Top drive vehicles are generally used by hunters and are often modified pickups. The Cabra from Ultimate Top Drives is something altogether different.
First off, it’s an electric vehicle, making it extremely quiet while moving toward the hide. Additionally, the cab is in the lowered position during transit for stability and then raised into position once at the hide. However, the Cabra can be driven with the cab in the up position during stalking. The 5-seat cab also features a convertible top design sun shade. There are two seats at the front which the refer to as Quail seats which have cups holders and are protected by a brush guard as well as a storage platform at the rear with an integrated game winch. Options include dog boxes and dual feeders.
Interestingly, the lithium ion batteries offer a 35 mile range at a top speed of 35 mph, but they’ve included an onboard gas powered generator to extend the range. It also features 110 and 220v outlets and will accept a light bar. You could even call game via an optional Bluetooth sound bar.
As you can see, the Cabra is offered in several
paint schemes. It is our understanding that the 2021 inventory is already sold out and that they are taking orders for 2022. Contact Lawson to get on the waitlist Lawson@ultimatetopdrives.com.
C’mon man. What is the MSRP?
If you have to ask…
right. . . right. . .
https://www.statesman.com/sports/20191227/leggett-austinrsquos-eppright-sets-sights-on-top-drive-electric-hunting-car-market
Leggett: Austin’s Eppright sets sights on top-drive electric hunting car market
For years Russell Eppright ran his own construction company, until he decided to sell out and retire.
But his life didn’t end there. He owned a ranch where he loved to hunt and where he had already begun to amass all the trappings of ranch ownership, vehicles and big deer among them.
Like many South Texas ranchers, Eppright owned and used vehicles made for traveling through and hunting the Brush Country. One significant part of that was a top-drive truck that could carry him to any place he wanted to hunt and that he could east through the ranch and still be high enough to see over and down into the brush.
But unlike most ranch owners willing to use whatever truck they could acquire and turn into a top-drive unit, Eppright had an engineer’s mind and time on his hands and decided he could build a better mousetrap, in a manner of speaking.
Over months of doodling and working, he had designed and built his own electric hunting vehicle which includes his own designs for stopping and starting, for going in reserve and forward without a transmission and for braking, as well as all the bells and whistles any owner could wish for in terms of hunting comfort, safety and noise reduction.
When he was finished, Eppright had put a couple of million into his prototype vehicle, which he plans to begin marketing throughout Texas. He brought one out to Burnet recently to give me a shakedown trip through the hills and gullies around where we live.
I was impressed with the quiet way the truck operated and with the safety features Eppright had engineered into the vehicle. Most such trucks are top heavy and subject to extreme swings when traveling over bumps and berms but the Cabra has an independent suspension with a very heavy aluminum frame that keeps sway to an absolute minimum, even with the top raised to its maximum 14-foot height..
Anybody who’s every been tossed out of the top of one can tell you that it’s no fun and it’s also a way to wind up severely injured. Eppright’s truck will safely seat five in the open area up top, along with two in quail hunting seats on the front of the truck. There is a retractable roof that will extend over the top of the truck for protection from the sun and even some wind.
There are shooting rests that extend to the side of the upper cab, along with gun racks to keep firearms safely stowed while the vehicle is in motion.
Eppright hasn’t left out anything a hunter might need, including dog boxes, feeders that can be operated from up on top, light bars for hog hunting at night, a winch system for loading game on front and back of the truck, cameras front and rear, as well that can be viewed from the top, and even a generator that can re-charge the electric motor while the truck is moving. Plus, there are only three steps required to get into the upper cabin, unlike most such trucks which require climbing a ladder to get to the top. That’s something old-timers like me can appreciate, along with the hours-long running time on a single charge.
Most top-drive vehicles are built on a chassis and frame of a Suburban or three-quarter ton pickup, both for weight on the bottom and to give them the durability they need to operate in the brush. It’s not unusual to see
them advertised for sale at prices ranging from $50,000 to $75,000 each.
Eppright’s vehicles are priced to start at $140,000 for the current model. I have to admit to blanching at that price point but the vehicle is engineered to last a lifetime and to offer comfort and safety for up to 7 hunters at one time and to travel at speeds of 30 miles per hour on a single charge.
Eppright says he has a long list of potential customers already signed up and believes the prices of second-hand trucks adapted for similar use aren’t that far off. Or factor in the price of a brand new three-quarter ton pickup refitted as a hunting vehicle and you’re not far off his price.
Professor fate did it better… https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftfltruck.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F04%2FGreat-Race-Hannibal-Twin-8.jpg&f=1&nofb=1