Build vs buy a trailer?
Tue, 31 Aug 2021 14:19:08 GMT
For a few years now I've been wanting to upgrade my car hauler (16' 7500#) to a 18'+ 10K# tilt bed trailer. Question is does a guy buy a trailer or make the trailer given the guy knows how to weld "professional" haha. Every time I start looking at materials it seems as though building a trailer will only save a few hundred dollars over just buying one so really building one won't be for the sake of saving money. So really the only reason to build a trailer is so you can build it how you want it the first time and not have a modify a brand new trailer to fit your own needs.So is it really worth it to build your own? The over all quality should be better. One of the probably many drawbacks to building your own is the price could go way up with every component added because (this one for a little more money is better than that one). Much like building a car. lolPersonally I would love to have a rollback type of unit in a trailer where the bed can tilt and slide back to meet the ground at a much lower angle. Really it would be nice to get a wrecked rollback for all the hydro parts and slide rails and whatnots.So what would you do? I'm not exactly looking for any more projects but it is something that needs to be done one way or the other.I would be interested if Farmersamm has some input on price invested in his trailer.
Reply:You seem to have a handle on the cost thing. The manufacturers get such a discount on the materials that you almost pay the same for the parts as they sell the trailer for. Just wondering why you are going with tilt bed? Ever consider aluminum?Yeah, I know, but it'll be ok!Lincoln Square wave 255Miller Vintage mig30a spoolgunThermal Dynamics Pacmaster 100xl plasmaSmith mc torchEllis 1600 band saw
Reply:First reconsider the reality of what you want vs. what you need. Shop some more and see if what's on the market can fit in between those concepts.Then set saving under 10% aside to make your choice.I expect that a feature-free trailer of adequate capacity less the cash you get for your old trailer plus the accessories you feel are necessary, will cost you only a little more than you expected to spend.Be wary of The Numbers: Figures don't lie,. but liars can figure.Welders:2008 Lincoln 140 GMAW&FCAW2012 HF 165 'toy' GTAW&SMAW1970's Cobbled together O/A
Reply:Now days I think the cheapest way to go is a slightly used trailer. Often people buy one and use it once a year till they eventually sell it.No way a person can build one for what you can buy a used one.Nothing wrong with building your own, I've done it and got what I wanted. But the money isn't there.Someone posted on here that trailer builders buy steel by the railroad car Dave J.Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance. ~George Bernard Shaw~ Syncro 350Invertec v250-sThermal Arc 161 and 300MM210DialarcTried being normal once, didn't take....I think it was a Tuesday.
Reply:When I built the gooseneck adapter for my bumper pull trailer. I got a screaming deal on the beams off Craigs list. Not counting my labor, and welding supplies, I saved a whopping $600.00 over buying a new gooseneck trailer. Dont pay any attention to meIm just a hobbyist!CarlDynasty 300V350-Pro w/pulseSG Spool gun1937 IdealArc-300PowerArc 200ST3 SA-200sVantage 400
Reply:While these are interesting and along the lines of the type I would like to have I do not like the way the trailer "rolls back". I would want to be able to roll the bed back with the flip of a lever at the trailer so I can watch what is going on. http://www.randpcarriages.com/traile...-18-steel.htmlWhat are the different styles of rollback designs? I see some use actual rollers like a gantry crane would use. Some just slide on two flats using the power of hydraulics/winch cable to slide the bed back and forth. Anyone have experience with rollbacks and what is the more preferred style of "rollers"?
Reply:If you do, and plan on posting the build here, consider the ridiculous amount of time you'll spend here defending your design!"Where's Stick man????????" - 7A749"SHHHHHH!! I sent him over to snag that MIC-4 while tbone wasn't looking!" - duaneb55"I have bought a few of Tbone's things unlike Stick-Man who helps himself" - TozziWelding"Stick-man"
Reply:Originally Posted by welderjYou seem to have a handle on the cost thing. The manufacturers get such a discount on the materials that you almost pay the same for the parts as they sell the trailer for. Just wondering why you are going with tilt bed? Ever consider aluminum?
