expert advise needed

[Ivar the Red]

Hey Guys,
I got a good deal on an old boat trailer(free), and i was wondering what to do with the extra length. In the quest to be different i though i would make a regular 8' tear, then with the extra footage, there could be a small deck on the front. Kind of like the Lil Guy sport tear. I can guess there would be some more braces to be welded on for the deck, would this work out? I drew some pictures of it, but i can't get it to upload. What do you think?

[Ken A Hood]

I'm pretty sure Sonetpro built his using a boat trailer...His album is in the Hall of Fame

[madjack]

...right off the bat, Sonnetpro's FishInn and Joanne's Desert Dawg come to mind...one thing to check CAREFULLY are the bearings and seals..they have a high failure rate on boat trailers because of water immersion.....
madjack

[Ivar the Red]

Thanks Guys, but what I was really wondering about is the stress level with having the tear end about the middle of the trailer. Sonetpro's goes almost to the end, with the deck I wanted to put on the front, is this going to affect weight distribution?

[jdarkoregon]

How about a sketch, it'll get us all on the same page?

John

[madjack]

How about a sketch, it'll get us all on the same page?

John

..pics, measurments, etc...a little more info would help give better advice...........................

[Ivar the Red]

Ok, I'll try again, give me a minute.

[Ivar the Red]

Ok, it's time i admit it. I'm not very computer savy. Every time i try to upload a sketch i drew on my paint program, it says it's to large or corrupted. But here's the link that gave me the idea:
http://www.golittleguy.com/cms/content/view/40/90/

[jeep_bluetj]

I would hate to fathom a guess at what the tongue weight of the littleguy's platform would be with a coupla dirt bikes on the front. It'd be a bit. (More than 10% GVW, fer sure). Not a problem for a 3/4 ton truck, maybe nasty for smaller TV. It wouldn't sway, though... Lotsa beer in the galley would be necessary to help balance it.

But, with a smaller platform, no dirtbikes, I don't think it'd be nearly the same issue as long as your trailer frame can handle the weight. For your old boat trailer you need to see if there's a weight rating on it somewhere - that may give you clues to what it can handle.

[toypusher]

Ok, it's time i admit it. I'm not very computer savy. Every time i try to upload a sketch i drew on my paint program, it says it's to large or corrupted. But here's the link that gave me the idea:
http://www.golittleguy.com/cms/content/view/40/90/

Johnny,

You will probably have to try and lower the resolution of your drawing to get the file small enough. Get a photo resizer program and it should allow you to change the resolution. You should try for a 800x600pixel size with about 72dpi resolution and it will upload fine.

[Ivar the Red]

Hey Guys,
It took me a while but i fingered out the picture problem. Now i can show you what's in my mind, oh that's scary.







Does that help?

[toypusher]

I don't know about the strength of the trailer, but would think that if the weight of tear is sufficiently towards the back to offset any weight added on the rack you are building in, you can keep your tongue weight managable. You might need some strengthening in the tongue area of the trailer, but I don't know much about that.

[Miriam C.]

Johnny if you have a picture and discription of the trailer you might go over to the "trailers" section and ask if it needs to be built up. It will depend o what you are pulling it with and what you are carrying.

Elmo has one built that carries his bike just fine. Btw---love the drawings.

[angib]

Johnny,

Strange as it may seem, adding that big deck at the front probably won't change the hitch weight much compared to just the teardrop bit - as you extend the tongue the hitch weight goes down a bit but this is compensated by the extra weight of the tongue and deck, so the end result is much the same as with a short tongue. This assumes a light deck - if you start throwing 2x4s or larger at it, it will get heavy and give you a high tongue weight.

But all this is assuming that the axle is in the 'right' place for the teardrop - just as you've drawn, that would put it a long, long way back on the boat trailer - like within a quarter of the trailer length or so from the back. But then many boat trailers have moveable axles, so that may be easy to do.

Andrew