New guy seeking profile critique

[Osage Outlaw]

Hello from S.E. Indiana. I just found this forum and have been enjoying all the great information. I would like to build a camper/wood hauler this summer. I make primitive style longbows from osage orange trees. I cut and sell bow staves at a few archery events each year. I would like to build something that will allow me to haul around 2000 lbs of wood but also serve as a camper. Last spring I build a very basic Hi Lo box camper on a single axle trailer. I built it in one week right before I left on a trip. It served its purpose but I wasn't happy with it. I want something large enough to stand up in and nice enough that my wife will go camping with me. Recently I traded my Hi Lo camper for a dual axle boat trailer. I am on a very limited budget at the moment and couldn't afford a flat bed trailer. I am in the process of welding angle iron to the boat trailer to make it flat. I know the axle spacing on a boat trailer isn't ideal for a camper but with the amount of wood I want to haul and where I want to put it I think they will work out. I would like my camper to have a rustic look. I have access to old barn siding for free so I would like to use that for the exterior walls.

I like to make things that I need instead of buying them. Besides longbows I also make knives and have started doing some forge work. I made a dust collector for my work shop and I am almost finished with a small wood stove made out of propane tanks. Making my own camper has been something I have wanted to do for several years.

This is what I came up with as a profile. I'm 5'6" on a good day so I don't need it to be very tall. I would like the back hatch to be two doors that swing out. I think it will make it easier to load and unload the wood. The compartment for the wood goes a little more forward than in the drawing. Any design suggestions are welcome.



Here is the lovely burgundy boat trailer I have to work with.



This is the trailer I made for my trips last year.








Here is the kind of long bows I make from osage trees. I made this one for a friend and he took a deer with it.

[Osage Outlaw]

I guess my trailer design doesn't fit in here. Maybe it's to big. Oh well. Thanks for the warm welcome

[Mushin]

I think it fits in. Sometimes it takes folks a few days to check the steps it seems. I'm also new to the site and am getting great feedback and a warm welcome. Post your build I think it's interesting idea. And nice bow btw

[Vajra]

Hello Osage Outlaw!

Your trailer fits in here somewhere, as does my ideas.This post is under Introductions of ourselves. If you seek help with your ideas, try a new post under the construction and design parts of the forum! I posted about steel siding, questions, under the building section. I don't have a reply yet, but being that it is a holiday weekend I don't expect much! Try a new post and give it a few days, I am sure you'll get some opinions soon. I like your bow, looks nice. - James

[Woodbutcher]

There are no trailers that don't fit in here. Just about ever conceivable thing has been tried. My only concern would be that the axles are so far to the rear that the tongue will be heavy. I know it is a boat trailer but I would look into shortening the tongue and adding on to the back end if you need it to be that long. Total weight might be an issue also once built and loaded.

Steve

[AZ_Desert_Rat]

Well put Woodbutcher ... Welcome aboard Osage Outlaw, and welcome to the site...

I agree with Woodbutcher on the trailer proportions...

HOWEVER, with all that said, loading plays a huge role here. Your boat trailer frame, for example, has the axle way too aft for a general TD or Travel trailer frame, due to the heavy aft loading for the boat hull shape, motor, and gear... This frame as it is, would place way too much weight on the trailer tongue for proper towing attitude. A trailer that is aft heavy will sway and be unstable vs. a tongue heavy trailer that has a tendency to drive the tow vehicle, causing steering and braking issues...

For example, a ratio of about 2 to 2.5:1 tip of tongue to axle center vs. rear of trailer to axle center (The tongue of course being longer) is a good place to start... The proper tongue weight should be about 10 - 15% of the GTW... Anyway, just my 2 cents...


We welcome any trailers here, if you noted, there are everything from standies, to Cargo Conversions, to TD's... And the real point is building, camping, working together, sharing ideas, and having fun...

Good luck with your build and keep the pics and ideas coming...

[Osage Outlaw]

When I use the camper I will be hauling around somewhere around 1 ton of wood in the storage area. I thought with the axles towards the back I will be able to center the weight over them. If the axles were more towards the front I think I would be back heavy and wouldn't have much tongue weight.

I just acquired 2 rusty old oil lanterns. I want to convert them over to LED lamps and hang one on each side of the door when I get it set up.

