Would you trust me to weld a trailer up?

[Agent Blue]

The best part about your own fabrication is picking the material you want vs what some engineer thought would hold up and last for years to come. I have seen their handy work at construction sales. Tube frames that filled with water and split, rust covered sheet metal, and a host of other goodies.
Trailers are so basic I can't see where they get the huge retail prices unless they are paying the distributors, dealers, and freight companies very well.

 

[undercut]

Has anyone researched what can be made that won't affect insurance if "something" were to happen with the trailer attached?

So much of what we buy is now priced that repairing or making your own is more expensive than buying new. Pity.

 

[Haywire]

I'm toying with the idea of buying the pieces a little at a time to minimize the all-at-once outlay. My buddy said to just finance a factory trailer. It accomplishes the same thing, you just pay interest for the privilege.

Ian

 

[Shield Arc]

Around here the large steel supplier give you a price break at 1,000-pounds, more of a price break at 5,000-pounds, etc, etc.

 

[Ken45101]

Around here the large steel supplier give you a price break at 1,000-pounds, more of a price break at 5,000-pounds, etc, etc.

My gosh, I could save money if I built a 10,000 pound trailer.

But then I'd need a new truck to pull it



Ken

 

[crazyal]

It's been a number of years but for a little while I worked as a foreman for a lead abatement company that dealt with bridges. There are a number of specialty primers that work much better than bed liner to protect steel.

One was from a company called Devoe. They made (probably make something better now) a two part clear epoxy paint that would soak into the steel. I remember it because of their marketing. They had a piece of some what rusty plate steel that they had been half coated with the primer and and then let it soak is salt water. The difference was amazing.

My BIL had to build a bridge to get to his land so I talked him into trying it. It's been 15 years and the top coat is in excellent shape. It wasn't too expensive, maybe $100 per gallon (it goes on real thin) with the activator. I would look into it.

 

[Gary Fowler]

Dupont used to make a product call 25P ? I think. We used it to paint all the pipe in a powerhouse in Buffalo N.Y. in 1988. What was good about it was that it required no blasting for profile, no special cleaning other than wipe down with rags to remove clods of mud and clumps of grease. Actually the salesman demo the product asked me for some grease which I got off a nearby crane. He smeared it on, semi-wiped it off with a rag, leaving a thin film. Then rolled on the 2 part epoxy mix. He then told me to come back the next day with a chipping hammer and see if I could get it off. I couldnt. I could only make some chips in it where the grease was, it was adhered as well as where it was cleaned. Bad was that it was $100 a gallon in 1988. We figured it was worth the cost since no blasting was needed and it could be rolled, brushed or sprayed (we rolled and brushed so we didnt have to enclose it with plastic) It had a good pot life but was dry to touch in a couple of hours so it limited damage from workers walking on the wet surfaces.
NOW, back to the cost of material, did the $1400 include tires? Add at least $150 each for those and you are getting above the price of a decent utility not including your welding rod and grinding not to mention your time. I am needing a good equipment hauler now, but even given the time needed to build one, there is just no way I can built one without spending close to $1000 more than I can buy one already built and painted even using the same materials and I know me, I would want to go a little heavier on all of it.

 

[Shield Arc]

It's been so long now, so I don't remember the numbers. But a lot of steel used in bridges has anti rust inhibitors in the steel. Box girders, (tubs) do for sure.

 

[Sublifer]

SA: That is massive! Is that going to be a bridge or a dock?

 

[Shield Arc]

SA: That is massive! Is that going to be a bridge or a dock?

Bridge.

The small black boom is just a service crane to handle the chokers. The large derrick we used to set the tubs is not visible in that picture.