Originally Posted by
dmm2442
Ok thanks for the tips gustavas. The outside rails on my trailer are the same 4" channel iron . My original plan was to take some smaller channel iron and weld it inside of the 4" to make a full tube until your idea of the top rails. What did you make your ramps out of? I have an old battery shelf(3"angle iron on both sides) that is very sturdy. I was going to convert it into ramps(I'd have to get a picture of it for it to make sense). Did the cross members flat plate work out or would you do that differently? That would probably be the cheapest way. I was also going to look for a junky old trailer that I could cut up for the steel all I have is angle iron. Also any estimate on what the tractor weighed?
For ramps I just cut some 2 x 12 junk planking approximately 40" long, the method to this is that sometimes parts from the undercarriage or steering geometry especially if the wheels are off will get caught.
Having the ramp planks just laid out onto the rear of the trailer if anything does get caught the planks will let loose then skid onto the trailer, then jack the car or truck up to retrieve the planks for the rear wheels.
This does not happen very often but when it does you'll be thankful for having your ramps loose
Fixed ramps are a PITA in my opinion, there will be more times than not that they are a nuisance.
At the rear and front channels of my trailer I only welded 1 1/2" x 1/4" flat plate. When you weld up your T'-bar stitch and stagger your welds or your going to have some seriously warped bits of iron.
On the 4" channel where the spring hangers are welded onto the frame I put short pieces of fish plating at each hanger, lets say the spring bolt hanger is 2 inches long my fish plate would have extended 1 " off either end for a total length of 4 inches.
The pipe used for the strong back is 1 1'/2" black gas pipe with 1 1/2" x 1/4" flat
bar welded on top. Then tapered down then welded to the top of the channel, Before I tapered I had left the flat plat longer than necessary, I heated it then bent it so that I have about an 1 1/2" contact with the channel for a firm weld.
I looked at fenders from Princess Auto the Canadian equivalent to Harbor Freight but decided not to purchase them. I had some material bent on a brake then cut it to length with notches to bend it where needed to form mud guards front and rear. Just between the tires I've welded in a brace that fits under the fender giving it more support. I believe the material I used is something like 3/16" for the fenders and they turned out cheaper than had I purchased pre-formed garbage.
if you need a picture of this brace I can do in the morning.
I used LED lights, not because I'm in love with them but for this. If the trailer ever broke down and needed to be left at road side I could hook the marker lights to the battery and not worry about draining the battery. The reflective tape is mandatory in Canada for all Commercial trucks and trailers.
Chances are that your 4" channel is facing flat-side outwards, you could just add some pieces of fish plate to weld your cross members onto. If it were me I would cut the side channels loose then swap sides.
To answer your question would I change anything in regards to using the T-Bar, yes if I could have purchased this ready made I would have. This is the second trailer I have built using this system and it is strong.
The 4: channel was an unexpected surprise, my other trailer was made using the frame from a Mobile Home, that had some nice box tubing 2" x 10" x 1/8".
Be sure to examine any factory welds your going to leave as part of your trailer construction. From my experience they;re not very good welds. I have always ground them off or at least down so that I could get a good root weld, then a second pass to finish the weld off.- make it look pretty,
The guy at the welding shop where I buy my gas for the mig talked me into Co2, when this bottle is empty I'm gong back to my argon / Co2 mix which gives much nicer looking welds with less clean up.
First picture is looking at the LH rear corner of the trailer., 2nd is an example of fish plating to secure the tie down winch, 3rd id the brace under the fender for added support.
One of the hubs I welded to the new axle tubing is slightly out of alignment and wore out the tire after about 3,000 km. First thing after the snow is gone both axles are coming off then going to the trailer shop in Brandon they have a press to align and tweak the hubs. And the nest part is that it is very economical if you take the axles off it's only going to cost me $50.00 do do the pair.
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