Reply:Originally Posted by Stick-manIf you do, and plan on posting the build here, consider the ridiculous amount of time you'll spend here defending your design!
Reply:If it's custom you need... Your gonna have to build it.If it's off the shelf , same-o design...Like the guys have pointed out... The price of steel is ridiculous.Plus your time to build it... and paint it...You can search and find them cheap....I just bought a 20 ton Trail-eze for $7,500It originally sold for $22,000.00.. Gotta Fly..... Attached ImagesSometimes you just have to take the leap and build your wings on the way down...
Reply:Originally Posted by VPTOh I am all ready for it. I just say "yup" and nod my head.
Reply:I'm give up... What would happen...Does he get demoted to Solderer ?Or maybe GRINDER !!!..Gotta Fly..... Originally Posted by BD1BUY IT, and then post it here as a finished product. See what happens.
Reply:Originally Posted by BD1BUY IT, and then post it here as a finished product. See what happens.
Reply:Originally Posted by VPTWhile these are interesting and along the lines of the type I would like to have I do not like the way the trailer "rolls back". I would want to be able to roll the bed back with the flip of a lever at the trailer so I can watch what is going on. http://www.randpcarriages.com/traile...-18-steel.htmlWhat are the different styles of rollback designs? I see some use actual rollers like a gantry crane would use. Some just slide on two flats using the power of hydraulics/winch cable to slide the bed back and forth. Anyone have experience with rollbacks and what is the more preferred style of "rollers"?
Reply:Originally Posted by welderjI always had in mind to build one like that but was worried that you wouldn't be able to pull it up when loaded if the ground was slippery, like in wet grass. Now that I've seen this I will move it up on the list. Am going to be building an aluminum car hauler in the next few weeks and may consider this type. Any idea what the price of these is?
Reply:Here ya go. Easy peasy If you cant fix it with a hammer, it must be an electrical problem."Boy, everyone starts with a full bag of luck and an empty bag of experience. The trick is to fill the bag of experience before the bag of luck is empty."-Grandad circa 1990ish
Reply:Have you considered building it as a "tilting bed" instead of a roll back?Basically, the roll back concept was developed to accommodate having flat bed platform that can sit high above a drive axle, suspension, and frame rails of a truck.Without the roll back and tilt down features afforded by these beds, you would necessarily have to use long, gradual ramps to load a vehicle onto the high flatbed.But you are wanting a trailer.Trailer sits low to the ground anyway. Trailer floor can be made to pivot (tilt) on centerline which means the back end of the bed becomes the loading ramp.A winch to drag the vehicle on board would be practical.You still need some hydraulics in the form of one large center mounted, double acting cylinder up front (or 2 smaller diameter cylinders, one on each side at front) to lower the vehicle slowly (or to "jack it down" if the load is heavy to the rear).I have seen many small utility trailers with tilting beds that work great for lawn mowers, but I have yet to see a tilt bed big enough to haul a car or truck (or if I did, I did not recognize it as a tilt bed).All of the small tilt trailers I have seen were just gravity action, and that might be OK for lawn mowers. But if you are talking cars and trucks to haul, and the prospect that you might have to load one with the engine at the rear of the trailer (tail heavy) I think you might want some hydraulic cylinders to help with the tilting both times you need to level the bed.Last edited by walkerweld; 04-06-2014 at 08:48 PM.
