My latest shop project-trailer to haul the BX

[Dieselbob]

Bob I simply cant understand how you could possibly work in that place you call a shop??
First off its well lighted, how can anyone work with that much light?
Theres nothing on the floor to trip over or get tangled up in.
The floor, Lord I don't know what to say about the floor, like theres hardly a drop of oil any place, how can you call it a shop with out oil soaked cement?
And the paint job ,,,MAN not a run any place to be seen, cheeeze, and not one adult beverage container any place to be seen, though I did find a can of some type, might be a pop can.
And the welding ,, well I aint even goin there !
Well all that side, I guess I have to say you did a pretty fair job of it !

In the interest of the truth;

1) The shop IS pretty well lit, but all of those lights were salvaged out of a middle school my buddy remodeled. Those steel wall cabinets are out of a hospital he remodeled. Total cost $0.

2) I am actually a slob when I'm working, and there is always PLENTY to trip over. I actually kept it fairly clean just because I was taking pictures. My whole building is 40' x 57, but is chopped up, and this room is only 21' x 40' and only has a 9' ceiling, so it gets cramped.

3) There is PLENTY of oil on that floor. Might not show in the pictures, but it's there.

4) Yes, there are paint runs here and there.

5) No adult beverages. I am fueled on Diet Coke. Beer is for AFTER the work is done, although I don't even do that much anymore.

6) Welding is decent, but, a professional welder would turn up his nose. I turned the trailer frame every which way but loose so I could weld in the most advantageous positions. Sometime I stack dimes, sometimes I stack raisins.

 

[rkidd]

Very nice fab job on the trailer. Alot of really nice features and well thought out, and I love the color!! I have only been welding and fabbing a couple of years, so not a professional at all. Your analogy on welding is spot on! I am the exact same way. Some days I can run some nice passes and stack dimes, and other days I cant see it, and loose track of where I am in the middle of a pass, and lucky to stack raisins. I got a good laugh at that one.

 

[skeets]

LMAO @ DieselBob Im glad you can take some tongue in cheer leg pulling.
It looks really good, you guys that can do stuff like that just amaze the snot out of guys like me
Good on ya

 

[Yooper]

A thumbs up from the Yooper! I like your attention to details. I once narrowed some trailer axles also. It was about four of five hours of set up and ten minutes of welding. I'm sure you can relate. But there was an adult beverage or two in there also!

 

[Dieselbob]

This was the second axle I narrowed, so I had it pretty much figured out on this one. The first one took awhile. The biggest problem was the steel slug I had to splice the axle, the same piece that fit so good in the other axle, wouldn't fit in this one at all. The other axle was a much newer replacement axle, and either Dexter changed the ID of the axle tube a few thousandths or it was just the accumulated rust, but it wouldn't go. I spent about an hour milling the slug down with an angle grinder until I could drive it into the axle.

 

[Dieselbob]

A few updated pictures of the trailer with the tractor on it. The tie down straps/chains are temporary. I am going to put mounting loops on all four corners of the tractor and make straps just the right length for the tractor.

 

[skeets]

Looks really good Bob a big old thumbs up on it,,, I just saw your from fort wayne,,, gawd I remember the old days when all we had was AM radios in our cars, and on a really clear night when the skip was running,, up onthe hill top we could get WOWO. Music wasnt any different from what we had in the Da Burgh, but dayum it was WOWO...lol

 

[clay45]

I built my own utility trailer once. Turned out nice, pulled nice but cost way more than a professionaly built one by the time I was done. From now on I will just get it from the pros or wait until the right used one comes along.

You do beautiful work.

 

[Dieselbob]

Looks really good Bob a big old thumbs up on it,,, I just saw your from fort wayne,,, gawd I remember the old days when all we had was AM radios in our cars, and on a really clear night when the skip was running,, up onthe hill top we could get WOWO. Music wasnt any different from what we had in the Da Burgh, but dayum it was WOWO...lol

Yep, WOWO was a big deal in the day. A LOT of people learned about Fort Wayne from listening to them. It's still around, but now it's talk radio and is no longer anywhere near the 50,000 clear channel powerhouse it once was. There is a neat website that has a bunch of old WOWO history, old jingles, airchecks and other goodies. http://historyofwowo.com

 

[Dieselbob]

I built my own utility trailer once. Turned out nice, pulled nice but cost way more than a professionaly built one by the time I was done. From now on I will just get it from the pros or wait until the right used one comes along.

You do beautiful work.

