Extending sides of a trailer up

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I purchased a nice 6.5x 14 trailer with 1 foot sides topped by 2 inch pipe. I am wanting to extend the sides up to a total height of 4 feet. The trailer top rail is similar to the one below.Question 1           What is the best joint for connecting either angle or square tubing to the round pipe?\Question 2           Should I use angle or square tubing?Any help would be great. I am new to the forum but have been welding at the house for about 8 years. I figured there was no reason to re invent the wheel if some of you had some insight on this.Thanks Michael Sandifer Attached Images
Reply:Notch the material to fit.  A holesaw in a drill press will work. if you plan on doing more  you can get a dedicated tubing notcher.
Reply:Or just use these http://www.wagnercompanies.com/Coped_Connectors.aspxIt looks like the uprights are angle.  Just cut the pipe off and extend the angles and put the rail back on.for four foot sides you may want to use larger angle or more of them.
Reply:Is there a problem with using a piece of angle  on top of the pipe which would then give me a flat straight surface on top?
Reply:I dont think I would cut the pipe off. If you dont need a 4 foot side at all times, I would be inclined to build some sides from wood and bolt them on. If you want a permanent solution, I would either use pipe to extend it up and build a new rail, or extend it up exactly as they have built it with angle iron and pipe on top, although extending up  almost 3 feet with angle may not be as rigid as you want it.UA Local 598
Reply:Somebody should probably point out that the rail on the trailers in the picture (which are cheap lashups by the way) is a major structural element of the trailer.  You mess with that rail you ruin the trailer.
Reply:Yup the rail is structural, where it gets all it's strength from... Maybe just put some angle up from the floor with the corner inside, and some grating to close up the walls and tie the flopping angle together my 2 cents LOL good luck.Lincoln 225 Tombstone,Miller Big 20,Hobart 180,150' Argon,A/D hobart hood 22 Ton Log splitter,79 F350 dump eats 4.75 TONS and still turns cutters,grinders,And a  Hypertherm POWERMAX 30
Reply:Anyone notice that the trailer in the picture has stake pockets on the side........ under the rail. Hmmmmm maybe they're tie down pockets.Will
Reply:Originally Posted by laxrayI purchased a nice 6.5x 14 trailer with 1 foot sides topped by 2 inch pipe. I am wanting to extend the sides up to a total height of 4 feet. The trailer top rail is similar to the one below.Question 1           What is the best joint for connecting either angle or square tubing to the round pipe?\Question 2           Should I use angle or square tubing?Any help would be great. I am new to the forum but have been welding at the house for about 8 years. I figured there was no reason to re invent the wheel if some of you had some insight on this.Thanks Michael Sandifer
Reply:It makes me think that the rail is not structural.  They make the same trailer with and without.
Reply:Originally Posted by laxray The trailer top rail is similar to the one below.
Reply:Originally Posted by GabZipIt makes me think that the rail is not structural.  They make the same trailer with and without.
Reply:as for the rail. I looked at trailers all over town. Most of them had smaller angle making the floor frame and 1.5 in angle for a rail. At good old tractor supply they wanted $500 more for the same trailer with angle iron sides. I do think the pipe adds rigidity to the trailer and cuts down on the flexing when weight is applied to the sides. (after standing on the front corner of each and bouncing my 200 lbs around.) I could have ordered this thing with 4 foot sides but enjoy adding my own custom touches. So the original question was should I use 1.5 square tubing for the uprights and new top rail, And should I grind each upright individually or just use angle to sit on the round pipe and make the transition from round then up? Attached Images
Reply:Good call Will, from what I see I agree with you.  Those stake pockets are useless as.......stake pockets.Millermatic 252"Don't worry, he's got a welder, he can fix anything"
Reply:So you want to start with a modified stakebed (the rail is the modification), and then modify the modification... we'll need a change-order to the change-order for that...in triplicate.~~~~~~~~~~That work was done very well, like it came that way from the mfr. They can still be used as stake pockets. "It appears" the rail was added to a stakebed trailer, you just need stakegates to fit between, in and around the rail. ~~~~~~~~~~~Or you can weld away until your heart's content. Personally, I would make a set of stakesides to fit.Last edited by tanglediver; 04-09-2010 at 01:04 AM.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:I wanna know.....Why 3ft?If it were mine...and I wanted 3ft sides....I'd cut the rail off, replace the vertical pieces of angle with longer ones, and put the rail back on top.There is a way to do plywood sides without modifying the trailer.  I'll explain it if you want to know.  I designed my little 4x8 so I could do it.My name's not Jim....
Reply:Originally Posted by laxrayas for the rail. I looked at trailers all over town. Most of them had smaller angle making the floor frame and 1.5 in angle for a rail. At good old tractor supply they wanted $500 more for the same trailer with angle iron sides. I do think the pipe adds rigidity to the trailer and cuts down on the flexing when weight is applied to the sides. (after standing on the front corner of each and bouncing my 200 lbs around.) I could have ordered this thing with 4 foot sides but enjoy adding my own custom touches. So the original question was should I use 1.5 square tubing for the uprights and new top rail, And should I grind each upright individually or just use angle to sit on the round pipe and make the transition from round then up?
Reply:The 3 foot was to make an overall 4 foot side. The expanded metal comes in 4x 8 sheets. So it I have a 1 foot side add 3 more and then end up with a 4 foot side. As for the wood sides. Wood tends to twist warp and discolor here in Louisiana. This is gonna be a mowing trailer. The only good reason for short sides on a mowing trailer is so you can exit the trailer from the mower, step into traffic and get run over it has happened to people in town. I do appreciate all the help and insight. I'm planning on adding a truck tarp top to the thing latter this summer I'll keep y'all updated with the progress.
Reply:Some sketchup plans Attached Images
Reply:There's more than one way to modify your trailer to get 4 ft mesh sides.I think your proposed way could work but would be a lot of cutting and fitting and would put a lot of metal at the pipe rail area.Overall, I think it would actually be less cutting and fitting and welding if you just remove the existing 1 ft sides and then make your 4 ft sides.And a tarp on top of an open-mesh trailer really won't stop the wind from blowing stuff like leaves or dirt or grass in the trailer to all over the road and the vehicles behind you.  "Hey Bubba, you got those screen windows in the submarine yet?"    I don't quite think the DOT rules about covering the load with a tarp are met when the mesh sides still allow air or the contents to blow through the mesh sides.  If you enclose or wrap the entire cargo with the tarp, then you don't need the tarp on top, do you?  If you are doing the tarp top because you want to cut down on the sun or rain on all the equipment in the trailer, then that is a different topic.  But then you probably should have just gotten an enclosed trailer instead of an open one.YMMV.  The best laid schemes ... Gang oft agley ...