make your own trailer pushbar; no skill needed!

[working on it]

Tying two previous threads together here. (thread 1)...I was looking for items to "test weld" together, after buying two different welders to learn to use in future projects (I never welded before, and would be my own teacher); I found a chrome 2" hitch ball, and a leftover plumbing pipe (plus stanchions and a barbell collar). In my warped, Rube Goldberg-esque mind, I found a combination I could use to make a "limited-use" pushbar, to attach to my truck for pushing the TTT into the garage bay, rather than trying to do so by hand. (thread 2)... I related the difficulty in doing so, 1500-1700Lbs of trailer, downhill over mixed sand and leaf litter, in another thread. I welded up the metal pieces, tested them with a big f...g hammer, BFH, and mounted the ball/pipe weldment on a wooden bumper brace I made from 4x4 scraps. Painted it gray, and set it aside. Finally, after a camping trip, BB2014, I swung the trailer around on the crest of my driveway's hill, and coupled it to the truck using the pushbar ( two eyebolts hook to the bumper hooks, two straps hold it upright, in the proper location). Worked perfectly, to my wife's surprise (she expected the trailer to break loose, and crash into her truck, located 15" to the right of the trailer's path).

welding experiment

20140111_185722a[1].jpg (97.84 KiB) Viewed 2238 times

ready to use

20140427_143338.jpg (71.67 KiB) Viewed 2238 times

as used (photo minus top strap)

20140426_154745 - Copy.jpg (116.36 KiB) Viewed 2238 times

Eventually, I'll either get a real pushbar (store-bought), or I will get better at welding, and make one from better materials, at home. Either way, for the present-time , I have a purpose-built device that works, cost zilch, and kept me from breaking my back pushing/pulling the trailer. I'll not use it for any other purpose than to push the trailer the last 30 feet down into the garage bay; it's not sturdy enough, nor meant to pull it uphill. Another triumph for Redneck/Southern/(insert derogatory phrase here) Engineering!

[working on it]

In the last three years since I made the front trailer pushbar (as an experiment, a welding practice piece, and a back-saving device), I never did get around to buying a factory - made front receiver hitch. I haven't used the trailer much since, nor had to move it a lot, either, but it still saved my bad back (though the contraption was time-consuming to attach, and by itself, was very heavy). Well, I'm older and my back and knees are worse; I'd never be able to move the trailer alone, so I still need to use the contraption - or replace it. So, I recently went to Northern Tool, with coupons in hand. I bought a replacement wheel, for my spare tire, a yard wagon for my wife (she has two, now), some flashlights. and a 2" x 18" receiver tube. I used a "$20 off $100 purchase" coupon, so I only spent $10 bucks (or so I told the wife) on it. I removed one of the truck's factory tow-hooks from the frame rail, cut part of the receiver tube away (to fit over and around a round frame tube intersecting the longitudinal frame rail), and drilled corresponding holes in the tube to match those of the tow-hook. Using grade 8 hardware, I used the three holes to bolt it in. It comes straight out of the original bumper space of the tow-hook, so I could replace it if I wanted to. Now, no heavy lifting , and I will always have it available wherever I may be (possible for other uses. Looks a lot better too!

• 

  front receiver made with this.PNG (110.09 KiB) Viewed 1794 times

  

  front receiver (for trailer movement at home).png (758.01 KiB) Viewed 1794 times

[working on it]

Just returned from a camping trip to BB (great fun!). Upon reaching home, I pulled straight in to the drive way (100 feet, 90 degree turn into the auto paddock). I unhitched the trailer, and (with the aid of an appliance dolly, managed to turn the still-loaded (and very heavy) beast around. I backed the truck past the trailer, then re-hitched it to my recently fabricated, permanent pushbar. This procedure was done while the trailer was still on top of the "hill" in my driveway, so I didn't have to take care, lest the trailer start rolling down-slope, into another vehicle, or the garage itself (once the heavy trailer starts rolling downhill, I can't control it). Now, will my truck controlling the trailer, via the new front pushbar, it was a simple thing to guide the trailer precisely into its' garage bay. Plus, having the trailer offset to the right, I can easily see the once-hidden outside garage wall, and gauge my approach angle to slip just past it, into the bay. It proved that the slight expense, and a couple of hours fabricating and installing the piece, were both well-worth spending on the project. It's sure to save me a lot of twisted knee-pain in the future.