With the good graces of our esteemed colleague Leigh from MarMachine,
Im now the proud owner of a Real Trailer.

My old and very tired 4x8 box trailer was on its last legs when Leigh
called and let me know he had found a 5x10 tilt bed single axle
trailer for me rotting away in some fellows back yard.

A fast trade for Stuff transpired.

The trailer has lights and old but still functional wiring, and all
the wood decking was gone.
After replacing the rotted tires, and temporarily installing 1" thick
plywood deck (Leigh again) I brought it home tonight. The critter
pulls like a dream, and after a bit of practice backing it up around a
parking lot, I found its very agile and controllable. This thing is
gonna be a goodie!!!

The trailer was commercially made and at one time pin striped and
probably painted red..but now is pretty much a solid sheet of very
thin rust.

Probably the best thing to do is find a tank blaster and have it sand
blasted, but other than a cup brush and a day grinding the rust off,
are there any other options? Some chemical or paint that will stop
the rust and coat existing rust? Its very well made with lots of
angle iron and channel and its gonna be a real PITA to wire wheel it
clean.

Just pondering. Pretty is not important. Utility and cheap is. G

One last thing. Its a tilt bed. Pull the pin and the bed tilts. Now
this is a very nice thing for machine tools. But I was pondering the
fact I might put a big lathe (for example) on it and not be able to
get it perfectly balanced..how the heck do I get the bed back to level
again? Or the other issue..if the heavy thingy is a bit far
forwards..how to I lift the bed to tilt?

Im sure someone here has addressed this before..so before I go all
Rube Goldberg and reinvent the Framistan Feebelfexer 9000 All Tilt
Gizmatcho...anyone got any good ideas? Trailer is rated at 5000lb
according to tounge stamp,,but its only a single axle..so figure
2000-2500 max load.

Im quite proud of the way I put in the decking. It involved a
forklift, hoisting slings and 210lbs of dead weight G

Gunner

"At the core of liberalism is the spoiled child -
miserable, as all spoiled children are, unsatisfied,
demanding, ill-disciplined, despotic and useless.
Liberalism is a philosphy of sniveling brats." -- P.J. O'Rourke

"Gunner" wrote in message
...
With the good graces of our esteemed colleague Leigh from MarMachine,
Im now the proud owner of a Real Trailer.

My old and very tired 4x8 box trailer was on its last legs when Leigh
called and let me know he had found a 5x10 tilt bed single axle
trailer for me rotting away in some fellows back yard.

A fast trade for Stuff transpired.

The trailer has lights and old but still functional wiring, and all
the wood decking was gone.
After replacing the rotted tires, and temporarily installing 1" thick
plywood deck (Leigh again) I brought it home tonight. The critter
pulls like a dream, and after a bit of practice backing it up around a
parking lot, I found its very agile and controllable. This thing is
gonna be a goodie!!!

The trailer was commercially made and at one time pin striped and
probably painted red..but now is pretty much a solid sheet of very
thin rust.

Probably the best thing to do is find a tank blaster and have it sand
blasted, but other than a cup brush and a day grinding the rust off,
are there any other options? Some chemical or paint that will stop
the rust and coat existing rust? Its very well made with lots of
angle iron and channel and its gonna be a real PITA to wire wheel it
clean.

Just pondering. Pretty is not important. Utility and cheap is. G

One last thing. Its a tilt bed. Pull the pin and the bed tilts. Now
this is a very nice thing for machine tools. But I was pondering the
fact I might put a big lathe (for example) on it and not be able to
get it perfectly balanced..how the heck do I get the bed back to level
again? Or the other issue..if the heavy thingy is a bit far
forwards..how to I lift the bed to tilt?

Im sure someone here has addressed this before..so before I go all
Rube Goldberg and reinvent the Framistan Feebelfexer 9000 All Tilt
Gizmatcho...anyone got any good ideas? Trailer is rated at 5000lb
according to tounge stamp,,but its only a single axle..so figure
2000-2500 max load.

Im quite proud of the way I put in the decking. It involved a
forklift, hoisting slings and 210lbs of dead weight G

Gunner

"At the core of liberalism is the spoiled child -
miserable, as all spoiled children are, unsatisfied,
demanding, ill-disciplined, despotic and useless.
Liberalism is a philosphy of sniveling brats." -- P.J. O'Rourke

I can answer one question, how to make it tilt. Get a really good set of
wheel chocks, chock the trailer wheels so they can't move, then slowly
reverse. Works the other way too, chock the front of the wheels and pull
forward, it'll come level again. Slow is the go, if it jumps the chocks,
it'll end in tears.

regards,

John

Rust Mort, put out by SEM. Look for it at an autobody supply place that
sells auto paints. I like this stuff *much* better than Extend. I used
it for well over a decade of rust work on MN cars. A quart of it runs
about $15.00 now. A quart would do several trailers and a truck or two as
well.

Knock off loose flaking rust (if any) with a quick trip around with a cup
brush. Then slop on the rustmort with a brush or whatever. It's
water-based stuff; just slop it on with a cheap brush you won't miss.
(Wear rubber gloves and goggles) Let it work until stuff turns black, but
don't let it dry. If it starts to dry, slop on some more. When it's
"done" (5 minutes to an hour) hose it off good. When it's dry, shoot
it with primer. I like zinc-rich primer like Instant Cold Galvanize.
Grainger has one for $3.88 per rattlecan. 6KP26
http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/pro...042780&ccitem=
It's no good at all if you plan to shoot color, but it works fine as is.
It's what I used on my 5x9 3000lb trailer.

"Gunner" wrote in message
...

Probably the best thing to do is find a tank blaster and have it sand
blasted, but other than a cup brush and a day grinding the rust off,
are there any other options? Some chemical or paint that will stop
the rust and coat existing rust? Its very well made with lots of
angle iron and channel and its gonna be a real PITA to wire wheel it
clean.

Just pondering. Pretty is not important. Utility and cheap is. G

Gunner
What about hooking up a small hand cranked boat winch and a couple of
pulleys to the back of the tilt deck and you can control the drop with
the winch. You will have to have it balanced to the rear for it to work
though. Unless you could connect the winch to both ends of the tilt bed
and control it both ways??

Gunner wrote:

One last thing. Its a tilt bed. Pull the pin and the bed tilts. Now
this is a very nice thing for machine tools. But I was pondering the
fact I might put a big lathe (for example) on it and not be able to
get it perfectly balanced..how the heck do I get the bed back to level
again? Or the other issue..if the heavy thingy is a bit far
forwards..how to I lift the bed to tilt?

Im sure someone here has addressed this before..so before I go all
Rube Goldberg and reinvent the Framistan Feebelfexer 9000 All Tilt
Gizmatcho...anyone got any good ideas? Trailer is rated at 5000lb
according to tounge stamp,,but its only a single axle..so figure
2000-2500 max load.

Im quite proud of the way I put in the decking. It involved a
forklift, hoisting slings and 210lbs of dead weight G

Gunner

"At the core of liberalism is the spoiled child -
miserable, as all spoiled children are, unsatisfied,
demanding, ill-disciplined, despotic and useless.
Liberalism is a philosphy of sniveling brats." -- P.J. O'Rourke

--
James P Crombie
Slemon Park, PEI
Canada
Machinist - 3D Cad Design - Amateur Astronomer

http://www.jamescrombie.com

In article ,
wrote:


The trailer was commercially made and at one time pin striped and
probably painted red..but now is pretty much a solid sheet of very
thin rust.

