Loading a utv

I have a Polaris Ranger that will fit in my Chevy 2500 pickup bed. I have some tri-fold ramps that I would use years ago to load my 4 wheeler. My 2500 does not have a lift kit but it’s still fairly tall so the ramps are kinda steep. Has anyone tried to load their utv like this before? Thanks for any info!

You could use longer ramps to reduce the angle. You could back into a shallow depression or up to a rise so that the ramp angle is not so steep? I used to do this to load cab tractors onto a rather tall flatbed gooseneck trailer. Of course, you need a similar spot for unloading.

Be careful, most atv ramps are not rated for the weight of a UTV. Best bet is, get a trailer IMO.

I overlooked the UTV part so I agree the best thing to do is get a trailer.

Trailer

If it fits and isn’t overloading the truck I say go for it. Use a ramp rated for it and make sure it can’t slide off. We hauled a Polaris 6 wheeler for years and years like that. Carelessness will get you in trouble.

Voice of reason here-

If money isn't a problem, I would echo the trailer recommendations. Gives you more utility and flexibility for other things. Also opens a whole new can of worms, as to how big a trailer!!! Even smaller ones are $1000+

Out here in the West, the <50" UTV's are really popular, and you see them all the time loaded in the back of pickups. Any of the hinged and welded tri-fold ramps has plenty of capacity for your UTV. Most of those ramps are rated for at least 1200#, and more. The ramps I have had were all 6 foot long, and the angle is a little steep, but not a problem IF you use low range and load slowly!!

A better option is to get some of the new arched ramps of UTV's that are 8 feet long instead. Cabelas/Bass Pro, Tractor Supply, etc have them for $200-300.

I have a trailer…that’s how I’ve been hauling it. I was trying to figure out a way to haul without a trailer. I’ll probably end up buying the mad ramps…they are made specifically for this. Thanks!

I never see many people with a Ranger in a truck?? But, I guess it’s ok.

I’ve often used the “back the truck into a ditch method”. Of course, you need a ditch.

Tough to understand this is even a conversation.

X 2 Back it into the bar ditch.

Most likely because there are very few long beds on the road.

Makes me nervous just reading this.

Someone should post up the old pic of Bill Oxner carrying his Gator in the back of his pickup. There was a lot of weight on the tailgate also. How strong are those cables on the tailgate?

they do it a-lot more up north, UTV’s and snowmobiles. Idaho a-lot of the trail heads have raised dirt mounds you back up to. Can back out, motorcycle, SxS, mule/ horse etc

this…look for 3500lb rated ones

https://www.ramptek.com

I wish I had a picture. As a kid my dad great uncle brother and I would pile into a single cab long bed ‘77 Chevy with a Polaris 6 wheeler and 1000-1500 lbs of feed in the bed. Good times.

Just went out to our county-sponsored motorcycle/ATV/UTV/4WD playground this morning. About 1000 acres of hills and trails. I passed one of these, with a trailer and 6 dirt bikes!!!

I’ve had 4wheelers for 25 to 30 or so years. I carry them, one at a time, in the bed of my pickup. Never had a problem. If hauling 2, I use my 16 ft trailer and strap them really well.

I agree with the trailer. I think a trailer is almost a necessity if a person has a pickup, an atv or utv and likes to hunt. I have an 83inch by 12 footer I use quite a bit. With a short bed it really comes in handy. My Dodge pickup is short wheel base, 4wd. Don't take a lot to fill it up. I took my trailer to Colorado in 2023 on an elk hunt full of ice chests in case I got lucky. On the way home the antlers were tied in the truck bed and trailer was loaded with the coolers and meat. I took a plastic coated cable with me and ran it through the handles and around the rails with a good lock.

I would take the tailgate off and use weight rated ramps with the truck in a ditch.

Thanks ever so much.

If you have a trailer hitch on back of your SxS, you can use the trailer (that you used to haul SxS) to haul stuff in places you don't want to take pickup.
I have hitches on front and back of my Mule, the one on front makes it easy to get trailers into and out of some sticky places.

Just because you can doesn't mean you should.

With as cool as this is, think of it this way...lifted truck, at or above 'legal' payload on a 3/4 ton truck with a much higher center of gravity. Hypothetically speaking, if that feller gets in a wreck what do you think his insurance would say? I'm no tow police but the older I get I tend to start thinking about this kind of stuff, especially with the idiots on the roads now a days.

I loaded my Polaris ATV in my F150 twice. Sold my ramps and bought a trailer. Best thing I ever did. We had a guy on lease that put the front end of his ATV through the rear window. Had to drive 4 hours home in subfreezing temps.

I’ve had 4 wheelers for a long time. Now on my third pair. I built a custom trailer that got stolen. Since then, I have just used Harbor Freight ramps to put them in the bed of my pickup. I put them in gear, set the brakes and tie them down to my tool box. Never had a problem and I have plenty of trailers.

BTW, I use cheap Harbor Freight ramps. No problem.

Bent the first set of ramps a little when loading a Rhino in my truck for a friend. I bought another set rated for the weight and no problem with it after that. hauled it around for him several times after a trailer was stolen. No issues with it sitting with the rear wheels sitting on the tailgate. If it will handle loading with the ramp and UTV weight loading it will handle the weight of the rearend wheels sitting on it hauling.

I haul a Honda pioneer utv on a flatbed of a slightly lifted truck and have done so for years on three different trucks. Probably load and unload it 150 times a year and never had an issue.

Trailer

Bought one and sold ramps after loading my Polaris in the Supercrew a few times. Not only is it much easier to load and upload but frees up my bed which I need for other things.