building a trailer

[husky455rancher]

ok guys i wanna build a trialer for my lawn tractor. i have access to metal, i have a welder and i know how weld anyway whats the best way to go about making one? i get the box idea easy enough but im unsure how to attatch it to an axel, or what to use for the center tube that actually hooks to the tractor. (dunno what to call it but you know what i mean) any infor would be great id much rather build one before going to home depot, thanks guys, MIke

 

[Metals406]

http://www.synthx.com/shop/index.php?cPath=3_1&osCsid=28fe71c05768db77c4960389e7184455

Check it out... Not a bad investment for a full set of prints. Keeps all the guesswork out'a it.

 

[country boy]

You may even look for a old single axle boat trailer or pop up camper frame they work awesome to build small utiliy trailers out of. Then you already have the main frame and axle and springs then you could also have it road worthy. I built a nice little 4x8 trailer out of a pop up camper frame and use it behind the 4 wheeler all the time and also pull it up and down the highway with my chevy tracker so i dont have to get my gas guzzler of a truck out to haul lighter items. A buddy of mine used a boat trailer frame to build his logsplitter on and it turned out awesome . It would save alot of time and possibly some money with the price of steel .

 

[PA Plumber]

I used a boat trailer axle and started from there.

Here are some pics of the frame. Might give you a couple of ideas.

Used an old Montgomery Ward Buzz Box (rebadged Lincoln, I think) and wired in a cord to the disconnect for the air conditioner condensing unit (already set up for 50 amp).

 

[PA Plumber]

Hemlock side boards with large gate hinges. Cut the hinge bolt and made some pins from round stock. Sides and rear gate, can be removed independently from each other.

 

[PA Plumber]

Some might remember seeing these pics from before. Hope you all don't mind too much.

These were taken the day I was going in for inspection, titling, and licensing.

 

[Stihl051master]

ok guys i wanna build a traller for my lawn tractor. i have access to metal.......

Mike,
What metal do you have? (I mean channel, I-beam, tubing, angle, etc), and also how much do you want to spend on it? You really can't beat a mobile home axle. The ones I have are rated for 6000lbs, which would much more than adequate capacity wise. Build a frame similar to those utility trailer plans or the one in the pics above, narrow up the axle and you're good to go. Ones with one run are available around here for $50. Brand new rims with DOT tires are $25 a side, used even cheaper.

 

[husky455rancher]

very nice man ty for the pics. Mike

 

[PA Plumber]

Your welcome for the pics and thanks for the nice words.

Couple of things I would do again...

The trailer is a little over 6' wide. This allows for a 6' deck mower to be loaded.

I really like having the tilt on the dolly wheel. I kicked around a center mounted post for the jack stand, and just went with a heavy rate, cheap, Cabelas boat jack.

Those little "wings" from the tail light to the frame have saved my bacon a couple of times and my shins at least once.

Some things I would change...

Way over kill on the structual steel. The main frame is all 3" x 1/4 C U channel. The front bulkhead is 2" x 1/2" thick tubular. There are two 1 1/2 x 1/4" thick sticks of angle iron that run from front to back that don't need to be there.

The rear running lights are surface mounted. I have broken off two and the third has a cracked lense. It would have been nice to have these flush mounted to keep them from getting beat up.

 

[country boy]

Nice Work PA PLUMBER . Looks way better than one you can buy !!!!!

 

[mga]

ok guys i wanna build a trialer for my lawn tractor. i have access to metal, i have a welder and i know how weld anyway whats the best way to go about making one? i get the box idea easy enough but im unsure how to attatch it to an axel, or what to use for the center tube that actually hooks to the tractor. (dunno what to call it but you know what i mean) any infor would be great id much rather build one before going to home depot, thanks guys, MIke

just for the yard use only?

here's how i made mine:

for the road i use this:

 

[The Lorax]

Nice trailer MGA! what is the tray made from? Steel or GRP?
A tipper is a great idea for a yard trailer especially if you are going to be working by yourself.

 

[Mike Van]

huskeyrancher, if you just want some ideas, take that trip to HD or Walmart, tip a few of their trailers over, see how they were made - Then build a little heavier than they did -

 

[mga]

Nice trailer MGA! what is the tray made from? Steel or GRP?
A tipper is a great idea for a yard trailer especially if you are going to be working by yourself.

lol..it's a large cement mixing tub.

 

[husky455rancher]

good ideas guys, on the metal i can get anything i want really. i can buy it for work at cost and can get smaller pieces for free. i would actually like to make one for the road and one for the yard. dont get me wrong my 2500 ram 8ft bed hauls alot of wood buy why not take advantage of the tow package??

 

[husky455rancher]

ok i just got back form tractor supply to see what they had there. they had 2 lawn type trailers one 7 cu ft for 99$ and a 17 cuft for 189$. they have much better tires than the sears ones. sears uses wheel barrow tires where as the tractor supply ones are more rugged. the wheels on the 17 cuft were more like atv or tractor tires. and theyre all welded together not like sears you have to bolt everything together. the metal seems to be thicker aswell.

npw they have a section were they sell axls, leaf springs, fenders everything. a 2k lb axl was about 150$ so by the time i got tires fenders lights and im not even getting inot flooring or sides yet it would be pretty pricy. if i decided to go that route. they also sell bare frames well i mean a trailer with no floor or sides. so now im more confused then ever what to do.

for the lawn trailers i do like the 17cu ft one it seemed pretty rugged. as for a road worthy trailer i still have no idea yet. what do you guys think is a good size trailer?

 

[PA Plumber]

The trailer in the pics is 73 3/4" between the fenders and 10' long. I can put way more stuff in it than I should. It is rated for 3000 lbs., gross. The trailer weighs about 950 lbs empty.

I think the size is very dependent on your specific needs/wants.

As far as cost, I have about $750.00 in the one I built; that was with a free axle and rims. Could have bought one at Lowe's for less, but it wouldn't have been even half as rugged.

Oh, and that $750.00 does not include one minute of labor.

 

[Stihl051master]

I'm thinking you should build your "yard" trailer first to practice, maybe even make a smaller scale model of your road trailer.
When you do build one, a good rule of thumb for axle placement in order to have proper tongue weight is to find the mid point on your deck length (not including the tongue) and then place the center of the axle the number of inches as the deck is long back from that center point. Or if you were to make a tandem place the center equalizer at this point.
There are a couple of different formulas, but all work out to within a few inches of each other. For example, I just finished up a 21' tandem trailer with a 3 ft. dovetail to haul tractors/equipment/wood when I get the side racks done, etc. The center point of the deck is 10 1/2 ft (126"), so I moved the center equalizer back to 147" from the front, which balances it well with enough tongue weight.
I figure if you are building a road trailer, you may as well go as big as you are comfortable towing and your truck can handle, as well as that you can store. It's kind of nice to have a larger trailer so you can haul a vehicle or tractor or for moving, etc. Figure this way, a cord of wood is 128 cubic feet. If you built a 10ft trailer, 6 ft. wide with 2 foot sides, that would be 120 cubic ft. If you stacked it up a bit in the center, you could haul a cord at a time.
One option you may consider that would make building easier and make a nicer trailer would be to use torsion axles. You can find them more reasonably priced than you may think. Northern Tool sells them, as well as a few places on ebay that ship them quite reasonably.
Brakes are a feature that I will not be without on any decent sized trailer also.
These are just a few ideas to consider, hopefully it's helpful and keep us posted on your progress.