Reply:Originally Posted by walkerweldHave you considered building it as a "tilting bed" instead of a roll back?Basically, the roll back concept was developed to accommodate having flat bed platform that can sit high above a drive axle, suspension, and frame rails of a truck.Without the roll back and tilt down features afforded by these beds, you would necessarily have to use long, gradual ramps to load a vehicle onto the high flatbed.But you are wanting a trailer.Trailer sits low to the ground anyway. Trailer floor can be made to pivot (tilt) on centerline which means the back end of the bed becomes the loading ramp.A winch to drag the vehicle on board would be practical.You still need some hydraulics in the form of one large center mounted, double acting cylinder up front (or 2 smaller diameter cylinders, one on each side at front) to lower the vehicle slowly (or to "jack it down" if the load is heavy to the rear).I have seen many small utility trailers with tilting beds that work great for lawn mowers, but I have yet to see a tilt bed big enough to haul a car or truck (or if I did, I did not recognize it as a tilt bed).All of the small tilt trailers I have seen were just gravity action, and that might be OK for lawn mowers. But if you are talking cars and trucks to haul, and the prospect that you might have to load one with the engine at the rear of the trailer (tail heavy) I think you might want some hydraulic cylinders to help with the tilting both times you need to level the bed.
Reply:Anything affordable can be summed up with:Overpriced, chit welds, paint hanging off oily millscale.old Miller spectrum 625 Lincoln SP-135 T, CO2+0.025 wireMiller model 250 and WP-18V torchCraftsman 100amp AC/DC and WP-17V torchCentury 115-004 HF arc stabilizerHome made 4 transformer spot welderHome made alternator welder
Reply:"This is one I built years ago for a contractor who hauled a skid steer and small tractors."Yeah, something like that is what I see in my head, but I have the bed pictured as reaching further to the front, all the way actually. I know that trailer probably works well for skid steers and small tractors (short wheel base), but a person would run out of platform space before all the wheels were aboard on some car or truck wheel bases.But I like the tilting bed concept, better than a dove tail.
Reply:Our company started in 1979 building small utility and cattle trailers . We graduated up to low bed construction trailers in 1983. Our trailer line included tag trailers from 6 ton to 25 ton along with a tilt line. Our low bed line( 2 inch and 3 1/2 king pin to be connected to regular fifth wheel or super Kenworth with 8 ft fifth wheel height) started at 25 ton capacity and went up to 170 tons with speciality components for trailers up 600 tons. That being said before I started the business my personal trailer builds were small trailers and I to had trouble buying steel from the local suppliers along with paying out the roof for components. Once I set the company up I had to hire an engineer to be able to get general and the very costly Product Liability Insurance . We were checked by DOT and to be sure the 17 digit VIN number reported accurately axle size and many other parameters about the trailer . The number also gave the Federal Government tracking information making sure we at the manufacture level or our dealer collected the 12 percent Federal Excise Tax on any trailer sold over 26000 lb gvwr t hat we built. This tax had to be paid in short order With in so many days weather we had collected payment for the trailer. We did get special OEM (original equipment manufacture) treatment from all the vendors based on our status and quantity of purchases. We purchased directly from the steel mills at a very low price. We had to keep orders on the books for grade a36 which we used very little. Mostly grade 50, 60 and 70,000ksi steel along with A514. T-1 100,000ksi. This was to save weight in the build of the special trailers. Graduated to 4 engineers on staff company went International and we sold out in 1991. All this said to answers some questions. Yes companies buy at great discounts. They are held to high accountability if they operate above board. Yes you can build your own trailer or modify a used one. You may or may not save money but you need to follow your dream who knows where it may lead. I started in an old barm and when I sold we had a modern plant at the industrial park on a 15 acre site . By the way we sold under the brand name of Creekside Products,Birmingham Lowbed and Boaz Lowbed Along with private labels for other companies. Good luck on your build hope this answers some of the questions on the building your own trailer thread. Richey
Reply:Nothing wrong with re conditioning it... and fix those chitty welds....Gotta Fly..... Originally Posted by mad welder 4Anything affordable can be summed up with:Overpriced, chit welds, paint hanging off oily millscale.