Probably the best thing to do is find a tank blaster and have it sand
blasted, but other than a cup brush and a day grinding the rust off,
are there any other options? Some chemical or paint that will stop
the rust and coat existing rust? Its very well made with lots of
angle iron and channel and its gonna be a real PITA to wire wheel it
clean.

Just pondering. Pretty is not important. Utility and cheap is. G

Following those links on electrolysis someone posted yesterday, I came
across your exact problem and the solution:
http://antique-engines.com/trailer-electrolysis.htm

--
Jedd Haas - Artist
http://www.gallerytungsten.com
http://www.epsno.com

Gunner wrote in message . ..
With the good graces of our esteemed colleague Leigh from MarMachine,
Im now the proud owner of a Real Trailer.

My old and very tired 4x8 box trailer was on its last legs when Leigh
called and let me know he had found a 5x10 tilt bed single axle
trailer for me rotting away in some fellows back yard.

A fast trade for Stuff transpired.

The trailer has lights and old but still functional wiring, and all
the wood decking was gone.
After replacing the rotted tires, and temporarily installing 1" thick
plywood deck (Leigh again) I brought it home tonight. The critter
pulls like a dream, and after a bit of practice backing it up around a
parking lot, I found its very agile and controllable. This thing is
gonna be a goodie!!!

The trailer was commercially made and at one time pin striped and
probably painted red..but now is pretty much a solid sheet of very
thin rust.

Probably the best thing to do is find a tank blaster and have it sand
blasted, but other than a cup brush and a day grinding the rust off,
are there any other options? Some chemical or paint that will stop
the rust and coat existing rust? Its very well made with lots of
angle iron and channel and its gonna be a real PITA to wire wheel it
clean.

Just pondering. Pretty is not important. Utility and cheap is. G

One last thing. Its a tilt bed. Pull the pin and the bed tilts. Now
this is a very nice thing for machine tools. But I was pondering the
fact I might put a big lathe (for example) on it and not be able to
get it perfectly balanced..how the heck do I get the bed back to level
again? Or the other issue..if the heavy thingy is a bit far
forwards..how to I lift the bed to tilt?

Im sure someone here has addressed this before..so before I go all
Rube Goldberg and reinvent the Framistan Feebelfexer 9000 All Tilt
Gizmatcho...anyone got any good ideas? Trailer is rated at 5000lb
according to tounge stamp,,but its only a single axle..so figure
2000-2500 max load.

Im quite proud of the way I put in the decking. It involved a
forklift, hoisting slings and 210lbs of dead weight G

Gunner

"At the core of liberalism is the spoiled child -
miserable, as all spoiled children are, unsatisfied,
demanding, ill-disciplined, despotic and useless.
Liberalism is a philosphy of sniveling brats." -- P.J. O'Rourke

For small vehicles, that type of trailer usually has the ability
to swivel the tongue off to the side. This allows the small
vehicle to drive forwards, off the trailer once you pull the pin,
and jackknife the trailer sideways.

I have in the past, used a jack under the front of the trailer,
to allow loading or unloading.
Thats how I got a larger LeBlond home eons ago. Used a come-along
to winch it up the bed, till it tipped down on it's own.
Being __ VERY __ careful at that point... It was just ready
to totter, so just walking up the trailer was all that was
needed to tip it up, and install the pin.
The come along could then move it forward and back to adjust
the tongue weight, and back far enough to release the tonge weight
to unload again.
Nowdays, I call the local cement company, with a large boom truck
and schedule when they are already driving past. Get a 30,000 lbs.
boom truck for a just a few dollars if you are flexible on timing.

Pete

On Sat, 11 Sep 2004 11:11:00 -0500, (Jedd Haas) wrote:

In article ,
wrote:


The trailer was commercially made and at one time pin striped and
probably painted red..but now is pretty much a solid sheet of very
thin rust.

Probably the best thing to do is find a tank blaster and have it sand
blasted, but other than a cup brush and a day grinding the rust off,
are there any other options? Some chemical or paint that will stop
the rust and coat existing rust? Its very well made with lots of
angle iron and channel and its gonna be a real PITA to wire wheel it
clean.

Just pondering. Pretty is not important. Utility and cheap is. G

Following those links on electrolysis someone posted yesterday, I came
across your exact problem and the solution:
http://antique-engines.com/trailer-electrolysis.htm

Cool!

Now I wonder how much all that plywood cost?

Gunner

"At the core of liberalism is the spoiled child -
miserable, as all spoiled children are, unsatisfied,
demanding, ill-disciplined, despotic and useless.
Liberalism is a philosphy of sniveling brats." -- P.J. O'Rourke

On Sat, 11 Sep 2004 11:11:00 -0500, (Jedd Haas) wrote:

Following those links on electrolysis someone posted yesterday, I came
across your exact problem and the solution:
http://antique-engines.com/trailer-electrolysis.htm

Like so much on the antique-engines website, their advice on
electrolysis is highly dubious. Don't use a welder here, the voltage
is far too high. Instead find an old minicomputer PSU and stick to
around 12V.

You can also parallel up a bunch of simple car battery chargers, each
with their own anode.

--
Smert' spamionam

On Sat, 11 Sep 2004 11:11:00 -0500, (Jedd Haas) explained:



Just pondering. Pretty is not important. Utility and cheap is. G

Following those links on electrolysis someone posted yesterday, I came
across your exact problem and the solution:
http://antique-engines.com/trailer-electrolysis.htm


Scary. Do you think it could be adapted to my panel van?-)


Mark Rand
RTFM

"Gunner" wrote in message
...
With the good graces of our esteemed colleague Leigh from MarMachine,
Im now the proud owner of a Real Trailer.

My old and very tired 4x8 box trailer was on its last legs when Leigh
called and let me know he had found a 5x10 tilt bed single axle
trailer for me rotting away in some fellows back yard.

A fast trade for Stuff transpired.

The trailer has lights and old but still functional wiring, and all
the wood decking was gone.
After replacing the rotted tires, and temporarily installing 1" thick
plywood deck (Leigh again) I brought it home tonight. The critter
pulls like a dream, and after a bit of practice backing it up around a
parking lot, I found its very agile and controllable. This thing is
gonna be a goodie!!!

The trailer was commercially made and at one time pin striped and
probably painted red..but now is pretty much a solid sheet of very
thin rust.

Probably the best thing to do is find a tank blaster and have it sand
blasted, but other than a cup brush and a day grinding the rust off,
are there any other options? Some chemical or paint that will stop
the rust and coat existing rust? Its very well made with lots of
angle iron and channel and its gonna be a real PITA to wire wheel it
clean.

Just pondering. Pretty is not important. Utility and cheap is. G

One last thing. Its a tilt bed. Pull the pin and the bed tilts. Now
this is a very nice thing for machine tools. But I was pondering the
fact I might put a big lathe (for example) on it and not be able to
get it perfectly balanced..how the heck do I get the bed back to level
again? Or the other issue..if the heavy thingy is a bit far
forwards..how to I lift the bed to tilt?

