Diy Building new Hduty Boat trailer Just because to buy a new one they want to much!

[burleygu]

Ok so Im at the stage where i need a new boat trailer as my old one i realised was rusting from the inside out. This was due to it being reglavanised at some stage of its life and not having all of the rust scale cleaned out before hand. Upon pricing a ''Heavy duty"" boat trailer I more then instantly scrapped that idea once i started hearing prices. So i came to the conclusion i would build my own. As i go i will post up some pictures of the progress as another member was interested in seeing how it comes together. Please share your thoughts or ideas as i progress because usually 2 minds are better then one aslong as its not your mrs opinion.
Things it will require:
Extended draw bar
Full keel rollers
Drive on capability
Full length walk way on the side not in the middle where the rollers are.
Eye to eye shackled springs not slipper springs
Tie down rails on both sides of the trailer
spare tyre mount
Oversized boat skids for more load bearing
Heavy duty construction.
Nylock nuts on everything 2 in most places

All my steel is 3mm thick and the majority of the trailer will be made out of 75x50 and 50x50 rhs And once upon completion it will be galvanised and fitted out

I also opted to have my outer rails and all of middle cross members rolled to optimise strength I got absolutely stuffed around by the mob who i dealt with and highly do not recomend using them EVER! but thats another story.

Day 1 progress up shortly.

[chris69]

Hi there Burley im thinking of building one out of C section or I beam, but not galvinizeing it but useing a urethane rust seal coating from KBS coatings,how much do you t hink it will coat to gal the new trailer,cheers chris.

[fandtm666]

thanks im really interested in this , what size boat will
it be carrying.

Thanks again for starting this thread.

[myusernam]

it will cost a bomb to galvanise. You might want to consider sealing and filling with oil /painting the exterior in two pac tar epoxy. They charge by weight of the item so how heavy * the $ price of galvinising = lots unless you can strike some sort of deal

[chris69]

I was thinking that the gal price would go up with the carbon tax a fair bit.

[burleygu]

I was thinking that the gal price would go up with the carbon tax a fair bit.

It costs around 800 bucks to do a trailer. Have had one done before. I will get more pictures up soon all the frame I completed today. And will update with more as I progress.

The boat is a 4.75 bluefin Viking. And the intent of the trailer is to make it reliable enough to tow up north of weipa.

[Mr__Bean]

Many of us wonder about doing this so thanks for sharing.

Along the way there will no doubt be the critics, the arm chair experts, the shit stirrers and the know-alls.

But please, don't despair, there will be many of us looking and learning as we enjoy watching your progress.

Darren

[madmackrel]

Built a couple of trailers over the years Tim and active fabrications were the ones i bought all my bits and peieces from, well priced.

[propdinger]

I almost built one last month after belco wanted $4k+ and most were close to 3k for a 5.2mtr trailer, trying to buy Ibeam or c channel is not that easy they all wanted too much but while doing this ground work dad found a new dunbier for 2k so we bought it. I got quotes of $700 to $800 for a trailer gal but if you make it in sections can come down to around $200

[johncar]

Yes I agree with others, good on you for building your own and posting the progress here. I have to build one shortly too and I am still procrastinating about the design which will determine the style of material I use.
RHS/SHS is better to work with but most often create some hard to clean out sections and I won't be galvanising it so I am thinking C section for most of mine so I can thoroughly coat all surfaces and get at it for cleaning. My build is for a 5.0 metre tinnie.
Still not cheap to do DIY from what I can see but at least you get to build it the way you want it.
I will watch with interest and try and post mine too once I get my head stuff sorted out.

[burleygu]

So today after finally dealing with the idiots who rolled my steel i was able to start on the frame of the trailer after marking out a center line on a goodflat surface i measured out the outside parameters and then laid down my 2 outside rails once i was happy with both outside rails being paralell i positioned by crossmembers and marked them for final trimming. Sat them in made sure the distances between each cross member was the same squared them all up and tacked everything in place. Once every cross member was tacked and confirmed to be square the trailer frame was flipped and all the cross members were welded off. Hopefully i can find the time tommorow and ill have the draw bar and extra front supports welded in. So this is where it is at .

[chris69]

I like that very much Burley can yo post some measurement please and what was the cost for the rolling and how did you come up with the radious to please,cheers Chris

[Noelm]

I reckon before you get it galvanised, weld some nuts over some holes in the tubes, then buy the plastic caps for the ends, get it galvanised, and fit the caps with silicon, then fill the tubes with oil (or something else) through the holes under the nuts, then put a gal bolt to seal it all up, and the trailer will NOT rust from the inside (get what I mean?), square tube is good to use, is cheap enough to buy, but a few years down the track is when problems arise.

[Jarrah Jack]

Noel got in before me as I was going to say the same thing regarding the nuts and filling with oil.

I'll be watching the thread with interest. Can you keep us informed with all the costs as you go?

[rooboy98]

Good on ya for giving it a go. Like you, I also couldn't see the value in buying a new "Heavy Duty" or "Off Road" boat trailer off the floor.

Interesting idea with the rolled lower supports.

Cheers,
Roo.