7'*18' V-Nose Cargo Trailer Toy Hauler Conversion

[hankaye]

flboy, Howdy;

Don, looks like y'all had a good time and you did a solid systems check

Best photo is the one with the high carbon pizza .

hank

[flboy]

My wife gave me a Day of Christmas gift today off my Amazon wish list. It is the indoor outdoor temperature gage. I like it.

And yes.. it is 80f here today. I know you guys up north hate me.



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[Hader]

I have that same gauge on my list.
85° here tomorrow high will be 46°

[hankaye]

flboy, Howdy;

Well, we were doing nicely here until today ... 53ºF this morning was our high, low tonight is
expected to be near 26ºF. Rest of the week the daytime temps are supposed
to be upper 50's and low 60's night times in the 20's and 30's ...winter has arrived .

hank

[Padilen]

My wife gave me a Day of Christmas gift today off my Amazon wish list. It is the indoor outdoor temperature gage. I like it.

And yes.. it is 80f here today. I know you guys up north hate me.



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Actually warmed up to upper teens today. Had about 5 inches added to the white stuff too.


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[flboy]

I found and fixed my water leak today. It was not where I expected it since I didn't see the water coming down pex line and dripping where I though it should. The shower connections behind the wall had a slight drip on both sides. The surface tension of the pex line allowed the water to come down the backside of the pipes and it hit the edge of the shower pan coming down and transferred there to drip under the shower. It did not come all the way down where I expected to see it at the connection point.

In any case, I had to cut into the wall to fix the connections. It is something I'd have to do someday anyhow if the shower faucet ever needs to be replaced.


The drip... you can see it. Was enough to cause some puddling overnight and I'd periodically hear the pump turn on for about a second.




I put in an access panel. That was the best I could do to cover the hole without buying a new piece of backslash... But now I can inspect anytime I want.




I don't look too bad... if I get tired of it... I could buy another piece of backslash... but I want to keep an eye on it in for a while in any case.

[flboy]

I have that same gauge on my list.
85° here tomorrow high will be 46°

I like the simplicity of this one. Just put in 2 AAA batteries. ... I ran the outside thermo-couple down to the floor in electrical cabinet and drilled a hole just big enough and put the tip of the thermo-couple just outside underneath and calked it all in place.

[flboy]

I am going to start the loft bed construction next week on Wednesday. Just after Christmas I am taking the trailer and my cruiser up to my brother's hunt camp in South Carolina. My wife and I will stay in the camper since the camp is more of a bunkhouse with one bathroom. I'll need the loft bed for that trip. This should be interesting. I have the design in mind... but getting that out into a welded steel frame and track will be interesting since I have no welding skills.. I may just tack it and if I can't lay a good bead down, I'll have my nephew who knows how to weld come over and do the finish welding. We will see.

[McDave]

Hey Don,
I don't hate ya' cause your beautiful, and warm. But even a courtesy invite for some Sunday BBQ in the Gator State would have warmed us up some today. You wouldn't even have to mean it.
Brace yourselves, I'm about to give you a little shiver.
0800 today, -28f, wind from north at 12mph, wind chill factor -46f. What?!!! That's MINUS 28f, NORTH WIND @12mph,
WIND CHILL FACTOR MINUS 46f !!! Now here's the fun part, we got 14" of the lightest powder snow I've seen at this elevation, ever. And just so you don't get bored, we got like 4-5" and it stopped, so everybody rushed outside to clean it up before it got real cold. About 6hrs later another 3-4", so here we go again. When I got up to start the coffee this a.m. and saw another 7", all I could do was shake my head and laugh, So needless to say, the coffee was extra Irish this morning. Yum.
It did give me a chance to gather some data on the trailer and test some systems, and overall I was pleasantly surprised.
But that will have to be a story for another time.
Anyways, y'all just hang in there and do the best you can to tough it out. The weather can't stay that way forever. You'll be just fine, I'm sure of it.

