I've been thinking that I'd like to take an electric cart with me because I'm a lazy bastard but I can't see any possible way to haul it.
There is no way to get it in a bay and if I want to take a car along with me I was going to put it on my 18' trailer but that leaves no room for a cart. Even if I tried to load up up as far forward as possible on the trailer it would out quite a load on the tongue.
Has anyone thought up a scheme to make it work out for them? Can I take my toys with me or no?
-Dave
At bussing 2008 their were a few golf carts, one that impressed me had a fold down seat back and a quick disconnect for the steering wheel, it slid right into a bay nicely. There were also a couple of downsized golf carts that were made by their owners.
That interests me, I thought the seat would be easy, not really sure how I would do the steering column the way that I wanted it at least.
I haven't actually measured but it seems like it would be really close if it fit at all on height and width. Are Eagle bays larger?
If anyone here has done the steering column disconnect and other mods to fit I'd love to see picture and hear about it.
I had other plans for the bay but like I said, I'm a lazy bastard!
-Dave
Quote from: cody on January 23, 2008, 04:09:36 PM
one that impressed me had a fold down seat back and a quick disconnect for the steering wheel, it slid right into a bay nicely.
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That sounds like Bill Glen's, Yes his eagle has larger bay's than the MCI.
A golf cart won't fit in the MCI the center is only 24".
I do haul 2 quads a 50 and a 90, but the wheels have to come off.
good luck.
the people that i know that haul them put them in the back of a pu truck and tow the truck four down
jim
I am tossing around the idea of raising the floor over one of the bays so I can load a couple dirt bikes. Or maybe even a fold down ramp door on the side of the bus to load. The hauling capability is 50% what I am looking for so I am kinda torn.
I guess I could put a platform on the front of the bus and sit it there ;D
here it is, but the trick is that the bus has to be big enough. I confess being able to do this was on my list of must haves.
A golf cart is a load for most towable pickups. Tear up the tailgate loading the cart.
How about a longer trailer?
There are some low profile gas powered golf cars that with low tire pressure will fit under an MCI center. They are older units.
You'll have to be a golf car mechanic to keep one running.
I leave the toad at home and take the golf car. Keeps T from going "shopping" when there are better things to do!
Some states allow double bottom. Put the golf cart on it's own 8' trailer, behind the 4-down toad. Cannot back this sort of thing more than a few feet. I hauled 3 bass boats like that for years. 2 stacked on one trailer and another trailer attached in a 'double bottom' fashion. Drove fine. No fishtailing or anything. Read the rules though, some states frown on this concept.
Once at the camping area. Disconnect the toad and the golf cart stays hooked up to the toad until it's unloaded.
I wouldn't put an electric golf car in anything less than a 3/4 ton truck. That would be without the tailgate too.
These sorts of decisions (how to carry ALL of your toys) are the pitfalls of bus ownership! ;)
I luv my Club Car! I'm a lazy a$$ too! ;D Actually, our golf cart is a tool. It carries my bass around at bluegrass festivals because I'm too old and way too lazy to carry it very far. Also carries the important adult beverage cooler! Priceless! ;D
Good luck with your decisions, JR
Quote from: H3Jim on January 23, 2008, 07:17:39 PM
here it is, but the trick is that the bus has to be big enough. I confess being able to do this was on my list of must haves.
Holy Haysoos, I see an LTz and a....
QUAD ZiLLA?? Or is that a 250? Those LT500Rs are hazardous to your health...hell, so could the LT250Rs! Those old LTRs are getting way too rare.
Nice front suspension too. Look like dune runners what with them funny tires and all ;).
I recently rebuilt an engine for an LT250...that sucker was problematic finding all the correct parts to do the jobs in a workmanlike fashion. But we did. Had to combine years and whatever went with those abstract year.
If you need any parts for the QuadZ or the LTZ, let me know. I'm a Suzuki, Yamaha, and Kawasaki dealer.
That's how one does toys! Excellent!
JR
Yes, thanks, Quadzilla it is. had it bored out to 530, ported and polished, new high performance reeds, new lower bearings, new better carb, new cool head. Thing runs like a stiriped @$# ape - when I can get it started. Those old magneto / CDI ignitions don't put out the spark. I'm getting too old to kick it. I might even be able to sell it for my original purchase price, not including the cost of all the mods.
I put longer travel suspension front and back (about 12") with no load reservoir shocks, powder coated the frame, new, shiny plastic etc. Its a monster in the dunes.