With a small floor jack

"Gunner" wrote in message
...

The trailer was commercially made and at one time pin striped and
probably painted red..but now is pretty much a solid sheet of very
thin rust.

Probably the best thing to do is find a tank blaster and have it sand
blasted, but other than a cup brush and a day grinding the rust off,
are there any other options? Some chemical or paint that will stop
the rust and coat existing rust? Its very well made with lots of
angle iron and channel and its gonna be a real PITA to wire wheel it
clean.

I've been using a needle blaster and pretty happy with the results. Not
white metal but it will get the loose stuff off. Much less dusty than
sanding, grinding or wire wheeling.

On Sat, 11 Sep 2004 10:25:15 GMT, Gunner
calmly ranted:

With the good graces of our esteemed colleague Leigh from MarMachine,
Im now the proud owner of a Real Trailer.

My old and very tired 4x8 box trailer was on its last legs when Leigh
called and let me know he had found a 5x10 tilt bed single axle
trailer for me rotting away in some fellows back yard.

Cool. Let's give her a trial run. Pop a small, inexpensive
vertical mill on that puppy, run it up to me, and I'll put
all new wiring and lights on it for you, no charge.



After replacing the rotted tires, and temporarily installing 1" thick
plywood deck (Leigh again) I brought it home tonight. The critter
pulls like a dream, and after a bit of practice backing it up around a
parking lot, I found its very agile and controllable. This thing is
gonna be a goodie!!!

Excellent!


The trailer was commercially made and at one time pin striped and
probably painted red..but now is pretty much a solid sheet of very
thin rust.

Trailers are like that. Yeah they are.


Probably the best thing to do is find a tank blaster and have it sand
blasted, but other than a cup brush and a day grinding the rust off,
are there any other options? Some chemical or paint that will stop
the rust and coat existing rust? Its very well made with lots of
angle iron and channel and its gonna be a real PITA to wire wheel it
clean.

Some of the brush-on Rustoleum primers are made for pre-rusted
metal. I redid my front wrought iron railing with it 3 years
ago and it hasn't shown any sign of rust yet. I used their
black brush-on over it.


Just pondering. Pretty is not important. Utility and cheap is. G

One last thing. Its a tilt bed. Pull the pin and the bed tilts. Now
this is a very nice thing for machine tools. But I was pondering the
fact I might put a big lathe (for example) on it and not be able to
get it perfectly balanced..how the heck do I get the bed back to level
again? Or the other issue..if the heavy thingy is a bit far
forwards..how to I lift the bed to tilt?

The quick answer: Carefully!


Im sure someone here has addressed this before..so before I go all
Rube Goldberg and reinvent the Framistan Feebelfexer 9000 All Tilt
Gizmatcho...anyone got any good ideas? Trailer is rated at 5000lb
according to tounge stamp,,but its only a single axle..so figure
2000-2500 max load.

The old comealong-around-the-tongue-and-front-railing (in front)
or lift-the-rear-with-a-pocket-hydraulic-jack (in back) both work.
Sitting on the front rail and hanging over the edge to find the
pin hole sometimes works, too. DAMHIKT.


Im quite proud of the way I put in the decking. It involved a
forklift, hoisting slings and 210lbs of dead weight G

210 whole pounds on a forklift? Gee, pushin' it, aintcha?


-------------------------------------------------------------
give me The Luxuries Of Life * http://www.diversify.com
i can live without the necessities * 2 Tee collections online
-------------------------------------------------------------

On Sat, 11 Sep 2004 20:32:31 -0700, Larry Jaques
wrote:

On Sat, 11 Sep 2004 10:25:15 GMT, Gunner
calmly ranted:

With the good graces of our esteemed colleague Leigh from MarMachine,
Im now the proud owner of a Real Trailer.

My old and very tired 4x8 box trailer was on its last legs when Leigh
called and let me know he had found a 5x10 tilt bed single axle
trailer for me rotting away in some fellows back yard.

Cool. Let's give her a trial run. Pop a small, inexpensive
vertical mill on that puppy, run it up to me, and I'll put
all new wiring and lights on it for you, no charge.

Chuckle...where were you when I had the small inexpensive vertical
mill for sale? The Index?

Depending on what you want to do..I may be selling off my Gorton 3-Z
pantograph. It does a good job of small milling with a 12x16 or so
working space and has a knee. Ive used it as a small miller and it
works very well with cutters up to about 1/4" . It will be quite
cheap. I never could find any fonts for it that I could afford and the
plan to have the disable missus make some pocket change by doing key
chains and pool cue case labels has gone by the wayside..and its now
pretty much in the way. Id make you a hell of a deal on it. Runs
like a champ and even the paint is good G. A couple of the local
boys have made quite a few RC airplane parts on it.



After replacing the rotted tires, and temporarily installing 1" thick
plywood deck (Leigh again) I brought it home tonight. The critter
pulls like a dream, and after a bit of practice backing it up around a
parking lot, I found its very agile and controllable. This thing is
gonna be a goodie!!!

Excellent!


The trailer was commercially made and at one time pin striped and
probably painted red..but now is pretty much a solid sheet of very
thin rust.

Trailers are like that. Yeah they are.


Probably the best thing to do is find a tank blaster and have it sand
blasted, but other than a cup brush and a day grinding the rust off,
are there any other options? Some chemical or paint that will stop
the rust and coat existing rust? Its very well made with lots of
angle iron and channel and its gonna be a real PITA to wire wheel it
clean.

Some of the brush-on Rustoleum primers are made for pre-rusted
metal. I redid my front wrought iron railing with it 3 years
ago and it hasn't shown any sign of rust yet. I used their
black brush-on over it.

I think Ill try that. Ive made some phone calls, and none of my
buddies has acess to a tank sand blaster anytime soon. Seems to be
something of a shortage of them currently. No one is sandblasting oil
field tanks at the moment. Ill scrounge up someone willing to do a
brother in law job, but winter and the rainy season is coming. The
trailer is not all that bad, but was stored near the ocean so has that
sort of rust on it. Hard to tell how much exactly as the trailer was
originally painted red..shrug.


Just pondering. Pretty is not important. Utility and cheap is. G

One last thing. Its a tilt bed. Pull the pin and the bed tilts. Now
this is a very nice thing for machine tools. But I was pondering the
fact I might put a big lathe (for example) on it and not be able to
get it perfectly balanced..how the heck do I get the bed back to level
again? Or the other issue..if the heavy thingy is a bit far
forwards..how to I lift the bed to tilt?

The quick answer: Carefully!


Im sure someone here has addressed this before..so before I go all
Rube Goldberg and reinvent the Framistan Feebelfexer 9000 All Tilt
Gizmatcho...anyone got any good ideas? Trailer is rated at 5000lb
according to tounge stamp,,but its only a single axle..so figure
2000-2500 max load.

The old comealong-around-the-tongue-and-front-railing (in front)
or lift-the-rear-with-a-pocket-hydraulic-jack (in back) both work.
Sitting on the front rail and hanging over the edge to find the
pin hole sometimes works, too. DAMHIKT.


