Trailer help

[I_Love_Plasma]

Is there any guru's on here who know how to design trailers from scratch.

[performance]

OK...shoot.
Tell me what you need/thinking of?

[performance]

Like this?

[DaveO]

"Design" trailers from scratch is a lot different than "build" trailers from scratch!

I've thought about building my own, and did a fair amount of web crawling. If you search for "utility trailer plans" you'll find everything from advice NOT to do it and why, to advice HOW to do it. You can buy plans only, plans and major parts with or without wheels, or complete kits to weld or bolt together. The advantage to plans is that someone has already figured out the distances, measurements, and amount of steel you'd need.

Do you have a specialized need to fill? What's your motive to DIY?

[I_Love_Plasma]

First of all thank you's at Dave ... Mark, yes that's about the right base size.

We are planning a trailer to build haul 6 kayaks 10' 1"L x 28"W x 16"H. Trailer must be fully enclosed by semi tarp or aluminium. Weight limit of +/- 1200 lbs total (pulling with a Honda 4 cylinder LOL). Don't worry, it pulls like a Dodge. Max tongue weight of 200 lbs. By now you see why I want at least tips and ideas. The boats will be loaded by sliding them lengthwise with the trailer, each boat having it's own compartment conduit dividers possibly. We would like the compartment configuration to be 2 wide x 3 tall.

Now that I've fried both our minds we can think of a DOT worthy trailer

Oh BTW, We have all the necessary gear to build trailers. MIGWelder, Plasma, Oxy/Acetylene, StickWelder, and nutz. haha

[SeanMurphy265]

If you go the plans route, Northern Tool has a selection in their stores.

It sounds like a 4x8 would be your limit, maybe a 5x8. Northern Tool, Harbor Freight, and Tractor Supply all have nice 4x8 kits that you could take and modify to your needs.

If your talking enclosed weight and drag could be an issue.

[DaveO]

I was wondering about the need for enclosing too. There's plenty of open solutions on the web to scan for ideas:
http://www.vespoli.com/vespolitrailers
http://www.discount-trailers.com/4-6_place_canoe.htm

E-how has an article for converting a boat trailer to a canoe trailer:
http://www.ehow.com/way_5336285_diy-canoe-trailer.html

Plasma, why the "must be enclosed" requirement?

[I_Love_Plasma]

Thanks for the suggestions, much appreciated. We have a trailer that is 4 x 8 that we are going to convert. 100 dollar craiglist special ha ha. Wind drag is a major problem with our requiring enclosed. We plan to store the kayaks in the trailer during the summer months instead of heaving them up to our barn rafters. But the boats are fiberglass so we try to keep them out of the sun except for when we're using them of course.

[ducksface]

Don't enclose the trailer, buy a cheap canvas 'garage' for it at Harbor Freight or Northern. It's less money than covering, less work than covering, and does not kill the versatility of the trailer.


Secondly; If you found a $100 trailer that's close to what you need, you'll find a $200 trailer tha is exactly waht you need. I paid $225 for a 26ft pontoon trailer, complete with lights and bunks this week. It's nicer than the one under my Bennington. Punchline; look around. What you need is there.

[I_Love_Plasma]

1As far as a canvas shade goes, I'm in Iowa. Windiest state in America it seems. We've had a couple of those joints just parachute away.

2The trailer is going to be single purpose kayaks only.

3We are re-framing the rig to suit our needs.


Thanks for the suggestions and help,

We've got a plan. We'll see..Everybody here knows what looks good on paper doesn't always work in real world. I'll post pictures IF it works

[performance]

My father built a trailer for canoes for a camp he ran when I was a kid. The axle was out of a VW, very simple thing, but it had a "bed" at the bottom for holding paddles, life jackets. There was a center post with "branches off the side so the canoes could rest on it. It would hold 12 canoes at one time.

That might be more than you want to tackle.

You don't want put too much weight forward of the axle. You'll want to put about 10% of the weight on the tongue, when loaded. That's the biggest mistake most people when building a trailer, and a cause of hard pulling. Too little will make it fish tail uncontrollably. To much will drag the vehicle in the back and cause it to seem to lack power and control.

[I_Love_Plasma]

That's kinda what we are doing. But my Dad's built several "DOT road legal" trailers. Thanks for the 10% rule of thumb, We did know about it. That's a very nice ATV trailer you built BTW. I will post pictures eventually. The trailer building has halted because we are short on square tubing. Wish we could afford a TIG welder for the thin walls

I don't see Miller,Lincoln, or Hobart offering free trailer tips with tech support... Hmm, there's quite a pleasant difference in between Everlast's Forum annd the Big Boys. Keep it up

Yeah, I know what you are talking about. I've had both tongue heavy/light trailers, better little heavy than light. We always tell the forklift guys exactly where we want it placed. Move it, our I'll loose it!

Thank you very much to all the Gentlemen who tipped their hand with tips

[I_Love_Plasma]

Still held up on steel.

The frame's done. Axle and wheels are installed. Doesn't look good yet, so no pics. It took some doing to keep the frame square while it was welded, it is square now.

You plan the perfect weekend, then Friday night, you scrap all the plans for Saturday and Sunday, and you create a new crude set of plans. Anyone here with the same issue?

[DaveO]

In an earlier post you were waiting on square steel tube- is that for the uprights? You've GOT to post a pic when you're done!

"The same issue"- you mean plans not working out? Been there, done that. Everything seems to take three times longer than it should. Just getting the family to church on time is like planning the invasion of Normandy. But now that I think about it, paratrooping into church would be much more fun.

[I_Love_Plasma]

Yep the frame is 2" x 2" square tubing. The uprights are 2" x 2", and the rails are 1" x 1". We've got to get 'er all welded and sand blasted, then I'll grab some pictures. I've got a 14.1MP camera, so I always upload pictures to my Picasa account then link them here that way they are full resolution.

Paratrooping to Church hmm,...I dig it! How about a "mosquito" helicopter?

[Mikeymetal]

As far as getting the tubing squared up. The local walmrt was remodelling and recently had a closeout on a bunch of configerations of those laser levels, like nothing over $10.00. some even had lasers coming out several angles where you could set them up in a corner. Might be a good idea on how to get everything all set(well next time, anyways). Lets see them pics!!

[I_Love_Plasma]

Update:

It's coming along slowly but surely. We have rented a tree spade and are moving 200 trees I believe. But last weekend Dad got 'er all tacked the trailer frame is done. The racks are welded, but we need to put in some stiffeners ("X" bracing). I'll get some pics soon. So far it's staying under 150 pounds.

[I_Love_Plasma]

How bout some pictures!?!? ha ha. Pulled it 120 miles on Friday and it's still in the same condition it left the shop in!

How do you like my trailer hitch wagon LOL?

Bailing wire n duct tape for the trailer lights..

,,,,,



It takes about 4 minutes to load, latch, gather belongings, and go; after a good day of "fishin n boatin". Which is way better than about a half hour to forty-five minutes tying them all down with ratchet straps and having to re-adjust or tighten every 10-15 miles.

[I_Love_Plasma]

More pics..

,,,,

[Haywire]

That's a sweet setup for hauling those boats. We do some kayaking and have 3 boats at a time on the roof rack. It's a pain.

If you ever have problems with the welds holding the round tube to the frame breaking, put them back like this. Weld a short piece of angle onto the end of the tube and then weld the angle to the square tube. This way your welds on the tube are 90deg apart instead of close together at the bottom and should hold better.

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