Trailer story

[Anonymous Poster]

Jim, I'm sittin here trying to recall exactly how many trailers I own, and best I can say is it's over 30, ranging from self loading reel trailers and pole trailers to box trailers, dump trailers and flatbeds.
A few years ago I got myself a little S10 Blazer for me and the dog, and decided I didn't like towing any of the trailers I owned with that Blazer. Naturally, I went and built myself a trailer just to use with the Blazer. My stepson, well, I won't go beyond the fact he told me the trailer was built totally wrong cause it could only haul 1 snowmobile, was totally shocked the day I put 2 sleds onit.
The deck is 72" wide and 10 feet long cause that seemed about right, and only required 2 sheets of pressure treated plywood. The trailer has hydraulic brakes, a winch, 12 D ring tiedowns, spare tire carrier, and hydraulic tilt, along with 2 sets of ramps and a set of ladder racks that allow carrying longer than the trailer materials.
Weight was a consideration, so I framed it with Kindorf electrical chanel, and reverse bowstrung the siderails for added strength. I put the whole thing together in about 12 hours, and it will carry over a ton, if I want to.
Putting a jack between the toung and bed is an idea I've used on a few trailers, and have found effective as long as you have a jack of sufficient capacity in the right place without the jack getting in the way when you are loading. Scissor type car jacks mounted between a couple pins will easily tip a small trailer, such as a snowmobile trailer.
For light trailers, a pair of springloaded shock absorbers or even airshocks work well, as long as you can tilt the deck by moving the load. A pair of shocks between the toung and deck will definitely make the tilt more controlled on a self tipper.
You can also make an effective tipping mechanism using a winch and a V mechanism. There is no shortage of ways to tilt a trailer.

 

[JimMc]

Sounds like a nice rig. I used a 6'x12' with my Jimmy for several years. Was just about the perfect size. Easy to back. Good visibility while towing. Loads easy and low to the ground. Most of our trailers are goosenecks and fifth wheels. The smallest is about 25'. But when I'm just wanting to move a couple thousand lbs I still go home and pick up that 6'x12' and throw it behind my Expedition. Hardly even know it's back there and when you're empty or loaded rides great on the trailer or tow rig.

 

[wroughtn_harv]

<font color=blue>One dumb question: other than wanting one, which is good enough reason for me, why not just use ramps?</font color=blue>

Mark since we're almost like family I'll try to answer this for ya. /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Tilt trailers are great for one thing, loading and unloading vehicles.

I have an Escot that I picked up from a bud for six hundred dollars. I'm sitting with over a thousand in it now plus all my labor. I replaced the hydraulic brake system with electric and I changed out the coupler (part of the hydraulic brake system) from a two inch ball to a two and five sixteenths. The coupler is one of those where you back into it instead of under it. They're so slick they make WD40 look like glue.

I put ten ply sixteen inch radials on new wheels on it along with a three sixteenths steel deck to replace the old wood. It tows like a dream empty. It makes me nervous with my JCB on it. Of course the GVW of the trailer is six thousand the tractor weighs fifty four hundred.

It only has eleven foot of deck. Which is fine for just the tractor. Actually I lend the trailer out more than I use it. I tried to allow for that by going to the two and five sixteenths ball. Fewer folks have that and so fewer feel they can use the trailer.

My main squeeze trailer is a Trail King. It's got twenty foot of deck, five foot dovetail, ramps, electric brakes, twelve sixteen point five tires, and pintle hitch.

It's a bed over so getting up there is a trip sometimes. I used to borrow a Mertz Drill King from a friend on occasion. It is a hydraulic drive articulated monster. It's a hundred inches wide and the trailer is ninety six. The way you steer it is with a stick between your legs, sort like having the gear shift off of an old truck coming up between your legs. Right to turn left and left to turn right to boot. The pedal on the floor is a rocker. You rock it forward to go forward and rock it back to go backwards. There weren't any brakes. So you learn real quick to rock or roll.

What made it real fun to load was the Ford industrial six powerplant didn't have the ump to make it up the ramps and dovetail without a good running start. And of course the throttle is fixed. You have to set the throttle and then go for it.

Now your pucker string will find it's limit when you're looking at going up a ramp from a running start when the steering is articulated operated by a stick between your legs. You have to have the motor wound out, and take a running start. The only thing that is worse than hauling up the ramp is to get about half way up and run out of power. Then you have to back down and do it all over again. It was a trip.

Ramps on a trailer usually need two things if they're mounted permanent which is best in my book. The first thing is assist. The make torsion springs you slip over your hinge pin when you attach the ramps to the trailer. They don't do squat when the ramps are up. But the pick up a lot of weight when they're down so you don't have to. And with a dovetail they need a double link hinge assembly so they can lay down flat.

Ramp trailers are great when the trailer is going to be used for many different chores. They are unbeatable when you need to haul say like attachments separate from the tractor. You can't safely tilt a trailer if you've got heavy stuff up front.

