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Hi I am a new hunter and I am trying to build a dog box and was wondering if any one had spec on building a dog box for a Ford ranger with a step box

Thanks

I just built mine, but not for a ranger, mine is all metal and takes up half an 8 foot bed. I would build an over the rail box as to make as much room as possible, thats a pretty small bed.As for building it all you need is two rails down the bed side, two rails that go across the bed and a front with a door and a roof. just use the back and the sides of the bed for the back and sides of box. good luck.

Thanks for the advice

BEST advice I think anyone can give is make sure it is well vented... I've never seen it in real life but in Walk With Wick he tells about the mistake he made NOT venting his box good and he lost I believe it was 4 dogs... I couldn't imagine that happening.

My Toyota box takes most of the bed for the inside, and is extended on all sides, theres a space between the cab and where the dogs go where I put buckets, pans, chains, leashes, shovels, my jack, ect. On the side is is extended out for a roof effect for the rain, seems to help good, also provides good shade for them.

A big door is also good, in case you have to crawl in there yourself lol. Chains in the corners are good in case you have to travel far and have young pups that mess with the dogs, it just makes it easier, or if you have a dog that doesn't really know its name yet, if you wanna make it easier to get out you can alsways get to it.

A good latch, I like the ones you can close the door and it closes on it's own, nothing is worse then trying to start a race with one or 2 dogs and somehow the door flies open and ALL the dogs fly out and mess stuff up.

If your gonna rig, carpet on top is nice. If you put rails on top, wood along it will help keep dogs legs from slipping through and them breaking legs and getting hurt.

Good luck, post some pix when ya get it done Welcome to the life of insanity!! Hope yer ready for an addiction that can never be stopped!!

I made mine out of wood. Pretty light for taking in and out of my truck. Size is 4' wide, 3' long, 26" tall. Frame is 2x2's, sides are 1/4" plywood, top and floors are 3/8" plywood. The side vents are 5" tall which should be enough for my dogs to get their heads out but not big enough to squeeze out. I made a set of hinged shutters for these openings for the winter months (not installed in the pic). Dogs can stick their noses out and they will close when they pull their noses back in. Roof, floors, and around openings are sprayed with bed liner from the auto store before painting. A chain is on the back corner on each side to tie off a dog. My first dog box and I tried to keep it cheap (under $100).

I prefer using the least amount of plywood or wood as possible. Hounds will ride in about anything but if you split a pack up for whatever reason a solid box quickly becomes a requirement. I ve seen dogs shred some substantially built boxes when other. Hounds are running track. I know it depends on the hounds but keep it in mind. Expanded steel mesh last forever as does most metals aslong as the dogs can't get their teeth on it. It also depends on how you hunt. I used 1/2 plywood for the floor of a dog box with a rubber liner screwed to it. I left a slightly wounded hound in it and by noon he had cought up to us.. since then I tend to go a little over board in building boxes that might be required to keep a dog in when it doesn't want to stay.

peg leg is right .dogs are terribly destructive so dont waste your time building a box for hours only to have them destroy it in minutes.someone else said something about proper venting all sound advice . better your box be a little breezy because a hound can survive that especially with dry bedding to curl up in. in a wooden box style i like small holes that they cant get their teeth into but lots of them. also a divider to seperate hounds for various reasons .dogsin heat or male wont leave females alone certain ones get along better i want the dogs i start with in one side etc.also make it easy to clean out.

I agree they can be very destructive. Any edge they can start on they will. Simple solution is to trim door and window edges with scrap angle iron. Pretty common practice for a dog box on a shoestring budget.

Just think, up until 15 years ago or so almost all dog boxes were made of plywood. Aluminum is a far better material but those old timers found ways to keep their dogs in the box and did it on the cheap.

I have used this one for 5 years no, chewing, no problems at all.200 days i year I have dogs in it. Train your dogs to behave and you won't have a problem. $50 tops

you can build a nice aluminum box with a skill saw, quarter inch drill, one eigth in alum plate and some 2x2x1/8 in angle with 1/4 in stainless bolts or self drilling screws. once its put together only take an hr for welder to make it permanent if you like.

Captd is right, an aluminum box is not hard to build. Nicer, just pricier. Knowing how rough bear hunters are on the road I would suggest having a welder weld it as he suggests. Just do it before your use it. Welding on dirty aluminum is a pain so do it before it rides down a dusty road and dogs make a mess of the inside. Your welder will thank you.