Do not buy a Sled Shed trailer made in Jackson Mi. These are junk. Mine is a 2004. The cap on my trailer started to cave in when it got 14" of snow on it. They won't fix either. The dealer where I purchased won"t do business with them any more, he says they're junk. Let my mistake educate the rest of you.

Sorry to hear of that happening. Will the dealer that sold it to ya give you a trade in , or help you out with the problem? It sounds like from what you said that they should do somthing for you ,if you bought it from them. Tell the dealer to ship it back to them as if it was one that was sitting on there lot as a demo trailler. See if they can get your money back for you. My other suggestion is to find out if they are advertising at a snowmobile show near your area. Take your trailler to that show, and park in the lot with signs on the trailler explaining your problem . Get someone to walk up to ther booth, and tell them they are getting some bad publicity in the lot... They don't want that where they are triing to sell them ,so they will go to investigate. Tell that person what they can do for you to leave. Ex. Repair, or replace. Handing out a list of problems you have had with there product, right beside there booth works well too. I did this to Lada Canada at the truck show in Toronto 4 yrs. ago , and they replaced my motor free of charge.

after using Pete's Floe protektor i am betwixed with what to buy because anything i have looked at doesn't compare.

I would think there is an insurance claim in this. If your car gets damaged in a hailstorm its covered, right?

Originally posted by underdog@Jan 27 2005, 12:54 AM
Sorry to hear of that happening. Will the dealer that sold it to ya give you a trade in , or help you out with the problem? It sounds like from what you said that they should do somthing for you ,if you bought it from them. Tell the dealer to ship it back to them as if it was one that was sitting on there lot as a demo trailler. See if they can get your money back for you. My other suggestion is to find out if they are advertising at a snowmobile show near your area. Take your trailler to that show, and park in the lot with signs on the trailler explaining your problem . Get someone to walk up to ther booth, and tell them they are getting some bad publicity in the lot... They don't want that where they are triing to sell them ,so they will go to investigate. Tell that person what they can do for you to leave. Ex. Repair, or replace. Handing out a list of problems you have had with there product, right beside there booth works well too. I did this to Lada Canada at the truck show in Toronto 4 yrs. ago , and they replaced my motor free of charge.
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Great Idea!

Originally posted by Spaceman@Jan 27 2005, 11:46 AM
I would think there is an insurance claim in this. If your car gets damaged in a hailstorm its covered, right?
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In New York, there is no requirement to insure your trailer-I'd venture to guess that most people don't. Don't think homeowners would cover it either.

Sorry to hear about your trailer, but 14 inches of snow can carry a considerable amount of weight, especially if it has gone through several freeze and thaw cycles.
But yes, it shouldn't have happened. I always clean mine off, even when it's sitting in the yard.

Make darn sure you have liability insurance on the trailer!!! I do not know how your neck of the woods works but here in Quebec you could be up the creek if you don't. If your trailer ever came loose and hit another car, your are not covered unless the trailer is. I called my insurance company and asked them to give me a quote. The answer was " It costs nothing to add this but we do need the details of the trailer and you have to mention you have one." Something you may want to check out. :cool:

The coverage on my trailer is next to nothing and it was just added in to one of my sleds coverage. You should check this out, I know of a fellow from an ATV forum whose trailer separated from his tow vehicle and the quad sustained sever damage. There were issues since the trailer wasn't insurance. It is not a guarantee that your trailer is covered by your tow vehicle. Just my 2 cents.

