h2opup
Advanced Member
Hi rjap,
Congrats on your new Hawk! I wound up going with an Otto Step (thank you, Wandering Sagebrush) which worked really well for me and my older dog. This is an extremely robust synthetic step that slides into the trailer hitch (Made in USA). It is lightweight and I was able to store it just inside the door of my ATC camper. My dog took immediately to it -- and he is usually skeptical of such things. I presented him with some stair-type options, but he just tried to jump over them. The attached photos are the very first time that he saw the Otto Step, and he was very comfortable using it on his first try. It has a roughened surface that has great traction yet can be washed or scrubbed off, if needed.
The Otto Step was a very comfortable height for me (5'6") to enter and exit the camper. I did add a trailer hitch riser that made it even more comfortable for me that brought the step up to the level of the step in the bumper, but unless you screw down the bolt for the riser, that set-up (shown) has a bit of wobble/tilt in it when you put weight on the step. When using the Otto Step without the hitch riser, it was very stable without being bolted in, which meant you could slide the step in and out of the hitch quickly when setting up or leaving camp.
This did not solve my issue of trying to reach the camper clasps to open/close the pop-top, but at 6'1" you likely won't need a step for that. I was considering a collapsible ladder for accessing the roof, etc., but wound up not keep the camper so I didn't resolve that issue.
Others on WTW have shown some clever ways to mount Lil Giant ladders and other brands on the rear of their campers.
Hope this is helpful.
Cheers
h2opup
Congrats on your new Hawk! I wound up going with an Otto Step (thank you, Wandering Sagebrush) which worked really well for me and my older dog. This is an extremely robust synthetic step that slides into the trailer hitch (Made in USA). It is lightweight and I was able to store it just inside the door of my ATC camper. My dog took immediately to it -- and he is usually skeptical of such things. I presented him with some stair-type options, but he just tried to jump over them. The attached photos are the very first time that he saw the Otto Step, and he was very comfortable using it on his first try. It has a roughened surface that has great traction yet can be washed or scrubbed off, if needed.
The Otto Step was a very comfortable height for me (5'6") to enter and exit the camper. I did add a trailer hitch riser that made it even more comfortable for me that brought the step up to the level of the step in the bumper, but unless you screw down the bolt for the riser, that set-up (shown) has a bit of wobble/tilt in it when you put weight on the step. When using the Otto Step without the hitch riser, it was very stable without being bolted in, which meant you could slide the step in and out of the hitch quickly when setting up or leaving camp.
This did not solve my issue of trying to reach the camper clasps to open/close the pop-top, but at 6'1" you likely won't need a step for that. I was considering a collapsible ladder for accessing the roof, etc., but wound up not keep the camper so I didn't resolve that issue.
Others on WTW have shown some clever ways to mount Lil Giant ladders and other brands on the rear of their campers.
Hope this is helpful.
Cheers
h2opup