nikdfish
Platinum Member
I really like the Aluma 18' tandem we recently purchased, but it is worse than the little SnowBear tilt utility trailer for bending up a license plate. The plate mount was under the back at the lowest possible location. Since the trailer is low slung, with a moderate beaver tail, any change in road angle, like a driveway or speed bump, was enough for the plate to scrape. After straightening the plate for the second or third time I decided to do something about it.
There aren't any decent metal sources locally & after looking at what was on-line I found I could get enough material to do both Aluma & the Sno-Bear for about the same price as buying just enough for the Aluma. I picked up 24" each of 1/8" x 4" bar and 2"x2" 1/8" angle in 6061 aluminium. I also picked up a couple of LED illuminated plate brackets while shopping.
I am not set up for welding aluminum so I went with pop rivets. Since I might want to have the option later to remove & replace the plate holder on the Aluma, I included a plug for the lamp connection. The upright is held between the two angles by pop rivets. To make it removable I would drill a new hole for a bolt or clevis pin & drill out the two rivets. I probably won't need to do this since the plate does not protrude over the deck enough to be a problem with the equipment we typically would carry.
Did a similar job with the SnowBear, but no plug on the light circuit.
Time will tell how they hold up, but I feel reasonably confident in their long term survival.
On a side note, the addition of the Aluma pretty much made it clear that we needed a better storage option than on or beside the driveway. The wife & I cleared out a section of the woods to make a new parking area. The new 1025R was very helpful in getting out stumps, grading and spreading the 24 tons of crusher run we had delivered for the new "trailer park".
Nick
There aren't any decent metal sources locally & after looking at what was on-line I found I could get enough material to do both Aluma & the Sno-Bear for about the same price as buying just enough for the Aluma. I picked up 24" each of 1/8" x 4" bar and 2"x2" 1/8" angle in 6061 aluminium. I also picked up a couple of LED illuminated plate brackets while shopping.
I am not set up for welding aluminum so I went with pop rivets. Since I might want to have the option later to remove & replace the plate holder on the Aluma, I included a plug for the lamp connection. The upright is held between the two angles by pop rivets. To make it removable I would drill a new hole for a bolt or clevis pin & drill out the two rivets. I probably won't need to do this since the plate does not protrude over the deck enough to be a problem with the equipment we typically would carry.
Did a similar job with the SnowBear, but no plug on the light circuit.
Time will tell how they hold up, but I feel reasonably confident in their long term survival.
On a side note, the addition of the Aluma pretty much made it clear that we needed a better storage option than on or beside the driveway. The wife & I cleared out a section of the woods to make a new parking area. The new 1025R was very helpful in getting out stumps, grading and spreading the 24 tons of crusher run we had delivered for the new "trailer park".
Nick
