Trailer Refurb.

[Mrs Doubtfyre]

Hello, I hope someone can advise me.
My trailer is getting past it's sell-by-date. The bed and sides are well rusty, with holes in them.
So I want to refurb it, because they're not cheap these days.
It's about 8ft by 4 ft, single axle. I think it is rated at about 750 Kg, But that's not important.

I would have liked to use sheet steel, but the last time I bought some steel, about that size I think I paid about £40. I think it was about 1.5mm or 2mm thickness.
I gather steel has shot up in price. and I'd need about 2 pieces for the bed and sides. The existing head and tail boards will serve again.

Questions:
What is recommended thickness for the bed and sides of the trailer. I will probably stiffen the sides with some channel iron. But the bed should be OK as is.
What is the average cost of such materials these days?

If the cost of steel is too great I'm thinking of using ply. What thickness would be recommended?
As money is tight at the moment, I'm even thinking of going with ply for now. I can easily use the bed ply as a sacrificial protector when I refurb with steel in the future.

I can cut off the tops of the old metal sides and fix to the ply. The ply I can reinforce with some 50mm X 25mm wood, e.g slate batten.

I can reuse the corner fasteners.

Thanks for any guidance.

 

[blup]

Contact Ifor Williams, their trailers are everywhere: ask for clarification of the thickness used in the relevant trailers.

 

[Burnerman]

Trailers which are used or stored outside use a special rubberised fibrous material on the base that is incredibly strong.....12mm should be fine for you. It is expensive though and much better than ply.
Indespension do a downloadable catalogue which has everything and the delivery is good.
If you need brake parts it will be Knott or Alco more than likely, expensive though and eBay can help.
If you need lighting parts, go to a motor factor, likewise for cable, plugs and sockets or whatever.....much cheaper than the trailer makers! LED lights are the way to go.
John

 

[Mrs Doubtfyre]

Thanks for your input fellas.
I suppose I could go and measure the thickness of somebody's trailer sides, etc.

But I was more after an opinion than mimicry of a highly respected trailer manufacturer.
Also I was wondering if anyone knew the prices of sheet steel these days.
The price of the material that Burnerman referred to is way higher than steel, possibly three times the price.

I'm currently cash-strapped so I'm looking for a reasonable cheaper fix, with a modest degree of longevity, or a possibility of re-use of materials in the future.

 

[Burnerman]

I guess it really depends on what you want to carry, at the end of the day.
The cheapest option has to be OSB for the base and sides, pretty tough, pretty weather resistant and timber / builders merchants will often cut it to size for you. Different thicknesses are available.
A picture of the trailer in it's present state may help!
John

 

[Mrs Doubtfyre]

Thanks for your idea, Burnerman.
I hadn't considered OSB. Is that a better material than ply?
I was thinking of painting the timber, which is why I hadn't considered OSB.

I use the trailer literally for anything and everything. It's a tip-up agri-trailer so it gets used and abused, for sand, gravel, rubble, soil, hardcore, hedge cuttings, logs, manure, and anything else you could think of.
I'm not worried about it being cut to size, I can cut it myself. (I only mentioned pre-cut of the harder material sold for specifically for trailer floors.)

I don't think a picture of the trailer in its current state would help. It's stripped down to its component parts, spread all over the yard, and going through a process of wire brushing (from an angle grinder) and being repainted in Hammerite, in between the rainy days.

 

[Burnerman]

OSB contains a lot of resin in it's manufacture, which is why it can withstand weather better than plywood - which will delaminate if left wet. (Even outdoor ply does this, but marine quality is better, and hugely expensive.)
OSB edges may be fragile if not covered.
Of course you could use timber tongue and groove flooring for the floor(!) and OSB for the sides if you want - there's no hard and fast rule.
Individual planks may be easier to replace if damaged.
Hammerite is good for bare metal.
Does your trailer have a braking system?
John

 

[cdbe]

A picture would make a big difference.

Was it original timber or steel, or a combination of the two? Double skinned, single skinned etc?

Mine has double skinned aluminium sides, it originally had an 18mm phenolic ply base that lasted about 10 years stored outside. I eventually replaced it with 2mm sheet aluminium (£60 off eBay about 6 years ago - God knows these days) - but any steel/aluminium base needs to be fairly thin to keep the weight down so will need a sub floor - I used 12mm marine ply.

I did previous repairs with some 1.0mm galvanised steel sheet (again off eBay) and some cheap decking boards which was fairly good on a budget but the steel got very battered as I was throwing bricks and concrete into it.

My dad had one made from floorboard base with 12mm marine ply sides that lasted over 40 years - but stored inside and mainly used for camping type stuff.

