30' Scrap Trailer From Scrap!

Well, it ain't too purty, but it looks hell for stout. Nice job.

I was raised on the farm, too and it's amazing what you can do if you have no money and only go to town once a week, if that.

My wife's amused by some of the things I make around the house when Home Depot is less than a mile away. We're city dwellers now, mostly.

I salute your "hillbilly/redneck engineering and fabrication skills".

Nice one, it's great to recycle stuff.
Del
(Isn't it a bit over engineered to carry your lunch pail?)

The rough estimates on the capable stress loads it can take are around 40,000 # distributed which is more than double the axles capacity and over three times what a 3/4 ton pickup is rated to legally pull.

I built it to be solid and very durable. The people who will use it are less than gentle with their equipment. (Those 'in too big of hurry to pay attention and do it right the first time' types.)

The local running joke/bet with their friends and neighbors is for how long it will be before they wipe out someones vehicle because of its length and rear end turning swing or how long it will be before they bend the axles to the point of destruction from overloading it.

My only concern is with mobile home brakes. They are not designed for long life. Mobile home are famous, or infamous if you ever move them much(Which I did for a couple of years in my youth). They are usually not repairable and never reliable. On any given day they range from barely being able to tell if they are working to skidding all 4 wheels. I strongly urge your friend to get some kind of better brakes as soon as he can. Also be careful of concentrated loads. A 'friend' of mine borrowed my 24 foot (plus tongue) 2 axle that is similar to yours. He load a very heavy pontoon boat on it by blocking it up on the ends and put a nice kink in the frame because of no center support going down rough country roads. One thing I like about my big trailer is it is too much trailer for most of my friends, as opposed to my 8 footer that I some times have to call around to find it when I need it! -- JHF

He lives in the north east part of the state and for the most part what I have seen of many trailer house brake systems is that many are just like any other electric brake system. For the heavier loads the adjustable hitch can be switched out with a pintel ring so that they can pull it behind their semi which has more than enough brakes to handle the trailer when loaded down. But yes I wont be the least bit surprised if he slides himself through an intersection while pulling it with their pickup once or twice!

As far as longevity is concerned with trailer house axles the most common trick to making them last is replacing the crappy plastic hub seals with good ones so the grease stays in and the dirt stays out then of course replacing the cheap ancient grease they used with new good quality axle grease.

I did design the frame so that eventually the three 6000 # axles can be replaced with a pair of 10,000 # units. Right now the trailer axles will have to do until he gets enough scrap hauled in and some money built up.

As far as bending the frame is concerned the axles and springs will collapse before the double frame bends or gives out!

tcmtech,

Nice job!

I have always been surprised at the resurrections that have taken place from remnants that have been setting on the back forty for 20 years.

It is amazing what you can do with an oxy/acetylene torch and a welding machine!

Again, nice job!

Very impressive!

Would you be willing to explain to my wife, why it is that I don't throw stuff away?

She calls me a hoarder, (I can't throw away a straight nail or a good screw).

Then again.....she might be right, whenever I need something, I can't find it, it's buried...............I go to Home Depot and buy slightly more than I need, just in case.

Nice one. A coat of paint, and it becomes a $6,000 asset.

Cool!

I recently built a tow bar for my microcar prototype out of an old bed frame.

Nice job, very creative.

I was wondering about how the 3 x 4 I-beams were welded to the main frame I-beams. Were only the top & btm flanges welded, or that plus an inch in the center of the web, or welded all around, or?

Any detail pics available?

What type of welder was used? Stick or buzz box arc welder? Acelylene? Mig or Tig?

I did them with a top and down the web weld. The welding was all stick done with a Miller Shop master 300. The cutting was all done with a Thermal dynamics 102 series plasma cutter.

Sorry I don't have any up close pics. My friend lives 210 miles away in the north east corner of the state and I am home now.

tcmtech -- Long as you're into "How I built it" .........

How did you move and lift the pieces? Even a 3x4x8ft I-beam is a pretty heavy lift for one guy. Do you have a tractor with a bucket on front you can use like a crane? Or maybe one of those little hydraulic utility cranes mounted on your truck?

Also what measuring methods did you use to level and square it up? Same as building a wood frame structure?...........Ed Weldon

the 3" x4" I beams only weigh about 40 pounds so they are easy to move by hand. The rest was done with the pay loaders. By lifting the heavy pieces near their center of gravity its very easy to move and align them by hand before welding in place.

As far as squaring it up that is just basic geometry and math. Once several primary reference points are chosen the rest is just a matter of measuring and welding.

A good calculator, tape measure, some string and clamps are all thats required to build a good trailer!

I'm impressed. I might have to get a small torch and 120 VAC "buzz" box to attack some small pieces of scrap steel in my garage!

How many hours of labor did you put into this project. 40# of welding rod suggests more than a couple of hours of time. Still, a project like this probably kept you out of the pool hall and gave a sense of accomplishment when finished!

tcmtech's story makes me tired just reading it.

Far as the brakes are concerned we need to remember that those guys are in North Dakota where their hills look like the potholes in California highways and they can see any reason to stop from two miles off.

Gonna go take a nap now............ Ed Weldon

Far eastern ND might be like that, but south or Minot can get a bit hilly, and the local gravel roads will jar your teeth when they do dry out in the spring.

I have been there, and grew up near Luverne ND many years ago.

-----------------\___________ SKI North Dakota!

Between my friend and I we had around 100 hours combined labor. We knocked the whole thing out in six days from junk trailer house frame to the rolling trailer as seen in the pictures.

The first thing I ever welded with was a 110 Buzz Box that was plugged into a 220 outlet. I wish I had been a little smarter then. It scares me now.

don't spend money on ac welder, save a few more months and buy a good used ac/dc welder, the quality of the weld is so much better when you have a dc stable current to weld with, I had once a snap-on ac buzz box and never was happy with it, spent big money on a tig/stick millermatic 230 and never looked back,
Mitch retired peugeot mech

To me a Hillbilly/redneck design usually involves the cut off end of a pick up truck.

From what I can see, this is an astounding feat of fabrication that maximizes recycling. I have yet to meet a farmer that will part with much. Lucky for you, that leaves you with a treasure trove of materials to play with. Also lucky for him, for the end result.

Once completed, I hope that you give it an interesting colour scheme. That should not be to hard, if can toss that collection of paint cans that he has, and find the ones that have not dried out.

Please show the end result.

What a mysterious and wonderful world this one is....

good looking unit, wish i were out on the farm