Topic: build a trailer

[dave500]

ok ive settled on 50x50x2 for the two side rails and 50x25x2 for the five cross members,and 75x50x2.5 for the draw bar,going by what ive seen for sale new this will be a proper heavy duty frame compared to the half angle iron not painted underneath"heavy duty"ones?ill post some photos once I start on it,we have our house on the market so im not supposed to make a mess?our agent who is a lady dropped by the other day,she said to me I really ought to clean up this area,i said its only a bit of welding slag!she steamed off at me and said "how dare you call me a slag!"

[70CB750]

You could save some weight by using rectangular tubing for those side rails.  What counts is the height of the beam profile the width does not make much of a difference.

Say you use 50x30, where the 50 is the height of the beam - it will work just as well as 50x50.

My $0.02 only, of course

[dave500]

yeah itll be lighter and cheaper,i think ill stick with the hollow section,that way if someone in the future gets an overload of soil bricks or whatever itll be a little safer?

[trueblue]

50x50 side rails makes a nice sized mount for the spring hangers

[dave500]

that's what im thinking aswell,as luck would have it my desk chair im sitting in right now has gone all wonky and needs a weld,lucky I found that welder!think ill start the trailer next weekend,ill post some progress photos.

[mick7504]

Are you gonna put a chequer plate floor into it Dave?
It probably adds a bit of weight but at least it stays flat forever.

Where are you moving to mate?
The Wet Season build up has started here again and I feel like moving too.
But I say that every year.

[dave500]

we plan to stay in the local area mick,i plan on plain flat 2.5 sheet for its deck,i want this sturdy but not over heavy on its tare,im no welder or engineer but some of the ones new for sale are just a joke I think?ive stopped and had a good look at a few under and over,no paint underneath etc,only welded part way round and thin angle iron?

[dave500]

I repaired our office chair today that went wobbly,it had a couple of tacks inside this bush you cant get to that snapped,i thought id just weld it around,i couldn't have done this a couple of weeks ago it would've been a bloody mess,im feeling confident enough to order the steel I need and go for it.

[trueblue]

That's a nice looking fillet there Dave

[dave500]

is that what it is?im sitting on it now without it snapping off.

[70CB750]

Good job!

[dave500]

thanks mate,i was surprised it took four 2mm rods to do it.

[strynboen]

this is my trailer...have a small one for the car..the tractor only runs 30 kmt..so not for long runs
have sold the farm..but keep the ferguson..but it fill a lot in the garden..and naubors dont like it purre in the erly morning..
small trailers kosts almost nothing in denmark..i got a500 kg for free...have cut a nev  buttomplate ..and  new tires. used 1000 kroner.and it runs for years..a  komplet new trailerkosts  from 3500 kroner(500 kg)...to 35,000 with boggie and hydralik tip and brakes

trailers are one of the few things adlaud to build and get road ...mods of cars and mc is imposibel to get road papers/adlaud to use on public roads ..only stock komplet can be used.. ...kills all good ideas

[Retro Rocket]

Nice welding Dave...

[strynboen]

yes he can use/mowe his stick...

[dave500]

no more super glue and blue tack for me.

[Trevor from Warragul]

I inherited my father-in-law's trailer.  The base of the tray is made of wooden planks (treated pine).  You lay down the planks, then tack metal strips at the ends to hold them in place.  If/when they start to rot, you grind off the tacks, remove the planks, and replace.  He also made the trailer sides out of (thicker) planks, and made the front and rear sections removable.  The side planks are great, as you can drill plenty of holes for eye bolts.  He was a clever old bugger!

To carry a bike,  I bought a metal channel and placed it on the trailer.  I drilled two holes through the channel and through the planks.  I then welded two bolts to the channel.  I was going to bolt the channel to the trailer when carrying a bike, but it's not really necessary - the channel isn't going anywhere!  You can get the general drift from the following photo:



Cheers

Trevor

[dave500]

neat ramp,you get that from evil knievil?

[Trevor from Warragul]

Nope, evilBay Australia.  Gee, a good ramp makes loading a bike so much easier!

[dave500]

picked up the basic frame steel today,i have a day off tomorrow so ill run up to beenliegh and get the springs mudguards nuts bolts and coupling etc,might start attacking it this weekend.

[trueblue]

Looks good Dave.  Don't forget your plate for the apex of the drawbar for your coupling to bolt too.

[dave500]

yeah they have that at beenliegh aswell andrew,id rang them up to be sure they had all I needed in stock,im using a longer eye-eye type spring with a lower set.

[rickman750]

Dave500, I know VicRoads rules say the trailer needs to be narrower than the towing vehicle and less than 10' long to be rego free. The drawbar looks 10' long on its own! I'm thinking you might like to shorten it to be just a bit wider than half the width of the towing car.

[trueblue]

No free rego on trailers up here.

[dave500]

thanks rickman,the first photo makes the draw bar look out of proportion,the draw bar rails are only 140mm longer than the side rails(2150 side rails and 2290 draw bar rails),and like trueblue mentioned we don't have any free trailer rego here,i never had rego on my old bike trailer when I lived in Vic,cheers mate.