MoJoDePotatoe

My name is Joe, I own a manufacturing facility. Not sure, but I figured some of the message boards would be a good place to get feedback on products we make. And to find out what some of you would want to make your hunting trips funner or easier.

I designed a new popup camper specifically with quads and side x sides in mind. My wife and I have a Polaris Ranger so that's what we use. I designed this to be built like a brick s__t house, all he while keeping it as light as can be. But would like to hear from some of you on some questions I have.

1) How many people use quads while hunting?
2) How many people use SxS's while hunting?
3) If using a quad or SxS, is getting your kill back to vehicle ever an issue?
4) How many times have you had to return to vehicle to go home without getting your animal, only to return the next day or so?
5) Would spouse go out with you if you were able to dine inside and sleep off the ground?
6) Do you want your spouse to go with you?

I could go on and on. But if you would, take a look at the camper and give me some feedback. I tried to think of most scenarios, but I know I don't know everything. www.hi-standardoutfitters.com

mrbb

OK< I have to ask, but what do your mean by get your tag?
here in PA< our tags comne with the lic for the animal you presure or with your general hunting lic
so legally I MUST have my lis/tag with em to hunt
in all my 30+ yrs of hunting I have nbever NOT had my lic and tag on me so??

Mayeb explain this better!

as for your questions
# 1
I have taken atv's with me on many out of state hunts, and use mine for many things all yr long on many property's I have access to
BUT I don't hunt off my atv, or really drive my atv out to hunt places with, its basilica used to carry out stands and , then recovery is legal to do so.
if where I am hunting I cannot use to recover game, I don;'t bother bringing it LOL

$2, don't own a SxS, but if I did would be the same as above!
#3, again need to exolain this better to me??
#4 I am single and so, no feedback from me there!(
#5 I'd rather NOT hunt with my spouse if I had one, I like my hunting to me MY time away from it all

NOW if your asking for things I'd like in a trailer
I would like solar power panels on the roof of it, to power as many things as possible, just seems like good use of the roof space!
as much of trailer as possible made of aluminum
a good sized on board water holding tank, as much as possible built into the floor too! maybe with a eating element inside to keep it from freezing or making hot water!
good exterior LED lighting
a rear view camera built into the back of the trailer, for both driving in traffic and when backing up!
Spare tire holder built into the floor too, maybe even some add compartments to hold jack and chains and the likes!( fordable power jacks at each corner would be nice too, for changing flats or leveling on site!

pre wired for a gen to run outlets inside and out!
well vented, and insulated walls and floor and roof!
maybe removable drains in flooring too, so washing it all out can be done and drained nice and easy like!
and all this at a price that is fair! to the average hunter!

but sadly, trailers like this tend to be out of my pockets range, and I bet most average hunters too!

MoJoDePotatoe

mrbb, Thank You for your response! Out here in our neck of the desert in Az most hunters drive their vehicle to a staging area and unload their quad or SxS and head out. As if it was not obvious, I have never hunted. But speaking with hunters as they come by our property, (I'll usually offer a beer or coffee depending on the time of year) and we'll sit and start BS'ing. And I thought when they referred to getting their tag was them getting their kill, I must have misunderstood.

In our area we have Mule Deer, Javalina, Quail, lots of mountain lions (evidently they can be hunted all year), badger, and other small game. But I was told the average weight of a deer is around 300 lbs, so I asked how do you get it back to your vehicle? I was told that they have to get it to an area where they can get their vehicle and then load it up. And if they don't get their kill, they load up, head home and most have said that they'll be back in the morning. So what if you did not have to head home at the end of the day with no kill? And if you did get a deer, wouldn't it be easier to put it on top of the camper and take back to vehicle? Seems to me that you could venture a little further and not have to watch your time as closely.

A few of your suggestions we are already working on. But there are a few that we decided to leave out. We wanted to keep the Ghost M1 as light as possible and therefore have to leave out some of the creature comforts of a motorhome. But the Ghost M1 main body is made out of aluminum, steel frame that is powder coated, all stainless steel hardware, and the one thing I am most proud of is we make everything right here in the US!

I hope clearing up my lack of knowledge has given you some clarity. And I would appreciate keeping the suggestions coming. I want to make the Ghost M1 camper the best that it can be. I know I am the manufacturer but I am also a consumer, and I have always been one to buy quality over quantity. Far too often I find myself shaking my head at the crappy quality of stuff that is jammed down our throats, and I never want the camper to fall in to that category.