Another thing that is necesassary but you don't see as often as you should is drop legs on the ramps. These are especially handy on smaller trailers like your standard angle iron trailers. Many is the guy with the small tractor that's had a heart attack when pulling on to his trailer he sees the back of the pickemup off the ground until he gets most of the weight up over the axles of the trailer.

 

[spd163]

"...The coupler is one of those where you back into it instead of under it. They're so slick they make WD40 look like glue..."

Exactly what type of coupler are you talking about and where do you get them?

 

[wroughtn_harv]

I got it at Dallas Axle here in norte tejas. But they're a Dexter Axle dealer so that might be the source. I know Bulldog makes something similar.

I'm really not sure of the name.

The way it works is there's a collar you fold up, sorta U shape with the bow towards the tow vehicle and hinged at the back.

It has two floating pieces that fold out when you pull out from the trailer. And of course when you back in they fold back around the ball and then you fold the collar down and pin it.

Of course since floating pieces grab the ball there's a groove in the bottom plate to keep the tongue from coming up. That's why you have to back in and can't back under.

Check your local trailer wholesaler and describe it like I have. I'm sure they will know what it is. I do believe they only come in two and five sixteenths though.

I like it cause I can back up and feel it settle in. With a conventional hitch you back in until you get a crunch and then pull forward so far and hope your'e right on. That crunch can be a cumlative big crunch over time.

 

[htiek126]

"Another thing that is necesassary but you don't see as often as you should is drop legs on the ramps. These are especially handy on smaller trailers like your standard angle iron trailers. Many is the guy with the small tractor that's had a heart attack when pulling on to his trailer he sees the back of the pickemup off the ground until he gets most of the weight up over the axles of the trailer."

The most critical design factor I have calculated in trailer frame design is supporting the load on the rear edge of the trailer while loading. When the leading axle of a heavy machine crosses from the ramp to the rear edge of the trailer (my calculations were on a 12,000 lb. GVW 16' foot trailer built with 6" x 8.2lbs/foot channel) and the ramps and trailer are not supported by the ground near the rear edge of the trailer, you can easily reach the maximum allowable stress with no safety margin of the 6" channel. Having supports for the ramp and trailer negates the whole issue, and keeps the truck on the ground.

I learned my lesson about pickin' up pickup trucks. The parking brake was the only safety net I had while unloading on a conveinantly placed hill. The back of the truck went into the air, and the whole works took off down the hill. I was in the lowest range on the tractor, so I was unable to speed to a safe position. Fortunately, my buddy had the presence to chase down the truck, jump inisde, and hit the brakes. The truck took out a 3" diameter tree, and was about 6 feet from hitting a rather large oak tree.

 

[Wingnut]

Mark,
..... and you can always combine technologies. I have a tilt and drop trailer. Probably would require some extra engineering to make it strong enough for more than half a ton or so ... but:
This is a custom-built "motorcycle" trailer. You can tell it's for a motorcycle, because the deck has a channel wide enough for m/c tires bolted to it./w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif. The whole deck drops to the ground so I can drive on/off. Then it winches (using a standard, cheap boat trailer winch - hand crank) up to full height. The tilt feature is needed so that the trailer can stay hitched ... once back in place, there are 3 clevis pins used to keep the deck (2) and the tongue (1) in place.
Only one feature I'd like to change on this puppy and that's to go to larger tires (it was built for those silly little 8" trailer tires. But ... I'm sure .... that would require major re-engineering since it would mean longer (torsion bars?) on the suspension.
So far, it has about 25,000 miles on it and it's still going strong (although after 3 years of sitting in the Michigan elements, it's time to replace the deck with new plywood.) I use it for the Goldwing (900+ pounds) and the big touring snowmobile (yeah, I know what they are ... and now my Texas wife does too) .... and for general hauling when the 16 footer is overkill.

pete

 

[Ozarker]

Reminds me of my first, and last. pickup pick up. My father in law had given me an old chevy pickup I could use for parts and I went to Iowa with my 16' flatbed trailer to get it. While there, my brother in law asked if I could move his Farmall from the farm to his place just outside Council Bluffs, about 50 miles away. I said sure. If it will fit on the trailer, I figured I could move it 50 miles.

I backed up to the barn and set the ramps, he started up the ramps backing on and as soon as the weight or the tractor was on the trailer, the rear of the truck went airborne. Fortunately, the weight of the tractor embedded the rear of the trailer in the dirt and that anchored my truck so the whole mess didn't run down the hill.

 

[rocky2]

Loading my Bobcat backwards onto the trailer everyone stands around watching but nobody ever mentioned to me that it was lifting the trucks rear wheels. Of course it was on the level and nothing went anywhere. But, when it came time to unload, on a hill...glad to see I'm not the only dummy to suddenly be sitting on the machine wondering why the world's suddenly passing by...the wrong way. I shortly thereafter welded a jackstand pipe and pin type stabilizer to the rear outside corners of the trailer.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

The one absolute when talking about trailers is when you figure you've engineered every possible feature into a trailer, you forgot something that will bite you in the butt at the worst possible time and place.
That's why I wait to paint them till I'm sure I won't want to weld anything else on.