5x8 Landscape Trailer Conversion

[SaGR]

I can watch you build yours, and learn from your mi$take$.

Does anyone know if the bolt patern on these things will allow a bigger wheel/tire combo?

Yep, I'll be making a lot of them so watch and learn!


I haven't measure mine yet but it looks to be 5 x 4.5.

[SaGR]

Just for education, this trailer seems really strong and I'm curious, what is the purpose of the A-Frame?

Is it to stop the front of the trailer from "leaning" to one side or the other?

Next weekend we will be taking it to a buddy who's a welder.

The game plan is:

Chop the sides, rails and ramp off.

Use the top sides to build the A-Frame. From the outside of second frame cross member to the tongue at a 45d angle.

The ramp will be cut down and re-welded to form a carrier on the front of the trailer for whatever extras we need until we either find a box we like or build one.

Will will also be welding on at least one 2" receiver to the back to support a bike rack. Possible we may add 3 total (one center and one on either side of it 6" in from the outer edge of the trailer) for a table mount or whatever else may be coming into mind, at least attachment points will be there.

Should we weld the leveling jacks on or just bolt them on?

[angib]

Just for education, this trailer seems really strong and I'm curious, what is the purpose of the A-Frame?

The idea is to provide some sideways stiffness to the front of the frame - if it's not stiff enough, it can start a sideways wobble that makes the trailer dance around. One member has had that problem (Chip, was it?).

Incidentally, the Australian design rules for small trailers (the only source of published info on how strong trailer frames should be) requires that the tongue has the same horizontal strength as its vertical strength. Their rule is that the tongue must be able to support a horizontal or vertical load equal to half the gross weight of the trailer. That's probably a lot more than "seems really strong", eh?

Andrew

[SaGR]

LOL! Yeah that's really strong there!

Sounds like it's a plan then.

We're going to just tack weld the 45d angles where they hit the tongue until construction is completed and the trailer is weighed.

Guesstimates added to the spreadsheet show that we won't need to lengthen the tongue but I'm going to hedge my bets until I know for sure.

I can't wait until we get this trailer done so we can seriously start on the build!

[SaGR]

Should we flip the axle so that it's under the springs? It's on top now.

[Dave Bob]

If you want it lower to the ground. I think teardrops look better lower, but its up to you.

Dave

[SaGR]

OK, I'll rephrase

It's in the low position now, above the springs. I had thought about flipping it because it sits lower than my S-10. See pic in gallery.

[Dave Bob]

OK, I'm old and slow..... leave the axle above the springs...... "I" think it looks better....but thats subjective. It all boils down to how it looks to you.

Dave

(Ineed to go to bed I have to get up at 4:00 am central to get to work)

[SaGR]

Heh, I knew what you meant.

Yep, 4:00 comes early

[Alphacarina]

I would get it as low to the ground as possible - It certainly doesn't need anymore gound clearance than the tow vehicle has, because whatever you run over will pass under the tow vehicle first

Nice, sturdy trailer to start with and it's good that it's already as wide as you plan to build, but unless you've building a VERY heavy trailer, I wouldn't really want a 2000 pound axle - Hopefully your springs have leaves and you can remove at least one of them. Trailers ride best when the actual weight is about 75% of the axle rating or more. A 1000 pound trailer on a 2000 pound axle will be rough riding. I'm hoping my teardrop comes in around 1,000 to 1100 pounds and I'm using a 1400 pound torsion axle

Don

[SaGR]

I'm expecting to have to pull a leaf, of course we won't know for sure until it's done.

[SaGR]

Well, we finally got the sides and ramp cut off, rear jacks and the a-frame welded in.

Brought it up to a friends who is a welder. He started chopping with a reciprocating saw (SawzAll) and then said "The hell with this" and pulled out the plasma cutter. That made *quick* work of cutting the stuff off!

Gallery of photos to date will be up in a few minutes at the www link.

(I'll keep a majority there to help ease the bandwidth here).

[Dave Bob]

If your friend is a welder you probably could have had him help you build a custom trailer for the same money or maybe a little more .

But I wish you good luck on your build, and hope you have your power back to your garage.

Dave

[SaGR]

We talked about it and he was honest and said he couldn't really come in any less than what we paid for the landscape trailer.

He's since found a good source for the steel at a decent price. If/when we build a second one, he's first in line for the job.

[sledge]

The Mesh is just more weight you will have to carry with you, and it don't help much if any . and yeah I like them Lower to the ground too....... they are much more stable at interstate speed,