Forester

I'm an insurance adjuster and have dealt with this many times for various insurance companies. From a liability standpoint in the USA, coverage on the towing vehicle will normally carry over to any "utility trailer" that is attached to it, and this continues even if the trailer becomes detached and takes off on its own. Collision/comp coverage may not carry over, but it might. So normally you do not need to buy insurance for your trailer, unless you want coverage for damage to the trailer itself (collision, comprehensive, theft, fire, WEIGHT OF ICE AND SNOW, etc.). Read the "utility trailer" section of your tow vehicle's insurance policy to know for sure whether you need separate coverage or not. And read it in the "DAMAGES TO YOUR CAR" section and the "LIABILITY" section...without getting too complex, be aware that the different coverages are mutually exclusive and will address the trailer separately in each one, possibly in a different manner. Be aware that some policies may specify a GVWR for the trailer as a cut-off, maybe as low as 2,000 pounds. So in that case a 2 placer will usually be fine, but if you have a 4 place enclosed, you better be looking at a separate policy because it's over the weight limit. Ask your agent to be sure, and GET THE ANSWER IN WRITING. Many agents don't know those details, and if they steer you wrong, a written guarantee from the agent will keep you covered for sure when it comes into question. And Canada is a different world....I don't know about how insurance works there.

Another exciting little side note: Let's say you're towing your 4 place trailer loaded with 4 sleds and you slam the whole mess into a guardrail due to black ice. All sleds, trailer, and truck are damaged and you normally carry a $500 deductible on most of your things. What is this likely going to cost you? Answer: $3,000. Each policy is separate and each deductible will apply even though it was one incident and they were all being towed by the same vehicle. Same answer if your garage burns down with all these items in it. Except now the answer will be $3,500 because you're also adding your homeowner's deductible to the mix.

That little tidbit catches a lot of people off guard....

Hey Forester, you obviously know CV. :D

As for insurance in the states I'm sure you are correct. Quebec and Ontario are not so. The accident with a trailer and the quad which Forester refers to, was a fellow I know personally and he lives in Ontario.

I have insured my brand new 4 place enclosed trailer with Nationwide here in NY. My sleds are also insured with them but only liability, not collision, because the collision premium is very high. They are all older used machines so I figure if I crash any one of them I will just suffer the loss, because I have "saved" the premiums. Nationwide tells me that only the trailer is covered, not the contents. So I'm super careful on the road because I could lose all 4 sleds at once. Mark

Snowride:

Yes, I know CV I frequent atvfrontier also.

Forester

Going back to the original post. How much snow should a top support? All things have their limit. I'm curious as to when do you think you should have to start worrying about the weight?

Since it is designed as a snowmobile trailer and will definately therefor see a few snow storms, I would think 2 ft as a minimum would be acceptable. I know I wouldn't be too happy if I parked it and went for a 1 week ride only to come back to see that the 2 ft snow accumulation had caused it to cave in. On the other hand I seroiusly doubt they have any criteria which NEEDS to be followed when making one. Based on the fact that it is designed for use in snow conditions, I would think it would be an easy case in small claims court for the trailer owner if all else fails.

Interesting topic. My experience was the trailer with two sleds in it rolled across the yard and in to a tree. damaged the trailer but not the sleds. found out the car insurance would not cover the trailer because it only has liability insurance when being towed. so even if the trailer would unhook while being towed the trailer is not covered only what the trailer hits is covered for liability. also my home owners insurance did not cover the trailer because it has a license plate and is a registered vehicle. If you want trailer covered it must be listed on your auto the policy. had I done that the trailer would have been covered by the auto insurance.
The problem I see with insurance is that to cover all your losses you will spend all your money on insurance and have nothing left to live on and this includes life health and auto. so you have to decide what happy medium you can live with. Sorry about getting off topic but to address the issue The suggestion about being in the parking lot should be effective.

A lot of home, warehouse, and garage roofs will collapse under 2 feet of heavy snow. So I certainly wouldn't expect my flimsy snowmobile trailer top to handle it. That's why God invented roof rakes! I make sure to keep mine cleaned off, especially after a heavy, wet snow.

