Trailer rear hitch on a casita

[FabulousFrankie]

I’d like to put a hitch on the back of my Casita 17’ Freedom Deluxe to carry my Electric tricycle (it weighs about 75lbs) does anyone have any experience/knowledge with what hitch works and which ones don’t? I have a cargo rack that the trike fits on, it also weighs about 75lbs, anybody?

[Jon in AZ]

Orbital Machine Works makes a hitch platform that bolts to the rear frame of a Casita 17. The hitch adds around 50#, so you'll be around 200# between hitch, rack and trike. That’s a lot of weight to cantilever off the back of a trailer. Casita 17’s are generally pretty stable, but that much rear weight will be pushing it at least.

There are two dangers. One is sway, which is side-to-side oscillation of the trailer, “wagging the tail.” If severe it can lead to loss of control. Weight at the back tends to increase the intensity of sway. The other is up-and-down movement, akin to back-of-the-school-bus “whoop-de-dos,” which can sometimes generate enough force to break the hitch or rack.

OMW probably specifies a weight limit on the Casita hitch, and I’d want to know what that is before committing to the plan. I’d also check the manual for your rack and make sure it’s rated for use on a trailer. Some aren’t. If all that checks out, then you’ll want to weigh the trailer and tongue after loading it up, including your trike, and make sure your trailer is properly balanced with 10-15% tongue weight. Add a hitch tightener to eliminate any slop between the hitch and the rack.

Caution is advised. A travel trailer has much different dynamics than the same rack on the back of your car or truck.

[thrifty bill]

To the 150 pound figure above, add the weight of the hitch assembly too. My guess is you will be pushing 225 pounds to 250 pounds.

In addition, anything mounted to a hitch on a trailer takes a beating, so that rack may need some reinforcement. That will add weight too. So maybe you will be 250 to 300 pounds.

Sway never sleeps, do so at your peril.

[Casita Greg]

When I did this mod, nobody was making them, so I fabricated my own, and for pretty cheap too.

(And, fwiw, Caveat Emptor on Orbital Machine Works version of the trailer hitch described above. They screwed a lot of people over and never delivered them, with many people waiting for over a year with no hitch delivery, and having to fight for a refund to get their money back. Build your own, it's easy, and if you don't weld, just show these pictures to any welder at a trailer repair shop and they can fabricate this setup in probably an hour or less.)

I welded a frame hitch to the back of my Casita about a dozen years ago. I carry my roto-molded Stow-Away box in the trailers' 2" receiver. It is comprised of three pieces.
1.) A six foot length of 3" X 3/16" heavy-walled channel tubing, (the new bumper.)
2.) A 1.5" length of 1/8" thick square channel tubing, long enough to fit between the two main frame rails, and
3.) About 2.5 feet of 2" Receiver tubing, (dimensionally not the same as standard 2" square tubing.) Most square tubing is measured by its outside dimensions. Receiver tubing is measured by its internal dimensions.)

This mod required the removal of the useless thin-walled sewer hose bumper, (with the aid of my Saws-All and pneumatic air grinder,) and replacing it with the above mentioned 6 foot 3" section of channel tubing.

All 3 pieces combined weigh about 25 Lbs, the bulk of which is the new bumper itself, which is butt welded to the rear of the frame rails. The Receiver Tube is welded under the bumper. The 1.5" square channel is installed cross-wise about 2 feet forward of the new bumper and is welded to the inside of the main frame rails, and also to the smaller middle longitudinal support, and then the front end of the Receiver Tube is welded to it. All very solid.

The Stow-Away carrier, with the attached 2" receiver mount, weighs about 50 pounds empty. I only use it for relatively light weight, but bulky items. Kind of a handy "car trunk," fwiw. That said, I stand on it when I wash the roof of the trailer, and I'm 260 Lbs, along with the weight of the box and contents, and I also downsized my two front propane tanks to 11# size tanks, and still my burly construction worker neighbor couldn't lift my trailer tongue, even with me standing on it in the back. Still very much nose-heavy, so no problem with having too light of a trailer tongue.

(And as an aside, just to satisfy those who may be wondering about where do I now store the sewer hose without the sewer hose bumper? I'll tell you. It now resides, coiled up, in a 5 gallon plastic bucket inside my Stow-Away box.)

[mary and bob]

Originally Posted by Jon in AZ

Orbital Machine Works makes a hitch platform that bolts to the rear frame of a Casita 17. Don’t know what it weighs, but I’m guessing you’ll be over 200# between hitch, rack and trike. That’s a lot of weight to cantilever off the back of a trailer. Casita 17’s are generally pretty stable, but that much rear weight will be pushing it at least.

I've heard that nothing has been available from OMW for some time as they apparently are dedicated to supplying little home on the road (or whatever that business is that does mods) Another person has started manufacturing rear receivers for Casitas, and has shipped one batch and has a wait list for more. I built my own but seldom use it. I usually carry 2 bikes in my pickup bed. Had one bike on the trailer for a short distance, and mostly use the receiver for a towel drying rack that I built. I think the OP may be planning on too much weight back there, just my opinion.