Thanks for the suggestions and help.

[bobhenry]

You been peeking in my album?

Looks kinda like Rocky and Bullwinkle's little trailer

[bobhenry]

Oh and on the other points. I have to agree with you in that the wheels need to be under the wood load and the sleeping area will weigh next to nothing in comparison.

Also this forum is rather tolerant of non standard trailers or I would have been asked to leave long ago.............

[Osage Outlaw]

Those campers are very cool! I want mine to have the style of an old cabin out in the woods. I would like to keep the front of the cabin as light as possible. Its just going to be an open area with maybe a fold away table and some shelves for food. When I use the camper without hauling wood I can store coolers and everything else in the storage compartment to help with the weight. I looked closely at some dual axle utility trailers and I think the axle location on the boat trailer would be better for what I want to build and haul.

Thanks for the suggestions and help.

[Billy K]

Nice work on the pinholes and Snaky looking, hedge apples !!
Ash,cedar, or birch, and a rock up front... backstraps!!!

The thing about these trailers, ideas, concepts on this site ...
There is no one that is exactly the same as the one before, nor after.
Just like snowflakes,sunsets, and osage grain !!

General concepts are the common. Each one springs from the seed as an individual.
I agree with Bob. I also see the others' point about balance and tongue weight.

Battery,chairs,canopy,spare tire....will add some weight to the tongue.
Draw knives,spoke shaves,hatchets...will add a bit more.
Draw more and ask all ya like.
Sometimes it takes a day or three to get an answer, be as patient here as ya are with
pin knots; and you will have a camper to love and one the wife will adopt !!

Oh !! Yeah, I shoot Osage,sinew backed...
Where in SE Indiana..??
I drag my Woody into Brownstown/Knob Lake every October, for a long weekend of hike/eat/hunt/eat/laugh/eat...
ummm....we eat pretty well for a buncha "boyz with no supervision" !!!

Welcome to the site !

p.s. what is the white wood ? hackberry ?? ash ??

[Osage Outlaw]

Nice work on the pinholes and Snaky looking, hedge apples !!
Ash,cedar, or birch, and a rock up front... backstraps!!!

The thing about these trailers, ideas, concepts on this site ...
There is no one that is exactly the same as the one before, nor after.
Just like snowflakes,sunsets, and osage grain !!

General concepts are the common. Each one springs from the seed as an individual.
I agree with Bob. I also see the others' point about balance and tongue weight.

Battery,chairs,canopy,spare tire....will add some weight to the tongue.
Draw knives,spoke shaves,hatchets...will add a bit more.
Draw more and ask all ya like.
Sometimes it takes a day or three to get an answer, be as patient here as ya are with
pin knots; and you will have a camper to love and one the wife will adopt !!

Oh !! Yeah, I shoot Osage,sinew backed...
Where in SE Indiana..??
I drag my Woody into Brownstown/Knob Lake every October, for a long weekend of hike/eat/hunt/eat/laugh/eat...
ummm....we eat pretty well for a buncha "boyz with no supervision" !!!

Welcome to the site !

p.s. what is the white wood ? hackberry ?? ash ??

Thanks for the comments. I've been drawing out different profile designs. My favorite so far is a jumbo teardrop shape with the back being vertical for 3' so I can have flat doors for the wood storage area. My drawing abilities rival that of a first grader. I'm going to try Google sketchup tomorrow and see what I can do there. I downloaded a different drawing program on the computer at work and picked up a virus. I hope sketchup is safer.

I'm near Rising Sun. The white wood is hackberry.

[Graniterich]

You will not get a virus with sketchup, just get through learning curve

[Billy K]

You might consider storage that goes side to side; the weight in the tongue would be helpful.
"Basement" storage, side to side would also work. You could look through the Build Journals,
Ravens Wing would be one that shows how the basement storage could work.
Low, forward, and side to side; rather than lengthwise. With 72" staves, you woud be looking at 6 wide.
The length and height would be left to whichever profile you choose. A side wise bed, in the nose, over
storage, accessd from either side, from the outside. Is one thought, for a standie type or cargo trailer.
The : Raven's Wing : build would be an example of a tear drop.
Good Luck

[noseoil]

Was out of town this weekend, but WELCOME! Your trailer looks great & will "fit" very well. Want to see the build journal when it's going!