Originally posted by alindazip@Jan 28 2005, 11:47 AM
Interesting topic.* My experience was the trailer with two sleds in it rolled across the yard and in to a tree.* damaged the trailer but not the sleds.* found out the car insurance would not cover the trailer because it only has liability insurance when being towed. so even if the trailer would unhook while being towed the trailer is not covered only what the trailer hits is covered for liability.* also my home owners insurance did not cover the trailer because it has a license plate and is a registered vehicle. If you want trailer covered it must be listed on your auto* the policy. had I done that the trailer would have been covered by the auto insurance.*
The problem I see with insurance is that to cover all your losses you will spend all your money on insurance and have nothing left to live on and this includes life health and auto.* so you have to decide what happy medium you can live with.* 395292


Yepper...that all sounds about like it would normally be handled. You feel screwed, but per the insurance policies you agreed to purchase, you were not. Consequently, I am one of few insurance adjusters in the world who quite frankly does not really believe in insuring ANYTHING unless it would cause absolute bankrupcy. So I have insurance that covers only my home, life, health, and liability...with $1,000 to $2,500 deductibles on most. If I lose those things, I'd be in serious financial trouble. However for my cars, boat, snowmobiles, trailers, etc....liability only. I don't have a lick of insurance on any of 'em...and many are year 2001 and newer. Why not? Because losing a car or sled or two wouldn't cause me to go bankrupt...it would just suck. Instead I self-insure these items by keeping the money I save on insurance premiums regularly dumped into a savings account that NEVER gets touched unless I have a "self-insurance" claim. I had a $8,000 wreck with my truck once, and I just wrote a check out of that account for the work I couldn't do myself...and did a LOT of the repairs myself save the frame straightening and painting to help cut my out of pocket costs down closer to $5,000. So far my system is working nicely. In the event of a bad string of events that wipes that account out, I'd simply get a loan, or buy an old beater to drive, or live with a few less toys for a while....it's the risk you take. But at least I'm not subsidizing all the other idiots who don't know how to drive, or take care of their stuff, or try to inflate/defraud insurance claims. And my insurance costs per year are very low...

In a couple of weeks I will be trailering my sled up to a location where it will sit for 1 week until I come back from my 1500km sled trip. It is not uncommon to see 2' plus snow storms in the area I am going to. How in the heck do you want me to rake it off when I'm 500 miles away. This is normally not a problem because I have never heard of a cave in on a sled trailer before this post. Point is, if his did cave in from a relatively small 14"accumulation then the manufacturer did not do their homework and should address the issue. I certainly would never consider this brand if 14" causes it to cave in.

Originally posted by Snowride@Jan 28 2005, 12:21 PM
In a couple of weeks I will be trailering my sled up to a location where it will sit for 1 week until I come back from my 1500km sled trip. It is not uncommon to see 2' plus snow storms in the area I am going to. How in the heck do you want me to rake it off when I'm 500 miles away.... I certainly would never consider this brand if 14" causes it to cave in.
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You'll have to hire yourself some snow rake monkeys, I guess. I'm not trying to side with the mfr here by any means, just stating we simply don't have enough facts to make a judgement on this situation. Maybe the trailers are junk. But as for expecting a covered trailer to support 2 feet of snow, it completely depends on what type of snow it is. 2 feet of fluff that falls at 0 degrees F has very little water to it and won't weigh hardly anything, but heavy, wet, slushy snow that falls when it's 35F can weigh almost as much as water itself. If you figure a 10 x 10 roof with 2 feet of slushy snow is carrying about a gallon of water for every every 2 cubic feet....man...that's 100 gallons of water x about 9 lbs per gallon = 900 pounds!! That's like parking a 2-up sled with 2 riders on your roof! They'd ALL collapse under that. But 2 feet of virgin fluff may only weigh 50 pounds, and by all means any trailer roof should support that.

Alas, as usual I'm rambling way off topic. Looking at Sled-Shed's website, their trailer caps don't look any different or have any different specs than similar caps by Triton, etc. So this might have been a fluke snow/ice/slush storm that created a huge weight load. Or the trailer caps might be poorly built junk as originally stated. I dunno. Just like you said, I highly doubt there'll be any standard for snow depth they can support so we're all just stuck protecting our own. Therefore, I make it a habit to rake off the heavy stuff when it hits and ignore the fluffy blowaway snow. And as you also said, I think this is a rare event.