Reply:Thanks for all the replies and helpful tips and input everyone!As for just tilt beds, yes I have looked at them and actually got to use one for a short time hauling a customers car. They are nice but the one other gripe I have with trailers is the fenders. I want either a deck over or very very minor fenders on the trailer. I haul lots of low cars and can't be crawling out windows on most of them, plus I am getting to old for that. With being a deck over tilt bed the angle starts to get up there where the front end of low cars will drag which is also a no-no with most.There is a trailer where the deck will lay flat on the ground using airbags on the axles but the same thing of the wheels/fenders being in the way.I like the idea of the bed sliding instead of the wheels/suspension as well. I wouldn't feel totally safe with a suspension that can move.I think it would be great to be able to find a rollback bed off a wrecked truck or something to start with. That way the bed is built, the slides are built, and possibly the tilt would be there as well. That way all I would have to do is build the frame for it basically. Some people would just slide a boat trailer under it and call it good. One thing I am having trouble finding is pictures or explanations of how the sliding mechanisms work on the rollbacks. I know they can push the bed back with quite some force. Are the beds normally power by hydraulics, winch/cable, rack and gear drive, or some sort of acme screw drive or something totally different?
Reply:First off roll back beds are fairly heavy. Lots of steel in them to make them work. I've never seen one that wasn't hydraulic operated with a long cylinder for the slide, two cylinders for the tilt, and a hydraulic winch. The frames are usually rect. tubing. I know one that I had to replace was 3"x5" tubing for the base frame (and this was a old small light duty roll back). The bed has channels that slide on the tubing. Sometimes they're lined with plastic (or originally where) and sometimes not. I've wished and thought about one as well in the past. Now days I'd go a different route for a trailer. Just way to much weight for the benefit. The only time it might make sense is if you where building a deck over to haul tractors and the like. It would need 10-12K axles under it. Even to haul cars you'd need at least 7k axles just to haul the excess weight.Last edited by irish fixit; 04-07-2014 at 09:11 AM.Millermatic 252XMT 304'sDynasty 280DXHypertherm PowerMax 1250Miller Trailblazer 302 EFIOptima PulserXR feeder and XR Edge gun and more athttp://members.dslextreme.com/users/waynecook/index.htm
Reply:Originally Posted by BD1BUY IT, and then post it here as a finished product. See what happens.If this trailer is going to be used exclusively for hauling cars/trucks, you really don't need a full wide deck. All you really need is like 2 runways (think ramps) for the tires to rest on. That leaves the space between the runways open, and that part of the configuration is where you are most likely to run into contact interference on skateboard cars front end air dams and such. And to really address the problem of the low riders, you may have to resort to using a couple of extension runways/ramps that lay on the ground ahead of each front tire to get the body elevated over the main deck or runway no matter what your final design looks like. That low ground clearance issue is going to hamper the angle of approach no matter what kind of deck you use if you plan on just running up to the rear of the deck and rolling on. You will probably need a couple of extension pieces to elevate the front end a bit which changes the angle of approach to a more acceptable value.Go to a car dealer sometime and watch the action when cars are rolled off and on the car haul rigs and you will get some useful ideas.
Reply:This takes me way back in the day when we didn't have the internet and everyone didn't know more than everyone else about anything.Winter of '78 I needed a car trailer to haul my little dirt track car on. I had learned the hard way that hauling it on a rented car trailer didn't work. They didn't rent tilt beds back then. The way everyone hauled their cars on a car trailer at the time was with a floor jack close by. We had a minimum four inch ground clearance to keep from ripping off exhaust systems etc you had to jack up the back of the tow vehicle as high as possible to get clearance where the ramps attached to the trailer. I worked at the phone company and welded a little on the side and had no spare cash.I got lucky and helped a bud clear a burned out triple wide mobile home. I ended up with a couple of axles and some of the straighter I beams. I made do with what I had.The only other tilt trailers made like mine I have ever seen was at the track in the following seasons. I wasn't the only one that saw extra dollars going into a motor instead of a trailer. I have been loaded onto the trailer with a wrecker pushing the car with a flat front and never touched the frame.Here is the way it worked. I placed the I beams sideways and shaved