basic trailer build question

[Renze]

When you build a trailer and list you as builder you are held responseable for that trailer the rest of it's life . If some thing breaks and causes a wreck you are the one they come after. Not the one that over loaded it & abused it.

...and on the other hand, some people said that we advised as if he was building a tank hauler ??

 

[David Devuono]

If you overload and abuse a trailer, they will not go after the builder, its the person driving the tow vehicle that they go after. My tow vehicle can only tow 3,900 lbs and my farm is 325 Km's down the road. A well engineered light weight trailer would be my choice. I should have taken some pictures of this neat home engineered Jeep hauler. It had triple 2,000 lb axles and no frame. Just steel formed 12" side walls supported the fore-aft rigidity. Must have had access to a 16ft brake, as it was pressed out of diamond plate.

 

[RobJ]

Ok my take...

1) got to go with dual axles. Around here that's less than $100 more
2) stick with a regular leaf spring, cheaper to. I think my 2x 3500# complet kit, hangers, springs, etc, was under $200.
3) I think the steel you have is fine, use the heavier stuff. The extra axle will help sperad out the load.
4) my good friend Lbrown mentioned using 16" tires. I built a deck over (sled) and found some 10" wheels rates at 1150# each. So with my trailer and stuff, I'm under that. Plus my deckis 7.5' wide, and I can remove the 3 sides if needed. The front bulkhead is welded solid.
5) look for surplus steel, Mine is made from 5.5# 5" channel. It came out a little heavier than I wanted (would have gone with 4 or 3" top rails) but I got the clean surplus channel for around 35 cents a pound.
I went 14', just did, my RC hangs off the back a little, so what. The 7.5' deck is really nice!

Couple pics.

 

[Renze]

RobJ, what tire size and brand are you using under your trailer ? You say they are rated for 1150 pounds each, wich is 520 kg each or 1040 kg per axle. We used to sell a 20.5x10.0-10 or a 195/50R10C tire which could both carry 750 kg per wheel, 1500 per axle, closely rated to the carrying capacity of your axles..
My brother has a car hauler with tires of similar size, only a lot more narrow, those are 12 ply tires, look like forklift truck tires. When empty, the trailer bounces all over the place.

From the pics it looks like you use the same C-channel for crossbars and main frame runners ? If so, you could easily do with half the size of the crossbars and still have high technical reserve. We used to use 60x40x3mm tubing as crossbars for trailers up to 8 ton The structural integrity of a trailer frame depends more on the side rail (to distribute pointloads over several crossbeams) than on the actual size of the crossbars themself.

 

[allen in texas]

Robj,
I'd be curious to know what your rig weighs loaded as you show it.

 

[George2615]

RobJ,
If your tires are only rated for 1150 each that puts you at 4600 lb max load capacity. With the weight of your trailer plus the L2500 plus the 4 wheeler it seems your a little over weight for what the tires can handle.

 

[LBrown59]

RobJ,
If your tires are only rated for 1150 each that puts you at 4600 lb max load capacity. With the weight of your trailer plus the L2500 plus the 4 wheeler it seems your a little over weight for what the tires can handle.

I was thinking the same thing.

 

[RobJ]

RobJ, what tire size and brand are you using under your trailer ? You say they are rated for 1150 pounds each, wich is 520 kg each or 1040 kg per axle. We used to sell a 20.5x10.0-10 or a 195/50R10C tire which could both carry 750 kg per wheel, 1500 per axle, closely rated to the carrying capacity of your axles..
My brother has a car hauler with tires of similar size, only a lot more narrow, those are 12 ply tires, look like forklift truck tires. When empty, the trailer bounces all over the place.

From the pics it looks like you use the same C-channel for crossbars and main frame runners ? If so, you could easily do with half the size of the crossbars and still have high technical reserve. We used to use 60x40x3mm tubing as crossbars for trailers up to 8 ton The structural integrity of a trailer frame depends more on the side rail (to distribute pointloads over several crossbeams) than on the actual size of the crossbars themself.

