6 x 10 utility trailer build

[kerrynzl]

Sorry, no hydraulic ramps. I gave up doing car haulers with ramps when I built my first hydraulic tilt bed. I'll never have a car hauler with ramps again...at least for not long.

Later

KO

I've gone the opposite way.

A 5.0m trailer tilting to the ground has an angle of 10+ degrees [depending on height ]
Most racers [road-racing being the most popular here ] prefer to drive their car straight onto the trailer without the need to pull the front airdam off.

By having a 1000mm x 100mm dovetail, and tilt, and pull out ramps this is possible to do [within the minimum 100mm FIA ground clearance rules]

Getting a trailer to tilt to the ground without hydraulics is also a challenge in the suspension area.
Gravity tilts have been more desirable for owners operating by themselves [without helpers]

The market over here has dictated the design types.

 

[volleyball]

I like the air bag idea for a low angle trailer the best.
I would like to see peoples hydraulic tilt bed solutions. I am slowly rebuilding one and it has a worn out cylinder and I like to be able to keep it into the tilt mode at times.

 

[gazza]

Not a hydraulic tilt but a drive on tilt,Here is a couple of pictures of my tilt trailer which I built in the early 80's. It does not look that pretty these days but it still functions extremely well. Overall bed size is 15' x 6'5" and is rated to carry about 2 tons, perfect to move your average car which it was made to do.

 

[Heavymetalmechanic]

Thanks for pulling all this info together in one place, lots of great ideas.

 

[koditten]

My trailer will have a similar set up for the hinge.

 

[kerrynzl]

Not a hydraulic tilt but a drive on tilt,Here is a couple of pictures of my tilt trailer which I built in the early 80's. It does not look that pretty these days but it still functions extremely well. Overall bed size is 15' x 6'5" and is rated to carry about 2 tons, perfect to move your average car which it was made to do.

On a gravity tilt trailer, the deck needs to be twice the length of the wheelbase of the vehicle being loaded
Or from the pivot point to the rear, it needs to be the same or greater than the wheelbase.
You need the rear wheels to be on the deck before the front wheels go past the pivot point.[or the deck slams into the sills if the vehicle is too long ]
Ramps certainly help prevent this from happening.

 

[volleyball]

It does depend on your tilt design and the weight distribution. With his, all the ones I've seen are hydraulic. I can easily see that dropping down before the rear tires were on.

 

[kerrynzl]

It does depend on your tilt design and the weight distribution. With his, all the ones I've seen are hydraulic. I can easily see that dropping down before the rear tires were on.

That is why I wrote "Gravity Tilt".

A hydraulic tilt is a 2 man job with a race-car without a park brake.

 

[volleyball]

Not with a little practice, you set it so the release is set so that it stays up until you put enough weight on it for it to go down. Think of slowly releasing a floor jack

 

[koditten]

Loading racers are different animal. Does take some finesse. The gravity tilt should be an advantage. Very few of my trailers become race car haulers, so I don't worry too much about that.

 

[kerrynzl]

Loading racers are different animal. Does take some finesse. The gravity tilt should be an advantage. Very few of my trailers become race car haulers, so I don't worry too much about that.

True, especially with an aggressive "button clutch".

Over here there would be over 4000 competition cars of various forms [ for a population of 4 mil ] so it is where the market is demanding.

Rental trailers [and Utility trailers] should be non tilt, going on the theory that every moving part has a chance to break.

 

[gearhead1]

I have a 20ft gooseneck with ramps mounted on a round tube. The length is not long enough for me to put tool storage and a tire rack up front or put my tractor on it with Loader and bush hog and still get the ramps back up vertical. I was thinking of putting a tilt bed or hydraulic ramp using the ramp round tube.

 

[volleyball]

Two moving parts for a tilt bed. hydraulic cyl. and the clamp. A lot of equipment rental places use tilt beds over ramps as it reduces liability.

 

[Wanna Ride]

What I've done in the past:"

In the center of the spare tire bracket, the part that can be seen thru the hub hole on the wheel, weld a 3/4" stud. Slide a metal disc over the stud. The disk is bigger than the hub hole on the wheel/ The stud has a hole drilled thru it the same size as the shackle on the lock. The lock is away from the wheel so as not to bang against it and mess up the paint/finish on the wheel. Put some sort of non marring material on the back side of the disc so as not to mess up the paint.

I like to have a nut that can be tightened against the disc. I weld a small piece of round stock(usually an old drill pit shank) to one of the flats on the nut. This way no tools are needed to remove the nut. Kind of like a one winged, wing nut.

Thats my way, others are welcome to offer their suggestions.

Later

KO

Thanks for the response. I wanted it as absolutely simple as possible, with no additional hardware to either risk losing or rattling around, or need for any additional tools. In other words... simple.

Secure the tire/wheel (center hole is 3.0") with three lug nuts, and slip the padlock into the hole in the bottom of the 2.375" center tube (which does not support the wheel). Mounted on the curb-side, the sidewall of the spare tire sticks out from the side of the trailer about 1.5" less than the fender, and the bottom of the tire will be about 17" off the ground. After wondering through the trailer/auto aisles in Rural King, I also came up with another handy little idea for making tire changes super simple. I'll post some pics once I get that done.

Here's what I came up with - done, primed and ready for final paint tomorrow morning:

 

[koditten]

I like that. Consider it stolen.

Thanks

KO

 

[Wanna Ride]

I like that. Consider it stolen.

Thanks

KO

I actually got a little ahead of myself, when I was welding this all up. I wanted to weld a plate inside the tube, just past the padlock hole, so it doesn't hold water (and promote rust). I was going to insert it at a slant towards the top of the tube... oh well. Maybe I should just cut a slice in the bottom of the tube. Screw it. Sometimes you can over think the details.

 

[f150skidoo]

hey koditten i'm planning on building a 6x14 tandem utility trailer. I'm planning on using 5" x 6.7 C channel for the frame rails/tongue and 3"x2" 3/16 angle cross member The trailer will have tandem #3500 4" drop axles with brakes on both axles that came off a older camper trailer. I have a couple questions for you, i'm planning on having a 42" A frame tongue (not including coupler). Is the tongue the right length for the trailer size? Also Should i weld my front leaf hanger of the tandem at the 50% mark of the bed length, so at the 7' mark?

 

[kerrynzl]

I'll chime in here!

If you are using marginal tow vehicles [like I do], the centre of the tow ball to the "centre of the wheelbase" [on a tandem] needs to be 4-1/2 x the wheelbase [ minimum ]you can go longer

The centre of the tow ball to the centre of the wheelbase [on a tandem] needs to be 1-1/2 x the overall width measured from the outside of the tyre footprint. you can go longer

In the USA you tend to build trailers with the wheels further back so these measurements are usually exceeded.

If you are well short of this length the trailer will try to control the tow vehicle during cornering

When in doubt... build it longer.
USA trailers are usually quite long , but you can built a short trailer deck if the tongue is long.

 

[f150skidoo]

So i was just doing a bit more reading and if I put my mid shackle at the 60/40% mark of the bed my axles will be 12.5" farther forward then if i put my front shackle at the 50 % mark, what to do.

 

[Cab037]

That's a good looking trailer!

 

[toofart]

I'm loving these trailer build threads! Thank you for posting all this.

 

[koditten]

Your welcome.

KO