Tiny House Trailer

admin

Hello - I apologize, I am not a welder, but your forum has answered many questions I have about utility trailers, but I still have one question that I cannot seem to find an answer to.  This is a bit of a weird question as well and probably not one those of you on this forum are used to seeing, but I would appreciate any advice possible.I will be hiring a professional trailer manufacturer to fabricate a custom trailer to use as a "foundation" for a stick-built house (aka a "Tiny House"), and although this may seem a bit "out there" (although Tiny Houses are gaining in popularity), I would like to do this right.At this point, I anticipate the flatbed utility-style trailer will be 20'-22' in length and the standard 83"-84" in width.  My question is, with the standard style trailer tongue (I believe it is called an A frame, using a 50 degree angle that ends up being 42-48" from the ball to the trailer bed), if one were to build out over the trailer bed to a width of 8' and were then to center a 6' wide projection over the tongue (for instance, where I've seen some utility boxes placed), how far could one project over the tongue?  One foot? Eighteen inches?  Basically, I would like to have a "bay window" off of that end of the house but am concerned about not leaving enough room to maneuver without having jackknife issues or running into the corners of the house.Here is a photo of the type of trailer, and in the background, you can see where this particular builder has built a shed-type bay over the trailer tongue, but one that is the full width of the trailer/house - I am interested in a projection that would start roughly 1' from each edge.Thank you again - I know this is a strange question, but I do appreciate any advice.Last edited by ChinaIzzie; 07-25-2014 at 10:43 PM.
Reply:A drawing of what you are thinking would help, but you can go to about 24" from the ball if you stay no wider than the a-frame. If you go over the height of the rear of the tow vehicle, you can go as far as you like. For a bay window in a house type deal the window should be close to being over the truck bed if you pull it with a pickup. You could mybe adjust the window up a bit if needed too. If you are in the US. at least, you can go to 102" wide on the outside too if you want.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:The tongue area is compromised by the turning radius of the truck/trailer combination. Imagine a turn to either direction and draw an arc from either rear corner of your truck bumper as it turns to full-lock. Now you are either going to complete a full circle on the ground as you travel, or you will contact the truck bumper and the trailer tongue. If you shape your constructions within the limits of your turning radius, you should be alright. It does however make it necessary to basiclly follow the footprint of the tongue as your floor plan limit line. The caveat is backing up, any trailer can make hard contact backing up, but we knew that! I am planning my own trailer build to follow the tongue mostly and use as much space as possible.City of L.A. Structural; Manual & Semi-Automatic;"Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place where gold is refined. Iron is taken from the earth, and copper is smelted from ore."Job 28:1,2Lincoln, Miller, Victor & ISV BibleDanny
Reply:Subtle dips in the terrain can change things for the 'bay' type fronts also. Rolling gutters into and out of gas stations and markets, onto or off of roads with shoulders, things like that. Tip the tongue down just a little and that protrusion gets a lot closer to the corner of a truck quick. Not saying you should or shouldn't, just think about how much."The things that will destroy America are prosperity at any price, peace at any price, safety first instead of duty first, the love of soft living and the get rich quick theory of life." -Theodore Roosevelt
Reply:Why not build a folding porch over the tongue???   You fold it flat against the house to transport...   Think about a screened in porch??
Reply:Originally Posted by BilldacatWhy not build a folding porch over the tongue???   You fold it flat against the house to transport...   Think about a screened in porch??
Reply:how about a bow window instead of a bay  ,get more turning clearance
Reply:Those Tiny Houses are really neat. I've always thought about building myself one. Good luck with your build. Chad