I modified your post quote so I could more easily to respond to your questions / thoughts.
Concerns about size - The size of the rack unit itself when empty, is just within the tracking of the tractor's width with my 3" rear wheel spacers on it which is ideal, in my opinion. It's also the rights size from a length standpoint, in that it doesn't take up any more space in my garage than did my rear carry all platform. However, when compared to the capacity and capabilities of the home made unit, the Big Tool Rack for its size is simply amazing, which is very true.
Leg's - If you carry the unit at a "normal" height on the 3ph, the legs are far from in danger in the raised position. You can see here in this photo the legs position and the unit isn't raised as high as it can go.
In the up and raised position, I would guess the legs easily have 18" of clearance under them. But I will verify that with an actual measurement and post the results in another post.
These legs and caster are very stout. The set of 4 legs on casters weigh nearly 40 pounds as I weighed them on a shipping scale as I unpacked the parts and pieces of this assembly. Each leg is about 9 pounds.
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The steel square tube used on the BTR legs is as heavy duty as many smaller cars and SUV's hitch components. This is not some light weight thin wall Chineesium tubing, this is mild square steel constructed with perfect welds and heavy duty commercial grade casters.
These legs run through the corner of the box / bed unit, which is the heaviest single component in the BTR. I would place the bed / body at close to 80 pounds, as I lifted it alone and installed in on the frame. Speaking of the frame, which you can see in the 3rd photo showing the clearance under the BTR, the frame alone weighs nearly 50 pounds, I put it on the shipping scale to see as the frame is a heavy duty part of this unit.
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Although the BTR doesn't make this claim and this is entirely my personal opinion from being in the trailer and hitch business for a number of years and knowing the proper load limits for steel tube steel often used in the construction of the trailer hitch, I wouldn't be surprised to find that each leg of the BTR could support the entire weight limit of the rack. Again, this is purely my opinion from inspecting the unit. The rack has 4 legs, so its plenty strong......
Check out the clearance in this picture looking under the back of the BTR in its raised position, when compared to the clearance of the 1025r ahead of it. This shows the clearance of the BTR and even with the feet stored, the bottom of the feet are well above the tractor clearance heights. The bottom of the BTR is almost at the top of the rear tires on the 1025r. This photo shows the extent of clearance under the unit. Also note the 2" rear hitch on the frame. This can tow a log splitter or other lighter tongue weight vehicles. The reason to the towing weight limit, is so owners don't end up hooking a 2,000 trailer to their tractor.
How often so we have that question show up, on GTT? How heavy of a trailer can I haul with my tractor? What they should be asking is "What's the largest sized or weight of trailer I should consider that I can SAFELY tow with my tractor? Pull a small log splitter or a trailer with a tongue weight of or less of the limits listed in the BTR owners manual. Don't take chances.
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The BTR legs are very easy to raise and lower. The home made unit has the frame rails under it which often hit the road when climbing modest inclines in the driveways. The BTR in its lowered position provide as much leg clearance as the home made unit in its fully raised position.
I have drug the bottom of the home made unit so often its just a fact of using it. On the BTR, raise the legs up and raise the unit to its lifted position, and the legs should never make contact with the ground. When you are done using the unit, simply lower it to the pavement for storage and even then its on HD casters which will work great for moving the unit when disconnected.
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Work Surface - The tail gate is a very comfortable work surface for me at 6'3" when the unit is in its full raised position, which it is not fully up in the photo shown. Also, there are two flip down horizontal brackets on the back frame which have a shape to carry items as long as you would like, or to sit items like lumber across if you needed to drill, work on, etc and want the material supported.
The home made unit could only be worked on the units floor platform by getting on my knees. I did put sides on my home made 3ph carry all unit and it so restricted it usefulness, I removed the sides from it.
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I have no doubt the home made rear carry all would fit into the bed of the BTR. In fact, once I get the 800 pounds off of it, I will set the home made rear carry into the bed of the BTR to show it. I need to have the 800+ pounds of rear ballast on the tractor, via the BTR, to safely lift that much weight with the FEL. I can't have that much weight on the FEL without rear ballast and I can't set the home made unit into the BTR if its connected to the tractor.
The brackets are "closed' over the vertical frames in this photo, but here is what they look like when folded down. Note the brackets supporting lumber across the unit in this "stock photo" from the BTR website. My rack has two sets of these brackets, the ones shown on the vertical frame center in the back of the unit and on each side of the front bars, to flip down to carry a coiled hose or similar type of load. These would be very handy for keeping the water hose handy, rope, etc but not taking up bed space in the unit.
My BTR has the fold down arms like this one shown in the photo on which I can carry lumber, etc. My BTR also has these same fold down arms on each side of the front of the rack frame.
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Could you climb up in it and use the height advantage? Certainly, plus it will hold 600+ pounds of weight, with 200 on the tail gate. Standing in the bed, you have the advantage of the frame to hang onto. It would be the same as standing on top of the raised 3ph arms on your tractor, except standing in the BTR is far safer and more stable. Could you put a ladder in the BTR? If some are willing to put ladders in their tractors FEL buckets, putting a ladder into the BTR would be safer and have easier access in and out of the BTR bed. I doubt that would be an endorsed approach for using the BTR from a liability concern, but I am sure there are some BTR owners who use it that way......
One last issue you mentioned about your tool box. Here is a picture of my current tool box on the home made carry all. Its the tool box which came on the my tractor. My tractors original tool box is mounted on the front of the home made carry all using the same box and bracket. I am moving the tool box to the same place on the Big Tool Rack. You can do the same with yours. It easy to reach, out of the way and safe,
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I will be providing pictures and details of how I equip the BTR and also reviews of how I use it. I also bought the Yard rack, for mounting on my ExMark Lazer Z Zero turn mower to help carrying the blower, trimmer, edger when using the commercial zero turn machine. Here is a picture of the yard rack. I will be installing that one soon on the mower. The Yard rack has a wall bracket on which to hang the rack when removed from the Exmark when I use the MCS system on the mower.
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I will provide more details as I use it. But where I see it's already a dramatic improvement over the home made 3ph carry all frame. Stay tuned........The more I used my home made carry all, the more respect I gained for the BTR.
Super happy with the RT3049 though. That thing is a beast.
