5x8ft Trailer Overhaul - joshuarothfuss/projects GitHub Wiki
As my mowing business grow I needed to stop borrowing tools and start accruing my own. An important tool that I have used heavily over the last 3 years was a 5x8ft flatbed trailer.
Picture of loading a Kawasaki Teryx onto the trailer. The trailer is about 1 year old as pictured
Tools/Skills Used
- Angle Grinder
- Table Saw
- MIG Welder
- drill
- impact driver
- multimeter
- rubber mallet
- assorted sockets/wrenches
- assorted clamps
- Electrical
- Welding
Materials
The skeleton of the trailer was purchased as a "kit" from Northwestern Tool. It is very similar to the listing shown below except the one purchased was being clearanced, without wiring or lights. The tongue is also slightly different. Two 4x8 pieces of 3/4in green-treat plywood were bought for the deck. Some wiring, a 4-pin trailer connecter, tail lights, 5/8in conduit, and a box of self tapping screws were also used.
Design
This trailer was tailored to its purpose of hauling mowers. It needed 4 easy-to-use attachment points, it needed to be able to fit a 62-inch deck, and it needed to be easy to load and unload.
Construction
The 4x8 sheets of plywood were ripped length-wise. The wheel wells were cut off and rewelded on with spacers to allow a 62-inch mowing deck to pass between them. The conduit was welded to the sides and underbelly to protect the wiring. The wires were run and the tail lights were mounted, Something wasn't initially connected right so a multimeter in connectivity mode was used to troubleshoot. The angle iron used for the frame of the trailer was trimmed in the back at a diagonal. This allowed for shorter ramps and a steeper break-over angle. The plywood was secured to the frame using stainless self-tapping metal screws. Most of the trailer was painted to prevent welds from rusting.
Result
In the end, the trail was completed and used extensively for mowing over the last 3 years. Not having permanently attached ramps has been the biggest annoyance with this trailer.