How should I fix this trailer?

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Hey yall!!Well, over the summer, I built a tailgate for someone's trailer, and then he called me up over the weekend and asked if I could take a look at his brother's broken tilt trailer. This afternoon, he brought it over and this is what I have to work with:Someone's lousy downhill mig weld broke, half of it on one side of the joint, the other half on the opposite side. The tube in this picture is only 1/8" thick (might even be 10 gauge), and everything else is 1/4", or possibly 3/16". This is what I'd like to do here:I think that it will make the trailer stronger than ever, and Im thinking of cleaning everything up with a flap disc, and tigging the first pass, and then going at it with some 3/32" 7018 in a "Z" weave pattern. The customer is cool with it, he said that he's never used it as a tilt trailer and mostly just hauls scrap with it. But, seeing as this is my first ever repait to the frame of a trailer, I figured that I should ask what yall thought first. Thanks in advance, guys!! [Account Abandoned 8/8/16 Please Do Not Attempt Contact Or Expect A Reply]. See you on YouTube! -ChuckE2009
Reply:Edit: didn't read the whole post....    If he ever wants to sell it, that'll drop the the resell price like crazy.Last edited by Ben325e; 09-13-2011 at 09:38 PM.
Reply:Originally Posted by Ben325eEdit: didn't read the whole post....    If he ever wants to sell it, that'll drop the the resell price like crazy.
Reply:i hope you have good trailer tongue liability insuranceDynasty 200DXPassport plus w/ spoolmate 100victor 315c oxy/(act and prop)Miller digital elitemilwaukee power tools
Reply:the only way I would touch it is if i were replacing the entire tongue. I would get rid of the angles, and take unmodified steel at least 1/3 of the way back. in the current configuration all the flexing that would otherwise disperse evenly over half of the tongue is focused exactly where it broke, and if you reinforce it enough to not break there, it will probably break somewhere else.Last edited by turk; 09-13-2011 at 10:16 PM.Dynasty 200DXPassport plus w/ spoolmate 100victor 315c oxy/(act and prop)Miller digital elitemilwaukee power tools
Reply:Obviously it won't tilt anymore if you do that. Otherwise I think you have a reasonable plan. Ideally a pic of the whole trailer wold be better, to see if junking the whole tounge would be a better option.
Reply:Originally Posted by turkthe only way I would touch it is if i were replacing the entire tongue. I would get rid of the angles, and take unmodified steel at least 1/3 of the way back. in the current configuration all the flexing that would otherwise disperse evenly over half of the tongue is focused exactly where it broke, and if you reinforce it enough to not break there, it will probably break somewhere else.
Reply:I'm wondering if you tilt the trailer and drive a Skidsteer up it....that could cause the tongue to break like that....we the uneducated have been led for so long by the inexperienced, that we feel we can do anything,with nothing~Miller Syncrowave 200Miller 251 mig
Reply:Any pics from the under side of the tongue and frame?Semper FiJesus may have been a Carpenter, but his dad was a Millwright" A grinder and a can of paint, will make a welder what he aint' "I've done so much, with so little, for so long, that now I can do anything with nothing!
Reply:Also I don't see any safety chains connections. You may offer to make them for him.Semper FiJesus may have been a Carpenter, but his dad was a Millwright" A grinder and a can of paint, will make a welder what he aint' "I've done so much, with so little, for so long, that now I can do anything with nothing!
Reply:Just check the length of the tongue, don't want him jackknifing into it.plus he can put a jack on the straight member or you could make him something like this stand.The O'l Man use to make me cross the chains.He said if we ever lost the trailer, atleast the crossed chains would catch and hold the trailer up by the tongue or front members.Just a thought.Semper FiJesus may have been a Carpenter, but his dad was a Millwright" A grinder and a can of paint, will make a welder what he aint' "I've done so much, with so little, for so long, that now I can do anything with nothing!
Reply:They should be crossed and as short as you can buckle them up.The reason for crossing them is so when you turn, and they are as short as you can hook them , they will not come up tight.. I had a hitch on a trailer house that I was towing over mount Hood come unbolted.  I didn't even know it until I pulled into a station in Portland. The trailer hitch was just sitting there on the crossed chains.  Mac
Reply:If I were going to repair this, I would have insurance first.  Secondly, I would cut our the two tabs that the bolt goes through on the tongue and re weld the horizontal tube to the vertical tube with a sound weld.  I then would fish plate it like thus.On the bottom horizontal tube, I would end it similarly to the top horizontal tube.  You won't create a stress riser this way.  I would put a plate on both sides.  I would use 3/16 or 1/4 inch sheet fish plates. Attached Images
Reply:If hes hauling scrap like most of the guys in my neck of the woods he probably grossly overloading the trailer which is probably the reason for the crack. I see guys with homemade trailers loaded 8-9 feet high with scrap steel with the tires nearly squatted flat and pickups piled twice as high as the cab with the back bumper nearly on the ground, again with the tires nearly squatted flat. They seem to use the tires as an indicator of when to quit putting stuff on, when the sidewalls touch the ground its enough for one load.
