Ultralight Design?

[bg]

Mike,

I hade been looking for a design I could frame out in steel, couldn't find anything I liked, then a few days later you post this.

Revised weight Est is 325 lbs. Should pull very nicely behind my car.

I should also note that I plan on installing the floor in 3 pieces, after the main structure has been completed.

[Miriam C.]

Lordy! That was fast!
Good Job

Enjoy
Miriam
Need to learn welding

[oklahomajewel]

I'll only be picking up 260 lbs of steel in the morning. 'Course part of that is for Julie's trailer to fix my boo-boo , ......
Comments/critiques, please!

My trailer? boo boo???? whazzup, Bobby ?!

[bg]

I'll only be picking up 260 lbs of steel in the morning. 'Course part of that is for Julie's trailer to fix my boo-boo , ......
Comments/critiques, please!

My trailer? boo boo???? whazzup, Bobby ?!

I just accidentally cut a piece of steel 4" short, no biggie.

[mikeschn]

I think we are at the end

Here's what the ultralight looks like...



and if you want to spin it around, here the wrl...
http://www.mikenchell.com/Ultralight/ul ... kinned.wrl

Mike...

P.S. I am showing the optional 50* tongue in the wrl, which happens to be very similar to what C. Craven sent me this evening...

[GregB]

Wow, that's a beautiful thang!

[Miriam C.]

Looks good from here.
Puter too slow tonight. It's jellious
Get the spin tomorrow.

Miriam
Thanks~

[bg]

Mike: Am I straying too far from your original idea? I know doing the steel framing puts the project out of most peoples grasps.

Do you want me to continue updating in here or my own thread?

[mikeschn]

I think most of us here would like to see your steel version of the ultralight. So by all means, keep posting pictures... it give us a nice contrast to those of us who build in wood...

Mike...

[bg]

Alrighty then. Will keep updating.

Just FYI, I have 2 hours in the template/framing design, 3 hours for each side totaling 8 hours so far.

[Micro469]

O.K. I know it's in here somewhere... How do you open a WRL?

[bg]

You need a program called 'Cortona'

http://www.parallelgraphics.com/products/cortona/

[Feral XJ-SC]

I hope Mike will now add a post showing the alternative A-frame tongue that I sent him for the Ultralight, as his 3D lighting skills (or software!) are much better than mine. I believe this could be scaled up to a heavier trailer, using 2" square tube, rather than the 2" angle that is sufficient for the Ultralight. By using an A-frame, the back end of the tongue(s) can now lie right under the sidewall which is as solid a mount as you could want. However on the Ultralight this point is right at the front of the axle mount angles, so the length without a chassis drops to zero.
Andrew

I kept trying to figure out where the A frame was and I couldn't find it. Why the decision not to use the A frame? Was there a discussion off lthe forum?

[mikeschn]

Hey Robert,

There were three designs that we considered...


All three of these designs would work...

I chose the green tongue with the tabs welded on for it's simplicity.




The blue a frame tongue is nice because it actually touches the angle asm/spring bracket. You could run a bolt thru both, or even weld it up if you wanted. This is the alternative a frame design that Andrew was talking about...

I


But ultimately, I think I will go with this tongue arrangement. This is the alternative straight tongue that Andrew came up with. These are the tongue pieces that came with the HF 1175# trailer. We'll just have them welded together, weld a piece of tube on the top (shown in yellow) for the coupler to bolt to. Strong, light, and affordable! Remember, we have matching plates on the other side of the floor, in the cabin, and the bolts go thru a 2x2 between the top and bottom sheets of floor plywood.



Mike...

[mikeschn]

In each case, the tongue extends beyond the front profile of the teardrop by 22" as shown in this picture...



I believe Andrew worked it out and said the car can angle 45* before touching the trailer. Andrew, did you have a picture of that?

Mike...