Making hauling easier

[Stay Sharp]

Due to the lay of the land on my new lease and because there is a wide and shallow river running through the entire property, I picked up a sled to get stands in and deer out. I should be able to float a good amount of weight in the sled. Because I will also be dragging it with an ATV and by hand on hard, dry ground as well as snow, I opted to add thick plastic wear strips to the bottom to extend the life of the sled and to make it track better. I will also add a pull rope and rope tie points all around the top rim of the sled to lash items to the sled so they don't fall out.

I used a heat gun to shape the strips of plastic I cut from a larger sheet.

I bolted the strips to the sled.

 

[Stay Sharp]

I added eye bolts and on the inside of the sled, a strip of steel to spread out the pulling load rather than the two small holes that were in the sled when I bought it. Because I will also make a rigid tow bar, I used quick connect links to the eye bolts to make swapping easier.

The pull rope is beefed up in the middle with clear tubing and then wrapped with gorilla tape so it wont wear through when pulled with the ATV and to increase the diameter for a more comfortable grip when pulling by hand.

 

[go_deep]

My brother has a design very similar to that. Biggest thing he hauled out is a 554# bear with it, it'll work just fine for deer.

 

[mallardsx2]

Looks good to me!

 

[Stay Sharp]

A proof test showed it does not leak and carries more than 140 pounds and still floats.

 

[highplainsdrifter]

I have something very similar, but I didn't put skids on it. I've used it to haul bear bait supplies and game.

One advantage over a pack frame is that when you want to stop and rest, the weight is already on the ground...you just stop and rest. With a pack frame, you need to take it off your back to rest and then put it back on.

Works pretty good on grass, bare ground or snow. Probably wouldn't work well in thick sagebrush.

Just wish it had a motor

 

[Fink]

I have a similar sled that I use for duck hunting, and occasionally dragging a deer out (with ATV power). I've found that unless the drag is nearly all water, I can haul more on a pack frame, and easier, than I can dragging in a sled.