My little welding trailer

[BGL990]

In the thread “What can you expect from a plasma cutter”, sassafraspete commented on wanting a welding trailer. His description was almost exactly what I happened to have built for myself a couple years ago. Here are some pictures of it ….

First picture is of the front. You can see the red TIG and MIG welder (MIG on top) and the green oxygen tank propped up at an angle. Across the front are some of the bit and pieces that are usually just tossed on top of everything – gloves, safety glasses, wire cutters, angle grinder, etc.

 

[BGL990]

Next is looking at the back where the 10,000 watt generator sits. The black power cord goes to the air compressor and the white one is 220V going to a set of 3 receptacles where the rest of the stuff is plugged in.

 

[BGL990]

This is the right side, where everything but the oxy-acetylene tanks are accessed. From left to right are: 10Kwatt generator, air compressor, plasma cutter, argon tank for the TIG welder, argon/CO2 tank for the MIG welder, and the MIG and TIG machines. Some lengths of 2x4 and some hangers make a place to hang all the cables and store vice grips, clamps, and helmets.

 

[BGL990]

The left side with the oxy-acetylene tanks. The acetylene has to stand upright of course, but it doesn’t matter for the oxygen. The tank was pretty tall so I leaned it over to keep the overall height down and make the trailer more stable. At the lower right you can also see a blue metal bender that I didn’t have any other good spot to bolt down.

 

[BGL990]

The oxygen tank is quite heavy and needed some lateral support. I welded up a length of pipe with flat plates on each end. One end is bolted to the 2x4 tank support and doubles as a place to hook one of the tie-down straps holding the tank in place.

 

[BGL990]

The pipe goes across to the other side of the trailer and just bolts to the deck. This addition made the tank support solid as a rock.

 

[BGL990]

Here are the electrical outlets. Yes, they need to be flipped over so the power cords hang down properly. The plug on the left is from the plasma cutter. It is a 110V/220V unit (auto-senses what it is plugged into) and has a standard 110V plug on it. I made an adapter to plug into 220V.

 

[BGL990]

Instead of fighting with 3 different ground cables, I used a piece of 3/4" copper water pipe as a common place to attach all the ground cables. At one end I soldered a cable with clamp to the pipe so I have one common ground for the whole setup.

 

[BGL990]

A little closer view of the generator, compressor, and plasma cutter. If you look closely you can see the U-bolts holding the generator down. I put a splitter on the compressor so I can have an air hose with blower nozzle as well as feed the plasma cutter.

 

[BGL990]

Last one.

Closer view of the gas tanks and welders. You can see the red tie-down strap that is holding the compressor, plasma cutter, tanks, and welders down. I just put eye bolts in the deck and ran the strap over each machine and through the eye bolts between each one.
There are a couple of strategically placed bits of wood screwed down here and there, but basically the one strap and friction hold everything in place quite nicely.

Still to do: add fenders and some sort of canopy so I can take it out in bad weather if necessary. I’ve thought of adding removable hard sides and top so I can register it and take it on the road, but I’m not sure I trust the axle which is probably carrying double the weight it was designed for. As it is, I tote it around with the quad. It’s a little heavy (probably close to 1500 lbs) but the quad moves it around OK in low range.

 

[PineRidge]

Brad great idea and I like the way you put it all together. I tend to agree with you on the load on that single axle though. Looks to me like the leaf springs are saying ouch already. Don't get hurt out there on the road or take the chance on losing all your valuable equipment to a mishap.

TC-40D SS web pictures click here

 

[Bully]

BGL 990 Looks great, Are you going to put some kind of finish on the wood, oil base stain, or paint? A canopy wold be good but the wood is still going to weather.

 

[BGL990]

I'm not worried about the deck. It will be very rare to have it out in any sort of bad weather anyway. The canopy will be "just in case" - don't want the welders getting wet. I think the deck should last years even untreated while just sitting in the garage.

 

[GEB]

I'll try and post some pic's of my set up later today,
it anit much but serves me well.
I also built a small trailer for all sorts of odd jobs around my place.
I might add the trailer is retro looking, looks good with
my old Ford tractors /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
Stay tuned.
I'm off to go buy some tires and rims for my 1953 Jubilee.
Gene

 

[sassafraspete]

Brad, thanks for sharing the pictures. Looks like you are "loaded for bear" as we like to say. That's a lot of equipment on one trailer. A lot of great ideas there.

I've seen the 10,000 w generator, AC/DC stick and Tig all in one units advertised. Are these any good as compared to separate units?

I really like your concept, self contained, and portable, with everything you need....and then some.

 

[BGL990]

<font color="blue">I've seen the 10,000 w generator, AC/DC stick and Tig all in one units advertised. Are these any good as compared to separate units? </font>

I've never used one of the all-in-one units, but I can't imagine any reason they wouldn't be as good, or better, than the same pieces separated. Maybe a tad less versatile as far as just taking one smaller piece of equipment somewhere if needed, but that's probably a non-issue in most cases.