Reply:I'd do exactely what Scott explained, this is the best way so far to fix.Dont weld the end of the pointy part on the high part and you're good to go.
Reply:I wouldn't plate like that because it would focus a lot of stress on the tongue right behind the plate. the tongue needs to be able to flex evenly if it is built lightly enough to flex at all.Dynasty 200DXPassport plus w/ spoolmate 100victor 315c oxy/(act and prop)Miller digital elitemilwaukee power tools
Reply:Avoid trailer work period.People will over load trailers and blame you for failures.Made a hitch for a friends Jeep wagon.He said it would be used to haul a small camp trailer..The hitch had to be bolted to the unit body, no chassis.Made a good hitch ,the draw bar was a factory part.I bolted and welded.Saw him hauling a horse trailer with 2 full grown cows in it.Every thing held .Later on he hitched on to something that bent bent the tongue down 2 inches.My weld held fine, I had done it with 7018 and DC..The trailer design looks lousy.
Reply:I'd just put another bolt in the blue bar on both sides and call it good.
Reply:turk,the plating of the joints won't significantly limit the flexing of the tongue anymore than it was in the past.  the original gusset is your main limiting factor.  The plating will only reinforce the bottom joint and the finishing point of the fish plate will run centerline down the tube as opposed to traversing like it did in the original design.  if the bottom plate runs 4-6 inches down the tube it won't limit any of the flexing issues.
Reply:lol is that a chisel they used for the brace 350P 30A spool gun cut master 51  syncro 250 other stuff " take a dog off the street and make him prosper and he will not bite you sad the same cannot be said for man" i didnt use punctuation just to piss you off
Reply:i like what scott drew up, i would add something like 1/2" radius' on all the corners.. Attached ImagesLast edited by brucer; 09-17-2011 at 01:08 AM.tackleexperts.comwww.necessityjigs.comhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/mach...dingequipment/
Reply:Lanse, you have been given some VERY good advice here by some.  If you want to keep what you have now and in the future, RUN, DO NOT WALK, FROM THIS JOB!!!!!! The potential liability from this job is HUGE and if you do not have insurance to cover this type of work you could be sued for everything you have and for what you will get in the foreseeable future.  This is not a job for the "shade tree"  welder, even if you feel capable.  The stakes are too high!!"The man of great wealth owes a peculiar obligation to the State, because he derives special advantages from the mere existence of government."  Teddy RooseveltAmerican by birth, Union by choice!  Boilermakers # 60America is a Union.
Reply:Originally Posted by farmer37Avoid trailer work period.People will over load trailers and blame you for failures....
Reply:Originally Posted by tanglediverThat puts me out of work. Huh?My chisel! Where did you find it? I try to take lots of pictures for my own reference. Someday I may need to refer back to what I've done, and I have also shared photo's with customers occasionally. It is hard to determine what the rest of the trailer looks like from one small detail photo, but if immobilizing is acceptable to the customer, then Scott's proposal is pretty good, I like the rounded corners as well. Keeping the tilt function will almost certainly be a bunch more work to retain.
Reply:Wow, that is a crappy design. They put a huge brace on one side of the Z, and not the other. Surprise surprise, where does it break?How about slipping a larger square tube over the existing one, new coupler and tell them to get a drop hitch. Whatever you do, I wouldn't touch that project unless the new design is significantly stronger than the old. Actually, I take that back I wouldn't touch it period. He obviously used it after it was broke and like several have said, anyone else he hurt with his carelessness could hold you responsible.If you were qualified ( the fact you ask for advice on how to make a repair raises some questions) you'd know a trailer tongue is no place for a mickey mouse patch job as some suggest. A new tongue fabbed & installed from new material retaining the tilt feature is the correct repair, not some back yard hack job.
Reply:Trailers are welded for cash, no receipt, no guarantee, anything happens you never saw it before. LOL>  might be the only way."Si Vis Pacem Para Bellum"Lincoln Idealarc 250 AC/DCMillermatic 251   Syncrowave 300   30A spoolgunLincoln MP210Hypertherm 45(2) LN 25(2) Lincoln Weldanpower 225 CV(4) SA200   1 short hood    SA250    SAM 400
Reply:If the customer is cool with your orginal idea, go with it.  If he doesn't use the tilt feature anyway you would be mor than doubling your welded area.  For additional security add a plate across bottom.
Reply:What happened with this?