Need A Trailer Measurement

[JohnR.]

I picked up a nice boat trailer today for a great price and I'm going to convert it into a flatbed trailer so that I don't need to drag the big enclosed one out just to go riding with my kids. I'll need to slide the axle forward since a boat is tail heavy they put the axle pretty far back on a boat trailer but I'm trying to get an idea of where to move it to. If anyone on the board has a single axle flat bed trailer that is about 18 feet overall length (including TONGUE), could you take a minute and measure approximately how far the center of the axle is from the back of the trailer? That'd give me an idea of where I need to locate the axle before I start putting a bed on top of it. FYI, the deck is going to end up being about 12-14 feet so if you've got one with a deck about that size you're in the range I'm looking for. If I have to I'll go over to a trailer place and measure.

Thanks.

John

[racerxxx]

Here you go:

http://www.championtrailers.com/UTILITY_TRAILER_KITS.HTM

You'll need to settle on what deck size your going to have so you can properly calculate the 60/40 split.

@ 14' your 60% will be at 100.8" so you 40% would be 67.2" (round down to 100")

@ 12' your 60% will be at 86.4" and the 40% would be 57.6" (round down to 86")

either end you measure from that should be the CL of your axle.

You may want to tack the hangers in place and just check the actual tounge weight and tweak accordingly. Also if your going to incorporate gate/ramps like a landscape trailer you'll need to calculate their weight into the toung weight. I know when I remove my gates I drop a nut trying to swing my trailer around, but with the gates on it's a breeze.

Good luck

[86trizinger]

I have a 6x12 trailer I can measure tomorrow evening.

[Bryan Raffa]

Here you go:

http://www.championtrailers.com/UTILITY_TRAILER_KITS.HTM

You'll need to settle on what deck size your going to have so you can properly calculate the 60/40 split.

@ 14' your 60% will be at 100.8" so you 40% would be 67.2" (round down to 100")

@ 12' your 60% will be at 86.4" and the 40% would be 57.6" (round down to 86")

either end you measure from that should be the CL of your axle.

You may want to tack the hangers in place and just check the actual tounge weight and tweak accordingly. Also if your going to incorporate gate/ramps like a landscape trailer you'll need to calculate their weight into the toung weight. I know when I remove my gates I drop a nut trying to swing my trailer around, but with the gates on it's a breeze.

Good luck

thats pretty slick!!!;)

[MonroeMike]

I agree, great info and link.

[racerxxx]

thats pretty slick!!!;)


I agree, great info and link.

No problem guys, I built my own 6X10 landscape trailer, copied alot from another frame, but am always researching into building an enclosed trailer. I reversed engineered one just need to come up with the money to built it. Most of the 6X12 enclosed built today are in my eyes junk, we just outfitted one a few months back, the cross members are thin gauge sheet metal bent into a [, have cheap OSB floors, double sided tape to hold the roof panel to the cross members and the list of shat goes on. Building trailer is becoming a cut throat business, everyone's into it. I also like the personal satisfaction of knowing I built it. Just pick up the cheapest "same size" trailer you can with papers and your set, no DMV games. I like to research this stuff. Remember google is you best friend, just type in the question as you would ask it!

[JohnR.]

Thanks XXX. That's EXACTLY what I was looking for but unable to find when I searched on Yahoo. The deck will definitely be 14' long, the good thing with most boat trailers is that they are designed so that you can loosen 2-U bolts on each side and slide the axle forward or backward. I'll have to slide it forward 24" and that should be good. I'm not going to bother with a gate but I think I'm going to set it up so I can keep a pair of ramps under the deck like they do on car trailers. I hate the idea of a big gate dragging in the wind killing my fuel mileage on the highway and I'm trying not to weld on it since its galvanized, that's the main reason I went with a boat trailer. I'm tired of having painted trailers that look like crap after a couple of winters and I don't feel like painting it every year or two. I think the combo of a galvanized frame with pressure treated lumber will last a long, long time.

John

[JohnR.]

I've been working away at this a few nights this week and its come pretty far along. I've got to finish up the floor beams so I can put the deck on but the side rails and front supports are there. I'm definitely no carpenter but I've managed to keep the width within 1/8" from end to end. Today I picked up the last of the hardware I'll need before I pick up the plywood to make the deck. Its so much less expensive to put something together like this than it is to buy a 10 or 12 foot used flat bed, I'm surprised more people don't do it. I'll have about $500 into it when its all said and done. I paid $170 for the trailer, $125 at my trip to Lowe's for all the pressure treated framing lumber/galvanized hardware and $25 at the local hardware store tonight for a few more bits of hardware. I've got to get 4 sheets of pressure treated plywood ($100) and I'm going to order a set of new tires ($120 shipped) just for peace of mind. So I'm right around $550 for a galvanized framed trailer that will probably last me longer than one of the regular steel ones I'd buy new for 3 times the price. I meant to take some pics tonight but it gets dark so quick I didn't have a chance. I'll get some tomorrow though.

John