New Trailer

[Peter T]

Excellent advice Andrew, spot on
Cheers
Peter

[Peter T]

Hi all, thought it about time to give an update on the new trailer. the main frame has been welded together, as is the tow bar and I am now in the process of building the new axle. what a process it is. What I did was to weld on the disc brake brackets to the stub axle and then welded on the "Drop Bars", 30 mm thick solid steel which gives a total drop of 4 inches.
The best way to set up an axle is to bolt the wheels on to the hubs with the bearings fitted dry and nipped up and set the bare wheels up in a channel. Not having a large enough piece of channel, I used two of the 2.5 metre lengths of the 90 x 90 RHS that I have to build the lifting frame for the boat and set these up on my wood working bench ( only place I had large enough to do it) with a couple of pieced of timber cut to exactly the same length and clamped these between the steel creating my home made channel. when you set the wheel rims up in the channel, you must have full contact between the rims and the steel on all four points of contact. this way, you know that the alignment of the wheels is perfect. then you set up the axle and support its weight to weld it all up making sure you maintain the four contact points on each rim as its welded. I have put it together with a piece of 50 x 50 RHS across the springs. This will allow for the axle unit to be "U "bolted to the trailer frame to allow adjustment of tow ball load when the boat is on the trailer. To register the trailer in Tas, you are not allowed to have the axle "U "bolted to the frame so, if I do not need the 50 x 50 to lower the axle from the frame, I will just weld on new spring hangers and slippers to the actual frame and do away with the temporary piece I used to set it up. If I do need the extra 50 mm axle extra drop, then I will just cut the hangers and slipper sections of the 50 x 50 and weld these on to the frame. At least this way I can get the weight distribution of the trailer correct with the initial set up.
Priced light truck tyres yesterday, $86 each which I thought was not too bad especially given that they will allow the trailer to be rated to two ton. Car tyres only rate at 750 kg each. these are 1.2 Ton each
Looks like I am running behind time wise to get the thing galvanised prior to Christmas as I was informed that there is at least a two month waiting list, so when I get it back will be anyone's guess.
In the mean time, I will at least be able to construct the lifting cradle and start work on the actual boat as well as the centre board and turn it into something presentable and practical.
Rome was not built in a day they say, boats neither, Ha Ha. Sorry about the photo of the frame, it does not show much detail so I will re do it with when I get time.
Cheers for now, Peter T

[Peter T]

Hi David. Far Out, that’s funny. To tell you what happened, my wife took these photos on her phone. I emailed them to myself and loaded them into my computer to re size them. When I first posted them, the one you are talking about was upside down, so I deleted them, checked them in the computer and sure enough that one was upside down. I then rotated and flipped it and it looked ok. Now, as you say when you click on it it tips upside down????. May be that it’s still trying to empty out any remaining water from the keel, Ha Ha. Stuffed if I know mate.
Regards Peter T

[Geoff]

Hi Peter,

It will be beaut when its done, nothing like the security of a new well made trailer.

Thats a good price for those tyres, what size are they?

I am running 13 inch LT's and nowhere near that load rating and they are the limiting factor for my allowable gross. I could always go up in rim size, but I am just legal now and they do the job.

Thanks.

[Andrew]

Nice work Peter,

(just hope my axles last me out...! that's a big job, but good to know how it's done if required)
interesting about the different regulations re-u bolting to frame, glad we can adjust with ubolts here in Qld. never looked like loosening, have springwashers.

[Peter T]

Hi Geoff, the tyres are “ Trackmax” 184-14 from Bob Jane. Don’t know if you can get them in 13 inch ? Worth an ask I guess
Cheers,
Peter T

[Peter T]

Hi Geoff, the tyres are “ Trackmax” 184-14 from Bob Jane. Not sure but might be able to get them in 13 inch ? Worth an ask I guess
Cheers,
Peter T

[Peter T]

Hi all, a few more photos of the trailer. hope my boat does not turn upside down again hehe. Also please excuse the mess in my shed. I will get to clean it up but am being very single minded on the trailer at the minute.
Am off to Bob Jane early in the morning to get the new light truck tyres fitted to the rims (the only bit of the old trailer worth salvaging)

Regards Peter T

[Peter T]

Hi David, yes mate that's right. I am getting the tyres fitted to the rims tomorrow morning so I will then know exactly how far off the ground the frame will be. Because I used 9 leaf springs, then the distance from the bottom of the frame to the top of the axle is around 80 mm more than the original. Also, by " U " bolting the axle to the chassis , this gives an extra 50 mm as well. The original trailer was far too low to the ground as I could not get into my perfectly flat driveway without scraping the bottom of the trailer when the wheels entered the gutter crossover. I reckon the tyres might be higher profile than the car tyres that were on the old one. With all these factors in play, as well as wanting to get the tow ball weight correct by being able to slide the axle forward and back via the U bolts, I can not register the trailer with bolt on axle even though they accept that the springs can be U bolted to the axle ( beats me ) so once I have built the boat lifting frame, I can then change over to the new trailer, get the tow ball weight correct, then adjust the road height to what I want by either welding on the spring hanger and slipper sections utilising the 50 x 50 that you see in the photos ( or at least the front and back sections of it ) or I can dispose of that full 50 x 50 piece altogether and just weld on my second set of Spring hangers and slippers directly to the frame. Looking at it tonight, I reckon that is what I will do as the spring extra height should be enough to be not too low to the ground. At least this way, it's all adjustable till I work out what I need. Should end up being good.
Cheers Peter T

[Peter T]

If I did David, they would cost a fortune, Ha ha
Peter