 

[Mrs Doubtfyre]

Hmm, there would be 'edges' of the sides, which I intended to reinforce with slate batten anyway.
I'm using the top of the original sides, cut off halfway down to remove the rotten bits, which I'll then fix to the upper half of the wooden sides. I can do this due to the bends in the original sides (designed to reinforce the sheet metal) to fix the ply/OSB to.
I was only thinking of a sheet material for the bottom to avoid fixing individual planks.

It's an agri-trailer with no brakes, with lawn tyres.

It's a kind of cross between these two types of trailer:

2 Ton Farm Trailer from Jacksta (£3331.67+vat) Drop Side Tipper Trailer, Road Legal Lights

2 Ton Farm Trailer from Jacksta (£3331.67+vat) Drop Side Tipper Trailer, Road Legal Lights 2 Ton Farm Trailer from Jacksta (£3331.67+vat) Drop Side Tipper Trailer, Road Legal Lights

jacksta-energy.co.uk

SCH HTRLM 1000kg Manual Hydraulic Tipping Trailer | Free Delivery | Buy now

Optimize your farm with the SCH HTRLM 1000kg Hydraulic Tipping Trailer; the versatile solution for compact tractor transportation needs | Shop now!

www.zarosmachinery.co.uk

 

[Mrs Doubtfyre]

Thanks for your input CDBE.
It was all metal, and yes, anything and everything gets thrown in, and left outside.

Honestly, a picture wouldn't help, but I will try and get one or two this afternoon.

 

[Burnerman]

It looks like a handy bit of kit, and well worth restoring.......especially if the hydraulic tipper works.
John

 

[Mrs Doubtfyre]

Some pictures:
The Tipping bed frame, looking from the front. The brackets midway are for the pneumatic ram, and the pivot point is the brackets further back.

The remains of the bed and the lower half of the sides, after being cut off.

The head and Tail panels, and the draw bar.

Wheels and pivots of stub axles.

Long sides with lower half removed

The only bits missing are the chassis which mounts the wheels, the wheels and stub axles, the pneumatic ram and the stand, which goes on the end of the drawbar.
The chassis and the wheel carriers are in the car port. I'm trying to strip the rust and paint it while avoiding the rain.

The intention is to line the sides with timber (OSB or Ply). I can fix a slate batten along that middle fold (which is now the bottom of the metal that's left, tucking the end of the slate batten behind the vertical end channels. That'll give me a flush surface on the upper half to mount the timber lining. I'll add a slate batten, on the outside, to the bottom edge for reinforcement and to mount the hinges on the outside. You can see the existing welded on hinges on the bed frame. Although one broke off, and I've recreated it with a bit of steel sheet, left over from a previous project. I can bolt it on to the frame.

I have to replace the 5mm hinge pins because I had to cut them to separate them, they're just held in with split pins.
I've also got to replace the 10mm pivot bar, which I can't get hold of easily, but I have some 10mm stainless threaded rod which I can use.

 

[Mrs Doubtfyre]

It looks like a handy bit of kit, and well worth restoring.......especially if the hydraulic tipper works.
John

Yes the corrosion of the bed and sides is the only problem.
It has been well used and abused,

The road going trailer of the same approx size is useless as a tipping trailer.
It is supposed to be as tipping trailer, but because the pivot point is about the middle of the bed, the rear end moves down as the front end rises, so it only has about a 30 degree tilt, until the rear end hits the floor. And it's not hydraulically powered.

 

[Mrs Doubtfyre]

Started reassembly today. A bit later than I hoped. I had a 3 hour lunch break. I made a paella, but I only defrosted the prawns so I could peel, 'em.
Chucking the still frozen squid, muscles and scallops in delayed the overall cooking by about an hour.
Mind you, after eventually eating paella, I wasn't really in the mod for going back to work.

This morning I was touching up the paintwork, painting the hydraulic ram, and spraying wax oil into the inaccessible places. Fortunately I had a tube of wax oil left over from a previous project.

Ready to mount the stub axle carriers and pivots.

That'll do for today. The split pins that I have are too small. I need them for the castle nuts on the wheel bearings and the end of the pivot bar for the stub axle carriers.

Then it's bottom end of the hydraulic ram, drawbar and wheels.
Then I can drop the trailer bed frame back on, fit the pivot bar and hydraulic ram top end.
Then it's starting on the refitting of the bed and sides.

two weeks so far. The vast majority of that time has been stripping rust and repainting.

 

[Mrs Doubtfyre]

The basic reassembly is done.
This is the chassis, wheels, hydraulic ram, drawbar, etc.

And the trailer bed now fitted. Got to start rebuilding the bed, sides and ends now.