Im quite proud of the way I put in the decking. It involved a
forklift, hoisting slings and 210lbs of dead weight G

210 whole pounds on a forklift? Gee, pushin' it, aintcha?


Chuckle..the bed has internal smooth sides, but the ends are pocketed.
So I cut my 1" plywood to 1/2 the bed width (5'x12') sheets per Leighs
most excellent suggestion and then cut them to .25 less the total
inside length of the pockets. I then stuck one end into the pocket at
the rear of the trailer, and strung a rope around the plywood about
1/3 the way towards that pocket, and lifted it with the forklift. I
then stood on the other end and as the plywood bowed, my weight
allowed me to stab the other end into the far pocket. I then had a
fellow drop the forks and it went flat, with both ends neatly in the
pocket. I repeated for the other half and voila..very neatly stuck in
the pockets, the center seam is straight and tight. I used the
forklift to pull the rope back out as it was wedged in pretty good.

The open sides are 13" tall, so the remaining strips cut from the full
sheets are to be trimmed to the proper width, and will be bolted to
the open side trusses and this will enclose the trailer, adding
strengh and keeping Stuff from bouncing out.

Im trying to figure out a good way to add a bit more strength to the
front rail, to allow me to mount a winch or big D ring to attach a
ComeAlong to, to pull Stuff up into the trailer. I may..may also weld
in a longitudnal stringer as there are a couple larger than I like
open places in the frame that are over the tilt portion. I didnt
notice them until I tilted the trailer this afternoon. Shrug..that 1"
ply is tough stuff, but Id hate for it to carry a load that might go
through in the distant future.


Anyone know how difficult it is to retrofit a stock axle with electric
brakes? Ive had to do panic braking on LA freeways, and even my lil
box trailer, with a load tended to push my pickup sideways. Something
Ive been thinking about..... Shrug.


The trailer has a crank up landing gear welded up in the V next to the
hitch, and somewhere in the past it had been dragged on something and
bent backwards, so I chained up to the rear of the trailer and used a
come along to bend it back into place. Only problem with it being
there is it doesnt allow me to open the tailgate of the pickup. I
need to find one of those folding ones that fold horizontally next to
the tounge. Ive had trailers (boat usually) that wouldnt allow the
tailgate down..and it drove me crazy.

Next thing to do is figure out what the 5 lug bolt pattern is, and get
a spare tire and wheel. Ill weld a bracket on the side near the
fenders and mount it there. Thing is perfectly balanced. I can pick up
the tounge one handed and move it around easily, so would like to keep
it balanced. I want to mount a small tool box also, to keep the
tiedowns and chain binders and whatnot in, so keeping it balanced is
pretty important, while not making it look like a gypsy wagon G,
else Id simply mount a crossbed pickup box on the tounge end.
Gunner




-------------------------------------------------------------
give me The Luxuries Of Life * http://www.diversify.com
i can live without the necessities * 2 Tee collections online
-------------------------------------------------------------

"At the core of liberalism is the spoiled child -
miserable, as all spoiled children are, unsatisfied,
demanding, ill-disciplined, despotic and useless.
Liberalism is a philosphy of sniveling brats." -- P.J. O'Rourke

Sounds like you'll not often be removing the sides for side loading. We
used stake pockets to make the sides easily removable.
I welded a receiver tube on the side of the trailer and welded up a spare
tire mount with a suitable insert. To remove spare for side loading,
just pull pin and the spare and mount is out of the way in 2 seconds with
no tools.


"Gunner" wrote in message
...


Next thing to do is figure out what the 5 lug bolt pattern is, and get
a spare tire and wheel. Ill weld a bracket on the side near the
fenders and mount it there. Thing is perfectly balanced. I can pick up
the tounge one handed and move it around easily, so would like to keep
it balanced. I want to mount a small tool box also, to keep the
tiedowns and chain binders and whatnot in, so keeping it balanced is
pretty important, while not making it look like a gypsy wagon G,
else Id simply mount a crossbed pickup box on the tounge end.
Gunner

On Sun, 12 Sep 2004 09:09:07 GMT, Gunner
calmly ranted:

On Sat, 11 Sep 2004 20:32:31 -0700, Larry Jaques
wrote:

On Sat, 11 Sep 2004 10:25:15 GMT, Gunner
calmly ranted:

With the good graces of our esteemed colleague Leigh from MarMachine,
Im now the proud owner of a Real Trailer.

My old and very tired 4x8 box trailer was on its last legs when Leigh
called and let me know he had found a 5x10 tilt bed single axle
trailer for me rotting away in some fellows back yard.

Cool. Let's give her a trial run. Pop a small, inexpensive
vertical mill on that puppy, run it up to me, and I'll put
all new wiring and lights on it for you, no charge.

Chuckle...where were you when I had the small inexpensive vertical
mill for sale? The Index?

Self-employed and in the Famine stage of Feast or Famine, of course.


Depending on what you want to do..I may be selling off my Gorton 3-Z
pantograph. It does a good job of small milling with a 12x16 or so
working space and has a knee. Ive used it as a small miller and it
works very well with cutters up to about 1/4" . It will be quite
cheap. I never could find any fonts for it that I could afford and the
plan to have the disable missus make some pocket change by doing key
chains and pool cue case labels has gone by the wayside..and its now
pretty much in the way. Id make you a hell of a deal on it. Runs
like a champ and even the paint is good G. A couple of the local
boys have made quite a few RC airplane parts on it.



The trailer was commercially made and at one time pin striped and
probably painted red..but now is pretty much a solid sheet of very
thin rust.

Trailers are like that. Yeah they are.


Probably the best thing to do is find a tank blaster and have it sand
blasted, but other than a cup brush and a day grinding the rust off,
are there any other options? Some chemical or paint that will stop
the rust and coat existing rust? Its very well made with lots of
angle iron and channel and its gonna be a real PITA to wire wheel it
clean.

In the interim, HF has a 50 lb. sandblaster on sale for $40
right now. I got the catalog yesterday.


Some of the brush-on Rustoleum primers are made for pre-rusted
metal. I redid my front wrought iron railing with it 3 years
ago and it hasn't shown any sign of rust yet. I used their
black brush-on over it.

I think Ill try that. Ive made some phone calls, and none of my
buddies has acess to a tank sand blaster anytime soon. Seems to be
something of a shortage of them currently. No one is sandblasting oil
field tanks at the moment. Ill scrounge up someone willing to do a
brother in law job, but winter and the rainy season is coming. The

Bwahahaha! Rain in SoCal? OK, it drizzles a bit from late Nov.
through Feb.


trailer is not all that bad, but was stored near the ocean so has that
sort of rust on it. Hard to tell how much exactly as the trailer was
originally painted red..shrug.

Near the ocean? My F-150 spent a week at the seaside (Carlsbad)
while being repainted (Well, the half that Ford paid for, anyway.)
All the trim came back corroded and I could see visible rust on
the frame which wasn't there the week before. I was absolutely
amazed at how corrosive salt air was in such a short time.


210 whole pounds on a forklift? Gee, pushin' it, aintcha?