Thanks. I was caught between $1200.00 trailers that were just junk and $3500.00 trailers that were overkill. Used trailers of ANY kind are hard to come by around here, especially anything that isn't a lawn or car trailer. If they get sold at all, they tend to go by word of mouth. Our local auto trader magazine, which has hundreds of new trailers every week, averages only four or five used trailer of any kind. So, I spent less than $1000.00 and got EXACTLY what I wanted. Plus, the challenge really appealed to me.

 

[Grumpyjoe]

Very nice build. I made a 12 footer using c channel and 2 foot walls. Eventually I will finish and weld in a metal floor and walls. My intent was to be able to haul dirt or rock as well as the tractor. Many told me a single axle would never be safe. Buy what you can drive build what you can use. I do well with a single axle and I do not tear up my yard when turning and backing up.

I also went bigger with the axle. I have a contract to sell Redneck Trailer parts so my trailer was kind of a demo of what a homeowner could do. I choose a 6000 pound axle and am glad I did. I can get 3 scoops of gravel and still pull straight. Yep it is 1000 pounds over with 3 scoops but in fairness when moving I actually had 10,000 stuffed in the trailer and did well.

My bucket will drop on a shelf over the front rails to allow the BH an easy fit. When I leave the BH at home I could instead load box blades and rakes...... then pull in the tractor. Still thinking I might want a 16 foot trailer but then I would probably go with tandems??? Nice to see another 12 foot single axle trailer. Our tractors fit well on this setup as long as we plan axle placement well.

As far as the tie downs, I am still looking for good out of the way locations. I do not like chains draped over buckets rubbing on hydraulics or laced thru frame points. I want solid d rings or notches I can use a chain finger on.

 

[Dieselbob]

Thanks for the kind words. When I was a kid, my dad, mom and I dragged a HEAVY 1965 era 15' single axle camper trailer all over the country, (25 different states, including Wyoming, Colorado, the Blue Ridge and the Smokies), mostly with a 2WD Blazer, so single axle trailers have never spooked me the way they seem to do some people. On the two occasions we had blow outs, nothing happened at all. I have a 10,000 GVW trailer and my buddy keeps his 7,000 GVW trailer at my place, so any time I have a need for a heavier trailer, I am covered. This trailer was built specifically to handle a BX without being too heavy for my small truck. The only trailers I found in this size that were actually worth bringing home had 5 or 7,000 LB axles, and a price tag to go with it. If I had to buy an axle, I might have gone for a 5,000LB because I am confident the trailer would handle it with no problem, but since the 3500LB axle more or less fell into my lap, that's what I used. As far as axle placement, that was pretty much dictated by the tilt pivot point, but after studying what commercial trailer builders do in a similar application, I took a leap of faith and hoped for the best. My brain says the axle should be a little rearward of center, but I wanted the trailer to tilt without a mechanical assist, and it seems to have worked out just fine. Here is the type of attaching points I will likely go with on my tractor. I will make up two chains of the right length to tie down the front, and us two ratchet straps cut down to the right length to draw down the rear. I want to be able to strap the tractor down and be on the road in a couple of minutes, not wrestle with hardware for twenty minutes.

 

[Grumpyjoe]

The front mounts are easy with all the room up there. I am still looking for the best rear mounts. I have a lot of time as I do not trailer my tractor much. Next trip is end of April to help my son landscape his back yard.

BTW a good friend of mine lived in Ft Wayne, Andy Caldwell?? He was an engineer until he got sick. Is your town small enough to know him?

 

[bucktail]

How did the S-10 do pulling it?

 

[Dieselbob]

The front mounts are easy with all the room up there. I am still looking for the best rear mounts. I have a lot of time as I do not trailer my tractor much. Next trip is end of April to help my son landscape his back yard.

BTW a good friend of mine lived in Ft Wayne, Andy Caldwell?? He was an engineer until he got sick. Is your town small enough to know him?

Fort Wayne metro is pretty good size. 2nd biggest city in the state.

 

[Dieselbob]

How did the S-10 do pulling it?

Just fine. I did three ten mile test loops, unloaded, w/zero turn, and with/BX. I went up and down hills and out on four lane highway at 65MPH, and it felt solid as a rock. No porpoising, no wander, no sway, stopped fairly good even though I didn't have the brake controller installed on the truck yet (it is now). I did another couple 10 mile loops with and without the BX to dial in the empty and loaded trailer brake settings. The only "revenue" run so far was hauling the tractor on a five mile round trip at about 40MPH to drill some holes for mail box posts. Waiting for the weather to break, as I have three more installations in the neighborhood right now. You know the trailer is back there with the tractor on it, but it is smooth and doesn't fight you. I notice that the truck is in drive instead of overdrive more than anything. (No towing with a 4L60E in OD.)