There are lots of carts in MCI bays.
Let's go folks, who knows what model those folks modified to get 'em under the bump?
happy coaching!
buswarrior
We carry an old golf cart in the second bay of our MC 9. To get it in there, we changed the tires to a smaller turf tire, smaller than the golf tire, think 6 instead of 8. We set the seat backs to remove for a while, but now use stadium seats instead. All along we've removed the steering column by taking out the bolts on the floor and laying the steering column over in the passengers 'feet' area. Use a small floor jack to lock it in the bay.
It's an electric cart and I hoped that there would be a way to use it as a battery bank while boondocking. But it's wired for 36 volt and no one can tell me about a switch that would change it to 12 volt for inverter use. It would require rewiring to do so and I haven't done so yet. DAMN! If I could retire I'd figure that out!
The cart is a Melex. It is a Polish knock off of and EZ-GO. We had to shorten it by about a half a foot. The tires dropped the height by a couple inches. We use a couple of planks to load it, but don't have a system that uses a remote control. Others have done that, including Sean Welsh. We do work on the road and need it to get around. It is not pretty, but, at 65, function is more important than pretty. The bus in 500 miles away in storage and pictures aren't available, but you need to check your own measurements.
At 65 and 62, we think we need this. If we were retired and not having to carry computers, printers, paper, etc. to work locations, it wouldn't be needed. The exercise would be good. As so many say, your mileage may vary. My needs are different and ready to change.
We're thinking that a very small quad and a trailer could be a nicer answer. But there are some who have all the answers. JR said, on the NJT Board, a couple months ago, that we were selling our bus. Ask him for all the answers!
TomNPat
We tow a full size Chevrolet 4 wheel drive truck and put the Club Car on it.
If you already pull the trailer with the car, just build a platform on the trailer that sits above the car hood to haul the golf cart. A fold down ramp when the car is off the trailer, and load the cart up the ramp. Fold the ramp up and drive the car under the platform. You might need to put an electric winch on the pull the cart up the ramp, but pretty easy to do.
Make sure your trailer hitch on the bus is built properly.
Yep, I thought of that and even though of maybe making it so that the cart could roll on, turn sideways and lift or turn sideways on a lifted platform and lock. That way it would take advantage of the narrow width of the cart instead of sitting lengthwise.
I don't even have a hitch on my bus yet but it sounds like I'll probably be putting a bit of a load on it if I want my toys. I'm a little worried about the added weight that would inevitably be put on the forward end of the trailer and the subsequent increased load on the tongue. I could strap the car a little further back on the trailer (benefit of an 18' bed over a 16') to help offset or even load the car backwards thereby putting the most weight to the rear (most cars are front heavy) but does anyone know how much tongue weight a bus can handle?
That's gonna depend on how you mount your hitch. If you tie it into the frame and beef up the engine cradle supports, you would have no problem pulling a 20K trailer (2K tongue weight). I wouldn't want to, though. if you just mount it to the cradle like I did, I would not put over 300 lbs tongue weight on it (and I don't).
If you put a full length platform on, you can put the cart anywhere on it you desire. There's a company in NE that builds trailers with an upper deck that raises up on 4 posts, like a 4 post car hoist. You put your boat on the trailer, raise it up, and then drive the car in underneath it. Pretty slick, but big $$$.
As I think about it, I think I could fix one end rigid at the front of the trailer and pivot the top deck downward to the rear so that it would also be a ramp although I'd still need a winch which I have. At the lower end I could put linear actuators to lift it level. The stroke of the actuator would give me plenty of lift to clear the hood of a car but I'm having a hard time finding one rated at much more than 400 pounds.
Here's an idea...
Look into how boat lifts and docks are designed where a single cable winch is used to evenly raise a platform up 4 poles.
They wind the cable in and out of the pulleys in the corner poles. You could rig this up on the trailer so the platform is on the deck. Drive the cart up the trailer ramps and pull up with the winch. Once you get it raised, insert some pins through the
poles to keep the platform from coming down accidentally.
If anyone know how this works, I'd sure be interested in seeing an explaination.
Care needs to be taken in loading a trailer without enough tongue weight.
They start swinging like a pendulum back there, while underway.
And snap around when you put the brakes on, trying to correct it!