Chuckle..the bed has internal smooth sides, but the ends are pocketed.
So I cut my 1" plywood to 1/2 the bed width (5'x12') sheets per Leighs
most excellent suggestion and then cut them to .25 less the total
inside length of the pockets. I then stuck one end into the pocket at
the rear of the trailer, and strung a rope around the plywood about
1/3 the way towards that pocket, and lifted it with the forklift. I
then stood on the other end and as the plywood bowed, my weight
allowed me to stab the other end into the far pocket. I then had a
fellow drop the forks and it went flat, with both ends neatly in the
pocket. I repeated for the other half and voila..very neatly stuck in
the pockets, the center seam is straight and tight. I used the
forklift to pull the rope back out as it was wedged in pretty good.

The open sides are 13" tall, so the remaining strips cut from the full
sheets are to be trimmed to the proper width, and will be bolted to
the open side trusses and this will enclose the trailer, adding
strengh and keeping Stuff from bouncing out.

Bueno.


Im trying to figure out a good way to add a bit more strength to the
front rail, to allow me to mount a winch or big D ring to attach a
ComeAlong to, to pull Stuff up into the trailer.

HF often has their boat winches on sale for $10-15, and one
of those should do the job. Weld on a pair of brackets and
bolt 'er on.

I may..may also weld
in a longitudnal stringer as there are a couple larger than I like
open places in the frame that are over the tilt portion. I didnt
notice them until I tilted the trailer this afternoon.

Um, not even with the paneling removed?!? You weren't paying
attention. It would have been much easier then.


Shrug..that 1"
ply is tough stuff, but Id hate for it to carry a load that might go
through in the distant future.

Grok that.


Anyone know how difficult it is to retrofit a stock axle with electric
brakes? Ive had to do panic braking on LA freeways, and even my lil
box trailer, with a load tended to push my pickup sideways. Something
Ive been thinking about..... Shrug.

I've never done it but have seen the bolt-on kits (eons ago).
If your stub axles are bolt-on, the backing plate/hub/stub
can be replaced.


The trailer has a crank up landing gear welded up in the V next to the
hitch, and somewhere in the past it had been dragged on something and
bent backwards, so I chained up to the rear of the trailer and used a
come along to bend it back into place. Only problem with it being
there is it doesnt allow me to open the tailgate of the pickup. I
need to find one of those folding ones that fold horizontally next to
the tounge. Ive had trailers (boat usually) that wouldnt allow the
tailgate down..and it drove me crazy.

Sheetmetal is easy to cut. Just put a couple holes in the tailgate to
let the jack comes through and you're done! bseg BTW, tongue is
spelled "tongue". Yeah, backing things around is much easier with
the gate down. You might want a ball and hitch on the front of
the truck, too. That makes stabbing the trailer into a little hole
much, much easier.


Next thing to do is figure out what the 5 lug bolt pattern is, and get
a spare tire and wheel. Ill weld a bracket on the side near the
fenders and mount it there. Thing is perfectly balanced. I can pick up
the tounge one handed and move it around easily, so would like to keep
it balanced. I want to mount a small tool box also, to keep the
tiedowns and chain binders and whatnot in, so keeping it balanced is
pretty important, while not making it look like a gypsy wagon G,
else Id simply mount a crossbed pickup box on the tounge end.

I'd see if I could mount the box and spare just in front of the
wheels if it were mine, but leave enough space to get the holddown
straps/hardware between it and the wheel/box. It would give you the
least tongue weight (though you want 100+ lbs. when you're on the
road). And I'd use a wheeled swing-away trailer jack. You can buy
those, which bolt on, from places like J.C. Whitney for $50, or HF
for $20 or for $1+ on Ebay. =:0


Have you read "Imperial Hubris" yet? My library has me 6th of 17
on the waiting list now. grumble, grumble
http://www.bostonphoenix.com/boston/...s/03949394.asp


-------------------------------------------------------------
give me The Luxuries Of Life * http://www.diversify.com
i can live without the necessities * 2 Tee collections online
-------------------------------------------------------------

Gunner,

Electric brakes are easy to retrofit to most trailer axles. Around here
there is a trailer shop that specializes in smaller trailers and have
electric brake kits that include backing plates, activating electromagnets,
pads etc already setup on the backing plates. Just remove old backing
plate and bolt on new backing plate and run wires Only thing to watch out
for on installation is to make sure the wire can't chafe on anything.

Get the controller with the manual brake activation as well. If your
trailer starts weaving behind you due to ruts in the road etc you can
spike the trailer brakes to straighten it out. (Lots of roads in AZ have
serious rig ruts and if your trailer axle width isn't right it can get away
from you.)

Watch the balance point of the trailer. You always want more weight
on the hitch side of things. Again you can get the "death weave" going
and the weight behind the axle increases the problem.

Saw a person towing a 30' party barge behind a Suburban on a single
axle trailer. Watched them flip it during rush hour on a 6 lane wide
freeway and blocked all lanes doing it. If he had electric brakes he could
have saved it. (That and what the H*ll was he towing such a large boat
on a single axle trailer behind a rather light for the job Suburban at 65+
mph.)

Bart D. Hull

Tempe, Arizona

Check http://www.inficad.com/~bdhull/engine.html
for my Subaru Engine Conversion
Check http://www.inficad.com/~bdhull/fuselage.html
for Tango II I'm building.

Remove -nospam to reply via email.



Gunner wrote:

(SNIP)
Anyone know how difficult it is to retrofit a stock axle with electric
brakes? Ive had to do panic braking on LA freeways, and even my lil
box trailer, with a load tended to push my pickup sideways. Something
Ive been thinking about..... Shrug.


The trailer has a crank up landing gear welded up in the V next to the
hitch, and somewhere in the past it had been dragged on something and
bent backwards, so I chained up to the rear of the trailer and used a
come along to bend it back into place. Only problem with it being
there is it doesnt allow me to open the tailgate of the pickup. I
need to find one of those folding ones that fold horizontally next to
the tounge. Ive had trailers (boat usually) that wouldnt allow the
tailgate down..and it drove me crazy.

Next thing to do is figure out what the 5 lug bolt pattern is, and get
a spare tire and wheel. Ill weld a bracket on the side near the
fenders and mount it there. Thing is perfectly balanced. I can pick up
the tounge one handed and move it around easily, so would like to keep
it balanced. I want to mount a small tool box also, to keep the
tiedowns and chain binders and whatnot in, so keeping it balanced is
pretty important, while not making it look like a gypsy wagon G,
else Id simply mount a crossbed pickup box on the tounge end.
Gunner


"At the core of liberalism is the spoiled child -
miserable, as all spoiled children are, unsatisfied,
demanding, ill-disciplined, despotic and useless.
Liberalism is a philosphy of sniveling brats." -- P.J. O'Rourke

On Sun, 12 Sep 2004 09:09:07 GMT, Gunner
wrote:
On Sat, 11 Sep 2004 20:32:31 -0700, Larry Jaques
wrote:
On Sat, 11 Sep 2004 10:25:15 GMT, Gunner
calmly ranted:

With the good graces of our esteemed colleague Leigh from MarMachine,
Im now the proud owner of a Real Trailer.

