I have been working on one of the tandem trailers we have so I can haul the skid steer and some wood while we get the truck engines rebuilt. It used to be a camper and we pulled the shell off of it. I’m welding in semi crossmembers about every foot. They are a little rusty on top, but still pretty solid. I’ll mill up some Doug fir for the deck. I thought I had some pictures, but I can’t find them right now. I’ll take some tomorrow.
They are pretty light duty in bare form, because the body makes it rigid, but you can make a respectable trailer with some work and welding. This one is rated for 7k, and it will haul that all day. I got the rest of the crossmembers in today. I kept them pretty close together between the axles and at the tail, and spaced them out more at the nose. I probably don’t need anywhere near this many, but I had em so I figured why not use em. They weigh 16 lbs each, so a few extras won’t hurt anything. (I probably used twice as many as I actually needed) It sure is rigid with everything welded up. It hardly moves when I jump one one corner. I am going to put a set of pallet fork loops on one side in front of the fender so I can carry my forks out of the way. That leaves more space on the deck and is one more thing I won’t have to tie down. I am thinking of putting some 1.5” square tube on top of the frame rails to stiffen them some more. They are 4” channel and close to 16’ long. A bit more depth would only do good things for it. The deck boards would sit right inside the square tube. I picked up some tires today. They are only a couple of years old and look pretty much new. They were $100, so I jumped on them. I also got 6 nice safety gas cans for $5 each! I still have to get a couple of tail lights and run wires. It will be much easier without the deck on it. We might mill the deck boards tomorrow. We can get them all out of a 14-15” log, so it won’t take long. I have a few specimens in the stack that would make really nice deck boards. I am trying to keep the trailer weight under 1,200 lbs. The crossmembers weigh pretty close to 250# The deck should weigh about 400# The axles are probably 250# The frame weighs about 220# That makes 1,120 lbs, so I should be pretty close to 1,200 when it’s finished. Technically, I don’t NEED ramps, because the trailer is easy to tip up so the tail sits on the ground, but ramps make it easier and safer to load and unload because the trailer can stay hooked up, so I will make a set. I’m going to check the bearings and brakes when I replace the tires. The brakes will most likely need to be replaced. The drums should be fine. I have used the trailer to move stuff already. I used it when we got the new firewood conveyor and when we hauled lumber for the deck on the house. It pulls great and it’s easy to forget that its there. I will have to get another brake controller, for the van. I have a tow pro liberty in the truck and LOVE it. I can pull my brother’s 14k equipment trailer and the liberty makes it disappear. I’m so excited to get this buttoned up. The only real costs will be the tires, brakes, wiring, and the frame stiffeners IF I decide to use them. The rest is all stuff I already have or can make.
Boss asked me to strip his aluminum trailer the other day. Needs some welding as there are a few cracks. It’s was in rough shape.
Typical on aluminum...I won't own another one, constantly cracking, and welding used aluminum gives so-so results often times.
They sell aluminum because of no rust… Corvette did same thing in north east… fiberglass won’t rust.. the cracking is a PITA..
My neighbor has an aluminum trailer, and it is always. Token or cracking. Welding it is almost useless. It doesn’t weigh anything, but that doesn’t matter if it won’t stay together. I picked up some steel yesterday to add some strength to the frame and tongue. I’m using 1.5” square tube on top of the 4” channel rails to make them 5.5” and to make a border for the deck. I also grabbed some rectangle tube for pockets.
Made some more headway today. Not a lot, but some. It is supposed to be in the 90’s for the next couple of days, so I might not get a whole lot done.
We got the deck milled up. They’re just rough boards, no real precision, just whipped em out as fast as we could. We’ll get it screwed down tomorrow.
