Sad reminder of the importance of welding

   / Sad reminder of the importance of welding #81  
All this trailer talk makes me want to re-start my project.

I have a nice welder (Handler 125) and bought some .5" wall tube, so there will be a substantial safety margin.

WeldingWeb here I come!
 
   / Sad reminder of the importance of welding #82  
Double chains are required here, and it's good to see them the proper length and criss-crossed.

By threaded link do you mean a quick link? While it may seem safer than rated hooks, realize most have far less rated load than the chain itself or a forged chain hook.
 
   / Sad reminder of the importance of welding #83  
I built a nice trailer deck with a Hobart Handler 115, 17 years ago. The deck is 7' x 4', and the rear 3' folds up and over flat onto the front 4'. Its .065 wall, with a few 3/16" tabs here and there. The base structure is a Holesclaw motorcycle trailer. Its done a lot of miles in the western USA. I've been asked if its 'for sale' several times.

What does crossing the chains do?
 
   / Sad reminder of the importance of welding #84  
I built a nice trailer deck with a Hobart Handler 115, 17 years ago. The deck is 7' x 4', and the rear 3' folds up and over flat onto the front 4'. Its .065 wall, with a few 3/16" tabs here and there. The base structure is a Holesclaw motorcycle trailer. Its done a lot of miles in the western USA. I've been asked if its 'for sale' several times.

What does crossing the chains do?

In theory, crossing the chains in many cases will "cradle" the tongue and prevent it from digging in, at least at speed.
 
   / Sad reminder of the importance of welding #85  
OK that makes sense, I like it.

If a guy was crossing his chain for that reason it would minimize forgetting to lock down on the ball.
 
   / Sad reminder of the importance of welding #86  
The trailer that broke the safety chain is an older 4 x 6 box trailer with 14" rims... the title says it was first licensed in 1965 and I use it every week at least once... it is the perfect size to move the garden mower, appliances or firewood... low steel deck with a ramp gate makes for easy loading.

Small trailers with 1 7/8 balls are only required to have a single safety chain here and it was a link in the safety chain that snap when the tongue dropped and hit a raised slab of interstate... also bent the heck out of the tongue and destroyed the old hitch.

The ball was one of those convertible balls and the cross pin was nowhere to be found...

I have since added double made in USA safety chain, converted to a 2" ball as this trailer was my only 1 7/8 ball, added a gusset to the tongue and replaced the safety chain hood with threaded links... and no more multisize balls...
 
   / Sad reminder of the importance of welding #87  
I've been using a Convert-a-Ball recently, that worries me now!

Personally, I've made a commitment to never use a 1 7/8 ball again... it seems they are being done away with anyway. Not a safety issue, just a matter of it being an almost useless size when 2" is so standard.
 
   / Sad reminder of the importance of welding #88  
At one time I had trailers with the following ball sizes... 1 inch, 1 3/4, 1 7/8, 2 and 2 5/16.

The one inch was for a single wheel camp trailer from the 1950's

It was getting to be more work then needed so now everything is 2" or 2 5/16... except for the antique camp trailer.

Just make sure the convert a ball always has the pin in place... I had been using this one for 25 years weekly... somewhere along the line the pin was lost... only a small "O" ring to hold it in place... user error for not checking something I did not realize could be a problem... on the other hand, I always check to make sure the ball nut is tight!
 
   / Sad reminder of the importance of welding #89  
Ohhh... when you said it was nowhere to be found, I thought it sheared off and fell out... not it was completely missing to begin with :)

I had a scare once... got a new (to me) boat and they had put the axles in the wrong spot. In addition, the coupler was apparently not as tight as it should have been, though I checked it with the jack and it lift the back of the truck up.

Pulled the boat out of the boat landing, the weight of the engines on the back caused the coupler to slip. The only thing keeping the boat from falling backwards were the two safety chains. As it turned out, at that point it was balanced so close I just stood on the tongue to get it back down. What's sad is a dealership supposedly professionally set up the trailer. Surprisingly, it towed just fine and did not feel at all light at the tongue which I can normally identify easily.
 
 
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