My old and very tired 4x8 box trailer was on its last legs when Leigh
called and let me know he had found a 5x10 tilt bed single axle
trailer for me rotting away in some fellows back yard.

After replacing the rotted tires, and temporarily installing 1" thick
plywood deck (Leigh again) I brought it home tonight. The critter
pulls like a dream, and after a bit of practice backing it up around a
parking lot, I found its very agile and controllable. This thing is
gonna be a goodie!!!

I hope the tire shop found you a set of good used take-offs - good
tires cheap for trailers. You can get new "ST" trailer tires with
extra anti-ozone compounds in the sidewalls, but for a trailer that
will sit much of the time they'll still rot out before they wear out,
so car take-offs with tread left are just fine. Keep them till you
start seeing weather-checking, then chuck them.

Probably the best thing to do is find a tank blaster and have it sand
blasted, but other than a cup brush and a day grinding the rust off,
are there any other options? Some chemical or paint that will stop
the rust and coat existing rust? Its very well made with lots of
angle iron and channel and its gonna be a real PITA to wire wheel it
clean.

Some of the brush-on Rustoleum primers are made for pre-rusted
metal. I redid my front wrought iron railing with it 3 years
ago and it hasn't shown any sign of rust yet. I used their
black brush-on over it.

I think Ill try that. Ive made some phone calls, and none of my
buddies has acess to a tank sand blaster anytime soon. Seems to be
something of a shortage of them currently. No one is sandblasting oil
field tanks at the moment. Ill scrounge up someone willing to do a
brother in law job, but winter and the rainy season is coming. The
trailer is not all that bad, but was stored near the ocean so has that
sort of rust on it. Hard to tell how much exactly as the trailer was
originally painted red..shrug.

If you are going to the trouble of painting, treat the rust first or
it'll pop right back out. As a minimum I would get a needle scaler or
a 4" grinder with a knotted brush, or something to knock the big
surface rust off, then use a rust converter before rusty metal primer.
It will come back again, but not nearly as fast.

One last thing. Its a tilt bed. Pull the pin and the bed tilts. Now
this is a very nice thing for machine tools. But I was pondering the
fact I might put a big lathe (for example) on it and not be able to
get it perfectly balanced..how the heck do I get the bed back to level
again? Or the other issue..if the heavy thingy is a bit far
forwards..how to I lift the bed to tilt?

Do you have an old High-Lift mechanical jack around? (Make a few
brackets to fix it in position.) Or a big chunk of ballscrew and a
nut, and a Heim Joint for the other end? (Make a screw jack that can
control both up and down.) "Slick" would be a 12V deep cycle battery,
12V hydraulic power pack and a double-action cylinder. And you can
find another cylinder to replace the tongue jack if you want to get
lazy.

Anyone know how difficult it is to retrofit a stock axle with electric
brakes? Ive had to do panic braking on LA freeways, and even my lil
box trailer, with a load tended to push my pickup sideways. Something
Ive been thinking about..... Shrug.

If the axle stubs have the flanges for the brake backing plates on
them, its a matter of finding and slapping on the right parts. Any
good trailer supply store can look at them and know in 15 seconds.
If it doesn't have the flanges to mount the brakes on, you'll have to
cut out and change the spindles.

The trailer has a crank up landing gear welded up in the V next to the
hitch, and somewhere in the past it had been dragged on something and
bent backwards, so I chained up to the rear of the trailer and used a
come along to bend it back into place. Only problem with it being
there is it doesnt allow me to open the tailgate of the pickup. I
need to find one of those folding ones that fold horizontally next to
the tounge. Ive had trailers (boat usually) that wouldnt allow the
tailgate down..and it drove me crazy.

Harbor Fr(e)ight. They always have one style or another on sale,
including the swivel-on-a-2"-spindle style that folds flat.

Next thing to do is figure out what the 5 lug bolt pattern is, and get
a spare tire and wheel. Ill weld a bracket on the side near the
fenders and mount it there. Thing is perfectly balanced. I can pick up
the tounge one handed and move it around easily, so would like to keep
it balanced. I want to mount a small tool box also, to keep the
tiedowns and chain binders and whatnot in, so keeping it balanced is
pretty important, while not making it look like a gypsy wagon G,
else Id simply mount a crossbed pickup box on the tounge end.

As someone said, make the spare tire mount on a standard 2" square
hitch receiver and pin so it slides off for odd loading situations.

The slick trick I've seen is, when you find out what size the axle
and spindles are, order a complete set as a pre-assembled unit - hub,
lug bolts or studs & nuts, wheel bearings, grease seals, and spindle.
NAPA has a page of these standard hubs in their PSA catalogs - write
down all the casting numbers, or take the hub in with you.

Weld that spare tire mounting arm up with the spindle and hub to
hold the tire (big tack welds from the mounting arm to the spindle so
they can be cut off easier later, not full beads), and if you ever
shear the lug bolts or spin a wheel bearing and trash the hub or
spindle (or both), you are always carrying a complete set of spare
parts with you all ready to go... ;-)

(Some Assembly Required - 'Hot Wrench' not included.)

This works great on boat trailers with a long tongue where you can
rig it up at the right height for a "driveway drag wheel" that will
easily spin and roll you over the lip. Just keep some momentum in
case it lifts the back tires of the car off the ground...

-- Bruce --
--
Bruce L. Bergman, Woodland Hills (Los Angeles) CA - Desktop
Electrician for Westend Electric - CA726700
5737 Kanan Rd. #359, Agoura CA 91301 (818) 889-9545
Spamtrapped address: Remove the python and the invalid, and use a net.

On Sun, 12 Sep 2004 07:31:20 -0700, Larry Jaques
wrote:

On Sun, 12 Sep 2004 09:09:07 GMT, Gunner
calmly ranted:

On Sat, 11 Sep 2004 20:32:31 -0700, Larry Jaques
wrote:

On Sat, 11 Sep 2004 10:25:15 GMT, Gunner
calmly ranted:

With the good graces of our esteemed colleague Leigh from MarMachine,
Im now the proud owner of a Real Trailer.

My old and very tired 4x8 box trailer was on its last legs when Leigh
called and let me know he had found a 5x10 tilt bed single axle
trailer for me rotting away in some fellows back yard.

Cool. Let's give her a trial run. Pop a small, inexpensive
vertical mill on that puppy, run it up to me, and I'll put
all new wiring and lights on it for you, no charge.

Chuckle...where were you when I had the small inexpensive vertical
mill for sale? The Index?

Self-employed and in the Famine stage of Feast or Famine, of course.


Been there..Still there..shrug.

Depending on what you want to do..I may be selling off my Gorton 3-Z
pantograph. It does a good job of small milling with a 12x16 or so
working space and has a knee. Ive used it as a small miller and it
works very well with cutters up to about 1/4" . It will be quite
cheap. I never could find any fonts for it that I could afford and the
plan to have the disable missus make some pocket change by doing key
chains and pool cue case labels has gone by the wayside..and its now
pretty much in the way. Id make you a hell of a deal on it. Runs
like a champ and even the paint is good G. A couple of the local
boys have made quite a few RC airplane parts on it.



The trailer was commercially made and at one time pin striped and
probably painted red..but now is pretty much a solid sheet of very
thin rust.