McDave

[flboy]

Hey Don,
I don't hate ya' cause your beautiful, and warm. But even a courtesy invite for some Sunday BBQ in the Gator State would have warmed us up some today. You wouldn't even have to mean it.
Brace yourselves, I'm about to give you a little shiver.
0800 today, -28f, wind from north at 12mph, wind chill factor -46f. What?!!! That's MINUS 28f, NORTH WIND @12mph,
WIND CHILL FACTOR MINUS 46f !!! Now here's the fun part, we got 14" of the lightest powder snow I've seen at this elevation, ever. And just so you don't get bored, we got like 4-5" and it stopped, so everybody rushed outside to clean it up before it got real cold. About 6hrs later another 3-4", so here we go again. When I got up to start the coffee this a.m. and saw another 7", all I could do was shake my head and laugh, So needless to say, the coffee was extra Irish this morning. Yum.
It did give me a chance to gather some data on the trailer and test some systems, and overall I was pleasantly surprised.
But that will have to be a story for another time.
Anyways, y'all just hang in there and do the best you can to tough it out. The weather can't stay that way forever. You'll be just fine, I'm sure of it.

McDave

Wow... that's crazy cold!!! I don't know how you guys do it. I imagine there are not too many outdoor activities going on... Take care and stay warm! Sounds like you will have a white Christmas!! Have a Merry Christmas McDave!!

[McDave]

Merry Christmas to you as well, Don. I saw your early gift from the Mrs., Nice...Ya know, those girls are pretty nice to have around, sometimes I wonder if we deserve it. But then she gives one of those looks and the eye roll, and I think, No, No I don't deserve that. But I could be wrong...just sayin'...
So hey, on this welding deal, I'm guessin your using a wire feed? Well grab some scraps and just start practicing spot welds. It'll take a little time to get used to the helmet and the feed and angle right. At first you may find it hard to put it where you want it, but you are a quick study. I'm sure you will handle it your usual precision and grace. Get a look at some good welds, so you know what your trying to achieve. When you get to welding up the frame, just make sure the area to be welded is prepped and clean, that the work is held securely where you want it, square and true. Then just start putting down a few spot welds. Move back and forth and around to control expansion and distortion. Just focus on making good, penetrating controlled spots. If you are using 1.5" or similar angle or square, it wont take many spots to do the job. As you get the feel for it you will be able to get a puddle started and push or pull it where you want.
Put in some gussets to stiffen things up, and think about building modular so you can get it in and out of the trailer.
Have fun, you can do this. .. ..

McDave

[hankaye]

flboy, Howdy;

These folks have some good videos, here's one for square tubing and making a square
corner.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uu0z3P5MiM

hank

[flboy]

Thanks Hank. Those guys make it look easy, but I know better!

[flboy]

Well, I am officially off work until Jan 3. Looking forward to the long break. I am so excited for Christmas and having all my kids together in one place.

Over the next few days and before the festivities begin, I plan on building the loft bed. I have finally settled on the hardware I am going to use for the track and trolley system. I won't have the trolleys until Thursday (just ordered from Amazon) ... but I should have everything ready to bolt up by then.


These Trolleys will ride inside the 1 5/8" slotted strut channel I got at Home Depot. There will be 4 vertical channels 3.5 ft. long coming down from the ceiling for each corner of the bed. The trolleys will just be for guiding the bed up and down... I'll have a rail in the down position on both sides for the bed to rest on. I imagine the bed will travel easily with these trolleys. They were a little pricey.. but they are a key part of the system to prevent binding and etc.. I couldn't think of a less expensive way..

I'll figure out the gas strut positioning once everything is in place. I am also dreaming up a cable and pulley system I can use with a cheap Harbor Freight Electric ATV Winch. I'll try the gas struts first since I already have them, but it would be cool just to hit a switch to deploy the bed.

I'll take lots of in process pics so anyone interested can duplicate. Not sure how this is going to turn out. This is another first for me.






The Channel to guide the Trolleys.

[PiddleFart]

If it wouldn't be to much trouble, could you also post links to the materials for your bed system.

Thanks, Darin