5'x8' Trailer Build

[zmotorsports]

Turned out very nice. I am running the same LED lights on the 6x10 trailer that I built myself last year. I love them, they are much brighter than the old incandescent style plus they just have that "kool" factor.

Mike.

 

[Outlander]

Nice job - love watching trailer builds!

 

[f150skidoo]

Thanks for the compliments and LED's are the only way to go nowadays. They've come down so much in price that they're only a little bit more then incandescent.

So I spent this morning tidying up the wires and plumbing up the hydraulics. the lower frame is now 99.9% done, I just need to get some misc stuff like grease zerk's, hydraulic hose clamps, and hydraulic oil. I was going to roll it out of the shop but didn't feel like lifting the heavy tongue while rolling it up hill, so just picked it up with the Deere with the 8' extension forks.

 

[bullnerd]

Very nice.

Just curious, do you have a day job?

 

[f150skidoo]

Very nice.

Just curious, do you have a day job?

Ya I'm a stone mason/ bricklayer. We only work a few days a week during the winter months, so I have a lot of spare time in Jan. and Feb. I could work more during the winter but in the summer i work mon-fri for my employer then sat-sun doing side jobs. So the down time this time of year is nice to have.

 

[saceone]

^^ GC here in Montreal and yeah my bricklayer buddies are building all kinds of retarded stuff in the slow months

 

[bullnerd]

Ya I'm a stone mason/ bricklayer. We only work a few days a week during the winter months, so I have a lot of spare time in Jan. and Feb. I could work more during the winter but in the summer i work mon-fri for my employer then sat-sun doing side jobs. So the down time this time of year is nice to have.

Thats pretty cool ,and thanks for the explanation.

 

[f150skidoo]

So here's the last bit of progress until the weekend, working the rest of the week. Spent a good chunk of the day plowing snow so I only got a little bit of shop time this afternoon. My 2-5/16" coupler arrived in the mail, started to build the sides. I'm leaving a space on top of the steel side so I can put a 2x10 in, the side also has a piece of 3"x4.1 channel as a stiffener to prevent oil canning of the 14ga sides. I cut the channel a little to long so i had to take a sliver off it and a band saw is the only way to go.

 

[f150skidoo]

Ending up being to cold to work today so i got some shop time instead. Ended up working on the dump body. When i welded the 14ga to the C channel it distorted the bottom of the sides so i'm going to have to do some clamping to get it good and straight so i can weld it to the floor plate. fortunately the top part of the sides stayed good and straight.

 

[f150skidoo]

After i got the sides tacked on i was ready to start on the front part. Welded on a 1" tube to prevent the tarp from tearing on the sharp edge of the sheet metal. picked up my DIY tarp roller that i had a machinist friend turn down the 1" square bar to fit the bearings.

 

[bullnerd]

Nice welds!

Would a bend on the bottom of the sides have helped keep them straight?

 

[Farrier]

What's the purpose of having the side panels dip, versus being a continuous height?

 

[f150skidoo]

Nice welds!

Would a bend on the bottom of the sides have helped keep them straight?

Yes a bend would've helped keep them straight but also would make it harder to attach the side to the floor.

What's the purpose of having the side panels dip, versus being a continuous height?

If you want extra side height you can slide in a 2x10 if your hauling mulch.

 

[zmotorsports]

Looking good. I enjoy tuning in to this thread and seeing the progress.

Mike.

 

[steel 35]

Yep still looking good, Plans for tie downs?

 

[customtronic]

Wow! Awesome work! Sure wish I could weld that nice.

 

[f150skidoo]

First thing was I made the brackets for the tarp and added another channel stiffener on the front. On this project I was avoiding overhead welding like the plague but sometimes you just have to do them. I lifted the dump bed off my welding table and set it on axle stands to get it lower to the ground to weld the sides on. To fix the warp on the bottom of the sides i had to clamp the **** out of them to get it straight & square. I ended up stitch welding them on every 10" and will caulk the rest of the joint since welding all those joints continuously is not a way i want to spend my weekend.

 

[f150skidoo]

Yep still looking good, Plans for tie downs?

