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Reviewer's Notebook Cow Town Technologies ATV Pickup Caddy

Publish date: Sep 1, 2000
By: Dean Waters
Source: ATV at Off-Road.com

When Brad Collins from Cow Town Technologies contacted us about a unique sideloading pickup ATV Hauler, I thought it sounded like a great idea, this would allow a quick trip to the local riding area without bothering with a trailer or the flexibility to tow a camp trailer and haul two ATV's at the same time. Follow along as we install the ATV Pickup Caddy and see how it works.

A few days later, two boxes arrived from Cow Town Technologies. One more than 8' long weighing nearly 150lbs, and another small hardware box. Obviously, you will need two people and/or a dolly to move the large one around. Unpacking revealed some very nice aluminum pieces, including two ramps, two side rails, and four channels. The welding was very nicely done and the aluminum had a nice polished finish. The pieces are also available with a powder coat finish if you prefer that.

The first step is to attach the end stops to the channels. These are quickly bolted on the four channels with provided hardware. Next the side rails are set on the side of the truck. The side rails each have a strip of padding on the underside to protect the bed rails of your truck. You will then need to locate the four "J" bolts and their nuts and washers. The J bolts come up from underneath catching the bed rails with washer and nut on top. The J bolts seemed excessively long, but after talking with Brad at Cow Town Technologies I found out that some customers like to leave the bolts long so that when they remove the Caddy, they can just loosen the bolts and leave the hardware attached. The extra length will also accommodate bed caps. You may cut them to length if you prefer. Leave the J bolts slightly loose for now. Place the first channel on the front of the truck and loosely attach. Place the second channel on the truck and loosely attach it also. You now need to adjust the width of the channels to fit your ATV. Measure the center track width of your ATV, then adjust the channels to match, while also squaring the first channel to the front of the truck. When square and the correct width, tighten the channels down. Now move on to the next two channels. Attach them loosely then adjust to fit the width of your second ATV, while squaring with the first set of channels. When adjusted tighten down the channels and then also return to the J bolts and tighten them.

Now you need to attach the 4 eye bolts with the large washers to the side rails. Tighten these down and you are ready to load up. Our biggest concern was was with the J bolts. We are placing a lot of trust on those 4 J bolts and our ATVs riding on the bed. Brad assured us that they have had ZERO J bolt failures. They have been testing some other mounting hardware but have found the other hardware to less reliable than the J bolts. The complete assembly and installation took less than 1 hour to complete.

Once installed, I pulled the pickup out onto a level spot on the driveway and attached the ramps. The ramps attach very easily with a large aluminum pin. The ramp angle seemed a little steep but worth a try.

I pulled one of the quads around and the first thing I found was that I had adjusted the channels wrong. The channels were too wide for the front of the quad. If you will be hauling a sport quad, make sure to accommodate for the varying width of the front and rear track of the ATV. The second thing is that the paddles on the rear of the quad were wider than the channels. If you're using paddles, you will need to leave them off until you get to the dunes. After adjusting the channel width, I was ready for a second try.

I rode the quad up the ramp until the rear wheels were at the foot of the ramps. My initial thought was that there was "no way in h@*#$" I was riding up that ramp! I felt like the front was going to come over backwards and I was going to end up on the ground underneath the quad. I decided I better call it off for the day and give Brad a call at Cow Town Technologies the next morning. Brad assured me that it was possible to ride up the ramp and I just needed to get comfortable with it. He suggested that I make several partial attempts until I got conformable or that I might want to try it with the end of the ramps slightly elevated, "Even an 8" curb will drastically reduce the angle of the ramp".

For my third try I pulled the truck along side our driveway so that the ramp ends would be elevated some. It still felt a little steep but much better. It took me three or four tries but I was soon successful. I found that I had to have just a little bit of momentum to get the rear tires up the feet. If I pulled up slowly the rear tires would just spin and I was not able to get up the ramp. I backed down the ramp and then loaded and unloaded several times in a row. It did get more conformable as I got used to it, but I am still not sure I would be able to get up the ramp without elevating the ends a little. I am sure loading would be much easier with a 4wd utility quad than with a sport quad. You may not need the momentum with the 4wd and the heavier front end would help keep the front on the ground.

Now strap `em down and head for the local riding area. I used two straps on each end of the ATV to the caddy eye bolts. The ATVs were strapped down tight but I still felt un secure with them riding on top of the bed. I would suggest some of the ratcheting tie downs for more security. The ramps are just under 8 ft long and fit nicely in the pickup bed with lots of room to store additional riding or camping gear underneath. When we got to the riding area we quickly found an unloading area which elevated the ramp ends by several feet. This created a very nice angle for unloading and then reloading the ATVs. The problem I had was that the whole caddy had shifted backwards slightly and jammed the tailgate so it was very hard to get open. It seems I had not tightened the J bolts down enough, or possibly the foam had settled some. I would prefer to see some kind of additional attachment to keep the caddy from sliding backwards on the bed of the truck.

Summary

The ATV Caddy fills the niche very well where you do not have a place to store an ATV trailer or you would like to haul two ATVs and still be able to tow your camp trailer. It's ease of use is not what I had hoped for with the sport quads, but I do not believe this is as much of an issue with 4wd utility quads. It would be a good idea to purchase the winch option if you own a 2wd sport quad. The overall quality of the product is very good however the bed attachment method could be improved. One well-planned feature with the current method is that it allows for very quick removal of the ATV caddy. Just loosen the 4 J bolts and two people can quickly lift the caddy off and lean it against a wall in your garage. The price of the ATV caddy at $950 is approximately equivalent to a small open bed trailer. This gives you much easier storage and towing capabilities, recognizing some ease-of-use disadvantages. See ya on the trail!