Someone else will know the recommended percentage of weight that should be on the tongue?
happy coaching!
buswarrior
Craig, there are bass boat trailers with folding upper boat cradle, as you describe. The upper rack folds down, run the boat up onto the rack, and it powers up like a car hauler. Then you load the lower boat and you're on the road. I would guess that these trailers are right expensive.
Regarding low profile golf carts, an old gas powered Yamaha is what Bill ...aka "Homegrowndie".. has stuffed in his Eagle bay. It would fit into an MC9 too...with small wheels...as has been described already. His steering has a universal in the steering shaft so it'll drop down. He cut the column and added a sleeve to the outside. Believe the sleeve slides upward and the shaft drops. When the sleeve is slid downward, it connects the upper and lower sections of the column and the steering is in a normal position. This is a fairly accurate description of what he did.
A belly golf car is going to be "personality limited." No lift kit, no 12" wheels and tires, no top, no big plush seat... :(...could do the 72V mod.. ;D That'll mess with the campground owners. Might as well forget the custom paint job too...get all scratched off trying to get the car into the bay.
Another thing I've run into with my stock height Club Car is that the sucker will bottom out on my trailer. Usually we can find a low spot to unload it...a PITA when towing with the bus. Redoing the ramp is one of those things that keeps getting put off....
In any event most motorcycle stores, and probably Northern Tool and Tractor Supply sell arched aluminum ramps that have a capacity of 1500 lbs. These would allow one to roll right into a bay with the car almost level. They would store under the cart.
Something else I've run into is that ATVs, UTVs, gasoline powered golf carts, go carts, scooters, and other gas powered toys are not welcome in most bonafide campgrounds. Ya'll know where you're going and the requirements...this is for those with little experience in campgrounds that may be thinking about buying gas powered toys. I'd be riding a Yamaha Rhino or Kawasaki Teryx ( the ultimate off-road Man Toys when properly assorized) if not for that requirement.
One other point and I'll be quiet for a bit (yes, I promise), quite a few campgrounds will require proof of liability insurance before you unload the cart.
Recommend tongue weight is 10% ...could be tough on some bus cantilevers. Most light trucks and cars with this much tongue weight use weight distributing hitches. I don't see how that would work on a bus....??? If placing a golf cart 5' above the deck of a trailer, that better be a heavy duty trailer...on the order of an equipment hauler I would think.
Well, we've gone full circle here...still appears that loading into a pickup toad is the cheapest, most safe, and easy on the bus.
Cheers, JR
Paladin (and others) -
A solution to the tongue weight issue is a Tuff-Tow unit:
https://www.shogunindustries.com/cgi-bin/ws400CS.cgi?cart_id=&page=tufftowindex.htmlindex.html
Click on the "Visit Tuff-Tow" button in the lower right corner for all the info.
I'd like a golf cart too, but my 4106's bays are way too small. . . guess I'll just stick with a Dahon for now.
FWIW & HTH. . .
;)
One thing about hauling a golf cart in the back of a pickup is to be careful about the tailgate, libby's clubcar fits nicely in the truck box but we can't close the tailgate with it in, the tires do fit completely inside the box tho. The truck is a 97 dodge ram 1500 4X4 and we were told that a truck with a cable type tailgate support may break under the weight of loading the cart, we found that the cable support off a ram 2500 was heavier duty for some reason and switched them out. Now if only we could have gotten the base plates installed on the truck, she would be terrorizing the florida blue hairs with it right now lol.
Reckon a Club Car would fit into a wide bed S10 pickup? Anyone have any idea how wide an S10 body might be?
Have to put some HD rear springs and shocks on the thing...but a 4X4 S10 pickup would be a good.
JR
Have been thinking on this subject for awhile. 2007 chevy pickup put one of the hit/miss motors in back, winch off\on...going to some of the shows up North, stay a few months on the show circuit. Alittle stuff out of the belly of the beast to swap, trade and or sell. Afterwards use toad to explore..dream will have come true.
Danny
Great pictures Ednj and H3Jim. Thank you. I ride a old restored '86/87 Honda Reflex 195cc street legal trials bike. Goes absolutely anywhere almost. Got the curb weight down to 205# full tank. I carry it on the rear bumper of my '81 VW Rabbit Diesel. Perhaps you can transition to a "motor bike" and hang it on your rear bumper tooss. :) :) :)
Aw shucks just get a 24-30' enclosed trailer then ya got road for the toad, golf cart/atv, scooter and a shop on wheels! Not to mention a pretty nice dog house to stay in when ya's in trouble! Problem solved!
;D BK ;D