After more than a year of lurking and reading and building this teardrop in my head, it's finally a reality. Being a city dweller with limited parking space outside of my already packed garage and the possibility of being an easier build I knew 4x8 was the key. Most of my fabrication experience is with metal and welding with wood always being a weak point. Which may be the result of or the reason for my limited wood working tools; $5 garage sale vintage craftsman jigsaw, $10 garage sale portable table saw with an intermittent power switch, a hand me down skill saw that I think I used once, a Mouse style sander and a few dozen wood clamps. I did splurge on a HF compound miter saw and a Costco screw gun.
I also had to borrow a neighbors belt sander and a more powerful random orbital.
The first step was sourcing a trailer. A good friend had been given one and knowing him, it was sitting in his yard collecting dirt. Sure enough a phone call and $50 (to cover the new wheel and tire he purchased) I had a platform. A nasty rotting wood platform. Similar to a HF 4x8 folding but sold through our local Fred Meyer stores.
First task was removing all the old wood which of course was attached with bolts that hadn't seen a wrench in years. Once free of wood the next task was to eliminate the folding mechanism.
I then reassembled, checked for square, and welded every seam. Once solid I went to work with a sander and wire wheel removing surface rust. Once that was clean a fresh coat of black paint was applied. Shaken not stirred.
The rest of this build thread will be short and sweet with just progression pictures and maybe an explanation caption.