Boat trailer question

You can find information on how much a cord of wood weighs. It varies depending on the type of tree. But if it were me, I would make the rails higher than what is necessary for hauling wood. That way the trailer is suitable for hauling lighter things such as taking leaves to the dump. The tires might give you a good idea of how much weight the trailer can haul.

Dan

Add the tire weight ratings up, weigh the trailer and see what is left.

In MANY cases the spring and axle ratings limit the trailer weight rather than the tires. If it has 8 inch wheels, the tires will be the limit. If 12 inch, likely the tires. If 13", possibly the tires - if

I have 7,000# axles on my trailer, 6 lug 15" wheels and the heaviest E rated tires I can get are good for 5,660# for the pair.

I think possibly the best thing is to take it to the local Six States Trailer place, a supermarket of trailer supplies, from light to ultra heavy, and just ask their opinion.

Steve

-...But if it were me, I would make the

-rails higher than what is necessary for hauling wood. That way the

-trailer is suitable for hauling lighter things such as taking leaves

-to the dump. The tires might give you a good idea of how much weight

-the trailer can haul.

- Dan

I'd make the steel rail sides low like a construction trailer and provide stake pockets so he can choose the wooden side height, and be responsible for the consequences.

The same tires and wheels also fit a 3500 lb axle.

"Jim Wilkins" wrote

He has told me himself he tends to overload, but even with higher stuff, you can get a lot more in of light stuff like branches and leaves.

He's a precision mechanic at a company that makes I don't know what. But he's very smart. He's going to do some work on my ATV's and help me with the shop, and I'm going to weld his trailer up probably just the way he wants it. I imagine it will be a metal low wall, probably expanded metal, then pockets for some plywood and 2 x 6 panels.

All in all, I think it will be a very fair trade. He doesn't weld, nor have any welding equipment.

Steve

I like the idea of making the sides stake-sides, then he can pop them out and use it as a flatbed. There are standard sized steel stakes and pockets and side panels, or you can make your own pockets out of Seamless Square Tubing on the chassis, and regular for the stakes.

BUT make sure to have a lock-in method for securing all the stakes to the chassis, especially on a trailer they do like to bounce out on the road. And the CHiPpies get real mad when you drop stuff on Their Freeway.

Drill a hole through the stake and pocket, and put in a PTO Pin, a Ball-Lock Pin (with a leash, of course!) or a plain old bolt and nut. Or weld a nut on the pocket and use a short bolt with a T-handle to lock it in through the outer face of the stake - Do NOT clamp the stake in, it'll bend and never come out... Then you can get the standard stake-bed L-latches for the top edge.

Do a little digging on the Net - they use "standard" axles, springs, tires, and other pieces to build trailers. And those pieces come in standard 'steps' of GAWR capacity - 1,000# and 1,500# for little 8" tire DIY chassis, 2,000# 3,500# 5,000# and occasionally 7,000# for

The chassis GVWR is usually permanently marked on the VIN and ID tag - if you can still read it. Measure the springs - width, thickness, number of leaves, and you can fairly easily match them up in a spring catalog and get their ratings.

Same thing with the spindles - look up the replacement hubs and bearings, and that catalog page usually gives you the ratings. If you keep getting the same answer every time, that's probably it.

For a small single-axle boat trailer it's probably a 3,500# axle but you need to make sure. Then you take the completed trailer to a Public Scale and get the empty chassis weight, subtract that from

Yes, the tongue and tow vehicle takes some of the load, but you don't want to shave it that close all the time.

And if the guy's worried about overloading it, you look at the springs that have a nice arch - when the arch goes flat, it's full.

You could install rubber "bullet" snubbers on the chassis so it doesn't make a hard crash bottom-out on bumps, then put in a Test Load of bricks at GVWR and proper 10% tongue weight to get an exact ride height.

Then you tell him to stop loading when there's exactly (example 3") left between the spring and snubber. Cut him off a (3") chunk of dowel with a broomstick handle to use as a "Go/No Go" gauge.

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How is he going to stop it. Does it have brakes? What is the tow vehicle.