Would you trust me to weld a trailer up?

[Tractor Seabee]

From the welding I have seen on trailers, I can only imagine the "test" that they gave a welder to do that. Most of the welds are undercut, undersized and overly ugly. I would trust my welding a he!! of a lot more than anything I have seen from a trailer manufacturer. If you are building a tandem 3500 lb. axle trailer, there is not much pressure on each individual weld per square inch of welded surface. Your welding looks plenty good to hold a trailer together if you do them all that way. I recommend you toss those 7014 and get some fresh 7018 if you plan to build your own. I have found the 7014 to break much easier than 7018. We a little help from overhead crane or FEL you could make just about every weld in flat position so the welding should be easy.
I, like shieldarc, doubt you can buy steel, welding rods and paint for price of manufacturered trailer. You would likely get a better trailer is you built it yourself as you would probably put more steel into than commercial built ones, I know I would. I would surely love to have a cheap outlet for structural steel and I would love to build another trailer but my pricing from local supplier was more than a new trailer just for the steel, not including the axles, tires, welding and painting. If I built it it would get a good sandblasting prior to painting to get a good profile for the paint to adhere to which would cost more than the commercial guys who maybe wipe it down with a dirty rag prior to spraying it

From the welding I have seen on trailers, I can only imagine the "test" that they gave a welder to do that. Most of the welds are undercut, undersized and overly ugly.

Very true on the light weight utility trailers at the big box stores and places like HF. I have been looking for a 12,000# equipment trailer both new and used; yet to see a homemade one I would but my equipment on and all the new factory ones are DOT certified and the welding is superb, better than mine and I am a seasoned welder from the past (out of practice now). I agree with Gary that I could never buy the materials for the price of a new one.

Remember with 7014 or 7018 you can lay down a perfect looking bead and not have penetration, hence strength. If the weld is not completly through the joint and a bead on the reverse side you have a weak joint. That is why I always do my root pass with 6010 on a beveled joint with 7014/7018 cover pass for appearance and ease of cleanup.

Remember the mild steel you will use is no stronger (maybe less) than the 6010 rod. Run some coupons and bend test in a press or large vice. proof of the pudding.

Ron

 

[Shield Arc]

I have a couple PJ trailers, both 14,000-pound, one dump, the other flatbed. I swear Stevie Wonder welded both of them together! :laughing:

 

[strum456]

Not that i am a fan of trailers with crappy welds but a properly designed trailer should not stress at the welds all that much anyway. Like others have said i doubt it will pay to build your own.

 

[k0ua]

Would I trust you to weld a trailer? Yes, because I know you would do a good job, and inspect your own work. Would I trust this guy to weld a trailer?, NO.
I would not trust him to weld anything. This guy is either just kidding or is a total idiot.:confused2: Watch the whole video if you can stomach it.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Us7VDZT-NcQ]How (NOT) To Weld with Sean DIY Welding Fail - YouTube[/ame]

James K0UA

 

[bearcreek paul]

It has to be a joke.Should be titled how not to weld!

 

[Fixemall]

I have a couple PJ trailers, both 14,000-pound, one dump, the other flatbed. I swear Stevie Wonder welded both of them together! :laughing:

I agree, Having owned both JBJ, Gator and others, some of the welds had to be ground out and repassed before I felt ok with really loading them up. A lot of the welds looked good but lacked the necessary penetration for actual structural strength, especially with a 9,000 pound load and NY roads!

 

[Hooked_on_HP]

Yes I would trust your welds. As others have stated the welds on some of the manufactured trailers are terrible. However the person you realy need to ask is your insurance agent. If you insurance company won't cover it, it doesn't matter if you get the materials for free. I contacted my insurance company about my home built trailers and was told that as long as it was titled and had liscense plates it was covered. However, a lawyer could always find a way to put the blame on you
.
Bill

 

[Sublifer]

I have a couple PJ trailers, both 14,000-pound, one dump, the other flatbed. I swear Stevie Wonder welded both of them together! :laughing:

Be really difficult to use them if they were welded together... :laughing:

I guess that can happen when you can't see what you're doing.

 

[Shield Arc]

Be really difficult to use them if they were welded together... :laughing:

I used my torch to separate them.

 

[crazyal]

If you really want to see how strong welds are try to break them intentionally. You'll be surprised just how hard it is. I have built one trailer and repaiered several over the years and welds (no matter how ugly they are) are never the issue.

I've seen joints that someone decided only need a bead on each end that I know I would have ran a full bead. I've seen joints that were only welded on one or two sides where I would have welded every side. The simple fact is building a trailer is a nice project if you have good welding skills and don't cut corners.

The real problem with building your own is the axles and springs. The price for new ones you have to pay vs what a company that builds hundreds (or more) trailers a year pay is usually high enough to offset any other savings.

But building your own has pluses too. I weld stainless bolts to the frame everywhere something electrical needs to be grounded. I run the wires in conduit so they don't get snagged. I like to make housings to put the lights in. For example if using round lights I recess them inside thin wall (1/8") pipe so they can get broken off. I make a nice heavy duty bracket for the plate vs that stupid plastic generic one. Also I like to take 3/8" or 1/2" chain and cut links up into U shape (or bend rod) and weld lots of them along the frame for places to hook ratchet straps to.