Sand blasting equipment trailer?

[John White]

I am looking at top of the ling equipment trailer, used. Needs a lot of work, But mainly the under carriage should be sand blasted and repainted. So I am interested in knowing if any of you had did this and what did it cost to get it sand blasted? A worse case situation I could flip the trailer over on its top and take a wire wheel and clean up the rust, prime it and paint it.

 

[AWSubie]

I have not done this but I thought I'd offer an alternative suggestion. Flip it over, pressure wash it, and spray it with a direct to metal paint (rustoleum for example). I think you'll get the protection you want with minimum effort. To do this you'll only need one quart of paint, a $15 harbor freight spray gun, an air compressor ( I assume you have an air compressor) and a pressure washer ($80 on sale at harbor freight). I have used this procedure on old tractors and it works great.

 

[KennyG]

I think sandblasting would be too much effort and mess. With my trailer, I knocked off any loose rust with the angle grinder and wire brush, washed it well and brush painted with Rustoleum primer. Then I sprayed it with Rustoleum semi gloss. Looks ok and has held up well for several years.

 

[fried1765]

I think sandblasting would be too much effort and mess. With my trailer, I knocked off any loose rust with the angle grinder and wire brush, washed it well and brush painted with Rustoleum primer. Then I sprayed it with Rustoleum semi gloss. Looks ok and has held up well for several years.

Rustoleum and Rustoleum primer would help, but for all the work involved, you could do much better.

In my opinion, you should roll the trailer over, knock all the loose rust off with a coarse flap disc sander, pressure wash, and then apply a coat or two of OSPHO (Phosphoric acid).

AFTER the OSPHO you could use Rustoleum paint, but a far better, and lasting coating (resistant to road abrasion), would be a two part marine epoxy paint.

 

[John White]

Yes< for any benefit gained I think sand blasting it would be too expensive for the amount gained. Probably flipping it over and using a flapper disc and wire brush, then rustolium and paint would be the way to go.

 

[Tomtint]

I had a 18' equipment trailer all blasted, replaced inner fender metal, new boxes installed for the rear lights and had it all primed and painted. Then I bought and installed new reflective tape to the sides. I think all that was in the 2200.00 range. If I had it to do over.. I would not do it. I would just sell it as it was and buy new.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I am always getting stuff sand blasted. I found a really cheap guy locally. I do mainly equipment but won't bother for anything on road. I have had my GMC hitch blasted several times, baked the new paint and in short order it's totaly rusted again. Did my Lady friends winter rims this summer and a month into winter, they are rusted and look like crap. I couldn't believe what I was seeing! TOTAL waste of time and money.

 

[aczlan]

Yes< for any benefit gained I think sand blasting it would be too expensive for the amount gained.

That is what the local sandblasting place told me, they said $1800-2000 to sandblast and paint our 6x10 landscape trailer.
I will pull the deck at some point, wire brush it and paint it, perhaps this year (its getting soft in spots).

Aaron Z

 

[Industrial Toys]

I know where there is a 6X10 landscape trailer that you could drive away with for 200 bucks! Comes with a brand new spare.

Not a whole lot of things I regret. But spending time and money on old trailers is one of them. The worst thing is, everytime I did, I swore, never again to be so stupid.

 

[KennyG]

I am always getting stuff sand blasted. I found a really cheap guy locally. I do mainly equipment but won't bother for anything on road. I have had my GMC hitch blasted several times, baked the new paint and in short order it's totaly rusted again. Did my Lady friends winter rims this summer and a month into winter, they are rusted and look like crap. I couldn't believe what I was seeing! TOTAL waste of time and money.

Not to be critical, but I would be rethinking my painting process. I try to do a good surface prep and use primer before painting and things hold up pretty well. I bought a car with wheels that were supposed to have been powder coated. They looked terrible. I painted them with Rustoleum and they are holding up fine.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I would not give you a nickle for anything that is powder coated and has to go on the road. What utter garbage! The worst thing is, you can't touch it up and blasting it is difficult.

