Second Load & My New Trailer

^The trailer is all shred, and the bed is mostly Al and SS.

After my first load I decided that I was going to make a serious go of scrapping, so I bought a trailer. I got this 25 year old gem for $350. It may be old, but it's solid.

My goal was to beat my weight and profit totals from last time, and I blew them both away.

Shred - 960 @ .08
Mixed Al - 83 @ .48
Stainless - 55 @ .60

Total $159.14

I gotta admit that I was disappointed I didn't break 1000lbs on shredder, but all in all I was very happy with my haul.

Nice setup and that nice haul. You'll find ways to pack that trailer to the max as you go. Is that a 4x8?

Thanks Thirsty! It's a 5X8. I know that I could have fit some more in there this trip, but I figured that I was mostly full, and didn't want to wait around until I got enough to finish off the load. The problem I have is that I made a deal with my wife that I would keep all my scrap in the shed or the trailer. I can't have any scrap piles laying around, so I need to keep the trailer ready in case a big score comes up.

Looks like a nice set up. I always have tools in my truck. That trailer would be perfect.

Originally Posted by Mechanic688

I wouldn't push the weight any heavier on the trailer cause judging by the small wheels you probably have small bearings, and you start overloading on a regular basis, you'll burn up the bearings.

Thanks for the heads up. I really don't think these are very small wheels, but I guess I was pushing it. The GVRW is 1200, and the curb weight is 380. So with about 950lbs of shred in it I was about 130lbs overweight.

Main thing is good fresh grease. If they haven't been greased (or inspected) in awhile, ain't no time like the present. You'll need new wheel seals, but those shouldn't be hard to find, and in a pinch, if you're careful enough with them, you could go back with the old ones if you had too, but you'll need to know what you're doing. If you're in an area with a trailer maker (or manufacturer, who even makes their own axles), you might check with them to see if new seals are readily available. Sometimes they've just got to get the ol calipers out, or a micrometer, but they should have numbers on them It wouldn't cost nothing to pop the outer covers off and look to see what the grease looks like, and to raise the wheels to check for freeplay in the bearings (there should be little to none) and check if they're turning freely with no rough spots. If you put some grease on a clean paper towel, you should be able to tell if it has accumulated many metalic particles, and if it has, be a good idea to tear em down, and clean all the old grease, possibly even replace any faulty/worn bearings, and go back with fresh grease and new seals. (if you need any help with it, i'm just a message away)
I also put marks on mine, both sides, when I have it loaded, and parked on a fairly level surface, just lay a regular level on top of the tire, and put a mark over onto the trailer. After it's been weighed, say you had 900 pounds, just put a 9 beside that mark. I first did this with a load of 40 pound bags of cement, on a little 1/2 ton pickup. It was on sale and I got a half ton, loaded it evenly into the truck, put a mark on each shock, and each 200 pounds thereafter as I unloaded it. From that time onward, I could check the marks on my shocks to see what load it had. You can do much the same with your trailer, but it takes a little bit of guesswork, as it can be heavier left to right, front to back, plus the load on the tongue, being transferred to the rear of your truck. I still prefer having a few marks to guess by, than just guessing blind

I just looked back at your photo, in your case you could just use a framing square to mark it across with, put the long part of the square going up the side, drop it till it touches the high part of your tire, and mark your trailer at the corner of the square

Bear - Thanks for the tips. Here in PA a trailer only needs to be inspected the first time it's sold, so it could very well use a once over by a real mechanic. I'll get the make sure to have the bearings looked at too.

That was an awesome tip on marking the trailer loaded to have an idea of how much weight I've got in it. I will definitely be using that trick.

Thanks again!

Originally Posted by Ptscrapper

Looks like your wife may have a slight case of OCD just like my old lady but I bet she don't complain when the money rolls in huh?

Nah, she's not bad. She just worries about the little ones getting hurt. The best part is scrap money is ALL Mine.

really your wheel bearings are not that hard to do yourself. or at least not the primary inspection. Just raise the tire with a jack, and give it a spin, watch and listen for rough spots or wobbles. then while it's still on the jack, grab the top of the tire and pull outwards, and then push inwards, just a gentle tug will tell you if it's loose or not, too much play and it needs at minimum adjusted up a bit. The bearing covers should pop off easily enough with a large pair of slip joint pliers, just get a good grip on it and rock it back and forth till it pops loose. You'll be looking to see if the grease is very clean, or very dirty. If it's been hot you might can even smell it. This is where you take a dab on a finger and wipe it on a white paper towel or napkin, just enough for a thin smudge, look at it in some good bright light for metalic speckles. From there you should know if it needs any immediate attention. A rubber mallet works well to pop the cover back on, just make sure it seats straight and completely. (there's a little ring groove sticks out at the seat line) Then repeat on the other side It's a ten minute job each side if you've got your tools together (and could save you a day on the side of the road)

Actually i should practice what i preach ; ) I haven't checked mine since putting it on the road about 6 years ago (with a new axle), but it's seen very little use really, since the initial 4 trips from TN. I bought my truck about that time too, just before I moved, gave it a good going over, even though I had the maintenance records from the time it was new, and it had been extremely well maintained by top shops, I still gave it a thorough inspection. After stopping at an emissions check for tagging it, the thing wouldn't go into gear at a dead stop. Turned out they had put a new clutch in it a number of years before, and although the clutch was still ok, they had failed to replace the slave cylinder(hydraulic clutch) within the tranny. Failing to go back with a new $35 slave cylinder during a very expensive clutch replacement caused me to have to do the whole job over, pulling a transfer case (4x4) and the tranny again, and replacing clutch and flywheel (not because I had to, but because I didn't want to have to do it again anytime soon), and a new slave cylinder. It's been over 6 years now, and over 50,000 miles, and I'm yet to have to do another repair on it, cepting regular oil changes, tire rotation/inspection, and grease