Little Jo' - floor installed and template cut (8-26-12)

[Kornbread]

And so it begins:

I picked up my 5x8 trailer from Northern Tool this week.




I got the cheap trailer that they sell in their stores. It has a straight tongue made from square tubing instead of the "A frame" tongue that's on the trailer they sell online. (The A frame tongue specs. has a slightly higher GVWR but it also has a higher price tag too...)

A friend of mine is welding some angled steel supports to the tongue to give it more strength. The straight tubing tongue did have quite a bit of give in it. He also said that he had some scrap steel angle around the shop and he's going to see if he can add a few pieces here and there to strengthen up the frame too.

I'm really excited! I can't wait to see it start to come together. I'll keep you guys posted on progress.

Mitch

[Woodbutcher]

Hey Mitch, Congrats on the new trailer. I just finished building on that same trailer. I extended the tongue and added 2 pieces of angle iron up front also. Mostly to allow for a tongue box, but it did firm up the trailer a bunch. Good luck with your build and enjoy the process, it's half the fun!

[Kornbread]

Well Saturday was a bust. I didn't get to work on the TD at all. I had some family things to do in the morning and then the skies opened up and washed out the afternoon.

But today was a better day. I waited til about 11 since it was Sunday and I've got neighbors very close. I didn't figure they'd appreciate the sweet sounds of construction first thing on Sunday morning. By the time I rounded up all of my tools, supplies, and materials it was close to 1pm before I finally started actually doing anything.

But I did make a little sawdust today:

1st I cut my 1 x 2s for the floor.



Then I built my frame.

I had some scrap pieces left over and they were long enough, so I put some between the floor joists for added support.

floor joists

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I cut down a couple of pieces of plywood then glued and screwed them into place.

plywood floor installed on frame

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Next I cut some Styrofoam insulation to fit between the joists. After giving them all a dry fit, I removed them one at a time and sloped on the black roof tar and then pressed the foam boards into the wet tar.

Adding the roof tar and Insulation

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By the time that was finished my back was pretty sore from all of the bending and my neck was pretty sunburned.

Note to self: Before beginning work next weekend build some saw horses and buy some sunscreen...

I didn't get nearly as far along as I had planned this weekend but at least I got it started. I hope to pick my trailer back up from the welder this week so by next weekend, weather permitting, I can get the floor installed and get some walls cut out and installed.

Thanks for looking,

Mitch

Edit: I apologize for the quality of the pics. I couldn't figure out why they were all out of focus until I noticed that the switch was set on close up (little flower Icon) instead of scenic (mountain Icon)...

[Junkboy999]

Off to a good start.

You gonna keep us in to dark until you get the walls up on what your going build?

[Kornbread]

Off to a good start.

You gonna keep us in to dark until you get the walls up on what your going build?

Sorry, I'm going with a slightly modified version of the Generic benroy. I'm thinking something like this:



That's just a rough idea that I made playing around with Inkscape trying to come up with a color scheme. It's not to scale and the angles/curves aren't right but, it should give you some idea where I'm headed.

[DriverOne]

Sunscreen FTW! I'm a redhead, so the sun is my mortal enemy! I found SPF 100 and I still see some color after an hour... By the way, Under Armor shirts help a lot with keeping the sun off while feeling like you're shirtless.

Oh, and Northern Tool has cheap fold up horses that do well.

[Kornbread]

Saturday: (Aug. 18, 2012)

Trailer Modifications:

Worked a little on the frame. We got some angle welded to the sides of the tongue and under the frame. There is a huge difference in the amount of "play" and twist in the frame now. (pics to follow soon.)

There were several pieces of angle attached to the sides of the trailer frame that I assume were to be used for side boards on the trailer. I cut those off and ground them down pretty smooth.

The fenders were a "female dog" to get off. I finally got them removed but it left behind a lot of metal. I ground on the leftovers for awhile. Finally I decided to just leave it. When I dry fit my walls to the outside of the frame, I'll mark the wood at these spots, and then I'll use my router to remove just enough wood to allow the walls to lay flat against the frame.

I removed the tail lights/turn signals along with the metal brackets that held them in place.

Sometime this week my Brother-In-Law is supposed to add some angle supports down the middle of the floor between the cross members. Afterwards I'll touch up the paint and bring it home.

EDIT (8-25-12) Here are before and after pics of the trailer.

Before:

After:

trailer after modification

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I also did some scavenging for parts yesterday. I have an old camper that needs to go to the scrap yard. I was able to salvage a roof vent and two door handles that I believe I can make work on the teardrop.

Sunday: (Aug. 19, 2012)

No work today...

I had planed on making my template for the walls today,then cutting, sanding, and putting on the first coat of primer. However, it's raining here today and I don't have a shop/garage to work inside. Even if it stops soon, it's still so damp outside that I wouldn't feel comfortable working with "naked" wood out side today.

Maybe I'll get off work early enough this week to at least draw my pattern for my template.

Mitch

[Kornbread]

I didn't get to work on the TD on Sat. because the transmission on my truck started acting up. I spent the afternoon changing the filter and fluid and washing the transmission fluid out of my hair. (twice... ) It looks like I'm going to have to take the truck to the transmission shop. $$$ I guess I have a tough decision to make. Do I want to spend a lot of cash on a truck with 236,000 miles and a big dent in the side?

Anywhoo... I did get to work on Little Jo' a bit today. I installed a second layer of insulation to the floor. I used some solid Styrofoam this time with a coat of spray adhesive between the layers and a few screws and washers to hold it all in place.

teardrop trailer 016.JPG (166.01 KiB) Viewed 1062 times

After quite a bit of hammering and cursing I finally got the floor into the frame. Apparently the Northern tool trailers aren't exactly square.

(notice I blamed Northern and not the guy that built the floor...)

Then I cut my template out of a piece of 1/8" Masonite.

teardrop trailer 023.JPG (173.6 KiB) Viewed 1062 times

I have a three day weekend (Labor day) coming up next weekend. Hopefully the weather man will cooperate and give me some nice weather to work outside.

Thanks for looking,

Mitch