Not a big fan of primer. And I have done a lot of painting, mostly with rust paint. I'm a big fan of baking paint if you can.

It's the EVIL salt and brine they use on the roads. The experience with those steel rims seems to mirror that of my OEM truck hitch. I think, once the rust is in there, the blasting can make it look pretty clean, but the rust is still there ready to start growing again. If it wouldn't be exposed to the salt, it wouldn't be a problem at all.

 

[aczlan]

I know where there is a 6X10 landscape trailer that you could drive away with for 200 bucks! Comes with a brand new spare.

Not a whole lot of things I regret. But spending time and money on old trailers is one of them. The worst thing is, everytime I did, I swore, never again to be so stupid.

Bringing it across the border might be a problem...
This one is actually fairly heavily built, but well balanced (2x2x3/16" upper frame, 3x3x3/16" lower frame and tongue. 3500# GVWR).

Aaron Z

 

[Industrial Toys]

It's funny, because when I first got that landscape trailer, I took it to my friend, with a local steel fab shop. He wasn't a friend at that time, and he basically told me it wasn't worth putting money into and sent me on my way with tail between my legs. I don't remember who fixed it in the end, and I did put a new deck on it, new lights, in conduit, soldered, and did get years of service out of it, but my friend was still right. It wasn't worth it. Put time and money into expensive equipment, not dime a dozen trailers that will still be worth about the same.

 

[fried1765]

Not to be critical, but I would be rethinking my painting process. I try to do a good surface prep and use primer before painting and things hold up pretty well. I bought a car with wheels that were supposed to have been powder coated. They looked terrible. I painted them with Rustoleum and they are holding up fine.

Your advice about prep is exactly correct.
There are however, coatings available that are far superior to Rustoleum.

 

[fried1765]

I would not give you a nickle for anything that is powder coated and has to go on the road. What utter garbage! The worst thing is, you can't touch it up and blasting it is difficult.

Not a big fan of primer. And I have done a lot of painting, mostly with rust paint. I'm a big fan of baking paint if you can.

It's the EVIL salt and brine they use on the roads. The experience with those steel rims seems to mirror that of my OEM truck hitch. I think, once the rust is in there, the blasting can make it look pretty clean, but the rust is still there ready to start growing again. If it wouldn't be exposed to the salt, it wouldn't be a problem at all.

Have you ever tried using a metal prep, or OSPHO, prior to primer and paint?

 

[fried1765]

Bringing it across the border might be a problem...
This one is actually fairly heavily built, but well balanced (2x2x3/16" upper frame, 3x3x3/16" lower frame and tongue. 3500# GVWR).

Aaron Z

Should not be a problem bringing across the border.

I think just declare the actual price paid ($200), and then take it to your local provincial registration office to pay the tax and get a plate. Would need to get a provincial safety inspection first. Better make sure you have the trailer title too.

 

[Industrial Toys]

It's only an issue with stuff exposed to salt. I would blast the rims and trailer hitch again if I thought a prep might work. One of the problems with the rims is that I did not do the other side and there are all those holes, one side to the other, where rust can migrate from the bad side.

 

[Barnbuilder]

What about painting it with POR15? I think it would last longer than Rustoleum.

 

[aczlan]

Should not be a problem bringing across the border.

I think just declare the actual price paid ($200), and then take it to your local provincial registration office to pay the tax and get a plate. Would need to get a provincial safety inspection first. Better make sure you have the trailer title too.

Industrial Toys is in Canada and I am in the US. Probably not worth the hassle and paperwork to bring a $200 trailer that is the same size as one that I already have across the border into the US.

Aaron Z

 

[fried1765]

Industrial Toys is in Canada and I am in the US. Probably not worth the hassle and paperwork to bring a $200 trailer that is the same size as one that I already have across the border into the US.

Aaron Z

Could be, but I just sold my seasonal residence in Nova Scotia (I live in the US), and found minimal customs issues traveling back and forth, over 13 summers.