tandem axle utility trailer

[Jon Jacobs]

Started back on my utility trailer to replace the one that was stolen. Here's a few pics so far.

 

[jadon]

Looks good. Can you register that for on the road?

 

[Jon Jacobs]

Yes, easy to do here. You can get a plate for any home made trailer. They don't even look at it or look at a picture. Probably why so many are stolen. I still have to fab up the sides, tail gate and floor. Will be 5'x10'.

 

[drivesitfar]

JJ: sorry to hear you had your awesome trailer stolen that i think you also made a few months ago. i know you will probably have another one made shortly with your talent, but i'm sure you'd rather be doing other things. i actually rent a storage unit and put my little 4 x 8 foot aluminum trailer inside it at night so mine doesn't disappear. since i already need the storage for other stuff i just got a little bigger unit. not sure if it's an option for you or if you have a better idea to keep this one safe. good luck.

i love your old chaulkboard in your shop instead of the white boards most everybody uses. very classic.

didn't see if you finished your cool little sign you were making for the shop or did the trailer issue stop that progress?

 

[Engine]

That's a nice looking trailer. Heavy duty. I hope you have better luck with this one.

A couple years back, I had a boat motor stolen off my boat while I was in the house, and the boat wasn't more than fifty feet from where I happened to be sleeping. The motor was locked and chained to the transom of the boat, so they had to cut the lock and the chain to get it. No problem for a large pair of bolt cutters. There are some sorry bastards out there, for sure.

I'm more concerned about someone just hooking up to the whole rig and pulling it off. Now, I use a massive cable and lock and run it through part of the frame and loop it around a nearby tree or utility pole. When there is nothing to secure it to, I loop the cable through one of the openings of a wheel and part of the frame then lock the ends together. They may pull it off but they won't go far with one wheel skidding along the road. Maybe that will slow 'em down a little.

Good luck to you.

 

[PCO6]

Yes, easy to do here. You can get a plate for any home made trailer. They don't even look at it or look at a picture. Probably why so many are stolen. I still have to fab up the sides, tail gate and floor. Will be 5'x10'.

That's true. I was able to get a licence for my home made trailer before I even finished building it.

You will be issued a 9 digit "FILE" number and it appears on the permit (the green slip). I stamped the number in a visible place on a peice that could be easily removed and discarded. It's also stamped in 5 other places that AREN'T easy to find.

That's a GREAT looking trailer BTW.

 

[Jon Jacobs]

JJ: sorry to hear you had your awesome trailer stolen that i think you also made a few months ago. i know you will probably have another one made shortly with your talent, but i'm sure you'd rather be doing other things. i actually rent a storage unit and put my little 4 x 8 foot aluminum trailer inside it at night so mine doesn't disappear. since i already need the storage for other stuff i just got a little bigger unit. not sure if it's an option for you or if you have a better idea to keep this one safe. good luck.

i love your old chaulkboard in your shop instead of the white boards most everybody uses. very classic.

didn't see if you finished your cool little sign you were making for the shop or did the trailer issue stop that progress?

Hi, no its the same trailer I was working on, sorry for the confusion. I just haven't time to work on it till recently.

I posted a few pics of the sign I was making which I installed today.

 

[Jon Jacobs]

That's true. I was able to get a licence for my home made trailer before I even finished building it.

You will be issued a 9 digit "FILE" number and it appears on the permit (the green slip). I stamped the number in a visible place on a peice that could be easily removed and discarded. It's also stamped in 5 other places that AREN'T easy to find.

That's a GREAT looking trailer BTW.

Good idea, I was debating putting some kind of tracer on this one. The hitch is removable which will likely help curb theft,

Im not a thief so I don't know how to catch one, but I can make it hard to steal. Lets hope.

 

[Grizzly Guy]

If I remember correctly,here in Nova Scotia,we now have to get an engineer to inspect the trailer and sign oof on it in order to get it registered.

 

[1969]

OP.....Couple of questions
1. Why tandem on a 5x10.... major load?
2. On a tandem, do you need electric brakes?
3. I thought trailers needed to be inspected and have a sticker, like an auto....no?

