# Does anyone use a cargo rack 2 haul your blower? OR How to move the blower w/o truck?



## djturnz (Feb 2, 2011)

I have a tonneau cover on my truck. I try not to remove it in the winter because it's difficult to get back on when it's cold. I would like the option to take my blower to a friend's house or to help my dad if we ever get another big snow.

I was thinking that one of those cargo racks that plugs into the trailer hitch receiver might work. Has anyone done this? Of course my blower's footprint is larger than the rack area, I would assume I can find a balance point, and then just use a pair of ratchet straps to hold it down.

Has anyone else done this?


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## bwdbrn1 (Nov 24, 2010)

Yep, I've used one to haul my Honda HS622 to do my father-in-law's drive. He lives a little over 2 miles across town from me. I just carry a pair of ramps that I use to drive it on and off onto the boulevard. It works very well. I've considered fashioning up a platform specific to the snowblower to fit the rack with tie downs and a shield of some sort in front to keep the snow and road debris from blowing up onto it.


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## djturnz (Feb 2, 2011)

That is something else that crossed my mind. With the blower on the rack, I'm thinking that opening the tailgate would be difficult in order to stow the ramps.

I did find a decently priced rack with a 150lb capacity. I guess I'll have to weight the blower, I have no idea what it weighs.


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## Shryp (Jan 1, 2011)

The racks for the mobile scooters and such have a ramp on the side that just folds up and locks into place.


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## bwdbrn1 (Nov 24, 2010)

Yeah, getting the ramps in after loading the blower did require some finagling of the tonneau cover and tail gate. I thought of incorporating a ramp on hinges into the deck I was going to build sort of like the mobile scooter carrier Shryp mentioned.


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## trdr (Nov 27, 2010)

why not just take the bed cover off for the snow season(i'm assuming its a soft cover from your discription) the ramps ,the gas cans, the snow shovels and anything else that can be thrown in the bed is much easier than playing games with it at sub zero temps. plus backing the truck up on a dark night might be tricky,you dont want to smack into nothing.plus don't forget the extra weight of accumulated snow on the blower.


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## HCBPH (Mar 8, 2011)

*Rack*

I'd be afraid it might go overcenter and twist the mount. Personally I have 2 trucks, the older one has a LeBra tonneau on it and it's a bear to use in the winter. The other has a Lund velcro edge unit, works great and easy to get on and off in the winter. Add some ramps and I've moved about 8 different snowblowers with it so far. 

My 2 cents


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## Snowmann2011 (Apr 5, 2011)

djturnz said:


> I have a tonneau cover on my truck. I try not to remove it in the winter because it's difficult to get back on when it's cold. I would like the option to take my blower to a friend's house or to help my dad if we ever get another big snow.
> 
> I was thinking that one of those cargo racks that plugs into the trailer hitch receiver might work. Has anyone done this? Of course my blower's footprint is larger than the rack area, I would assume I can find a balance point, and then just use a pair of ratchet straps to hold it down.
> 
> Has anyone else done this?


Here is a site I found for a really nice hitch rack that would work great for what you need. It is even designed to keep from twisting with more weight on one side. Not sure if its what your looking for but it may help.

Cody


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## Full Throttle (Nov 20, 2010)

I,m with trdr just take the cove off for winter. Nothing like having a truck thats not a truck cant put any thing in the back. Been there with the snaps for next time get one with velcro. Take it off in 0 weather and goes back on easy.


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## Ant2410 (Sep 20, 2011)

this is the one i plan on buying:

UCC500 Hitch Mounted Carrier Basket


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## KerryAll (Oct 19, 2011)

*take the tonneau off...*

One advantage to leaving the tonneau off in the winter is any snow that accumulates in the box will give you better traction, especially if your truck is a 2WD.


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## KerryAll (Oct 19, 2011)

Ant2410 said:


> this is the one i plan on buying:
> 
> UCC500 Hitch Mounted Carrier Basket


Hey, ant- would you cover that thing, to keep your blower dry on those slushy roads?


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## Philscbx (Oct 25, 2011)

Ant2410 said:


> this is the one i plan on buying:
> 
> UCC500 Hitch Mounted Carrier Basket


That's a decent looking Rack for $200.
It would cost more to make a copy.
Make a custom Tarp to keep the salt spray off would pay off.
One could make shovel mounts on the ramp to keep truck from being trashed on the account runs.


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## KerryAll (Oct 19, 2011)

Philscbx said:


> That's a decent looking Rack for $200.
> It would cost more to make a copy.
> Make a custom Tarp to keep the salt spray off would pay off.
> One could make shovel mounts on the ramp to keep truck from being trashed on the account runs.


I could make a custom cover to fit that whole setup.


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## MaKettle (Oct 26, 2011)

I drive a hand-me-down Ford Econoline my wife got tired of, needed a way to get snowblower/lawnmower/chipper-shredder/tiller across town without having to hook my utility trailer up every time, just recently bought one of these wheelchair carriers and so far it works great. Haven't had it very long but here is what I can tell you about it. I bought a unit that folds up towards the vehicle when not in use, its definitely convenient but the disadvantage is that it adds one more joint or connection that wobbles, so I currently have it off the van and in the process of beefing up the pivot joint. The UCC500 does not fold, and my guess is that it would be fairly stable. Check out its big brother, the UC500XL, looks bigger, but also about twice the price (and it folds). My blower is rather light (176lbs) but even with the blower and me standing on the carrier I felt as if the construction was more than strong enough. Bottom line, I did a lot of research before buying one, $200 is about the average price for a decent unit, the UCC500 was at the top of the list but went with a folding unit instead.


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## djturnz (Feb 2, 2011)

I like my cover, otherwise my truck bed is useless to me most of the time. I hate putting something in the bed and worrying about having it taken when I stop at walmart or something. I also use my bed to haul things that can't get wet, so to have the cover off, I have to worry about my gear getting wet.

My cover doesn't have snaps, it has the ziploc style. I wish I had gotten the velcro style with the 4 folding panels.


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