[Jon in AZ]

I found this site. Don’t know if the hitch is the one from OMW or another, or whether it is currently available or not.

Casita Hitch Receiver

[Casita Greg]

Originally Posted by Jon in AZ

I found this site. Don’t know if the hitch is the one from OMW or another, or whether it is currently available or not.

Casita Hitch Receiver

That's exactly the one I cautioned about in my previous post. Avoid it like the plague!

[Jon in AZ]

Thanks for the warning, Greg. Hadn’t heard that. Your set-up looks very sturdy.

[Casita Greg]

Originally Posted by Jon in AZ

Thanks for the warning, Greg. Hadn’t heard that. Your set-up looks very sturdy.

Thanks Jon.

And I would also offer up another safety concern in regard to those "bolt-on" trailer hitches which attach to the large thin-walled 4" sewer hose bumpers. Flat out, they are unsafe and you surely can count on them to fail. The bolt-on units are built quite well, but the weak link is the thin-walled bumper itself that it mounts to. It's not a weakness of the hitch assembly, it's the inherent structural weakness of the bumper itself that will cause you grief. Even the trailer manufacturers will unequivocally state not to attach anything to the sewer hose bumper.

And this unsuspecting trailer owner was very surprised when he stopped across from me at a gas station, and he was just carrying one spare tire on it. Real close to losing the whole thing, (not to mention the liability issues if anyone was injured, vehicles damaged, or worse, from this breaking off completely.) Probably only a couple of good bounces away from that happening. Don't be this guy!

[Jon in AZ]

Just to be clear, the bolt-on Casita hitches (if any are still being made) attach to the main frame rails, not the tube bumper, which is only intended for storage of the sewer hose.

[Adirondack Anthony]

There's someone new just beginning to manufacture bolt on to frame hitches, very similar to omw hitches . been following his startup over on the Casita Facebook page and he seems earnest and legit. Business is Casitaworks and he's just beginning a run of hitches after working through sizing etc. Search his site, give him a call or email .

[Ken Morton]

I found on our 16' Scamp that a bike rack and two fairly light mountain bikes resulted in unacceptable (to me anyway) sway. Bikes travel in the the back of the pickup now.

[FabulousFrankie]

Thank you all for your input it’s very helpful, with the Feedback I’ve come to understand that putting my trike on the back of the Kaseeta will just be too heavy I’ll try something different. Greg I really like what you did with your Casita I’m gonna look into that

[Bonnie RB]

Originally Posted by Jon in AZ

I found this site. Don’t know if the hitch is the one from OMW or another, or whether it is currently available or not.

Originally Posted by Casita Greg

That's exactly the one I cautioned about in my previous post. Avoid it like the plague!

Greg, In your post (#2 in this thread) your caution was about the delay between order and delivery that others reported. There was no mention about any issues you personally had with any order you may have placed.

As a counter point, I want to comment about how pleased I am with this specific receiver from the Perfect Casita sideline of Orbital Machine Works. I waited close to a year after my order to finally receive it. I'm glad I did wait and had forgotten (until this thread) that I did wait longer than I thought necessary. The construction quality, the installation ease, the load security have made, what was then an interminable wait, no more hassle than waiting for Christmas morning.

Frankie, How far out from the trailer bumper would the center of the rack and the centerline of the trike be located? The further out, the more that weight load is cantilevered. It's not just the pounds, it's also the 'feet'.
If there's any way to put the heavy parts as close to the trailer as possible, do it.

Jon MB

[CharlesinGA]

Originally Posted by Casita Greg

Thanks Jon.

And I would also offer up another safety concern in regard to those "bolt-on" trailer hitches which attach to the large thin-walled 4" sewer hose bumpers. Flat out, they are unsafe and you surely can count on them to fail. The bolt-on units are built quite well, but the weak link is the thin-walled bumper itself that it mounts to. It's not a weakness of the hitch assembly, it's the inherent structural weakness of the bumper itself that will cause you grief. Even the trailer manufacturers will unequivocally state not to attach anything to the sewer hose bumper.

And this unsuspecting trailer owner was very surprised when he stopped across from me at a gas station, and he was just carrying one spare tire on it. Real close to losing the whole thing, (not to mention the liability issues if anyone was injured, vehicles damaged, or worse, from this breaking off completely.) Probably only a couple of good bounces away from that happening. Don't be this guy!

that is a rather common mount, I have one trailer with that exact same mount. My Bigfoot has a mount that sits on top of the bumper, with square u bolts holding it down. The wheel is still hanging out, but probably a lot less stress on it. I may eventually get a BAL mount underneath the trailer for the spare.

Lots of weight on the back of a trailer is never a good thing. Almost every video I have seen of trailer sway resulting in an accident, there was a generator or other stuff on the back bumper, that the manufacturer did not intend to be there.

Charles