Project from Kodin - Category: General Welding repair

[Kodin]

Dad bought a 5th-wheel flat bed utility trailer off Craigslist. Basically a stripped-down camper trailer or whatever you call them. Axles can take 7k, trailer probably weighs about 2. Last month, we tried to haul a bobcat, and promptly bent the trailer just in front of the axles where the frame got thinner. Oh well, time to practice with the I-MIG 250 P.

Pictures to come tomorrow as I need to use my work's internet connection to upload ~160 MB of shots to my hosting gallery.

[zoama]

Dad bought a 5th-wheel flat bed utility trailer off Craigslist. Basically a stripped-down camper trailer or whatever you call them. Axles can take 7k, trailer probably weighs about 2. Last month, we tried to haul a bobcat, and promptly bent the trailer just in front of the axles where the frame got thinner. Oh well, time to practice with the I-MIG 250 P.

Pictures to come tomorrow as I need to use my work's internet connection to upload ~160 MB of shots to my hosting gallery.

You can upload them directly to the forum from your computer. They will be resized automatically. This also help pages load faster by showing thumbnails until you mouseover or click an image.

[Kodin]

Gah! The edit button disappeared on my original post!

Anyway, here's a couple shots of the bend; Keep in mind, this was AFTER lifting the rear end with the bobcat's bucket to straighten the frame enough to drive home:




To my defense, the ramps I welded together held up perfectly.


Well, I didn't have tie-downs to pull the frame straight, so I threw a bunch of jack-stands down under the frame and used the old 8000 lb Ditch Witch excavator bucket as a "frame straightener".




Detail of additional conduit added on top of the frame:





After welding additional material to the top of the frame, I added angle underneath to further strengthen things, front and back, and added patch plates where the bend occurred. Sadly, I forgot to take pictures of that.

Both sides welded up on top:


Next, I added angle in between just about every cross-brace in the frame to improve support and distribute load under the decking:

(The non-rust covered stuff is all new)

Oops! Reached my 10 image limit...

[Kodin]

Next, I welded up some supports/mounts for heavy-duty trailer jacks, so I'll have 4-point support around the frame when I'm loading/unloading machinery/cars. (These were immediately welded under the frame immediately after these shots were taken:



I have to say, the I-MIG 250 P is beautiful when you get to bump up the voltage/current on thicker materials. Only thing left is to upgrade to a 5 meter 36BK torch.

Lastly, I added edge-routed 2x6 full-length decking across the whole thing and added carriage bolts on all the new angle supports. Original supports will still get ~80 screws in addition to the bolts:


I'll post some final shots later this week once the decking is all painted.

[everlastsupport]

The channel is pretty strong, but I used it in a press once for plates and they did bend. Hope it holds up for you. 7Klbs is a lot of axle.

[Kodin]

It's twin axles; each is 3500. Dad and I figured we can put a max of 5k on the trailer after factoring in the weight of the frame itself, and depending on how I distribute the load, the 5th wheel hitch can take up to 2k of pin weight as well. I added 2 inch angle underneath the frame in addition to the channel, and there's maybe 3x2 inch rectangular tube where the axles mount to the frame already. I opted for 1-1.5 inch welds every inch or two along both edges of the open end of the channel; didn't want to distort too bad, but didn't want the possibility of the channel opening up under load. The bend happened half an inch AFTER where the lower rectangular tube ended. Further, the original decking was a haphazard mess of half-length 2x4's that all intersected at the point where the bend occurred. Hindsight shows that the original owner didn't consider weak-points and just tried to make the trailer as cheaply as possible.

Oh yeah; one last set of pictures: The right fender looked like it was held together with swiss cheese instead of welding rod. It broke off, so I fixed it; The fender was too thin and would burn through real easy, so I added an additional plate to the outside to weld to, then welded the plate to the frame:




The fender was one of the first welds I did on the trailer; I've since progressed to slightly cleaner beads:


Sure helped to upgrade to something other than a cheapo Harbor Freight welding helmet.