Trailers are like that. Yeah they are.


Probably the best thing to do is find a tank blaster and have it sand
blasted, but other than a cup brush and a day grinding the rust off,
are there any other options? Some chemical or paint that will stop
the rust and coat existing rust? Its very well made with lots of
angle iron and channel and its gonna be a real PITA to wire wheel it
clean.

In the interim, HF has a 50 lb. sandblaster on sale for $40
right now. I got the catalog yesterday.

I think Ill simply prime and paint. I dont have the room or facility
to dump a few hundred pounds of sand on the property.

Some of the brush-on Rustoleum primers are made for pre-rusted
metal. I redid my front wrought iron railing with it 3 years
ago and it hasn't shown any sign of rust yet. I used their
black brush-on over it.

I think Ill try that. Ive made some phone calls, and none of my
buddies has acess to a tank sand blaster anytime soon. Seems to be
something of a shortage of them currently. No one is sandblasting oil
field tanks at the moment. Ill scrounge up someone willing to do a
brother in law job, but winter and the rainy season is coming. The

Bwahahaha! Rain in SoCal? OK, it drizzles a bit from late Nov.
through Feb.

G Average rainfall where I live is 4.3" a year. So far we have had
2.8"

trailer is not all that bad, but was stored near the ocean so has that
sort of rust on it. Hard to tell how much exactly as the trailer was
originally painted red..shrug.

Near the ocean? My F-150 spent a week at the seaside (Carlsbad)
while being repainted (Well, the half that Ford paid for, anyway.)
All the trim came back corroded and I could see visible rust on
the frame which wasn't there the week before. I was absolutely
amazed at how corrosive salt air was in such a short time.


Ayup.

210 whole pounds on a forklift? Gee, pushin' it, aintcha?


Chuckle..the bed has internal smooth sides, but the ends are pocketed.
So I cut my 1" plywood to 1/2 the bed width (5'x12') sheets per Leighs
most excellent suggestion and then cut them to .25 less the total
inside length of the pockets. I then stuck one end into the pocket at
the rear of the trailer, and strung a rope around the plywood about
1/3 the way towards that pocket, and lifted it with the forklift. I
then stood on the other end and as the plywood bowed, my weight
allowed me to stab the other end into the far pocket. I then had a
fellow drop the forks and it went flat, with both ends neatly in the
pocket. I repeated for the other half and voila..very neatly stuck in
the pockets, the center seam is straight and tight. I used the
forklift to pull the rope back out as it was wedged in pretty good.

The open sides are 13" tall, so the remaining strips cut from the full
sheets are to be trimmed to the proper width, and will be bolted to
the open side trusses and this will enclose the trailer, adding
strengh and keeping Stuff from bouncing out.

Bueno.


Im trying to figure out a good way to add a bit more strength to the
front rail, to allow me to mount a winch or big D ring to attach a
ComeAlong to, to pull Stuff up into the trailer.

HF often has their boat winches on sale for $10-15, and one
of those should do the job. Weld on a pair of brackets and
bolt 'er on.

I want to rienforce the front rail first. Id had to have something
snag and bend the rail inwards. Ill hunt around for a oilfield pump
barrel. I dont thing that will bend..G

I may..may also weld
in a longitudnal stringer as there are a couple larger than I like
open places in the frame that are over the tilt portion. I didnt
notice them until I tilted the trailer this afternoon.

Um, not even with the paneling removed?!? You weren't paying
attention. It would have been much easier then.

Sigh..I had to get it out of Leighs yard and he was closed for the
day..and I had 2 more service calls to make. I got home at around 1am
Friday night. And Leigh..oddly enough..doesnt own a welder.

Shrug..that 1"
ply is tough stuff, but Id hate for it to carry a load that might go
through in the distant future.

Grok that.


Anyone know how difficult it is to retrofit a stock axle with electric
brakes? Ive had to do panic braking on LA freeways, and even my lil
box trailer, with a load tended to push my pickup sideways. Something
Ive been thinking about..... Shrug.

I've never done it but have seen the bolt-on kits (eons ago).
If your stub axles are bolt-on, the backing plate/hub/stub
can be replaced.

Ill google it.

The trailer has a crank up landing gear welded up in the V next to the
hitch, and somewhere in the past it had been dragged on something and
bent backwards, so I chained up to the rear of the trailer and used a
come along to bend it back into place. Only problem with it being
there is it doesnt allow me to open the tailgate of the pickup. I
need to find one of those folding ones that fold horizontally next to
the tounge. Ive had trailers (boat usually) that wouldnt allow the
tailgate down..and it drove me crazy.

Sheetmetal is easy to cut. Just put a couple holes in the tailgate to
let the jack comes through and you're done! bseg BTW, tongue is
spelled "tongue". Yeah, backing things around is much easier with
the gate down. You might want a ball and hitch on the front of
the truck, too. That makes stabbing the trailer into a little hole
much, much easier.


Next thing to do is figure out what the 5 lug bolt pattern is, and get
a spare tire and wheel. Ill weld a bracket on the side near the
fenders and mount it there. Thing is perfectly balanced. I can pick up
the tounge one handed and move it around easily, so would like to keep
it balanced. I want to mount a small tool box also, to keep the
tiedowns and chain binders and whatnot in, so keeping it balanced is
pretty important, while not making it look like a gypsy wagon G,
else Id simply mount a crossbed pickup box on the tounge end.

I'd see if I could mount the box and spare just in front of the
wheels if it were mine, but leave enough space to get the holddown
straps/hardware between it and the wheel/box. It would give you the
least tongue weight (though you want 100+ lbs. when you're on the
road). And I'd use a wheeled swing-away trailer jack. You can buy
those, which bolt on, from places like J.C. Whitney for $50, or HF
for $20 or for $1+ on Ebay. =:0

Id not thought of HF or ebay for the swing away jacks. Thanks!

Have you read "Imperial Hubris" yet? My library has me 6th of 17
on the waiting list now. grumble, grumble
http://www.bostonphoenix.com/boston/...s/03949394.asp

Nope..not yet. Im way behind, myself. And Im trying to get some Stuff
together for the Visailia metalworking show.

Im waiting to see if my offer is accepted with a company that is
surplusing out a lot of stuff..things like (8) near new Bison 6"
chucks..Hardinge tooling and chucks, about 20 Delta Drill presses, an
Electric Pipe threader (for myself), 2 Logan 14" lathes..the usual
stuff. VBG

The 5 small rotary tables might be sellable as well....G

Ive got about 50lbs of keyway cutters I may stick in a bin and put
"$1.00 each" sign on.. The usual Stuff.....bunch of 30 taper
tooling..

Its been in the low 105F during the day the last couple days..and Ive
not been able to spend a whole lot of time out in the shop until after
dark. The heart issue seems to have done something to my ability to
deal with the heat. Or its the meds. Shrug.

You really need to come down sometime and go through the Stuff.

Gunner

"At the core of liberalism is the spoiled child -
miserable, as all spoiled children are, unsatisfied,
demanding, ill-disciplined, despotic and useless.
Liberalism is a philosphy of sniveling brats." -- P.J. O'Rourke

Gunner wrote:
Cool!