We got the deck cut to length and screwed down. 90 bolts, and my hands are done. Sharpened the bit twice by hand because the drill doctor wouldn’t turn on. It’s a very solid deck. No movement or flexing. It’s one of the most solid trailer decks I have ever walked on. Much better than I was expecting. It is technically usable now, although not entirely road legal yet…. We still have to make fenders, stake pockets, and put lights on it. The fenders and stake pockets shouldn’t take very long. We already have the material, it just had to get cut and welded. Most of this trailer is stuff we had laying around. We have only bought a few pieces of new material and some hardware. I am going to take it for a test run tomorrow to see how it pulls/rides. The tongue weight seems to be just about right so far. Light enough to lift by hand, but heavy enough that you don’t really want to. I will weigh the trailer as soon as we get everything on it. I’m taking pictures, but sometimes they are too big to upload. I will try to get some more with smaller file sizes.
Majority of my pics have to be screenshot, then I copy that and delete, then paste it in. Pain in the butt.
The trailer hauled its first load today! We got the stake pockets welded on, checked and greased the bearings, checked the brakes (they look pretty good for 50 years old), and welded the safety chains on. It pulls like a dream and the van doesn’t even care that it’s back there. We picked up a little over 2 face cord of maple and oak. We have to go back tomorrow for a second load. The guy we got the wood from had a small tractor with a loader and he loaded some of the bigger pieces for us. He dumped the first load of rounds on the trailer and they hit end down, perfectly flat, BOOM! The trailer didn’t flex at all. It was AWESOME! We got it loaded with about half of what was there and came home.
We hauled another load home today. About a cord of oak. The trailer was a bit heavier than it was yesterday and it didn’t seem to have any trouble with the weight. I need to load the bobcat and see how it sits on there so I can make some dedicated tie downs for it.
I weighed the trailer today and it came in at 1,400 lbs. what really surprised me was the van, at 5,000 lbs. That means the van grossed 11,000 lbs coming home with the wood. I honestly could not tell we were that heavy. It felt like we were pulling a heavier fishing boat. Crazy. At least I know the van will pull the bobcat without any trouble. We should have the truck block back from machining tomorrow, and then we can start putting it back together.
Does the trailer have brakes? That’s where many people get into trouble That and loading too far to the rear. Of course smart driving solves most problems right? And saves a lot on brake pads LOL
You definitely have to be smarter than the tool. Loading stuff right is most of the battle, and something a lot of people have trouble with. Someone told me the other day, “make sure you put it all the way at the front so you don’t crash” when I was hauling something. I put it just in front of the axles and strapped it down and they went on and on about sway and some weird idea that didn’t make any sense. It’t not uncommon to see trailers loaded bass-ackwards when you get near cities…. a huge riding mower at the very front of the trailer and hitch dragging the ground, or a pallet of something sitting right on the tail with the coupler screaming for mercy. This trailer does have breaks, but they are not connected yet, so it is a slower and more careful drive. We live out in the boonies, so no real traffic to worry about and I drive well within the limits of the equipment under the current conditions. I am hoping to have the brakes hooked up this weekend. I’m not one who hooks up to a trailer and drives like an idiot race car driver. I grew up on a farm and started driving at 5. I never even heard of trailer brakes until after I got married. We learned how to drive without them, and avoided certain roads and grades. Even without trailer brakes, it handles very well. I was VERY surprised at the amount of control the van has even when the trailer is loaded. I was planning on a VERY slow and careful drive home with the firewood. I started out at about 15 mph, and after the first stop I decided to take it to 25. Then 35….with a full acceleration and stop cycle at each step, and each time I was surprised. 45 mph still had good stopping ability and 55 mph was my limit for speed on long straight country roads. The brakes were the only thing I was at all concerned about. The trailer was rock solid, the van had enough weight to control the trailer in corners, and plenty of power to pull it. I would take it anywhere once the brakes get connected. I really couldn’t tell how heavy we were. It for sure didn’t feel like 11,000 lbs. If I had to guess the weight based only on how it rode and performed, I would guess 7k, or just a bit more.
