Build a trailer?

Hey guys, I am new and this seemed to be the most appropriate place to post. A buddy of mine recently built a trailer but spend like $500 just on the metals. I am in a spot I need a cheap trailer (I am starting a landscape biz Need around the ballpark of 5x8 utility trailer) and been thinking of building one from scrap. Can anyone give me some advice on what material would work, where I might find and cheap or free and fabrication technique if you guys have been down this road before. Thanks

certain places u do not need a good title as u can get it registered as a homemade trailer

If you have to ask where to find metal and fabrication techniques, then I fear what the end product will be. I also fear for those traveling behind you at 70 mph.

Idaho I am a beginning welder but I have someone who can check up behind me. I have a layout but it never hurts to see if someone knows a better way.
Every1 and their mother in Atlanta is posting looking for a old camper.
I found this http://atlanta.craigslist.org/sat/mat/2873404655.html
Of course I am not paying that price but, would that metal work for a light duty trailer?

Good to hear. I've seen some scary stuff on the road.

4x4 steel is a bit much for a 5x8. Go visit a trailer dealer and see how they're made.

Or

http://www.youtube.com/results?searc...tility+trailer

thanks, I am going to follow up on this guy. 250 is really cheap even with rotten wood so I am a little suspicious but hopefully its a real deal.

Also, check Craig's list, but type in "trailor" rather than "trailer". You might find someone that misspells it and it gets missed by everyone else. They will keep relisting it and drop their price. that is how I got mine for $300. The guy started at $500 and kept going down. All because he could not spell.

Auctions are a good place to look for trailers....I got a 5x8 for 140 bucks....put bout hundred in it then sold it at a profit
Am bidding on a couple like that now

Originally Posted by Bear

I built a trailer once From scratch, and used mostly things i'd accumulated from working construction jobs. Angle iron from a showroom/warehouse, plywood from a bank coming soon sign or two. Screws and bolts from job after job. Treated 2x6x10 from a shed floor - neighboorhood cleanup project, AND an axle ( a very important consideration on any trailer, as I, in time, discovered And i found just what i wanted in a newspaper ad listing metal, a few old axles, etc. During a layoff in 03, i went to see those axles, old U-haul trailer axles, good and solid, drop axles ( that means the main cross beam that holds the springs is about 6 inches lower, and comes straight up on each end, then turns outward again to become the wheel spindle ) I paid the $25 for my choice of axles and hauled it home, where it sat untouched for a couple years, although i had picked up at Tractor Supply Co a trailer tongue, trailer jack, and trailer lighting system for under $100. I needed a trailer for moving, and as that time came closer, began to assemble this masterpiece It was easy enough to determine the angles for the front runners, they just had to match the angles of the tongue sides, and meet the frame somewhere near the axle. I initially thought this could all be bolted, but after considering weight on trailer, sudden stops, governing authorities, etc, realized i'd need do some welding. Found a cheap (yes, livin on a budget) welder at harbor freight for about $60, and promptly discovered it wouldn't burn larger rods than it was rated for After, eventually, purchasing the proper size rods, it welded well Day after day, week after week, etc after etc, it began to take shape, using 1 1/2" angle iron, doubling, and tripling where necessary, a trailer was being born. The hubs on this axle required a 6 hole rim, and i had a Chevy Luv with just the ones, 14 inch tires, BUT!, this drop axles u-bolt holding the springs would ground out if a tire blew, the rim wouldn't hold the bolts up off the pavement. I continued anyway, knowing how bad i needed this trailer to work, still realizing that a blowout at 60mph could flip it, and possibly me too. I finished the frame, side rails, flooring (all bolted, screwed, or welded, industrial fashion) ran the plywood sidewalls around the side rails, the lights too. Knowing how to align axles (preferably a tilt to the right, shoulder side, than a pull to the left, traffic side) helped. I road tested it around a "country" block ( about 6 miles) and on the long straight quiet straight-of-way let it all coast to a stop (no braking), and measured from front left truck tire, to rear left trailer tire, again on the right side. One half inch difference in almost 30 ft, to the right couldn't have asked for any better luck there Then (after long knowing this day would come ) went to the DOT office, and applied for an inspection, paid the $25, and went home, hooked the trailer to the truck, the safety chains, the lights, and waited, and waited. The morning the Highway Patrolman pulled up to the house, I didn't even have on my boots yet, but got them on quickly, and took off out the door. As i was walking out there, he was hammering wildly on the trailer tongue with a big shop hammer! When I got out there and realized he was Hammering a serial number into it, i felt a sigh of relief. All i had do then was sign a form, one point stating I knew of no reason why this trailer might be unsafe, which I signed, knowing full well about the u-bolt problem. He didn't inspect the trailer itself, it looked respectable enough, and might not have noted the u-bolt in the concrete problem even if he had, but, I knew about it. Took the inspection paper to the county clerk, and within 4-6 weeks, had a green paper title to my homemade trailer, built mostly from scrap I think in trying to keep the price looking respectable, i told them it's value ( my cost) was $300 ( included the welder ; ) I used it to haul several loads of scrap computer boxes to the yard, driving under 40 or so, but knew it was no test for a 600 mile highway trip fully loaded, several times over, and finally, before beginning to move, went to a trailer axle place, and for $150 they built a 3000lb (5 lug) axle to fit, and for another $150, had two shiny mag wheels with new tires SO, i had $500? in it then, and got all kinds of experience. For a 4x10 ft trailer I had set the axle 6ft from the front (using uhaul's idea of 60% to the front), but that made for a heavy tongue wt. (over 150 lbs empty) but it was solid as a rock, even empty. Driving back to TN on one trip, passing an 18 whlr @ 75 mph, trailer empty, in the rain, windy as hek, i think ( wth am i doing? ) but went on by, the trailer never even swayed, not even in his cross draft. Four heavy loads @ 70+ mph on a 600 mile move pretty much payed for itself.
The short of it all, i built a trailer on top of an axle, doing what i had to do to get it done, for very little cost, excepting time and labor, had it pass inspection, titled and tagged it, and then, .......replaced the axle
Was it worth it? yep! Did it do the job? yep! Could i have been better off buying a new one? yep.
I guess you'll never know what's going to work for you, until you get started, lol !


They're in backwards order here, but i found photos of it http://s1205.photobucket.com/albums/..._Bear/trailer/

Scares the bejeebers out of me just reading this.

lol Burly, did you have to re-paste the whole thing?

Originally Posted by Bear

lol Burly, did you have to re-paste the whole thing?

Nope, but I didn't figure that out til after it was already done. Sorry about that! :-)

Je suis un newbie, what can I say?

He asked a question, I gave him an answer

I appreciate the story bear. I think I will look for an auction as I am now realizing how daunting of a task this may be. I am seeing alot of boat trailers for sale cheap and am thinking converting one of them to a utility might be a more reasonable project.
http://atlanta.craigslist.org/atl/zip/2876846826.html
I am sure this is gone by the time I saw it but would any of you guys just run out and hitch up to a boat like this and drive away? lol He doesnt give any contact info for getting a bill of sale or anything. Sounds like a potential legal trap. It looks like that is a foreclosure that has a new owner.