A New Twist on a Smart Loader Concept!

Can you give me feedback on this crazy idea?

Back in the late 80's when I lived in Idaho, I owned a snowmobile deck that sat on the bed of my pickup truck that would hold two sleds and would rotate like a lazy susan.  The concept allowed you to rotate the lazy susan and drive the sled up on the deck from the side, (Much like many of you are loading SMARTS.)  Once both sleds were loaded I would then swivel the deck 90 degrees so they were pointing fwd.  Imagine loading your SMART sideways, like most of the loaders I have seen on this forum.  Then with the car sitting on an enormous lazy susan you rotate it 90 degrees to point fwd.

I have tried to find an image of this sled deck concept and it seems nobody is making one that rotates any more.

By now, I am sure if you follow what I am trying to say, you are asking yourself, "Why over engineer it and rotate the d$%n thing anyway.  Here is why I am considering this:

1 I want to carry a Smart and a Goldwing.  So the footprint they will take-up is essentially 8 x 8.

2. Rotating them allows me to put the newer "longer" Smart on there without being illegal in width.

3. If constructed correctly I can load/unload from three sides (Driver / Passenger / Rear).

4. Versatility of carrying different configurations of vehicles.  (Bikes / ATV's/Sleds/Cars)

I envision the lazy susan deck being around 8'wide by 9 to 10' long.  I would be square(ish) with the corners cut down a little to minimize the interference when rotating.  It would presumably rotate on a greased pin in the center.  Additional weight concerns during rotation could be accommodated with some Teflon surfaces or wheels close to the perimeter of the lazy susan.  I would rotate by hand, then pin it in place.  It could have a rampage bike loader (or similar) bolted/attached to the surface, adjacent to the parking spot for the Smart.  Three of the four sides have receiver hitch openings to accept a receiver mounted winch to pull the bike / Smart up on the deck.  Ramps would be designed such that they would load from the rear or either side.

My concerns include

1. Costs

2. Overall length of the truck impacting the trailer length I could pull.

3. Finding someone who can build this contraption.

4. Keeping the contraption secure while driving.

Who knows, if it works I can hang a disco ball above it at the campground and it could double as a rotating dance floor.

Here is the other thought.

I could load a Gen 1 Smart sideways (legally), and somehow load the bike above it, thus minimizing the footprint taken on the bed of the truck.  The thought is that the Smart loads inside a cage with a roof on it.  On the roof of the cage a rampage style loader is attached.  To load the cage would be lowered down the ramps, then the bike loaded on top via typical ramp means.  Once loaded, then drive the Smart inside the cage.  Then drag this top heavy cage up on the truck and secure it.

Biggest problems I see with this concept are:

1 Center of Gravity.

2 Real estate needed to load all of this stuff.  (The cage is presumably beside the truck on the ground with 12 foot ramps hanging off of it to load the bike.)

3. Height.  With a car that is 61 inches high and a motorcycle windshield 63 inches high stacked on top on a deck that is ?? high I doubt I could squeeze it under an overpass, much less behind a 770/780 fairing.  (I am thinking creative geometrical loading could allow me to put the front tire of the bike just above the windshield of the car making the entire height of the two somewhere around 112 inches instead of 124"

So what do you guys think?

Does anyone think either of these ideas are feasible?

Does anyone want a little of what I am smokin?

As far as top-heavy goes, I corresponded with Randy Retired, who has a very high top-load of a Jeep on his Volvo, and he reported a recent trip with 30mph cross winds and he said there were no stability issues at all.  Perhaps you might check with him for additional perspective on that aspect of the design.

Oh well - perhaps that's why they make different flavors of ice cream!
Well, just my $.02.

Jim,
Sorry, IIRC= If I remember correctly.  Let me see if I can find it for you.
Link deleted

David,
Was I right and the design went wrong?  Help me out here...

I had the opportunity to meet with the president of EXCEL fifth wheels last year when looking at his products.  It proved to be a great learning experience.  I asked him about his position regarding mounting a Goldwing behind his trailers.  I made mention of some models they manufactured that specifically said they could accommodate a heavy bike.  He said they had changed their position regarding putting that load back their based on the amount of spring from the lever action of the trailer.  I think if I find the right trailer wit will support the weight, but finding a mfg that will endorse the idea is proving to be a challenge.  I may revisit that idea though.  The bike is big.  It is 845 pounds and 103" long.  The height of the windshield is 63" and the height of the backrest is 52".  Perhaps I should consider trading it in on one of These

Regarding your discussion on top heavy. I think the HDT would be fine with the load.  The concern is dragging a top heavy sled/cage up the ramp with an 850 pound bike on top of it and securing it to the deck.  Once secured I trust it will be fine.  If I drag it up a ramp and it tips while on the ramp then that would make for a bad day.
Thanks.

2) If you build a custom trailer why not build it (lets say) 45' long, but leave the frame extended 5' behind the body (a 39' trailer box on a 45' frame.  That would leave an open frame extension at the back of a convention layout trailer (with nice rear windows).  Mount the Goldwing there and carry the Smart in a normal fashion.  Building a custom trailer should be no issue with the levered weight.  It can be designed into the frame and wheel positioning.  Would make a nice rear deck, too.  I would bet New Horizons would do this for you.  That would give you a high quality custom trailer, with convention inside instead of a toyhauler.  And a nice rear deck that could likely even hold a Smart if you wanted too....they are not that heavy....

Mini Stacker. For some reason when I initially thought of stacking in a cage that was not mobile, I
was hung up on getting the bike that high in the air. It did not dawn on me to do it in the fashion
that you mention and have a upper platform that lowers. I was trying to figure out how to get the
wheels of the bike 9 feet off the ground without hiring a stunt pro to load it. Now I understand.  Genius, I say!  I suppose there is a reason I am “working for the man” while you guys are developing all of these great engineering ideas.  Thanks for the idea.  I will certainly study it.

I am not familiar with the designs to li1 stackers, but would presume that most commercial stackers use hydraulics?  (dunno) Would you recommend Hydraulics, air, or cable and pulleys?  I would think hydraulics may be the most feasible, but also would require the most support.

Custom Trailer: Jack, this is another great Idea that I had not considered.  I really like this idea.  Although I will tell you I have been looking at that used “New Horizons” on their website for some time now with the bike room in the back.  The engineering of the frame, as you discussed makes sense and could certainly handle the weight.  I am pretty sure this idea would be outside of my budget though.  I have a ballpark budget in mind that gives me around 50K for my truck and around 50K for the trailer.  We will be looking at used rigs for our first setup.  I may get closer to 75-80K for my trailer, but that leaves the reserve pool a lot smaller to deal with problems and upgrades.  I would imagine your idea is deep into the six figure budget, and then I wouldn’t have $$ to get a truck.  I will keep in mind though.  With the exception of the length, and cost this seems to make the most sense.  I could also see this one of a kind trailer being hard to sell.  In the event we decide to change some things and get a different trailer.

Now don’t get me wrong.  We plan on doing this for a LONG TIME.  I am smart enough to know that once we start full timing we are going to find some things about our first trailer, that we would “druther” be different.  Much like we learned from all of the houses we have bought and sold.  I think my safest bet may be to get a somewhat conventional trailer to begin with, grow into it, and then think custom lter on, once I am more accustomed to what I would like.  Just my thought.

Thanks for all of the feedback.  I appreciate all of the ideas.
Jim