trailer "box" or building an enclosure - part 3 - how high?

[newbury]

I've got several threads going since 2009 regarding my quest to make my Hud-Son 18' equipment trailer

a temporarily enclosed trailer.

to facilitate moving household goods from the DC area to Mississippi, about 900 miles, mostly interstate.

First of all BUYING AN ENCLOSED TRAILER HAS BEEN VETOED BY BOTH SWMBO AND AVAILABLE SPACE. and having the 12K equipment trailer is vital.

In http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/trailers-transportation/143229-trailer-box-building-enclosure.html I started with

trailer "box" or building an enclosure.
I've got the trailer in my avatar and sig. 16' long flat bed.
Has anyone seen a good set of plans for building a moderately inexpensive "box" to make it like an enclosed trailer?
I want to basically have a 16' long box, 5' to 8' high, that I can fill up with my household goods and truck down to Mississippi at about 60mph.

That was even before I found a truck to haul it.

I think the best response was from Egon:

I have built a box on a twenty foot bumper pull trailer for the exact purpose the OP is wanting.

It had a 2x4 frame covered with the 1/4 plywood and then sheathed with metal roofing. The frame was bolted to the trailer frame. Inside I had two levels as this made it easier to stake stuff inside. It was heavy and ugly.

Just last week I removed the box for good.

Doing it again I'd really consider a buying cargo type trailer.

When I finally got around to building I was also faced with the need to haul mulch and gravel so I started with "stake sides"

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/trailers-transportation/319092-new-sides-my-trailer-double.html?highlight=
then added 4x8 sheets of 3/4 PT plywood horizontal sides with 1/2 PT for the roof as seen in the second pic. This worked fairly well.

Almost everything is fastened with 3/8" bolts and most of those are 3/8 square U bolts. Assembly BY MYSELF from pic 1 to pic 2 can take me a few hours, but with my DeWalt 20V max screwdriver and a nutdriver it goes fairly quick. Reverse the process and it's quicker. I haul it down to Mississippi, unload, disassemble, haul it back folded up.

I only went 4' high at first because I was concerned of wind loading etc. Well, that's worked great for two trips, now I want to get high(er). When I first built it I was thinking I'd slap the sides up, put the roof on, haul the stuff down. The last time, mainly because of offspring returning to the nest, it became put the sides and roof up and load over a few weeks. This required loading the front of the 4' high cave in a squatting position. Higher will be better for that.

I will probably put shelves in up front, it depends on what the load will be.

I was originally thinking of going to 6' (I'm 6'2) but am wondering how much the "extra" wind loading will affect the hauling. I think I can get by w/ a 5' ceiling by stooping.

So any recommendations as to height? I've moved all the "tall" stuff down already.

 

[Deere Dude]

I did something like that with my 28" GN trailer. I had a rack going around the trailer using the stake pockets and lateral boards at the base, 2' and 4'. The front 8 -10' I enclosed with old pole barn metal on the front, sides and top. I believe it was about 5' high. I left the back open, although I did hang tarp down and nail it to the floor. I caulked the joints and put a cow-mat on the floor to keep furniture up and inch. I packed it full with household items, mattresses, books, furniture, recliners etc. and then filled the rest of the trailer with things that water doesn't hurt.

I went 5' because that was as high about as the rest of the rack. Pushing it through the wind was no more than pulling a camper.

I went through a few rainstorms at 65 mph and nothing got wet enough to hurt, although I was dreading it.

I took 6 trips from WI to TN in July-September and it worked well and didn't cost anything because everything I used I took off and reused on other projects.