Snowmobile trailer

Claim 1

In combination, a snowmobile vehicle and a trailer having a support surface for said snowmobile which is tiltable from a transport position to a tilted loading position for transporting said snowMobile vehicle, said snowmobile having an endless drive track at one end thereof and at least one ski-like steering elements at the opposite end thereof, a load carrying bed defining said support surface, said support surface being of sufficient length so as to enable said snowmobile vehicle to be driven thereonto from one end thereof to a transport position wherein both the drive track and ski-like steering element are resting thereon, a retaining member mounted on said bed for releasably securing said snowmobile vehicle upon said support surface, said retaining member being located at a preselected longitudinal position along said bed so as to be engageable with the rearward end of the ski-like steering element of said snowmobile vehicle when the same is disposed in said transport position, hinge means for supporting said retaining member for pivotal movement between a retracted position extending generally coplanar with said support surface and an elevated position projecting upwardly from said support surface and adapted for engagement with the rearward end of said ski-like steering element of said snowmobile supported on said support surface, means for releasably maintaining said retaining member in said retracted position, spring means for resiliently biasing said retaining member toward said elevated position so that when said snowmobile vehicle is driven along said support surface toward said transport position, said retaining member will be biased to said retracted position as ski-like steering element travels thereover, and said retaining member will be biased to said elevated position once said ski-like steering element has traveled thereover and said snowmobile vehicle has reached said transport position on said bed, with said retaining member being engageable with said rearward end of said ski-like steering element to prevent movement of said snowmobile vehicle along said support surface away from said transport position when said support surface is in said tilted loading position.