 

[Jon Jacobs]

OP.....Couple of questions
1. Why tandem on a 5x10.... major load?
2. On a tandem, do you need electric brakes?
3. I thought trailers needed to be inspected and have a sticker, like an auto....no?

Hi ,yes all good questions. Its for hauling machinery, so some heavy applications for this unit.

Here you must have one axle braked on any tandem trailer.

No inspection to speak of however, if you get caught hauling an un safe trailer the police will nail you to the wall.

No sticker for a trailer, also strange.

My old trailer wasn't insured under my house ins so the whole thing was a loss.

I will add this one to my policy for sure. Cheers.

 

[Jon Jacobs]

If I remember correctly,here in Nova Scotia,we now have to get an engineer to inspect the trailer and sign oof on it in order to get it registered.

You wouldn't believe what people drag around Ontario. If you get busted that's another issue.

However your tow vehicle must have a yellow sticker if you are planning on heavy load applications.

 

[Jon Jacobs]

That's a nice looking trailer. Heavy duty. I hope you have better luck with this one.

A couple years back, I had a boat motor stolen off my boat while I was in the house, and the boat wasn't more than fifty feet from where I happened to be sleeping. The motor was locked and chained to the transom of the boat, so they had to cut the lock and the chain to get it. No problem for a large pair of bolt cutters. There are some sorry bastards out there, for sure.

I'm more concerned about someone just hooking up to the whole rig and pulling it off. Now, I use a massive cable and lock and run it through part of the frame and loop it around a nearby tree or utility pole. When there is nothing to secure it to, I loop the cable through one of the openings of a wheel and part of the frame then lock the ends together. They may pull it off but they won't go far with one wheel skidding along the road. Maybe that will slow 'em down a little.



Good luck to you.

That *****. People are getting desperate I guess. Yup at least try to slow them down a little if you can, Best

 

[PCO6]

... 3. I thought trailers needed to be inspected and have a sticker, like an auto....no?

When I licensed mine I asked the Ministry of Tranportation this and was told that a mechanic could check the axle and lighting but that's about it. They aren't qualified to certify the design, coupler, weld quality, etc. and that makes sense.

As mentioned above inspection by an Engineer may be the appropriate way. I'm confident that I designed and built mine properly but without drawings and proper specs I'm not sure I could convince an Engineer.

I agree with the OP. There are some terrible trailers being towed around. You can pretty much tell by looking at them ... but that ain't right either.

 

[Zengineer]

Great looking build, and looks a lot like a trailer I've been planning in my head for a while.

Would you mind sharing what your cost is to date? I assume axle/wheels/etc. are from Princess Auto?

 

[kerrynzl]

Good idea, I was debating putting some kind of tracer on this one. The hitch is removable which will likely help curb theft,

Im not a thief so I don't know how to catch one, but I can make it hard to steal. Lets hope.

Are you building it with a wood/plywood or steel floor?
There is an engineered ply called "transtex" that is 3050 x 1524 x 18 thick
[10 x 5 x 3/4 ] so you could make a one piece floor[I think we import it from Canada]

With wood, a GPS signal can be picked up through it.
Use a piece of lipped channel for a crossmember [it looks like tubing from underneath] and lay the GPS and aerials inside the channel.

Wire a GPS charger to the light and stoplight circuits using a diode to stop back-feeding. Whenever the brakes are applied or the lights are on, it recharges the GPS battery.

People never look for a GPS on a trailer that has no power source!

In NZ we have almost the same laws as Canada
Anybody can register a new trailer as homebuilt after they're stolen one [some thieves pre-register non existent trailers to create history, and steal them later]

It's good to see the brakes on the rear [which is how they should be ]
Sometimes the shackles will invert themselves if the trailer is empty and the brake controller is too high.
I weld a bar on the shackles to prevent them inverting themselves [a simple mod that saves grief caused by forgetting things]

 

[koditten]

Kerry:

I have to disagree with you on the placement of the braked axle. I always put mine on the front axle for the exact reason you list. The inversion of the links on the equalizer. I've had to repair 3 trailers that the owners somehow got the links inverted.(not my trailers)

Why would you put the braked axle to the rear? When the brakes activate, the axle wants to pivot down. When brakes are on the back axle, you have the articulation of the equalizer and links that allow the axle to pivot.