So again, Thank you for your response, and keep it coming. I really do appreciate it!

Joe.

mrbb

OK Joe, first off, the average deer does NOT weight 300 lbs, someone is fibbing you there , average deer MIGHT be 150 lbs, remove guyts and such, and there even lighter
LARGER muledeer bucks can sure PUSH 300 lbs but that ain't the norm, even farm land deerWhitetail/muledeer, struggle to hit 300 lbs there NOT common

NOW< maybe I mis understood your trailer design too, I was thinking you were talking about a more traditional TOY hauler, one that has half living quarters and half room for an ATV or UTV
I am now thinking your more or less talking about a trailer you TOW behind your atv/utv?
am I right here>
if you, your missing the boat on NOT using aluminum on the frame, saves weight and doesn't rust! IMO
I have many trailers of all types, and my aluminum trailers are way longer life'd by far.

NOW I know many places out west where you can ride atv/utv to hunt, BUT most all places have limits on where you can go and drive, they also have limits on where you can camp and or not, its not a free for all any more in more places than you think, rules are every where!
there are also width requirements on what can and cannot drive on certain roads

NOW< in an off road trailer, ground clearance is a HUGE issue, articulating twin axles can make life a LOT better when towing off road!
over one single axle, as will wider higher flotation tires!
center of gravity on all things needs to be taken into thought here too, as atv's utv's tow over very uneven ground
NEXT will be MOST all average sized atv's have a MAX weight of about 1,000 lbs of towing and braking ability, so a trailer has to be light enough to allow lots of room to ADD weight to it, add that 300 lb animal,(or up to about a 600-800 lb elk or moose) plus hunting gear
and you start to see why NOT a lot of guys tow off road

MOST guys that hunt the west, PACK there game out in quarters on there backs, or use horse's ,as horse's have lesser restrictions on where they can travel, and just can get places UTV's cannot!
the same quartering of game, very few guys, SHOOT a game animal, and leave it till next day, not in places where lions and bears are, or they stand to loose what they worked for, and paid for that costly tag!(some hunters pay tens of thousands of dollars for certain draw tags)
they will camp NEAR it, and ruff it thru the night, OR carry what they can, and get back ASAP, few GO home, it just doesn't happen that much unless they live VERY close by
there are game laws that MAKE you have to remove animal ASAP< and NOT waste it.

SO< the market for folks, HUNTERS, to use a a off road trailer, honestly are not that high

if you look at ALaskan hunters, you will find a TON of custom built trailers for just this stuff, they have some wild designs, might be worth looking into before you get rolling here!

I have friends that live in AZ< NV MT WY, ID and CO, all hunters and ATV'UTV owners too
I have hunted out there countless times myself

to be honest I don;t think the market is all that big
YES some will and do hunt this way, but IMO< its NOT the norm
MAYBE in your area its more common, but in the bigger picture, of hunting the west and likes, its a small percentage from what all I have seen and done and know of?
Others might chime in here
but just being as honest with you here as I can be!
I been riding atv's and MX and street bikes and building and off roading in trucks and jeeps well over 30+ yrs
the percentage of guys I see towing a trailer off road is MAYBE 10% of the whole!

much more appeal in TOY haulers now, all the more so one's that fit BIGGER UTV"S
than trailer to tow behind them off road
UTV's are HUGE growing market right now, and NOT a lot of trailers out there fitting them , with lift kits and such which are very popular on them
most STOCK UTV"S are like 6 and half foot tall, and most all toy haulers are barely clearing them right now,
one's with 77+ ft drive in doors are few
could be a better market there for these than ??

flags

Not sure what the point to all the questions are but there are my answers.

Oldtimr

I want to hunt where he hunts if the average deer is 300 lbs! I have to question is the OP experienced in hunting or is he posting here to get information he can use to sell to others? Does he have permission from the administrators to post what is essentially a survey on this site?

MoJoDePotatoe

mrbb,

Again, Thank You! Lots of good info you put out there! As far as the frame, we have been in manufacturing for 50 years this year, and one of the many things we have learned, is that aluminum fatigues and will break or develop stress fractures over time. Our intention for staying with the steel frame was to combine the best of multiple worlds, strength, weight, longevity and cost. The camper weighs in at 404 lbs. Some of the situations we have put the first couple campers through are no less than impressive, to where the wife got out and walked, and she's no chicken. Like I said, I designed this tough, with customers in mind, we've actually flipped one down a hill trying to destroy it, it had some damage, but we still were able to hook back up, pull it to a spot and set it up.

