Trailer axle

[300jk]

I'm thinking about building a trailer to pull behind my Kubota compact tractor and my farmall 300. I already have a bunch of tube steel I got for nothing from work along with some other flat stock and angle iron. Size I would like is 6' x 8'. It would be used mostly for yard work. I have a small lawn trailer and it's way too small for my needs. We have an old boat trailer at the farm we were gonna use for a trailer. I think 5hat will work ok. Anybody use something like that when they built their trailer ? I really don't want to go buy an axle, otherwise it would be cheaper just to buy a trailer used already built. I want to build it so I have exactly what I want. Also this trailer will never go down the road. Thanks in advance !

 

[kcm.MN]

A boat trailer? How much (max) weight are you wanting the trailer to handle?

 

[Steve@Advance]

Converting an old boat trailer has been around for ever. Probably the most common adaption of a trailer there is.

It should work well for what you are planning.

 

[300jk]

It would be nice if it was 1500-2000 pound
range. Used mostly for light things, but
would also like to use it for dirt,mulch,
stone ect on occasion.

 

[DoubleO7]

You will have to figure out the capacity of the boat trailer you have in mind in order determine what you ask.
You will likely want to "square up" the front V of the frame and then add in level cross members for the deck supports.
If the boat trailer frame is at all useable.
Check it over good as a galvanized steel tube trailer will rot from the inside out. And where ever there is a weld.

 

[GEO-TH, In]

I thought about building a trailer before I decided to buy a 10k dump trailer. I pull trailer with Farmall C and truck. I use it so much it took 5 years before I had to replace tired.

If you want to make a trailer make a dump trailer. Never such a thing as too big of axles.

 

[Adirondack case guy]

Over the past few years I have built several trailers. With their main purpose being to haul firewood from the woods where I fell, block, and split it, and then haul it to my house where I stack it in a wood shed.
All the trailers have been made from old wagon running gears. (Both front and rear axles have been used, just need to weld the front spindles solid, and cut the steering mechanism from the center of front axles.) I narrow up standard 72" wheel tread wagons to 50" inside of tread. The body of my later ones are built from discarded Kubota shipping crates which measure 45"x 96" I cut some of the crates apart and use the salvage pieces for the side struts on the body. I buy new 16G sheet steel for the flare sides of the dump bodys, and old pipe for the rails.
With the exception of the first 2 trailers that I built, they hold a cord to 1-1/2 cord of unstacked wood off the elevator.

Loren

The next 2 trailers are my first ones. They were a bit small, so the newer ones got much larger. The first one with the Tote onto it does not dump, but it is a stake body and can easily become a flat bed trailer.

This is pics of the wood elevator which hooks to my 3pt horizontal splitter and load the trailers,as the wood falls off the end of the splitter. Last pics is of the Kubota shipping crates that I have for further projects.

 

[egbinor]

Not trying to be a smart alec but looks like most of your trailers seem to have the axle set too far back, is that deliberate?

 

[egbinor]

Sorry, my bad. They are all dump trailers....

 

[Brown Dirt Cowboy]

Loren, could you show us one of the first two trailers in a dump position? The winches look to be 2500 lbs models and do they have plenty of capacity for the job? Thanks.

 

[ss55]

An older boat trailer with a tilting tongue will work well for loading and unloading wheeled items, but won't tilt steep enough to unload many bulk materials like: dirt; sand; wood; grain; gravel, etc.

 

[Russ from MN]

If it is a usable boat trailer I would try to sell it and buy a heavier axle for your trailer. You don't say how heavy the boat trailer is, but many are pretty light duty. There is good demand for old boat trailers here in MN, but we have 10,000 lakes! I have always built my own axles using car spindles, they work great. Some unbolt, and are easy to adapt to an axle made out of pipe. Some rear axles from front-wheel drive cars have bolted spindles that are easy to use.

 

[Gary Mitchell]

I bought an old "junk" aluminum boat on a trailer that had airbag springs that were bad. I put new springs under it and squared it up with angle iron, 3/4" plywood floor, and ended up with a 10 x 4 trailer that will tilt. I only had $80 in the original purchase and I thing with a new transom made from the left over plywood, I can get more than that for the boat. I hope you enjoy making yours as much as I did mine. gm

 

[Mike(NEOhio)]

Been away since last Thursday and just catching up. I have a pair of house trailer axles I'm trying to sell.