If the brake axle is to the front, the axle still wants to pivot down, but it can't because the front hanger is bolted to the spring and the hanger is solidly welded to the frame.

I am willing to hear your reasoning, please convince me.

Later

KO

 

[kerrynzl]

Firstly this only applies to rocker equaliser suspension.

You have to picture a leaf spring in the same manner as a “Swing Arm”. The front springs pivot from the front hanger , The rear springs pivot from the rear hanger.

When the brake are applied the only thing the “Anchors” the brakes is the backing plate which is attached to the Axle, Which is then attached to the leaf spring.
So all the brake Torque is transferred to the chassis via the fixed end of the leaf spring, And the Brake torque is always in the same direction as wheel rotation.
[the rotational “torque” then becomes a vertical force]


When the brakes are on the front wheels ,the torque rotates from the front hanger and tries to lift at the equalizer [where there is no resistance], The opposite applies to the rear brakes where the brake torque tries to push the equalizer downwards [this force can be greater than the weight of the trailer, hence the shackles try to invert themselves]

4 wheel brakes can invert the rear even easier, because both the brake torques work together [ fronts lifting ,rears pushing down at the same time ]

I’ve built a few rental trailers, where it would be easier to eliminate the F***wit factor by simply putting the brakes on the front axle.
But our [NZ] legislation prevents me from doing this [ I have tried this on with our road Nazi’s ] So I have to make that modification shown previously

It is worded [NZ] “If the brakes are on only 2 wheels, they must be on the same axle, and during the braking process must not transfer brake forces to an unbraked axle”
Most legislation is similar [NZ Transport Laws are often referred back to Canadian Legislation]

Check your local laws.
The biggest myth with trailer builders is they think the weight transfer should have powerful brakes on the front [similar to a car ]
But Brake torque can easily exceed the weight transfer of a vehicle, and from experience “Anti-Dive” can be engineered into the suspension geometry

Again I state this only applies to rocker equaliser suspension.

[sorry about hijacking your thread with this post Jon! its a great looking build so far]

Cheers Kerry

 

[Jon Jacobs]

Great looking build, and looks a lot like a trailer I've been planning in my head for a while.

Would you mind sharing what your cost is to date? I assume axle/wheels/etc. are from Princess Auto?

Hi, I buy the stuff from P/A when its on sale and add it to the pile. I guess you could say it was designed by the sales flyer lol. I would say maybe 2 grand with all the materials.

its a great store, the one here has everything a guy could want.

 

[gus1962]

A fine build! Solid looking trailer.

 

[Zengineer]

Nice, that's about my trailer budget $2k to $2.5k. Looks like I'll be doing something similar to you once I get my new shop set up!

 

[drivesitfar]

JJ: nice start on the trailer and looking forward to more pictures of the progress and the finished one when you have time to post.

Zen: not sure you know about this little trailer company in Parksville over on Vancouver Island about an hour or so north of Victoria, but they make an awesome trailer for the money. i bought one down here used that was like new condition and almost 10 years old that carries almost anything i want it to. it might be on the smallish side at 4 x 8 (2 inches over each way so full 4 x 8's fit easily), but since it's aluminum it only weighs about 400 pounds.

it is also about $2,200 for a new one.

good luck with your project if you want to build your own and just thought you might like to know about this company www.expresscustom.com because i'm going to drive up and probably buy another one from them next year that is a little bigger.

 

[Zengineer]

Yes, I know the company you mean. They don't actually make what I am looking for, and the closest thing is $7000+ (tilt). Looking for a dual axle non-tilt utility trailer (steel).

 

[Jon Jacobs]

Hi guys, just started to fab up the sides of this trailer. The lower sections will be clad with 3/16 crs. This unit is 5' x 10'. Sides are 16" high.