OK Joe, first off, the average deer does NOT weight 300 lbs, someone is fibbing you there , average deer MIGHT be 150 lbs, remove guyts and such, and there even lighter
LARGER muledeer bucks can sure PUSH 300 lbs but that ain't the norm, even farm land deerWhitetail/muledeer, struggle to hit 300 lbs there NOT common
I don't remember this specific person's name, but in hindsight I learned that he is not the type of person that should be hunting. Firing his rifle from his truck, from the road and in close proximity to a house. Had a kill on a Friday and Sunday asked to go through our property to retrieve it, and so on.

I have seen where there are leases for hunting. But did no know that it was not open land as it is out here. We do have sections with their own respective hunting seasons and maybe different rules. But learning about leases now and it comes as a surprise, I had no idea.

I figured the market was a small one for something like this. I know these will not fit everyone, but for those that would be interested, I just want to make sure we offer what they'd like.

Again, Thank You!

MoJoDePotatoe

Flags,

Thanks for the feedback. I probably should be asking different questions. But the initial idea was to see how many hunters use quads or SxS's while on the hunt, and for those who do, would something like this be useful to them.

Originally I did not entertain the idea of hunters seeing this as a viable product. I was mainly thinking it was for the person who wanted to get away to somewhere their Toyhauler or motorhome would not go, but wanted a few comforts like being off the ground, a queen sized bed, inside dining, etc. But it was actually a hunter that brought up the idea. And after speaking with a few people, one thing kept coming up, "If we weren't on the ground, I'd go with my husband", now that caught my attention, again, I was not thinking about the women in our lives and how much influence they have. Although I wear the pant in my family! Yep, she will never find this post

But Thank You for taking time to respond.

MoJoDePotatoe

As I mentioned in my first post, No, not experienced in hunting. If I knew everything I would not be asking for help.

Not selling this info to anyone. I am transparent, you can look me up and my company.

All I'm trying to do is get feedback from people on what they'd like if they were looking to get something like this. I don't know where else to look, so I figured I'd ask people that know. Already learned a lot from mrbb.

If I have done something wrong, I did not mean to. Being in the business we're in, we've never had to learn in this manner. Making parts for Defense, Aerospace and some commercial applications has always been as simple as making them per B/P. But this is a whole new animal.

If you want to look me up, I believe my profile is public, and I would welcome a phone call if you have concerns about my intentions.

Joe.

mrbb

well back to steel frames?
in most places that use road slat in winter time, a steel frame will be rousted out in a few yrs, as to an aluminum one
As for strength, they make tractor trailer and other flat beds out of aluminum these days, not sure how much stronger you would need, and NOT have the rusting issue's
and would be lighter no?

I own snowmobile trailers 20+ yrs old of aluminum, still strong, had steel trailers go south on me in 10-12 yrs?

in same conditions?
SO< steel , can be easier to work with and such, and maybe less fatigue issue's , but its a problem child due to it gets eaten by rust more than not
and weight would be the number one concer in an off road tow behind trailer to me, as ATv's and UTV's ain;t that big on pulling power, average atv is maybe 50 hp, and that ain';t a ton when you look at torque numbers they make too!
on flat land, there tow fine, but get into off road, rocks to pull tires over and all, and that weight of a trailer seems to double triple REAL fast, out weighting the ATV towing it, add UP hill and things get even trickier!

as for lease land and public
I think you will find MORE restrictions on ATv/UTV use on Public lands, vs lease's

MOST all federal land are under many months of CLOSE use to atv.utv, many place there closed for like 6-7 months to be honest and again, very restricted use when open /

AN example here in PA< 2+ million acres of public land, about 10% IF that is open to atv use, and NOTHING wider than 50 inches, need a ATV registration, and ins(not sure if they would require ins on a trailer??)
90% of ALL public land open to atv'utv's will require ins and a registerd atv/utv!
so, here in PA< the amount of places you cannot more or less go, is higher than where you can! unless you OWN the land, or have permission to ride on someone else's
and the rules there can be what ever the land owner wishes

its not a free open like deal
AZ is one of the more ATV/UTV friendly places, can even rive them legally in many towns and place, which is RARE thing across the USA to be honest!
atv
utv's are in very limited use in more states than there not, only a handful of states are rather atv friendly!

not trying to deter you here just giving you honest feedback here on what your up against!