For me this is much more versatile, I have a tow ball I can plug in and I made a step to help with getting in the back.
It can stay there in the stowed position when not in use.
Then there is the use of my bicycle rack. My main reason for a receiver. I can get 4 bikes on there but it is not easy.
At first the door could barely be opened but that was just not adequate so I modified the bike rack so that when the rack is lowered the door cleared the upright locking position. I did this by just moving all the locking stuff down and cutting off the stuff above the door. You can see that the door still won't clear the rack but at least there is access to the rear even with the bikes on the rack.
Now you ask what am I going to do when towing the trailer? Well, I've thought about this a bit, the roof top on the 109 is waaayy too high. The roof top on the trailer is much better but the added weight of bikes on top make lifting it for access not such a good idea.
So back to a receiver hitch. Since I bought my first one I have seen the receiver part available at my FLAPS. A 6" one ran me $25.00. I have an old Land Rover hitch that someone had made up and I had had it galvanized.
So I cut off the blocky hitch bit and shortened the overall height so it would not be a plow on off-road occasions. Then set about centering the receiver and tack welding it on. Next came the hard part. I measured and cut from 1/2" flat plate the angle braces and using a cutoff wheel in a worm drive carpenters saw I cut them out. It took a couple of hours since I had to make small cuts, about 10 of them for each piece. At the end of the day my shoulders and right arm were tired and sore!
I trimmed and cut the braces and tacked them in place.
The bottom brace has a 1" hole in it for chains from a trailer so I figured I would put one in mine too and use it for locking the bikes up. This proved problematic. I started with a 1/4" bit and stepped it up to 5/8" and ran out of bigger drills. What to do?
I found a 7/8" hole saw but that was as big as I had unless I wanted to go to 2". I was thinking I could dremel it out, but decided there was too much material for such a small tool. So I slept on it.
Before quitting for the day I welded the receiver and the braces I had finished on, cleaned up the flux and sprayed it with rust preventer.
The next day I rode my bike into town and bought a 1" hole saw. It took a while and with plenty of cutting oil I got most of the way thru with my drill press. Then it began to bind up.
Out came the big gun, a 1/2" drill with a strong motor. I put the plate with the hole in my vise and the hole saw in the drill and 5 min later had a hole all the way thru.
I chamfered the edges, lined it all up, tack welded it down and then fully welded it in place being careful to not breathe any of the zinc fumes.
Finished off with a heavy coat of truck bed liner and in a couple of days when it's all dry I will mount it on my trailer. Then I can tow the trailer and the trailer can carry the bikes.
Finished receiver;
Next I can get a bumper dumper......http://bumperdumper.com/
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