Trailer rebuild- a summer I will never get back.

[bubbacuse77]

So, I am sick of borrowing trailers or not having one when I need it and I have been scouting for a decent used tandem to haul stuff. The problem is that not many people ever part with these things. I eventually seen something that looked my speed on CL and went to have a look. Needless to say it wasn't as described. One axle was bent, The main side rails were bent from being overloaded, It had no ramps, It was rusted up, and the wiring was a mess. The pictures speak for them selves. I told the guy I didn't want it but he said I wasn't leaving without it and he would move on the price. I told him that maybe for $400 I would take it and He said give me $500, well you know how these things work....... we meet at $450 and I pulled it home. You can see from the one pic how bad the main side rails where bent. I figured if nothing else I could use the thing to haul logs to the mill.

 

[bubbacuse77]

Then after about a week I thought, suck to have a trailer I don't trust to put my tractor on. I also hate junk, so began the end of my free time this summer. I started tearing it down to pieces, literally and rebuilt it from scratch. The only thing that stayed in tact was the front, but it got heavy modifications. As you can see I basically started from scratch. I pieced in a new side rails to where the bend started then also "sistered" another 3x5x.25 inch angle over top of where the axles are and over the weld joint to add strength. The pictures on the right are during during dissemble and the two on the left are the rebuild.

 

[TomSeller]

. I started tearing it down to pieces, literally and rebuilt it from scratch. .

You certainly did. Wow. Nice work.

 

[bubbacuse77]

I had no Idea how many man hours I would have in this thing to do it right. The pictures speak for themselves. New custom everything. I made it the way I wanted it. I just finished fitting everything else up two days ago and started prep and priming yesterday for 8 hours. Now after 8 hours of painting today I have the paint curing in the driveway for a couple days. My neighbor is a CAT salesman so he got me CAT Yellow paint for his cost.

OBTW- I forgot to mention that the original trailer had a spot for side load ramps but it didn't come with ramps. my guess is this was the main reason the trailer was so bent up because the guy who sold it told me that they would load skid steers on this trailer. and with out ramps, a 11K lb ish SS would easily bent things up. I reworked it and made ramps and made them so they slide in from the back.

I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. The rest should go fast since I fit up everything prior to paint then took things off to paint.

 

[bubbacuse77]

Forgot to mention that I ran out of Primer at 8:55PM last night and raced to Home Depot in time before they locked the doors at 9:00PM.

 

[TomSeller]

Wow! What a difference a summer makes. That sure looks a lot better. Not that the original was that bad, but you have made a 100% improvement. Good job !

 

[weldingisfun]

Looks good. That should handle any job you want it to.

 

[EddieWalker]

Very impressive. I have two trailers. One I bought used that is in pretty bad shape, but all I use it for is to haul diesel with. I put new tires on it and redid the wiring. For $200 it was a good deal, but when I wanted a bigger trailer, I went with brand new for a grand. I don't know how they can build them for that and still pay employees. When I priced it out I couldn't come close to that for in just materials.

I like the yellow. Can't say that I've ever seen one that color before.

Eddie

 

[Gary Fowler]

OK, now that you have it about finished, how much more did it cost you to build (rebuild ) it than it would have cost to just buy a heavy duty NEW trailer? I don't know what you consider your time worth but throw in an amount for that too.

 

[debo1683]

What did you use to prime and paint?

 

[Diamondpilot]

Very impressive. I have two trailers. One I bought used that is in pretty bad shape, but all I use it for is to haul diesel with. I put new tires on it and redid the wiring. For $200 it was a good deal, but when I wanted a bigger trailer, I went with brand new for a grand. I don't know how they can build them for that and still pay employees. When I priced it out I couldn't come close to that for in just materials.

I like the yellow. Can't say that I've ever seen one that color before.

Eddie

I agree. I bought my 18' car hauler new in 03 for $860 new with 5' ramps, brakes one one axle, spare, and used tires. Only thing I have done to it was new tires in 09 and added a tool box along with a fresh break away battery last fall.

Chris

 

[Diamondpilot]

Nice job on the rebuild. Any idea on cost and hours?

Chris

 

[LiveRoll]

I'd have to say you easily will be able to recover your investment, You made the improvements you thought were needed, and did it your way. for a 450.00 dollar cash investment, factoring in your time (considering it didn't become a project from He**)you should have no problem recovering your total investment if you were to ever sell it. Now you have "your" trailer Something to definitely take pride in !! Nice work!! and I do like the yellow!! it is probably even pricier than the JD Green!! LOL It was definitely diamond in the rough...

Cheers

Roger

 

[troutsqueezer]

Very nice work, impressive. Makes me want to look for an old trailer to restore.

 

[bubbacuse77]

OK, now that you have it about finished, how much more did it cost you to build (rebuild ) it than it would have cost to just buy a heavy duty NEW trailer? I don't know what you consider your time worth but throw in an amount for that too.

No doubt with my time figured in I didn't save any money. It is hard to put a price on your time if you like doing it (at times I didn't). All together I probably put another 1K back into it bringing the total to $1500 over all. I like the idea of having something I built custom made to my liking. I guess a guy needs to figure in consumables and electricity for the Welders, Plasma cutter, and grinders??????????

 

[bubbacuse77]

Very impressive. I have two trailers. One I bought used that is in pretty bad shape, but all I use it for is to haul diesel with. I put new tires on it and redid the wiring. For $200 it was a good deal, but when I wanted a bigger trailer, I went with brand new for a grand. I don't know how they can build them for that and still pay employees. When I priced it out I couldn't come close to that for in just materials.

I like the yellow. Can't say that I've ever seen one that color before.

Eddie

I'm with you Eddie, I don't know how they build them for the price they sell them for. Best I know they buy in bulk, have everything jigged up, and don't worry about quality control all that much. I know that the paint job on most of the lower priced trailers is so worthless that they rust sitting in the lot at the dealer. I have at least 12 hours into prep of the metal before I even started putting primer on. You also live in Texas where the winters are not nearly as hard on "road metal" and they manufacture trailers. I standard tandem car hauler like this without many add ons goes for around $2400 plus tax in Wisconsin. probably because of shipping.

thanks for the words

 

[bubbacuse77]

What did you use to prime and paint?

I started priming with an oil based red oxide primer then when I ran out, I ran to home depot and put the second coat on with a white metal primer. The paint is directly from Caterpillar. Like I said, my neighbor is a salesman for them so he got me a gallon and 4 spray bombs for a grand total of $39 dollars. best spray cans I have ever used and the paint covered well for a yellow. The "new" CAT yellow is more of a mustard brown than yellow but I really like the color combination of that yellow and some black accents.

 

[bubbacuse77]

I agree. I bought my 18' car hauler new in 03 for $860 new with 5' ramps, brakes one one axle, spare, and used tires. Only thing I have done to it was new tires in 09 and added a tool box along with a fresh break away battery last fall.

Chris

Where do you guys find trailers for so cheap. I had my heart set on a 16' or 18' PJ manual tilt car hauler with 5K axles but the lowest dealer wanted $3600 with out add ons and tax.

 

[Diamondpilot]

Where do you guys find trailers for so cheap. I had my heart set on a 16' or 18' PJ manual tilt car hauler with 5K axles but the lowest dealer wanted $3600 with out add ons and tax.

I bought factory direct for Jerry James Trailers.

Chris

 

[bubbacuse77]

Gentlemen, I am almost done. I got all the wiring done and the suspension back together. I can almost see the end of this project. now it looks so nice, I won't want to scratch it or leave it outside. I may just have my buddy put the first scratch in it for me to get it over with so I can start using it.