6/22/2023 0 Comments Downloadr boat trailerYou will want to continue this process around the whole frame until complete.Īt this point the main frame weldment is complete! Notice in the images above that I also added wire guides and ran lightweight cable through the assembly before welding it together. By welding a single seam and then moving to another location on the frame to start another weld, you will have distributed heat more evenly throughout the frame reducing overall warping. If you simply start welding in a single location and then work your way around the frame, you'll likely find that the frame has warped from heat. To do so, you'll want to balance the heat across as much of the frame as possible to help prevent warping. If you are satisfied with the setup, now you can begin welding up the entire frame. Now that the frame is all tacked together, I would again check both level and squareness before fully welding it all together. These tack welds should be large enough to hold the frame together, but not so heavy that you introduce a lot of heat in any single area. Then, work your way around the frame and tack weld the entire structure together. With the whole frame tightly clamped together, you can use a large hammer to adjust the frame such that you get the same measurement when cross taping between the tongue and far corners.Ĭheck your joints and recheck that the frame components are still in level. Once you have the entire frame in position, cross tape both far corners from the tongue to ensure that the entire frame is square. Ensure that all joints are assembled tightly together.I use a large framing square, which works quick well. Ensure that all right angle joints are square.Ensure that the whole frame is level (both down the length of the trailer and across the width).You'll have three goals in assembling the frame: Using a level, a square, and clamps, work your way throughout the frame shimming and positioning as needed to assemble and fixture the whole frame. To shim the frame I used lumber to first get the structure off the ground, and then used small pieces of sheet steel ranging in thickness to shim up and down each corner of the frame. You'll want to shim the entire frame up off the ground so that you'll be able to both clamp and level the full frame. Now that we have the trailer tongue assembled and welded together, we can layout the rest of the frame sections. 2D Fusion drawing with basic overall dimensions can be viewed here:.3D Fusion model of the trailer can be viewed here:.Other than these two advancements the new design was a very close replica of the original design. The second change added diamond plate landings that would allow you to easily get in and out of the boat while it was loaded on the trailer. In the new design I incorporated a series of 5 rollers that would rotate independently allowing the boat to more easily pivot while aligning the boat during loading. The original trailer had a single long roller that didn't allow the boat to easily pivot during loading. The first was a segmented rear roller system. In the new trailer, I did want to incorporate two design changes from the original. The image attached shows overall deflection at the 1000 lb loaded condition. Fusion also provides simulation software that allowed me to constrain and load my virtual trailer design to validate that it could easily hold up to 1,000 lbs load. With Fusion, I was able to easily layout the entire trailer virtually before I ordered or cut any material. In this Instructables article I'll walk you through the process from inspection of the old trailer through final assembly and use of a newly fabricated one.įor the overall layout and detailed design of the new trailer I used Autodesk's Fusion 360 product. So, I designed, fabricated, prepped/painted, and have already put over 2,000 miles on my new trailer without any worries. I did some quick calculations and realized that I could easily build one for $500 - $700 dollars in materials. I started to price out new trailers and quickly found that they start at around $1500, which was half of the overall cost of the boat. After close inspection of the trailer, I noticed lots of rust and in many places the tubing had rusted clear through. However, the trailers (most of them steel tubing) do not live nearly as long as the boats due to rust. These aluminum boats are super durable and are basically maintenance free. We've enjoyed countless fishing, crabbing, and just lazy float trips in this boat and it's been worry free until I started to take a close look at the trailer this winter. The fully outfitted boat and trailer only cost about $3000 and was water ready. We purchased a used aluminum drift boat a couple years ago, which has been great to float white water to flat water.
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