 

[DR. EVIL]

1500 to 2000# is a pretty small pile of dirt or rock. I have a Pronovost P-503 walking tandem axle hydraulic dump trailer I bought lightly used about 12 years ago. Has a 3"x10" 2-way cylinder to dump it, tailgate is like a real dump truck, hinged top and bottom, and converts to flatbed by removing 6 bolts in about 3 minutes. 3000# capacity, pulls easily empty or loaded with a 10 hp garden tractor. Box is 50" wide by 70" long x 18" tall. Steel sides are 12" high, has composite 5/4ths by 6 sideboards on frt and sides, none on rear.

Wish I had about a 10,000-12,000# capacity trailer just like it to pull with my Farmall's and pickup.

Dad built MANY trailers when he farmed. He used a lot of old IH medium duty truck steering axles on carts up to 5000-7000# capacity, but 7.50x20 truck tires were hard to find. Last cart he made for his brother was to haul big round hay bales. 12,000# axle, 60 passenger school bus chassis, salvage yard kept school bus body. Dad welded 5 or 6 inch pipe to create saddles on each frame rail, cut frame and pulled together for hitch in front. Was supposed to haul 10 bales, 4 behind axle, 6 in front. Last time Dad saw it, it had 18 bales on it!! Yep, My Uncle was one of those guys that can break an anvil with a rubber tack hammer! Dad should have left the dual wheel drive axle on the back.

A wrecked 1/2 or 3/4T pickup would make a nice trailer, remove the cab, cut the frame behind frt suspension and bend together. Cut driveshaft ahead of furthest rearward u-joint. Pickup box should have little rust. Or you could cut a 1-ton flatbed or dump box, plumb the hoist to use your tractor hyd for the hoist.

Starting with a boat trailer seems like a lot of work for not much trailer. Trailers are EXACTLY like trucks, I've never seen one too big.

 

[Sam Womer (PA)]

Sam Womer Jr. here. We were having iPad trouble earlier which means my dad Sam Womer (PA) will be chiming in here soon to explain this cool little trailer he built. I uploaded from my desktop PC...

 

[Sam Womer (PA)]

I built this trailer about 10 years ago. If I remember correctly it is about 3'x4'. The sides are also the frame, built from pieces of a house trailer frame. The floor sits on the bottom flange, the axle is salvaged from the rear of Chevy Citation, the fenders were made from the house trailer cross members.13"" car tires are more than adequate and the tongue is built from square tubing with a regular trailer hitch. It also dumps .

 

[buickanddeere]

Only a little rust on a pickup truck box ? We import used pickup boxes here to replace rusted out boxes.

 

[BAnNC]

How bout the rear axle/springs etc from a front wheel drive car?

 

[Russ from MN]

That's a nice little trailer! I have always built my own trailers and they all tilt, wouldn't have one that didn't!

 

[Kickmaster]

is it a homemade trailer? Wow!

 

[jeffcat]

Wow this is getting some great results and replies. I havent built a trailer but I do have a variety of ones that i have purchased through the years. If you got back about 30 years they still made kick arssss trailer's that are very heavy duty. Wheel horse had a beauty that had 3/4 inch axles. Very tough and well built little trailer. I have one and love it. The next Beast was made for Gravely. They have a ONE inch axle and a crisscross under frame. Very very heavy onsruction. Will carry 700 pounds but the book says 500. Reason being the big Gravely tractor can be pushed down a hill if the trailer is overloaded. The biggest one I have is from the early 50s and was sold by Simplicity. Think it is a Brinley trailer. What a tank!!! The whole thing is 10ga steel with one inch axle and real roller bearing wheels. Even heavier consruction than the Gravely. Look around on Ebay first for some of these super heavy duty trailers. The prices aren't that bad. Here are some of the trailers "Country Manufacturing" makes. I drool everytime I look at that dump model. Not that expensive either. Check their web site. They even make a four wheel steering running gear. First photo is the nursery cart I bought in an auction two years ago. I put new sides , wheels and tires on it and totally love it. All fabricated and built like the Bismarck. Very heavy trailer. Yes I love my toys.

 

[showcrop]

You don't want to go buy an axle? I have replaced two trailer axles in the last nine years. trailer axles are CHEAP!!