Bolting a trailer and welding?

The ends should be triangles instead of rectangles. Otherwise this is a common way to build a trailer for heavy loads.

As long as it forms a truss it will add strength. a simple square rail will not do anything *untill you bolt a plywood web in - then the plywood adds some regidity)

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/!----!----!\ ############# is a lot stonger

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You lost me a little bit. DO you have an example?

Should you really grind a weld after you are finished?

By cheesewedge are you just talkign about using tubing instead of a solid plate gusset?

Yes, I agree totally.

i

You're starting to make me nervous? In what part of the country will you be towing this thing?

My recommendation: go to a lot that sells new trailers. Look. Learn. Northern hydraulics sells a book that teaches building trailers

I have looked on lots. There are as many designs as I have questions.

One question by the way, would it be stupid to put a dovetail and a fold down gate on a 10 foot trailer? And if I did have a dovetail, when calculating the axle placement using the 60/40 rule, do you consider the dovetail in terms of the total length?

Depends ENTIRELY how you intend to load it.

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Grind the exposed rough ones that could cut you or snag on your clothes. You will also have a better surface to paint.

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I would guess most of the time the load would be on the regular part of the bed. The dovetail would just be there if I ever had to load my

8n tractor on it.

guys keep changing their name. Their old name was "Northern Hydraulics", which is what most of us still think of them as, but mostly I think they just call themselves "Northern" now. --Glenn Lyford

Yes - you take the same square tubing and set the compound angle on your saw to match the inside of the join, and you take off the ends of the tubing to look like a wedge sliced from a square pizza. Or a slice of cake. You leave the top and bottom (triangular) and one side. Then you weld that wedge to the inside of the corner.

Always. If you did it right (even if a bit sloppily) you will clean off the bumps and slag spatter, and make a surface that can be painted easily. If you went for good penetration of the parent metal you can also grind the joint down totally flat and it will look like one piece that curves.

And if the weld is bad, you'll see it right away and can fix it. If the weld metal didn't penetrate and stick to the parent metal, the wheel will peel it right off. Or you'll see big bubbles and holes that were hiding under the surface...

It takes a LOT of practice to get beautiful tightly whorled weld beads where it won't need at least a little grinder clean-up.

When you get that good where you want people to see the stitching, you just hit it with the knotted wire wheel (used for surface prep before welding) to knock off the spatter dingleberries and call it done.

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The dovetail has weight and affects the balance of the trailer. Figure it out. If your trailer is only 10' long you won't have much room to shift your load back and forth without being on the dovetail. Plus you'll probably wind up with some kind of ramps - also heavy - probably attached to the rear.

One thing I found out. That metal is bigger than I thought. It is 4x4

1/4 inch thick.

1.) Will my AC 220 volt buzz box welder or my Hobart MIg 130 amp weld it?

2.) Is this stuff too heavey for a small 10 foot trailer? I can get about 80 feet of it for about 80 bucks so it is cheaper than puchasing angle iron.

3.) If this trialer weights almost 2000 lbs, will it need brakes?

It will need brakes FOR SURE.

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I think I meant 1000 lbs. I guess it would still need brakes.

If it weighed zero lbs and you added a 2000 lb load would you want brakes"

I *think* you want brakes!

General rule of thumb. If the loaded trailer ways over 2000 lbs OR more than 50% of the empty towing vehicle weight, you need brakes. To tow without them is foolhardy under those conditions.

When I towed the 8 foot "Rainbow" tent trailer behind the Vauxhall HC (Firenza) power was never a problem, the trailer was less than half the weight of the rather light car (just) and there was many a time I wished I had brakes on the trailer. Brakes on the car were more than adequate - I had oversized (extra wide) Radial T/As on and could slide all 4 with no problem - and did several times trying to stop the trailer quickly. A car that short has very little directional stability when the rear wheels come loose with a trailer behind!!!!!!!

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Trailer brakes are a plus even if the vehicle brakes can handle the extra load due to the ability to independently activate the trailer brakes to get control of trailer oscillation. A lot of states also require brakes on any trailer over 1,000#.