- Back End 09/25/2020
- ChesterCamp 01 092520 640x480.jpg (214.68 KiB) Viewed 2919 times
Well, Gentlemen: It has been nearly a year
since I have posted on my TNTTT page, but life has gotten in the way of life. My wife's health deteriorated by December, and I spent 24/7 taking care of her, and the project was put on hold. In late April, she went into a Skilled Nursing Facility. On June 18th, she had an above the knee amputation, and on July 10th, she went into a different Long-Term Facility, so she will not be coming home. I spent July and August gathering documents to apply for Medicaid, and with the aid of professional help, we only had to Private Pay for 7 weeks of Nursing Home Care, and I survived with most of my Net Worth intact. Get professional help so you won't have to spend yourself broke, to qualify for Medicaid. We submitted documentation on August 20th, and are expecting a favorable reply from the state of Rhode Island. Also, get a MOLST Form and Power of Attorney completed well ahead of time, like I did not. I am applying for Guardianship, as my last resort.
Since April, I have been able to work on the trailer, but I'll still miss the October 4th deadline of one year, but I'm 95% there, at least. I've taken pictures a long the way, but I'll cut to the chase today, and show you shots only from today.
My canvas looked fine when I was done applying, but 24 house later, it was wavy- not enough TB II, or I was too slow. I made lemonade out of lemons, and devoted a month to painting flag designs on all 8 walls! Yes! Two boxes times 2.
I planned on a nice 18 inch round laminated table top from H-D for the center of the ceiling as the support point for the jack, since the ceiling is 1/2 inch foam, but the weight of the back doors-- each with a 1/2 inch layer of plywood for security, forced the lift point back more than a foot- to under the insulated skylight. I had already planned on a 12 x 36 laminated board as a removable work table against the door, so now it does double duty and is the lift support under the skylight! In the end, I decided on KISS- Keep it simple, stupid! I never found a YouTube video detailing how someone actually used linear actuators to accomplish this lift. They would have been $100x4 plus whatever, required electricity, and might not have worked. I only have to satisfy myself. the first third of the lift takes some effort, but the rest is easy. The sonotube (a cardboard tube 8 inches in diameter for pouring concretes piers), stores easily in the front corner, doubles as a wash basin, and will hold trash or round water jugs, or grey water jugs. The jack mounts vertically on its own support at the back door. I left the jack in place for these pictures, but in reality, once I am up the the desired height, the jack and the support tube, each store in their corners, out of the way. There are 4 sticks-- one in each corner, to support the roof. The second lift-- from 17 inches to 34 inches is accomplished with the remaining section of the original 4 foot long sonotube, that is set on top of the taller tube, and the jack on top of that. The shorter tube is simply the cut-off, and it doubles as my toilet! The jack lifts 17 inches, and it takes two lifts to get to 34 inches, for a total inside height of 6 feet, 1 inch. (I am only 5 feet, 6 inches). I have only lifted it 12 inches, and 17 inches, so far. 17 is the limit of my garage, giving 56 inches inside height, and 12 inches gives 51 inches inside height. I like 12 inches as a cold weather height- less cu ft to heat. All this means I have to carry 4) 12 inch wooden sticks, 4) 17 inch PVC pipes, and 4) 34 inch PVC pipes. (Whatever that weight is, it would have to be added to the dry weight, that is detailed in the weight paragraph below. Whether traveling or stationary, I have two over-the-roof slings and ratcheting straps to hold the top box down securely.
I have a slide out PVC rack with two poles, mounted on the roof, that accommodated a separate 10 x 12 tarp, with 2 feet side and back overhang, for shade and rain cover. There is also a MaxxAire 10 speed reversing fan in the front ceiling section.
I followed directions on YouTube to use two bathroom scales at 146 lb, and 153 lb, using a 3:1 lever beam under each tire, and came up with 905 lbs. I added in the weight of the jack and wrench, (13), which I had to use to lift the trailer frame, and 130 lb for the tongue jack to get to 1,048 lbs.
(I made sure that both tires and the tongue jack were all supported to level for the trailer, to get the best weight). I understand bathroom scales are only an approximation, but I am happy with 1,048 lb. I expected 1,100-1,200. Tongue weight is on the money, at 12.4%. At the beginning of construction, I added length to the trailer, front and back, in the same proportion as the H-F trailer axle to the 8 foot length, to account for weight distribution. Now I worry about it being back heavy, since the two doors have disturbed the center lift point backwards, so I have a small accommodation on the limited tongue area, to carry extra weight on the tongue, if it wants to fishtail.
5 x 9.5 x 6 I.D. Foam on Frame on 5 x 8 alum Ultra-Tow trailer, eventually with a Prius TV.