Thread: Trailer Build... mission possible

Maybe use dropped axles with the use of air or hydraulic suspension... a bit like how buses are able to lower/tilt themselves these days.

long ramps perhaps. Sounds easier to me than trying to reinvent the wheel.

Not sure how much weight the tipper trailers (hydraulic ram) being made these days could handle, but I recon it would be worth investigating. Still need ramps of course.

Maybe a trailer built along the same lines as what sees one on the back of a truck to transport cars. ie a ramped portion as part of the rear section of the trailer.

For lighter weight stuff seen tilt trailers that pivet from the back of the A frame. Have a a shock absorber looking part on the side. Simply drive on. Watched a bloke drive his golf cart on and off simply by carfully driving it on/off. Gravity under the control of the "shock absorber" does the work.

Weight obviously is a factor when considering various options.

Food for thought I guess.

have a look at big boat trailers

definitely not trying to re-invent the wheel, its perfect already.. but i thought this would be a cool project, something different to what you see everyday & a challenge... anything else & you may just as well go buy a trailer, or plans if you need them... with this trailer, if it pivots on the towbar, you wont need ramps, as the trailer it self will be it...
its all about a trailer build, not whats easier to build... the easier part will enjoyed when loading very low cars.
maybe with some feed back from you guys, this could end up being something pretty cool.
cheers

2 wheeler or tandem?

Originally Posted by echnidna

2 wheeler or tandem?

tandem for sure...
drop axles will more than likely be used, or something like it... whatever it takes

Not quite what you're after but it's a start

https://www.woodworkforums.com/showpo...8&postcount=49

Originally Posted by DJ's Timber

Not quite what you're after but it's a start

https://www.woodworkforums.com/showpo...8&postcount=49

thanks for the link, but no... what i have in mind is very different... sorry i cant show you anything, links or pictures, its all im my mind and scraps of paper at the moment.

You can pivot the drawbar as in the link DJ showed you but the actual pivot has to be the axles as this is where the trailer contacts the road.

To slope down from the drawbar you will need to "flatten" out the suspension so air or hydraulics of some sort is the only option that would be safe to move with.

You can get/design/make a suspension similar to a hendrickson that will give you a load sharing system to save putting all the weight on one axle while loading but i think the angle for a car to load would be pretty steep.

I will keep thinking

Cheers

Originally Posted by Calm

I will keep thinking

Cheers

Thanks for your thoughts mate... thats what this project is all about, 'thinking' and building something different.

cheers
Ed

the trucks you see towing a trailer with a forklift on it often use this, there are 2 at work, i will try to get you a few pics next week

Originally Posted by VXEXEC350

the trucks you see towing a trailer with a forklift on it often use this, there are 2 at work, i will try to get you a few pics next week

cool... looking forward to it.
its only until something new is out or a new standard on an existing product, self proven and working that most would agree..."its a pretty good idea and shouldve been made before".

Originally Posted by pureblonde

.................. what i want is a trailer that tilts all the way down, pivoting at the towbar... ................................
Ed

I dont think you can pivot at the towball/towbar and get the back to touch the ground.

Even if you collapse the suspension the clearance between the axle and the floor of the trailer is not enough to allow the back of the trailer to touch the ground without the front lifting up a bit.

So you need to pivot the A frame at the point it meets the frame or at the point near the axle (as in DJ's link). This means the front will lift and the back go down to touch the ground - this also means the angle will be steeper. You could calculate the angle etc to see if it is too steep for you, then a way to collapse the suspension could be worked through.

Cheers
Cheers

18 years ago we built a trailer for a d3 dozer that was towed behind a bedford truck. the trailer was built in a way that the 3 axles were on a slide seperate from the main frame, this slide could be moved to the front or to the back of the trailer. the distance from back to front was 3 mt. when moved to the front of the trailer the rear droped to the ground. then all that was done then was the trucked was driven forward at the same time the chain drive pulled the axels back to place the load point directly over them. this could bedone with a two stage rams now days or screw drive, we also carried 50 bales of hay on the same trailer, not with the dozer on it at the same time.