off the inside flange on the top side with a cutting torch. The tongue pivoted just in front of the front axle. This allowed the trailer to tilt when the front wheels of the trailer rolled up on a four by six block if the tongue retainer was disconnected if the trailer was empty. If the car was on it didn't tilt until the car weight was on the back of the trailer. Same with loading it, it didn't tilt level until the car was on the trailer and at the front.This was back in the day. I did have a Miller mig but most of of my welding was done by an old Thunderbolt 225 A/C machine, 6011 rod.I got out of the racing and when I sold the trailer I painted it white and added a hydraulic jack for those not getting the concept of the wood blocks even though they worked the best.BTW, that Chevy van, had a four speed manual trans and I used the stock three on the tree shifter. It was a ton of fun pulling up beside a motor head at a light in town. They knew the three fifty was mostly stock and the good noises were only because of the exhaust system. They saw the three on the tree so when I short shifted into fourth more than one case of whiplash occurred. Attached Imageslife is good
Reply:I like the idea of the roll back trailer. I have used trailers with ramps w/wo beaver tails. Always had a floor jack with to puck up the back of the truck so the nose of the car clears the ramps. Then to get in unstuck off the break over. Dragging something on to the trailer that does not roll is a pain.Gravity tilts are sometimes a pain to get locked down empty and there is a lot of support lost between the axles. Ramps are always a pain to deal with. Not strong enough or too heavy to carry. Or don't clear the back of the car in the up position. Someone forgets/looses them. In patent http://www.google.com/patents/US5137...137414&f=false How much is the center set of rollers really carrying? The other thing I don't like on all the ones that I have looked at. Is that when the tongue is in the tilt position they only have a single tube on single pivot. Too much side pressure and that tube is bending. I would build it so that the A frame is pivot Like thisLast edited by Naudi2U; 04-07-2014 at 02:03 PM.Carlohttp://public.fotki.com/Naudi2U/
Reply:Originally Posted by VPTWhile these are interesting and along the lines of the type I would like to have I do not like the way the trailer "rolls back". I would want to be able to roll the bed back with the flip of a lever at the trailer so I can watch what is going on. http://www.randpcarriages.com/traile...-18-steel.htmlWhat are the different styles of rollback designs? I see some use actual rollers like a gantry crane would use. Some just slide on two flats using the power of hydraulics/winch cable to slide the bed back and forth. Anyone have experience with rollbacks and what is the more preferred style of "rollers"?
Reply:couple more pics Attached ImagesIan TannerKawasaki KX450 and many other fine tools
Reply:4130 Nice job on the build. Do you have any pictures from the side with it rolled back? How do you move it without brakes? What is you deck height and approach angle?Last edited by Naudi2U; 04-07-2014 at 05:10 PM.Carlohttp://public.fotki.com/Naudi2U/
Reply:Ok since you wanted to see how a rollback works. One just happened to show up for some work today. This is a fairly modern medium large sized roll back. First the tilt cylinders and frame. Note the lock used to keep the bed down when traveling. Shows the cylinder used to move the bed.More coming.Millermatic 252XMT 304'sDynasty 280DXHypertherm PowerMax 1250Miller Trailblazer 302 EFIOptima PulserXR feeder and XR Edge gun and more athttp://members.dslextreme.com/users/waynecook/index.htm
Reply:The back fully extended. This one used rails on the inside of the frame. I've never seen this before. Most go around the outside of the tubing. Millermatic 252XMT 304'sDynasty 280DXHypertherm PowerMax 1250Miller Trailblazer 302 EFIOptima PulserXR feeder and XR Edge gun and more athttp://members.dslextreme.com/users/waynecook/index.htm
Reply:Irish, thanks for taking the time to do the pics.
Reply:Yes, thank you very much Irishfixit!I am going to keep my eyes open for material and/or possibly a wrecked or take off rollback bed setup. Maybe a trailer that "needs work".
Reply:If you can find one, a boat trailer may be an easy way to get a solid platform to start from, then modify. I had a flatbed boat trailer, much lighter duty than you are talking about, but it worked great.For my big boat, I bought a used triple axle 18000lb trailer for 4k. There's no way I could make it for that. It needed brakes, easy peasy.Edit: Having just picked up a lowered Integra, I know what you mean about the height of vehicles being an issue. My quick fix was a pair of hydraulic jacks under the extendable ramps. Once it was on the ramps, I raised the ramps (And car) then when level, pulled it onto the deck. You could weld on a couple of jacks, or hyd. cylinders at an appropriate spot and save all the tilt fabrication. I like simple!!ChayLast edited by miller300a; 04-08-2014 at 01:35 PM.
