Smoker on a Cargo Carrier.

[Brewmaster]

Mod, I’m not sure if I’m posting this in the correct location or not. But my intentions on my project are to help me transport my smoker back and forth to contests.

I have a Backwoods Fatboy I would like to transport on a receiver hitch cargo carrier. Backwoods website says the smoker weighs about 275lbs. I have added four casters and a couple extra racks. I’m guessing it now weighs about 300lbs. I don’t feel comfortable the cargo carries you can buy are going to be strong enough to carry this much weight. Even though they rate some of these to 500lbs, I plan to build my own.

So here are my questions:

Has anyone carried this much weight on a store bought cargo carrier before?

Can any engineers or experienced welders tell me if my design will support this much weight?

The red is .250” x 2” x 2” angle.

The blue is .250” x 2” x 2” tube.

The top will be covered in .375” plastic laminate. Very rigid.

Is this a dumb idea???


Thanks,

Nate

[Ford]

Dave Stamper used one on his Explorer or whatever that mid size SUV is. Worked fine. Left it right on the vehicle as he got one that swings out.

Rule of thumb. If they claim it holds 500 lbs they usually build in close to 100% safety factor. The big question is what hitch weight can you handle because those units are all part of the hitch weight.

[Mark]

Brewmaster

I are a engineer. Steel looks fine. Top idea don't add a thing. You're in STL; so check out Harbor Freight first and see if you can beat their price.

[Mark]

Here's a link to HF:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=92655

Their store on Watson had some steel ones even cheaper

[Yakfishingfool]

five hundred pound tongue weight??? So you vehicle should be able to carry/tow a 5000 pound trailer. Tongue weights usually being about 10% of trailer weight. Be sure what the vehicle can handle. Personally...I'd go for the trailer. Scott

[KC_Bobby]

Your diagram is wide enough for about 2 Fatboys (more or less) or a Fatboy in the center and a cooler on each side. Is that about right?

I had one of the cheaper ones in the past that I always used for tailgating, the thing I noticed about them is that they would lean to the side with the most weight, so balanced weight is important. When using it, I often thought it would have been great if the designer would have added some angle iron to the bottom that would brace up against/under/over the frame mounted hitch to not allow sway from side to side.

If you're a welder - how cool would it be to design a fixed cargo carrier to it that had attachable legs that adjusted to your hitch height? No lifting, less bending. Take the legs off for transport, put them back on when you get to the comp/home. And they would also be able to level the smoker.

[gotwood]

check the tongue weight usually about 600 pounds

[KC_Bobby]

Tongue weight can very based on class and maker of towing hitch. I just checked my class III/IV Acme and it's rated at 750 lbs, but I see a class III/IV Reese online that is only rated at 300 lbs.

[Brewmaster]

Originally Posted by KC_Bobby

Your diagram is wide enough for about 2 Fatboys (more or less) or a Fatboy in the center and a cooler on each side. Is that about right?

I had one of the cheaper ones in the past that I always used for tailgating, the thing I noticed about them is that they would lean to the side with the most weight, so balanced weight is important. When using it, I often thought it would have been great if the designer would have added some angle iron to the bottom that would brace up against/under/over the frame mounted hitch to not allow sway from side to side.

I have attached two plastic slide rails on the back of the smoker and currently slide it in the back of my truck. So I'm planning to do the same thing on the carrier. I think this should even out the weight issue by laying it on it's back.



I have priced the material for this design at about $80.00

Originally Posted by Yakfishingfool

five hundred pound tongue weight??? So you vehicle should be able to carry/tow a 5000 pound trailer. Tongue weights usually being about 10% of trailer weight. Be sure what the vehicle can handle. Personally...I'd go for the trailer. Scott

I have looked into the tongue weight issue. It seems my truck can pull 6,800lbs which give me 680lbs of tongue weight. I'm guessing I'll only have about 400lbs combined. I would do the trailer but, then I have to store the trailer.

[KC_Bobby]

Tongue weight is not necessarily determined by the tow rating of the truck. Check the hitch for it's rating number, it can and will vary based on who makes it and how it's bolted to the truck.

[Yakfishingfool]

Originally Posted by KC_Bobby

Tongue weight is not necessarily determined by the tow rating of the truck. Check the hitch for it's rating number, it can and will vary based on who makes it and how it's bolted to the truck.

You're right, I thought about it and it is the weight distribution for the trailer, the tongue should weigh 10% of the trailer weight. Scott

[River City Smokehouse]

I don't think it'll fly Orville.....or maybe it will....down I-70 or I-270, hell maybe even I-44.

[swamprb]

I see a lot of hitch mounted wheelchair/scooter racks with ramps, you should take a look at how some of them are setup. I know a guy that transports a couple Large Big Green Eggs on a hitch mounted rack, its kinda scary to me but he dosen't have a problem with it.

[Professor Salt]

Originally Posted by Brewmaster

I have attached two plastic slide rails on the back of the smoker and currently slide it in the back of my truck.

Good idea on the rails. Where did you get that material? Googling "slide rail" and coming up empty.

[Norcoredneck]

Was at Harbor Freight and seen a lift gate type deck that looked interesting.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=47591

Was looking around for something to assist in loading spicewine on trailer. Was thinking of trying one of these.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...temnumber=2792

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=94715