I'm going to weld D rings to the floor.

 

[CNGsaves]

Looking good !! That will be very useful when done.

I'd recommend instead to weld D-ring tie-downs on sidewalls just above the floor so everything has better chance of sliding out of box when dumped. I would not want to be constantly shoveling or sweeping around a tie-down on the floor of trailer.

You might even consider removable tie-downs that screw into threaded holes in sides. You could put a "plug" bolt in there when not in use.

 

[readhead]

That is good looking work. It looks like you are going to put 2x wear boards on the sides. Excellent idea especially if someone borrows it. Is the tarp going to pull back and hook on the back corners? If you're going to put the tie downs on the floor how about recessing them into the floor.

 

[steel 35]

Don't be surprised by how much water they hold

 

[f150skidoo]

Not a lot of progress today, was more of finishing odds and ends which **** up most of the day. Made the ratcheting lock for the tarp, welded the D rings to the sides. Made the rear door hinges and capped the vertical tubing and welded on two hooks for the tarps anti sail bar. But now i'm ready to prime & paint the dump body and will build the barn doors later this week.

 

[f150skidoo]

After I took the last picture in my previous post i stepped back to look at my handy work and noticed something was off. I put the framing square on both rear tubes and they were out 1/4" in 24", I needed to straighten them or mounting the barn door would become a PITA. Normally I would beat them straight with a big f***ing hammer but this time i wanted to try flame straitening. I don't have a O/A torch but my hand held MAPP torch was getting the steel to glow red, once red hot I quenched it with a soaking rag and you can hear a subtle pop. I checked it again with the framing square and it was bang on square.

 

[NthoozEist]

Awesome design and fab work. Makes it so much better when it's built, not bought.

 

[f150skidoo]

After dinner today my dad and i primed the bottom part of the body and as I type this I'm waiting for it to dry so we can spray the gloss black on.



EDIT: back in black.

 

[jhelrey]

Nice work! Don't scratch it

 

[akdiesel]

That looks really good. What do you think the weight is at now?

 

[f150skidoo]

If i had to guess the body is around 800lbs and the lower frame is 600lbs. When its all done i'm going to run it across the scales.

 

[saceone]

bitching trailer

 

[Whiskeymike]

Why did you choose to use c channel and cap it with 1/4" welded in instead of just using tube? Great work!

 

[f150skidoo]

Why did you choose to use c channel and cap it with 1/4" welded in instead of just using tube? Great work!

Two reasons, tube rusts out a lot quicker then channel and channel is also cheaper.

 

[Whiskeymike]

Sorry if this is dense, but didn't you cap the c channel closing it up like tube, so therefore it would rust the same? Or did I misread?

 

[f150skidoo]

Sorry if this is dense, but didn't you cap the c channel closing it up like tube, so therefore it would rust the same? Or did I misread?

Technically yes but I needed it to be capped to support the DOM tubing. If I just welded the tube onto the inside of the C it would be susceptible to cracking the welds on the DOM.

 

[f150skidoo]

Got the inside of the dump body primed and painted today. Also sealed all the joints that I stitched welded with automotive seam sealer.

 

[mkIValh]

Nice work! really like how the trailer turned out.

 

[bullnerd]

Yup, great job, I will build one someday.

I see me hooking my eye socket on those tarp hooks though!

 

[f150skidoo]

Well here are the pictures you all have been waiting for. I still need to build the barn doors and finish some other small odds and ends. When I set the body on the frame it fit perfectly I was even able to slide the 1" pivot bolts in by hand.

 

[CNGsaves]

Wow, just WOW . . . . . Great result !!! . .
That will be highly desired . . . Can I Borrow Tool . . . . from your friends !!

Curious to see how your rolling tarp works and "tie-downs" to sides ??

Do you have method to add side boards and tail board to enable FILLING up to the top if you have light-weight material like mulch, etc. ???

P.S. Can you show us PIC's of the dump process ??

 

[akdiesel]

Great looking finished product.
Definatly show it in action.

 

[koditten]

Awesome! I'm jelly!