Reply:I've got some sketches here somewhere that I came up with. The axle sliding carriage looks almost exactly like fortyonthirty's trailer. The most simple way to keep the loading angle low is to slide the axles all the way to the front. A side benefit to this design is that you can have multiple latching points for balancing the trailer once loaded.My name's not Jim....
Reply:Originally Posted by CraboIrish, thanks for taking the time to do the pics.
Reply:Back when I was hauling cars around, we had a trailer with cantilever offset axles and a short ram that rotated them from about 45* down to 45* up. With it on the ball hitch, that had the effect of going from a good clearance ride height (for getting in and out of dirt roads etc) to a low rake angle suitable for loading Corvettes and other low vehicles (and non-rollers) without damage or issue. Suspension was handled on that trailer with sorta splined shaft (looked like a positive displacement blower profile but straight) in a sort of coaxial tube. Machine mover I know has a similar trailer rated for over 10k payload. It has airbags and the "fixed" point is on a pivot so that the cylinder rotates the fixed side of the bag to rotate the independent offset axles. In load mode it sits nearly on the ground with less than 7* slope (I think that's what he said) and the bags are horizontal on top. In travel mode the bags are vertical and it has plenty of clearance.
Reply:Irish thanks for the photos of the rollback trailer. I think you folks are getting on the right track with the sliding suspension trailer. That's a lot of smart and experienced folks on this thread. I always enjoy learning from everyone. This thread has given me some ideas for a trailer my son wants to build. Richey
Reply:I think the sliding axles are probably the best way to go with a trailer. It would be like a Landoll traveling axle trailer. They make several models. Those are what the real wrecker services use to haul the hard to load heavy stuff. http://landoll.com/content/index.php...axle-trailers/ Now how to go about it and remain affordable and not be to heavy is the real trick. There's been several good ideas shown on this thread though.Millermatic 252XMT 304'sDynasty 280DXHypertherm PowerMax 1250Miller Trailblazer 302 EFIOptima PulserXR feeder and XR Edge gun and more athttp://members.dslextreme.com/users/waynecook/index.htm
Reply:Originally Posted by baddogBack when I was hauling cars around, we had a trailer with cantilever offset axles and a short ram that rotated them from about 45* down to 45* up. With it on the ball hitch, that had the effect of going from a good clearance ride height (for getting in and out of dirt roads etc) to a low rake angle suitable for loading Corvettes and other low vehicles (and non-rollers) without damage or issue. Suspension was handled on that trailer with sorta splined shaft (looked like a positive displacement blower profile but straight) in a sort of coaxial tube. Machine mover I know has a similar trailer rated for over 10k payload. It has airbags and the "fixed" point is on a pivot so that the cylinder rotates the fixed side of the bag to rotate the independent offset axles. In load mode it sits nearly on the ground with less than 7* slope (I think that's what he said) and the bags are horizontal on top. In travel mode the bags are vertical and it has plenty of clearance.