Hope you enjoy your touring trip, it sounds like it'll be a blast! I'm jealous. And sorry about all the crazy non-metric measurements in my calculations...I'm just a dumb American... :confused:

Originally posted by craze1cars@Jan 28 2005, 12:20 PM
Yepper...that all sounds about like it would ...........to drive, or take care of their stuff, or try to inflate/defraud insurance claims.* And my insurance costs per year are very low...
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I like your perspective. Thanks for the reminder on the importance of insurance

Originally posted by craze1cars@Jan 28 2005, 01:20 PM
You'll have to hire yourself some snow rake monkeys, I guess.* I'm not trying to side with the mfr here by any means, just stating we simply don't have enough facts to make a judgement on this situation.* Maybe the trailers are junk.* But as for expecting a covered trailer to support 2 feet of snow, it completely depends on what type of snow it is.* 2 feet of fluff that falls at 0 degrees F has very little water to it and won't weigh hardly anything,* but heavy, wet, slushy snow that falls when it's 35F can weigh almost as much as water itself.* If you figure a 10 x 10 roof with 2 feet of slushy snow is carrying about a gallon of water for every every 2 cubic feet....man...that's 100 gallons of water x about 9 lbs per gallon = 900 pounds!!* That's like parking a 2-up sled with 2 riders on your roof!* They'd ALL collapse under that.* But 2 feet of virgin fluff may only weigh 50 pounds, and by all means any trailer roof should support that.

Alas, as usual I'm rambling way off topic.* Looking at Sled-Shed's website, their trailer caps don't look any different or have any different specs than similar caps by Triton, etc.* So this might have been a fluke snow/ice/slush storm that created a huge weight load.* Or the trailer caps might be poorly built junk as originally stated.* I dunno.* Just like you said, I highly doubt there'll be any standard for snow depth they can support so we're all just stuck protecting our own.* Therefore, I make it a habit to rake off the heavy stuff when it hits and ignore the fluffy blowaway snow.* And as you also said, I think this is a rare event.

Hope you enjoy your touring trip, it sounds like it'll be a blast!* I'm jealous.* And sorry about all the crazy non-metric measurements in my calculations...I'm just a dumb American... :confused:
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This is a good post!!!


If the snow that caused this was like the Dec. 24th storm that we got in Ohio it was a fluke. 12" of snow then 2" of rain on top. That was the heaviest snow I ever dealt with. I have this brand of trailer and I raked it off. If there really is that much worry I would fashion some 2x4's into a brace for the week.

:bash: I whish I had some snow problems That I can deal with This bitter cold weather and only about 3 inches of snow is the pits. I will have to trailer to ride. weird this year there is ridable snow north south and east of me but not enough here.

Like I posted earlier, 14 inches on top of a trailer, if it has gone through several thaw/freeze cycles could be a tremendous amount of weight. And yet sitting for two weeks accumulating two feet of fresh snow may be no problem, just depends on the circumstances.
Maybe we could hear from the original poster to get clarification on the circumstances.

Originally posted by 3skidooer@Jan 26 2005, 08:29 PM
Do not buy a Sled Shed trailer made in Jackson Mi. These are junk. Mine is a 2004. The cap on my trailer started to cave in when it got 14" of snow on it.* They won't* fix either. The dealer where I purchased won"t do business with them any more, he says they're junk. Let my mistake educate the rest of you.
394429

:cussing: Getting back to everone, the reason why it caved in, was the design of the cap. If you go to the web site you will notice the roof just curves down. This is where it buckled. They did not support it enough in this area. I notice most cap manufactures use sharp angles to maintain support. Also I checked on buying the aluminum sheet to repair it myself, they quoted me $190.00 for that peice of aluminum.
Let me tell everbody one more time, DON'T BUY A SLED SHED TRAILER! You be sorry, better trailers for about same money.

Yuuuup,

My dealer sells both Sled Shed and Floe. I was gonna buy th SS because it was a few hundred bucks cheaper but he talked me out of it then showed me what makes a good trailer - welds, supports, latches that the others just don't compare to. You get what you pay for. My advice to you is buy a Floe. 14" of snow is nothing and even if it somehow did collapse (with maybe 5 feet of snow) they'd back it up.

G MAN