Go BottomBuilding your own trailer
 | Foghorn
Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 21 Lake Anna, VA 
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2003-09-16 64039
Has anyone built their own trailer (7-10k lb rating)? If so, how difficult would it be for a novest welder, and is there a significant cost savings?
I have a lot more questions on the subject but I'll just throw these three out for now.
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 | AC5ZO
Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 928 Rio Rancho, NM 87144 
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2003-09-16 64043
Personally I don't think that it is worth it to build one. I am a pretty good welder but I bought one recently.
Trailers are pretty cheap in NM and TX. I think that I paid about $2200 for an 18ft wood floored auto hauler rated for 10K with spare, hitch, brakes, warranty, taxes, special solid ramps and permanent license/registration.
A 10K trailer is going to have two 5K axles and a 7K trailer is going to have two 3500# axles, so 7K is the breakpoint between basic trailer sizes. You can buy smaller 7K open trailers for as little as $1000 new.
These would not be hard to build, but it depends largely on whether you have the spare time available.
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Add PhotoBuilding your own trailer
 | BillMullens
Join Date: Jun 2000 Posts: 649 Central West Virginia 
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2003-09-16 64044
I built my own 7000 capacity dual axle trailer. I had learned to weld by repairing the metal targets for a gun club, and the trailer was my first project. All I used was a 4" angle grinder to cut the pieces to length, and a 110 V, 100A AC stick welder. The 110 welder really didn't have enough penetraction; I really had to go slow to get good welds. One of my clients from work gave me the majority of the 4" "C" channel, 3/16" thickness, left over from a construction project. So, I have about $500 in it. I've used it to haul my TC29 with backhoe to local destinations; the furthest I go with it is to haul my Farmall A (~1800 lbs) 250 mile round trip to the antique pulls.
If you pay yourself for your time, it is a losing deal. Some of the most difficult tasks are manipulating the frame as it gets close to being done. Too heavy for one person to move and flip over, etc. On the other hand, it is a good way to learn to weld (you have to have a project to work on to really learn to weld), you have the satisfaction of building it yourself, and you can pay for it piece by piece as you go along.
Bill ....
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