Reply:I believe that the sliding axle would be lighter and easier to build than a full roll back setup. You just need one frame for the trailer bed instead of two full frames needed for the roll back. Of course the key to these large moving axle trailers is that they use hydraulics to move the axles. It doesn't take a big cylinder to do this but it takes a really long one. I've considered a winch and cable setup for them in the past. It's doable but needs to be done properly to make them move both directions. Of course if you don't mind a little work then it would be possible to free spool the winch, lock the brakes, back up to lower the trailer, then winch it up. It's definitely possible to do it with just the vehicle. Even if you had to use heavy duty chained chocks to hold the wheels. But control and enough pulling power from the vehicle comes into play there.Millermatic 252XMT 304'sDynasty 280DXHypertherm PowerMax 1250Miller Trailblazer 302 EFIOptima PulserXR feeder and XR Edge gun and more athttp://members.dslextreme.com/users/waynecook/index.htm
Reply:Originally Posted by VPTFor a few years now I've been wanting to upgrade my car hauler (16' 7500#) to a 18'+ 10K# tilt bed trailer. Question is does a guy buy a trailer or make the trailer given the guy knows how to weld "professional" haha. Every time I start looking at materials it seems as though building a trailer will only save a few hundred dollars over just buying one so really building one won't be for the sake of saving money. So really the only reason to build a trailer is so you can build it how you want it the first time and not have a modify a brand new trailer to fit your own needs.So is it really worth it to build your own? The over all quality should be better. One of the probably many drawbacks to building your own is the price could go way up with every component added because (this one for a little more money is better than that one). Much like building a car. lolPersonally I would love to have a rollback type of unit in a trailer where the bed can tilt and slide back to meet the ground at a much lower angle. Really it would be nice to get a wrecked rollback for all the hydro parts and slide rails and whatnots.So what would you do? I'm not exactly looking for any more projects but it is something that needs to be done one way or the other.I would be interested if Farmersamm has some input on price invested in his trailer.
Reply:I have built 5 trailers and as a private semi retired guy buying materials, in all but one case I could have bought cheaper than build. The one I came out ahead of was an enclosed 14ft trailer. However, I did buy many of the materials from a trailer shop I helped a little so that kept costs down. My friend wanted me to build him a 10ft trailer and I tried to persuade him to buy, but he had some specific features he wanted. So I built it and it turned out good, picture below. Break away hitch one requirement, all he does with it now is haul goats in it. Personally I would shop around for a good used trailer. GeezerPower Mig 255C185 TIGBlue 175 MIGRanger 8 Kohler 20HP1974 5K Lincoln/Wisconsin Powered (Cherry)Victor/Harris O/AK 487 Spool Gun
Reply:Originally Posted by geezerI have built 5 trailers and as a private semi retired guy buying materials, in all but one case I could have bought cheaper than build. The one I came out ahead of was an enclosed 14ft trailer. However, I did buy many of the materials from a trailer shop I helped a little so that kept costs down. My friend wanted me to build him a 10ft trailer and I tried to persuade him to buy, but he had some specific features he wanted. So I built it and it turned out good, picture below. Break away hitch one requirement, all he does with it now is haul goats in it. Personally I would shop around for a good used trailer.
Reply:Yeah rust sucks, I will be making sure I have a good coating of something on the trailer when near done. I don't normally use my trailer in winter to avoid the salt and rust problems.
Reply:Originally Posted by VPTI believe you are talking about these types of trailers in the link? While they do drop the bed right to the ground the wheels are still in the way for opening doors. I also wondered what happens when a airbag or air line blows out? Does the bed fall on the ground while driving down the highway?
Reply:A while back I got the chance to take some pictures under a nice clean Landoll trailer. I just had my phone with me but they came out fairly well. I'd forgotten about them till I was switching to my new phone and copying all my stuff from my old phone. Anyway here they are for those who are interested. These are the cylinders that move the axle. This is the hitch that tilts the trailer. This shows the front roller on the axle carriage assembly.Millermatic 252XMT 304'sDynasty 280DXHypertherm PowerMax 1250Miller Trailblazer 302 EFIOptima PulserXR feeder and XR Edge gun and more athttp://members.dslextreme.com/users/waynecook/index.htm
Reply:Here's the rest of them. Another shot of the front roller. Notice how the I beam flange has been ramped to raise the trailer and allow the wheels to slide forward. This is the rear roller. It's hard to see but there's a middle roller that runs on the inner flanges of the beam and has a ramp in there. This shot is looking down the middle of the carriage. You can see where the cylinder is mounted. Millermatic 252XMT 304'sDynasty 280DXHypertherm PowerMax 1250Miller Trailblazer 302 EFIOptima PulserXR feeder and XR Edge gun and more athttp://members.dslextreme.com/users/waynecook/index.htm
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