Renze, Can't tell you the actual size, I'm going up to the place tonight and will take a pic. I think they are 20.5x10xsomething. They were the highest rated I could find at Northern tool. So if each tire carries around 1100#, I'm within range.

Agree on the second part, But I bought the steel surplus and this was nice clean 20' channel if I recall. At SSS Steel here if you don't buy it when you see it, it might be gone tomorrow.

Here you can see some of my early thought process...I really only use it a few times a year to bring the tractor home. About 120 miles one way. BIL law used it to haul a Kuhn Kutter and other stuff around.

 

[RobJ]

Robj,
I'd be curious to know what your rig weighs loaded as you show it.

I figure about 4200# or so. In the picture it is close to maxed out. But I wanted to take all the toys to Eddie Walkers house!! Usually it's just the tractor and one atv in the back of the truck. No loader weight either. Heaviest thing I carry is the Woods FM at 525#.

So as I figure it...
1900# for L2500
600# for the King Quad
400# for the light duty 5' BB
1300# for the trailer..

4200# total. Subtract the ATV and that's 3600#, add a couple hundred for the trailer and it's still only 3800#. I'm not worried about the trailer with the load, just the tires of course. I only tow about 60mph tops, short trip, no hurry. So far its worked well.

I would tell anyone building a trailer, consider a deck over or sled style. You get a lot more deck area for the money, and if did it over again, I would have gone a full 8' across.

I also keep the wheels off the ground to help the tires. It's 3 years old now and still hanging in there!

 

[RobJ]

RobJ,
If your tires are only rated for 1150 each that puts you at 4600 lb max load capacity. With the weight of your trailer plus the L2500 plus the 4 wheeler it seems your a little over weight for what the tires can handle.

Yep close as mentioned, more than usual. Usually 1 ATV stays home! At around 25" up, it's still not to bad loading.. Oh here is my usual load.. I would guess at 2300-2400#

 

[George2615]

RobJ,
I was going by tractordata.com which lists your tractor at 2700 plus the weights you just mentioned = 5000 which is 400 above the 4 tire rating. If your tractor is 2WD it may be lighter.

 

[Diamondpilot]

I personally would not buy or make anything less than 82" wide and 16' long. With that trailer and dual axles you can haul a good 5,500# and just about any car or truck plus your tractor.

Chris

 

[David Devuono]

That is a nice looking trailer. I see the 2 WD tractor weighing 2200 with ROPS + 400 for the box blade. What I don't see are any brakes which makes it illegal up here in Canada except if you keep the total weight under 2000 lbs. What is good is that the tires do not look overloaded so if the officer does not notice the lack of brakes its likely you would pass visual inspection. I would put a hand on the tires after 30 minutes of hwy driving to make sure they are not getting too hot. I would expect a lot of sway witht he tractor positioned so far back. Another good thing is that the Pick up can handle a lot of tongue weight, maybe a 1000 lbs with weight distributing hitch so that would help with the trailer loading, (4600 lbs + 1000 on the hitch=5600)

 

[T185]

I am all for building your own, but if it were me, I would be checking on craigs list. I am seeing dual axle trailer selling for under $750

 

[RobJ]

RobJ,
I was going by tractordata.com which lists your tractor at 2700 plus the weights you just mentioned = 5000 which is 400 above the 4 tire rating. If your tractor is 2WD it may be lighter.

I guess you can always believe what you read!! According to my manual, it weighs 1962# with the rops. The 4wd is 2205#. Add a little bit for the fuids I guess.

The tires are rated 1100# each. They are 20.5x8x10.

Couple pics from Fridays visit to the country..

