for my trailer otherwise that would have been a done deal. Great for a lighter trailer though! I'd have to buck up for the SuperTruss double hitch system with extension.

Goodngrubby,
That's a great point I hadn't thought of, thank you. I did notice today and said in my last post that I actually have closer to 12" on, not 6, but you may still be right about the skid angle. I'll check that out a bit more and take that into consideration when building my idea
I'm basically going to build a raised extention just wider than the track with side rails to keep the track from sliding off, that I will bolt through the deck frame. Hopefully it works out!

 

[nathan#19]

I saw a unit just the other day that had the long 163 sled siting on an angle across the deck to give the Vee nose trailer some room. Seemed to work for him with one sled.

 

[LBZ]

Biggest thing to watch with a hitch extension is tongue weight. That's a lot of leverage on your receiver and I have seen a couple bend and one broke in half traveling down the road. Gotta account for the weight of your hitch as well-some of them are fairly heavy!!
I would pull your 2 30# bottles off and replace with 20# ones for the winter to gain clearance. If you actually need 60 lbs of propane pack an extra bottle in the box of your truck. That should give you the clearance you need. Throw a 4x4 across the back to if you need more. I have had to do that before to clear a boat winch on a utility trailer and with a couple screws to hold it to the deck it won't go anywhere.

 

[Absledder]

Ideally a trailer extension is the way to go but I think a wedge shaped extension thats bolted down would be fine. To load I guess you'd have to drive up beside it on the deck then lift the back end onto it but that wouldnt be too hard. Would removing the deck and hauling it in the box work? lifting the skid up and closing the tailgate is a pain but It would definitely keep the track off the propane bottles lol