Can I turn this sow's ear into a silk purse?

[plectrudis]

I'm looking for some advice on trailer rehabilitation.

My in-laws have an old trailer that my husband used to tow canoes (pix below). It's itty-bitty, and it needs new tires. However, the canoe frame would provide about half the steel I need to make a proper teardrop frame for the 5x10 of my dreams, and the axle seems to be sound.

So what I'd like to do is have a welder (I can't weld, regrettably) cut apart the canoe rack, and weld it back together in a rectangle along with some new steel on top of the original trailer.

My questions are:

(1) will this be a safe arrangement? Note in particular that the axle is about 2.5 feet from the back end of the trailer--too far back?
(2) will all this cutting and welding of steel (not to mention the new tires!) cost so much that I might just as well have bought a brand-new 5x10? I think I can get one from a local trailer store for $600-650ish.

Here's a photo of the trailer in its current state:


Here's a diagram of the current state, with rough measurements:


Here's what I'd like a welder to do with it. Rust color is existing steel; aqua is new steel. As you can see, the end pieces would stick out past the long pieces--they are 5'5", while the original aluminum frame is 4' wide. I would have the walls of the trailer go out to the full 5'5", and have the floor overhang the tires & long pieces a bit.


And here's the cabin that I'm planning to build. I'll have to build a taller-than-normal floor/basement to life the cabin up over the tires, which I'm not thrilled about, but if it saves me $200-300, then I guess I can deal with a weird floor.


So what do you think? Give up on the free trailer? Or do you think I can find a (cheap?) welder to make it worth the bother?

Thanks for your help!

[glenpinpat]

Looks good! I would slide the whole sub frame back a little so the axle moves a little farther to the front.

[MtnDon]

If it has been sitting a while it may need some new bearings as well as new tires. Just calculate that into the project. Plus you'll need some new lights and wire that would come with a new trailer.

I wonder if adding that material to the frame with the changes being made will weigh more than if a new frame was used, as long as the new frame was suitable for the job w/o needing a lot of extra changes?

There may be nothing wrong with re-purposing some of the canoe rack steel into frame use as shown, but that is making an assumption unless you know size, wall thickness and strengths.

[KCStudly]

I would use less steel (less xmbrs) and keep the width to 60 inches. Going wider means a lot more plywood and wasted material. The fabricator might actually suggest using fresh clean steel, and charge you less for it, because working with rusty steel is more of a hassle when it comes to welding. You have to grind a lot more to get clean welds and that is time consuming dirty work.

+1 on adding to the rear a little. Easy to trim the tongue back to suit overall length.

Modifying and repairing will take time and effort; don't underestimate this, especially if you don't plan to do the work yourself.

[plectrudis]

Thanks, all!

Glen & KC--about how far back do you think I should slide the frame? 1 foot? 1.5?

[ctstaas]

Hi Plect, Lucky you- free trailer. I like both of your ideas. Your cabin plan and your comment on giving up the idea of butchering together a frame. It's an investment and starting with a strong foundation/frame makes sense to me. For $300 more than a HF trailer your could have a local welding shop make you what you really need. The Axle should be at 60-66% of the body length.
I too was recently given a free trailer. Yours is in great shape- sell it on CL or Ebay to offset the cost of a purpose built trailer frame. Mine is a basket case and the axle is OK but the rest is good for scrap steel. Scrap steel Good.
Enjoy, Chris

[plectrudis]

Hi, ctstaas. My husband agrees with you--fixing up the trailer could end up costing more than buying a new one. Sometimes, saving money just isn't cost-efficient ;-)

Thanks for the tip about the axle location!

[Shadow Catcher]

I am a big fan of brakes (better to have them and not need them, than to need them and not have them) and you will not have them. I would be concerned the frame is going to be marginal. Canoes are about 80# each so not much weight.

[felixx]

I scratched around for a few months looking for the 'right' 2nd hand trailer
By the time I got 2 tyres, wheel bearings, and cleaned up the steel it was going to cost as much time and $ as making a new one.

I taught myself to weld and made a nice trailer for not much!
In fact I think my whole tear will have cost $2k NZ, ($1600US) to build. incl road tax

[JaggedEdges]

By my eyeball, I think you might have to shorten the tongue by a third and add a couple of feet on the back. Just to get something like 60:40 over the axle. Otherwise I think you're going to have 500lb tongue weight by the time you're done.... unless you put a 200lb cast iron range in the galley.