 

[RobJ]

That is a nice looking trailer. I see the 2 WD tractor weighing 2200 with ROPS + 400 for the box blade. What I don't see are any brakes which makes it illegal up here in Canada except if you keep the total weight under 2000 lbs. What is good is that the tires do not look overloaded so if the officer does not notice the lack of brakes its likely you would pass visual inspection. I would put a hand on the tires after 30 minutes of hwy driving to make sure they are not getting too hot. I would expect a lot of sway witht he tractor positioned so far back. Another good thing is that the Pick up can handle a lot of tongue weight, maybe a 1000 lbs with weight distributing hitch so that would help with the trailer loading, (4600 lbs + 1000 on the hitch=5600)

Good eye. No brakes down here. As you mention I do have a nice sized tow vehicle. I thought about adding brakes if I used it a lot more than I do or if I drove like some do. I do stop at least once on my trip home...tires warm, pretty normal. As I mentioned the trailer came out a bit heavier than I thought, more tongue weight than I wanted to. But more tongue weight is better then to little. In the picture with the ATV, that 600# atv is about 4' from the ball! And another 550# Rancher in the bed. Nope the trailer didn't wag or sway. As I mentioned that to depends on how you tow it too.

If I had to change anything on the trailer...I might move the axle up a few inches(easy to do now, hangers are cheap), make a smaller and lighter bulkhead up front, and use lighter material for the deck thus lowering it. Of course making it from aluminum would have been really cool!! But I pretty much built exactly what I wanted, I haven't seen another sled like this in Texas!

I do get some looks though. ALL like it. Especially when we load feed, grass, or other things on a skid from the side my removing the side rails.

 

[zmansmac]

Been out of town for a few days and didn't realize that my trailer build question generated this many responses and interest. I appreciate all the good ideas and comments. I neglected to say in my original post that I intend to have one foot high sides and front using 2 inch square x 3/16 tubing with vertical uprights every 2 feet which should strengthen the frame considerably along with crossmembers every 2 feet and 2 x 6 planking. I have a friend with a B7610 and same implements who bought a used single axle trailer that he claims tows wonderfully. He told me it was a 7000 lb axle. That's what got me thinking about a single axle. But after what I've read of the benefits I have decided to go with a tandem axle. Yes, I've seen trailers on Craigslist for the cost of the material. But all the ones I've seen so far in that lower price range have rusty frames. Along with getting some sorely needed weld time I know that my scratch built trailer will be made as rust proof as I can. BTW, main towing vehicle would be a 3/4 ton, 7000 lb Silverado. But I also have a mid size SUV with a 3500 lb towing capacity that I intend to use to haul building supplies and other misc stuff. That is why I wanted to keep the size down to 6 x 12 feet.

 

[LBrown59]

I intend to have one foot high sides and front .

Don't like this idea.
1-Can't load stuff from the sides with forks.
2*Can't push or scoop dirt sand gravel slag etc off from the sides with the FEL.

 

[RobJ]

Don't like this idea.
1-Can't load stuff from the sides with forks.
2*Can't push or scoop dirt sand gravel slag etc off from the sides with the FEL.

True but the only trailers you can buy that do this is a car hauler and deck over. With a car hauler you still have the axles to deal with. With the deck over they are usually a lot larger and heavier.

If you buy used the car haulers are not as popular, little harder to find.

But adding side rails, welded to the lower frame with add a lot of strength. I still like my ply deck. No holes!

 

[sandman2234]

I got a call from an old friend who moved to Michigan about 10 years ago. I built a "quickie" trailer for him at the last minute out of what I had laying around. The whole frame was built out of 1/8" wall thickness 2x4 tubing. I realized it wouldn't have a lot of strength in the tubing, so I built it extra strong, doubling up on the amount of frame members and cross braces. I asked him about the trailer and how it did, and he said he had used it in his work up until two years ago, when a drunk plowed into the corner of it and the insurance company totaled it. Since they couldn't match the material, they just bought him a new one. Just mentioned this, since everybody says always use extra heavy material (and I usually do also), but using what you have can also work, provided you understand the drawbacks of what you have.
David from jax