homemade dual axel trailer

[Youare]

I made a smaller trailer a few years ago to tow behind my 30hp. Kubota. The trailer bed is 8 feet long and just under 4 feet wide, I wanted to be able to reach one side from the other.

The wheels and axles are form the rear of a Dodge Caravan and the frame is square steel tubing and the bed is framed with angle iron. The walking beam is a piece of 2 x 4 square steel tubing with a pivot in the middle.

The trailer has about 4 years of use and abuse. The axle beams were at first connected to the frame with a flat bottomed U shape bracket. After a slight failure I connected the brackets together with a tie rod. If I was to make another one I would just make the pivot connection members longer.

As far as load goes I have piled on 3/4 of a cord of green oak. It handles rough terrian very well.

Randy

 

[easygo]

YOUARE,

Do you by any chance have pictures of the under-side of the trailer? I assume you used no springs?

I'm hoping to build one just like that in a 3x6' size. I'm darn near done with a 6x11' road trailer and now comes my long overdue yard/woods trailer with a dump.

Thanks

 

[Youare]

No underside pictures, sorry.

You are correct there are no springs, I didn't feel they were necessary for a strickly off-road trailer. Several times I have thought about the addition of springs for over the road travel. With the walking beam type of suspension bumps in the way do not rock the trailer anywhere near was much if it had a single axle. When one wheel encounters a hump or a hollow it rises or drops the distance while the other evens out the movement.

The ride is much smoother and the load easier to pull with this arrangement. The wider the tires you have the more things float along. When turning sharpe with the trailer loaded on soft ground one of the two wheels on each side will have to skid a bit which can leave skuff marks. So don't turn abruptly on the lawn.

Randy

 

[ampa]

I got a trailer made from an axel kit from my old neighbour buddy....he bought it brand new to build a small trailer for behind his Goldwing motor cycle.... he sold it to me as he was dying from terminal cancer...I extended it with a 5' piece of square tubing for the width...and put it together real quick to haul my truck camper which was very heavy and loaded...bein the axels are rubber torque type no springs needed...the wheels and axels are still like brand new.... as I remove the wheels/tires for the winter...there is plenty of heavy machine racking to finish building a good size trailer...... it's altogether including the tougue complete with hitch...$100 cdn will buy all of it...if by chance you lived very close to the Niagra Falls Border....as I live on the Ontario side in Hamilton which is about 35 miles from the Border....I'm not too sure where Ontario NY where you live...this trailer could be dismantled and carried in a minivan if need be....just another option for you to think about.....Ampa

 

[radioman]

ampa- sent ya a pm

 

[oughtsix]

Go to your local pick-n-pull (junk yard) and tell the counter you want a $20 pair of rear spindles off of a front wheel drive car. i.e. "I am thinking about building a garden trailer and I am looking for a really cheap pair of spindles. I don't care what they come off of. I was hoping to pay $20 or so. Do you have anything you are about to crush?" They will most likely have something ready for crushing that you can pull the spindles off of for cheap. While you are at it grab the tires and wheels for another $5 if not free. Grab the spring packs too.

When I pulled the $30 rear calipers off of an Eldorado I pulled the spindles while I was at it. When I showed them they tossed in the spindles for free. It is all in how you ask! Pulling a part then asking "how much" will always double or triple the price. So does having them pull a part. Don't be an *****! Be honest, they know when people are trying to rip off parts by not telling them about the parts.

A pair of spindles opens all sorts of design options. You can make the belly of the bed closer to the ground making loading much easier. The trailer is going to dump... isn't it?

 

[radioman]

radioman,
Is your dad's trailer still around? Can you post some photos?

You asked, you shall receive. The sheet metal is basically bent from a long sheet. When I got home after snapping pic of the trailer, I forgot to take a picture of how thick it really was- it seems to be about 1/4 inch thick I think. I envision a trailer just like his only 4 ft wide by 5-6 ft long, it just depends on what kind of a sheet metal I can find. I beleive his trailer is about 38 inches by 4ft.

 

[Steve_Miller]

This was one I built from scrounged materials about twenty years ago with the exception of cylinder and hoses. It's four by six and dumps to about 50 degrees. It is way over built as far as the frame goes (2" X 6" channel). I've had as much as two ton on it. One thing I will say is that the best thing I ever did was put tubes in the tires so they rarely ever go down on air, I think I've only put air in them 5 or 6 times in 15 years. I've also been throwing around the idea of a dually for the purpose of making it road worthy for local trips.

Steve

 

[radioman]

Looks well built! I like it. However , I don't want a road worthy trailer- I got 2 of them. A 16 and 8 fter. I thought about cutting down the 8 footer, but i cringe just thinking about it, plus I lose a road worthy trailer .

 

[Steve_Miller]

Mine is not road worthy.

Steve

 

[Iplayfarmer]

This was one I built from scrounged materials about twenty years ago with the exception of cylinder and hoses. It's four by six and dumps to about 50 degrees. It is way over built as far as the frame goes (2" X 6" channel). I've had as much as two ton on it. One thing I will say is that the best thing I ever did was put tubes in the tires so they rarely ever go down on air, I think I've only put air in them 5 or 6 times in 15 years. I've also been throwing around the idea of a dually for the purpose of making it road worthy for local trips.

Steve

Why is it not road worthy as is? How would a dually make it road worthy?

 

[Steve_Miller]

No suspension, no lights, no brakes, need I go on. My intention was to build a new road worthy trailer, not rebuild this one.

Steve

 

[Iplayfarmer]

My intention was to build a new road worthy trailer, not rebuild this one.

Steve

I get it. Thanks for clarifying.

 

[Crow Horse]

Here's a variant on the same idea. I used lawn tractor front axles that have the frame of a Home Depot garden cart sitting on top. I then fabbed up linkages to make it 4WS.........

It's still a work in progress.......

 

[radioman]

Very nice! I see you added shocks too.

 

[Crow Horse]

I'm not really pleased with the shocks I ended up using. This project had a very tight budget so I ended up using gas scooter shocks and in this case, they really aren't compliant (read - have the travel I needed or wanted and are way too stiff). But they were cheap and they do stabilize it. I'll probably end up using snowmobile shocks (oil filled) in the rear.

Despite those limitations, It has been able to crawl over small logs with a load, so that I'm pleased with.

My needs required a trailer/cart to be light & small yet be able to negotiate some rough terrain. So far so good. I pull this with my old Wheel Horse and it seems to be a good combination........