Now I wonder how much all that plywood cost?

Who cares?! Dig a hole in the desert, line with plasic, when finished
shove dirt back into hole...

It's surprising how many problems can be solved with an appropriately
sized hole in the ground! ;-)
--
Doug
http://www.des.indianchief.com/index.htm

On Sun, 12 Sep 2004 11:26:24 -0700, "Bart D. Hull"
wrote:

Gunner,

Electric brakes are easy to retrofit to most trailer axles. Around here
there is a trailer shop that specializes in smaller trailers and have
electric brake kits that include backing plates, activating electromagnets,
pads etc already setup on the backing plates. Just remove old backing
plate and bolt on new backing plate and run wires Only thing to watch out
for on installation is to make sure the wire can't chafe on anything.

Get the controller with the manual brake activation as well. If your
trailer starts weaving behind you due to ruts in the road etc you can
spike the trailer brakes to straighten it out. (Lots of roads in AZ have
serious rig ruts and if your trailer axle width isn't right it can get away
from you.)

Watch the balance point of the trailer. You always want more weight
on the hitch side of things. Again you can get the "death weave" going
and the weight behind the axle increases the problem.

Saw a person towing a 30' party barge behind a Suburban on a single
axle trailer. Watched them flip it during rush hour on a 6 lane wide
freeway and blocked all lanes doing it. If he had electric brakes he could
have saved it. (That and what the H*ll was he towing such a large boat
on a single axle trailer behind a rather light for the job Suburban at 65+
mph.)

Bart D. Hull

Thanks Bart. Ill certainly check into it.

Gunner


Tempe, Arizona

Check http://www.inficad.com/~bdhull/engine.html
for my Subaru Engine Conversion
Check http://www.inficad.com/~bdhull/fuselage.html
for Tango II I'm building.

Remove -nospam to reply via email.



Gunner wrote:

(SNIP)
Anyone know how difficult it is to retrofit a stock axle with electric
brakes? Ive had to do panic braking on LA freeways, and even my lil
box trailer, with a load tended to push my pickup sideways. Something
Ive been thinking about..... Shrug.


The trailer has a crank up landing gear welded up in the V next to the
hitch, and somewhere in the past it had been dragged on something and
bent backwards, so I chained up to the rear of the trailer and used a
come along to bend it back into place. Only problem with it being
there is it doesnt allow me to open the tailgate of the pickup. I
need to find one of those folding ones that fold horizontally next to
the tounge. Ive had trailers (boat usually) that wouldnt allow the
tailgate down..and it drove me crazy.

Next thing to do is figure out what the 5 lug bolt pattern is, and get
a spare tire and wheel. Ill weld a bracket on the side near the
fenders and mount it there. Thing is perfectly balanced. I can pick up
the tounge one handed and move it around easily, so would like to keep
it balanced. I want to mount a small tool box also, to keep the
tiedowns and chain binders and whatnot in, so keeping it balanced is
pretty important, while not making it look like a gypsy wagon G,
else Id simply mount a crossbed pickup box on the tounge end.
Gunner


"At the core of liberalism is the spoiled child -
miserable, as all spoiled children are, unsatisfied,
demanding, ill-disciplined, despotic and useless.
Liberalism is a philosphy of sniveling brats." -- P.J. O'Rourke



"At the core of liberalism is the spoiled child -
miserable, as all spoiled children are, unsatisfied,
demanding, ill-disciplined, despotic and useless.
Liberalism is a philosphy of sniveling brats." -- P.J. O'Rourke

"Bruce L. Bergman" wrote in message

If you are going to the trouble of painting, treat the rust first or
it'll pop right back out. As a minimum I would get a needle scaler or
a 4" grinder with a knotted brush, or something to knock the big
surface rust off, then use a rust converter before rusty metal primer.
It will come back again, but not nearly as fast.

I had to replace the seat on my Bobcat recently and used my needle scaler to
remove the rust from the metal base the seat mounts to. I was pleased with
the speed of removal, for heavy flaking rust it can actually work as fast as
blasting with a fairly large sandblaster. You don't have to wear through the
rust as with other methods, it can "peel" or scale layers off. You don't get
a white metal finish but do end up with a pretty tight surface.

On Tue, 14 Sep 2004 01:31:47 GMT, "ATP"
wrote:


"Bruce L. Bergman" wrote in message

If you are going to the trouble of painting, treat the rust first or
it'll pop right back out. As a minimum I would get a needle scaler or
a 4" grinder with a knotted brush, or something to knock the big
surface rust off, then use a rust converter before rusty metal primer.
It will come back again, but not nearly as fast.

I had to replace the seat on my Bobcat recently and used my needle scaler to
remove the rust from the metal base the seat mounts to. I was pleased with
the speed of removal, for heavy flaking rust it can actually work as fast as
blasting with a fairly large sandblaster. You don't have to wear through the
rust as with other methods, it can "peel" or scale layers off. You don't get
a white metal finish but do end up with a pretty tight surface.

Hummm Ive never used a needle scaler..or actually even seen one used
before. Ill have to check into it.

Gunner

"At the core of liberalism is the spoiled child -
miserable, as all spoiled children are, unsatisfied,
demanding, ill-disciplined, despotic and useless.
Liberalism is a philosphy of sniveling brats." -- P.J. O'Rourke

If it were me, I'd look around and see if I could find
somebody to sandblast it. Probably can barter for it
somehow. I helped a friend clean up a 28 ft. enclosed
trailer that had had the lid off for 8 years, so had to do
the frame, sides and roof stringers. Never again, noisy,
dirty and took forever. When we figured out how long it
took, we coulda worked for min wage ($5/hr)and had money
left to buy the paint, the roof sheeting, and lights. And
not sucked up a load of rust and crap, even with masks.

Make sure on your tilting mechanism that you have POSITIVE
control of the tilt in both directions whenever you are
tipping it. Murphy or Darwin will get you sooner or later if
you don't. I've heard the stories and seen the results of
guys with bruises, dented tailgates, lawn tractors upside
down, etc. when they've lost control of the load as the CG
came over center.

Gunner wrote:

On Tue, 14 Sep 2004 01:31:47 GMT, "ATP"
wrote:


"Bruce L. Bergman" wrote in message

If you are going to the trouble of painting, treat the rust first or
it'll pop right back out. As a minimum I would get a needle scaler or
a 4" grinder with a knotted brush, or something to knock the big
surface rust off, then use a rust converter before rusty metal primer.
It will come back again, but not nearly as fast.

I had to replace the seat on my Bobcat recently and used my needle scaler to
remove the rust from the metal base the seat mounts to. I was pleased with
the speed of removal, for heavy flaking rust it can actually work as fast as
blasting with a fairly large sandblaster. You don't have to wear through the
rust as with other methods, it can "peel" or scale layers off. You don't get
a white metal finish but do end up with a pretty tight surface.

Hummm Ive never used a needle scaler..or actually even seen one used
before. Ill have to check into it.

Gunner

"At the core of liberalism is the spoiled child -
miserable, as all spoiled children are, unsatisfied,
demanding, ill-disciplined, despotic and useless.
Liberalism is a philosphy of sniveling brats." -- P.J. O'Rourke