Building Trailer Bows

[weldingisfun]

One of the things I do to keep myself out of trouble is to convert small utility trailers into small livestock trailers. After repeated failed attempts to bend 14 gauge, 1 X 1 inch square tubing for the bows I found a way to do it without destroying the tubing. The downside was that method took nearly two hours per bow and with six bows per trailer that was just too much time. So, I turned to a TBN friend who very willingly offered advice, thanks again, Harv. Inspired by what he told me it was back to the drawing board, so to speak. I searched the Web for additional ideas, shamelessly stole the good ones, experimented with a few and finally came up with one that does the hard work in about ten minutes per bow. By the way, I do admit that most of the good ideas I have come up with over the years have been stolen from someone else.

Here are examples of the trailer I built for myself and another one ready for paint.

 

[Farmerford]

Weldingisfun:

Please explain your method of bending. I want to steal it.

 

[weldingisfun]

One of the ideas gleaned from my Web searches used the 12 ton Harbor Freight pipe bender Hydraulic Pipe & Tube Bender - 12 Ton. Since I already had one I gave it a try. I built a die and two guides to use in place of those that come with the pipe bender which are intended for round pipe. The die is made from a piece of 4.5 inch diameter heavy wall pipe with a piece of 3/8 inch solid round stock welded to it to compress the wall of the tubing during the bending process. The 3/8 inch round was strongly recommended on one of the Web sites visited. Once you see the actual bend you will probably come to the same conclusion I have, that 1/4 inch round stock will most likely to the job with less deforming. I am going to build another one to find out if my suspicion is right.

 

[weldingisfun]

Be patient, Farmerford, I am getting there.

The guides are made from a 3 inch pieces of 1 inch OD black pipe with a one inch ID pieces of black pipe and two one inch washers per guide. They fit right where the HF guides go using the same pins and clips. You can see how the are assembled.

 

[weldingisfun]

Since the bows are 90ｰ bends, I use the bottom guide pin positions. The pipe bender has been marked to allow me to see that the right angle has been achieved. The trailers I convert are never the same size, ranging from 4 to 5 feet wide, so what I am doing is building the bows in two pieces. The 4 foot wide bows are made from two 32 inch pieces of 1 X 1 square tubing. The next step is to take the two pieces, set them in place on the trailer, mark where they come together, cut the excess off of one side and weld them together.

I will let everyone know in a future post if the 1/4 inch round stock works better than the 3/8 inch or if it works at all.:thumbsup:

 

[mikefromnh]

Very nice! Any more pics of your trailers?

 

[weldingisfun]

Thanks, Mike. There are some pics on my Web site, Equipment

 

[weldingisfun]

Going back to post #3. I built another die using 1/4 inch round stock to test my theory. I was wrong. With the 1/4 inch round, the sides of the square tube bulged far too much. Apparently, the 3/8 round deforms the inside wall of the curve enough to prevent the sides from bulging. Lesson learned.

 

[dieselscout80]

Maybe 5/16" would work.

Your work is cool.

 

[weldingisfun]

Thanks, dieselscout80. Don't have any 5/16" round lying around and the 3/8" does the job, so I'll stay with that.

 

[wroughtn_harv]

I'm glad you found a way to make it work for you, looks great.

 

[Tul01]

bend 14 gauge, 1 X 1 inch square tubing for the bows

That is exactly something that I have had down on the to attempt list, have your tried heavier wall squares with your press? Thanks

Brent

 

[weldingisfun]

No, Tul01, I have not. Had no need for heavier, so just never tried it.

 

[newbury]

What determined the spacing of your bows?

I'm thinking of putting a "canvas" top on my modified trailer





but presently there is no "standard" spacing for the upright ribs because they are dependent on the location of the stake pockets.

 

[dieselcrawler]

I like how you made your own dies. I have a bender like that, might have to steal your design/idea! I will likely try 2" x 1/8" wall... I'll let you know how it works out.

 

[Tul01]

Not hijack but that would be the exact size i was thinking diesel crawler. Let us know thanks

Brent

 

[weldingisfun]

What determined the spacing of your bows?

I'm thinking of putting a "canvas" top on my modified trailer

but presently there is no "standard" spacing for the upright ribs because they are dependent on the location of the stake pockets.

The bow spacing is determined by the vertical uprights. Take a look:

 

[weldingisfun]

I like how you made your own dies. I have a bender like that, might have to steal your design/idea! I will likely try 2" x 1/8" wall... I'll let you know how it works out.

I'll put something together for you, dieselcrawler.

 

[dieselcrawler]

Working on the assumtion that double size would need rod size doubled too... and you thought 5/16" rod might work on your 1" die... the 5/8" rod I have laying around will be what I try.

How did you chose the radius for your 1" die? Does it match the radius of the same size pipe die? I think that is how I will likely size my 2" radius, match the pipe die.

I have used my bender on 2" scd 40 for a brush guard I built a few years ago, currently on my wifes Excursion.

 

[weldingisfun]

I tried 1/4" rod and it didn't work. Since I had no 5/16" rod I never tried it. The die was built using 3/8" rod. There should be no reason that the 5/8" rod wouldn't work for you.
Choosing the radius size was easy. I used what I had on hand, 4.5" OD, heavy wall pipe.

Nice looking brush guard. It probably get used more as a shopping cart guard than a brush guard being as how it is on the wife's truck.