Rust proofing trailer ideas

[ALMS2018]

Thankyou again for your replies.

I have spent the last 2 weeks building my new trailer. Little bit at a time, and all of the top of my head, and from previous trailer ideas. I used 3mm on main draw bar, and 2.5mm on the rest all in duragal. I ground away the areas to be welded and used a Mig to weld. I have oil filled all crossmembers, and used linseed to fill them, incase of leakage, to be environmentally friendly. I probably went bit overboard with my joins/design and extra angled corners etc, But id rather it over engineered, as its carrying a reasonable size tinny. I re used the existing winch post,with a few mods. Just waiting on a new axle arriving via couriers, then have new guards,hot gal dipped wheels, and all new rollers. I was able to clean and re use most of the brackets and a few other peices. Im going to run a 12000lb 12v winch, and also i have welded a bracket to hold a manual winch as back up. To protect it, I have zinc coated the welds,I am etch priming the whole thing, then using Ormonoids bitumen over the top. Its in Black, and depending how it looks,it can stay black. If i dont like the finish, ill use ormonoids silver gal over the top. I will also make a irrigation hose set up, and hard mount it inside my 2 full length drawbars, with a tap fitting, so i can easily flush inside the steel, thats not oil filled. hopefully this system holds up a good few years for me, and with regular washing, and regular re application of the bitumen, im confident it will do what i need. Ive built it for around the $800 mark now, and all i need is the 12v winch and rego to finish. Not the best pics, but you get the idea.

[ranmar850]

Quite a satisfying thing, building a trailer. Unless you are doing it in a shed, in Jan/Feb 40 deg plus heat, with the door facing the wrong way to catch the breeze. Which is how I did it. Anyway, mine came out well, had it gal'd, for around half the price of buying new, and mine was stronger. There's a lot more work in them than people think.
When I bought the new boat, someone asked me why I didn't build the trailer for it. I told them to F*** off.

[ALMS2018]

it is mate, im really happy with how its turned out, and suprised myself with my fab. I was competent going into it, but again, agree with you, very satisfying to have gotten it done. I made a few mistakes along the way and corrected them, and have learnt for next time. being custom, it also fits the boat perfectly and snugly, which will make travel and launching easier. I also over engineered it, so strength will be fine and better then what id buy. Yes, My shed also warms up, but im on the end of summer, so snuck away with only a little bit of sweat. many late nights, as i dont sleep real well, made it easier also. Im well under the half price mark, so stoked with that. I consulted with the guys who will be passing it in NSW, so, also i know its good to go. I have now added fish oil, so its a mix of linseed and fish oil in the crossmembers, and am heading into bunnings today, to get a few adaptors, to fit my irragtion hose flushing system inside the 2 full length unsealed crossmembers. i have also just finished etch priming, and finished its first coat of ormonoids bitumen. Took around 3-4 hours, to apply the bitumen coating by brush, But im really impressed with it, and can see immediately, how good it will be in protecting the steel, Esp when i apply a 2nd coat, and 3rd coat to the rear end. The 4 Litre can goes along way, and for $51 the can, I'm happy with that. 4 Litres will have the trailer finished for anyone interested, with 2 coats all over, and even a 3rd coat on the rear 40-50%. So its protection is Duragal RHS, Zinc covered welds, Etch primed, Bitumen coating x 2 ( Minimum), with oil filled crossmembers. BTW i did atest with fish oil/linseed mix and welding, and didnt get it to start fire or even spark, and have since welded add ons, even after the tubes were filled. SO will be no issue there in the future ( I hope). Worst case, i can drain the RHS if needed.
With plenty of washing, and re applying it over the years, Im pretty sure ill actually get more life then i anticipated.

[ranmar850]

It will be interesting to see how that goes. Certainly cheaper than having it hot dipped. Are you going to apply for the self-built VIN plate? Painless process when i did it, no inspection required.

[ozscott]

Mate see this thread
http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/sho...d.php?t=191562

I used the trailer in salt and let it sit overnight at ramp.etx quite a bit and when I sold it late last year it looked like new and inside the fisholene looked fresh. If washed off and the hinged rear lanoteced after it comes back from the ramp (as I reccomended the New owner to do) it will outlast galv in my view.

Cheers

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

[TheRealAndy]

with regular washing, and regular re application of the bitumen,

The most important words have been spoken!

The angry Canadian lecturer I had for corrosion science at uni would probably want to do sexual things to you right now!

[bigjimg]

I fed soaker hose through my trailer frame. The length of it was enough to do a return trip back to the start point. I just hook the hose up to it and let it do its thing.
Going on ten years now not a sign of rust yet. The cross members I filled to overflowing with fishoilene after plugging the bottom drain hole. Once full I remove the plug and drain overnight. This has been done three times over the ten years. I flush these after every trip as well and give the rotors a decent flush and cover with Protecta Spray lube. Still on the original rotors, and the brakes work just fine thanks. Jim