Bending Trailer

[Hightower]

Originally Posted by Limey Linda

I am just saying it could. There is nothing wrong with the fabrication, just the attachment. What grade U bolts are you using? I they are Chinky cheese they could pop. If you wedge/pack the gaps it will be just as strong and no risk of something going bang. Yes, I have had a trailer bar go bang on me and I was 15 miles from a paved road. Thank god for baling wire. Your alternative would be to heat up the bent bit whilst tightening the U bolts.

I agree with everything you said, I guess one never knows till it happens and this is going to be a venture into the dark in some aspects. I take a little comfort that my local slip is only 6 miles away and all slow roads

[Hightower]

Bit of an update! Things didn't go to plan today, I hadn't factored on the drawbar not regaining it's original form and have ended up cutting off one end of my fabrication so that a modified angled plate can be welded into position

This is beggining to turn into a bit of a saga, story of my life where boating is concerned at the moment.

I'll fit the masts instead this weekend.

[Hightower]

My neighbour asked me later this afternoon why I wasn't out on the boat today......Kind of summed things up nicley

[bedajim]

123 posts on a bit of steel

Andy
Do all of the bits attached to the box section bolt on(winch post, hitch etc) and what size and wall thickness is the existing box section, should it be a straight piece

[Hightower]

I've just found out today that a Halmark trailer drawbar is the same design, the box is 10mm smaller at 70 square, but that should be a problem. However they can only supply with a 2m long one, mine is 2.5m's. I've got to run the rule over the trailer in a min.

[doggypaddle]

Is that bracket just two bits of flat with an airgap between? I think you should have used square hollow section. the flat will have very little strength to compressive forces without a top and bottom to stop it twisting. I would guess the whole affair adds virtually no strength to the drawbar in the direction you need it as the flat plated will just bow. Get the 9" disc cutter out and start again! It will be better in the long run.

[Hightower]

Originally Posted by doggypaddle

Is that bracket just two bits of flat with an airgap between? I think you should have used square hollow section. the flat will have very little strength to compressive forces without a top and bottom to stop it twisting. I would guess the whole affair adds virtually no strength to the drawbar in the direction you need it as the flat plated will just bow. Get the 9" disc cutter out and start again! It will be better in the long run.

Couldn't use a box section as the brake rod goes down the middle, I had already though of what you're suggesting and had some spacers made to bolt the sides together after fitment.

[Hightower]

Might cut my losses (not that it's cost me anything yet (except for loss of boating).

I'm considering buying another trailer if one can be found at the right money, getting the Admiral repaired with a drawbar purchased from indespension and selling it.

[doggypaddle]

ahh that makes sense then! i suppose you could run the brake bar through a tube but that doesnt leave any room for error/futher bending!
You could sell the trailer bent! it would save the hassle of fixing it, i am sure there are people on ebay (myself included when i needed a trailer) who would happily buy a bent trailer if they have access to a disc cutter and a MIG. it would only take a half a day to fab a new drawbar and £80 to get it galvanised. (unless you know someone who has lots done) I bet you could sell it and buy a brand new one for the cost of a two or three tanks of petrol, or if you leave it a month or two one tank of petrol, next year a litre

[Hightower]

Being a little paranoid about long drawbars has made me want to go for a trailer long side beams and no or little drawbar, so what sort of options do I have for a 6.2m RIB weighing no more than 1200kg's and keeping with a single axle. I have found a Bramber but is rated at 1100kg's capacity which I think is a little low.

What do you guys think?

[bedajim]

Originally Posted by Hightower

Being a little paranoid about long drawbars has made me want to go for a trailer long side beams and no or little drawbar, so what sort of options do I have for a 6.2m RIB weighing no more than 1200kg's and keeping with a single axle. I have found a Bramber but is rated at 1100kg's capacity which I think is a little low.

What do you guys think?

Fix the one you've got

[Downhilldai]

Originally Posted by Hightower

.....6.2m RIB weighing no more than 1200kg's ...

Are you sure about that? Been on a weighbridge?

[Hightower]

Originally Posted by Downhilldai

Are you sure about that? Been on a weighbridge?

Well no I haven't. But it shouldn't be any higher, should it? It is just the payload (RIB) we're talking about here.

[Carl]

does that include your console

[Hightower]

Originally Posted by Carl

does that include your console

There's always one!

[bedajim]

So 9 weeks down the road and !

[Hugh Jardon]

andy

would really recommend that you pop to a weighbridge so that you know for sure what the boat and rig are weighing in at, remember hand built! did Mike weight it all? you are making some assumptions here and probably best to check so no surprises.

if finances allow then just get a decent trailer instead of all this dicking around with that item you have, you can then fix it and sell on or straighten and sell on. to me the trailer is so important and "if" the design is not good then what other things are going to crop up in time? make sure you get a trailer with reasonable reserve capacity if the choice presents it self, dont get something on the limits.....weigh your boat then get the appropriate trailer.....wasting time considering a 1100kg trailer if your boat weight is not certain is just silly

all this means lost time boating and there are few enough opportunities in this damn country as it is!

if finances dont allow then i guess you just have to fix it somehow, however if the trailer is modified as you are suggesting or attempting would this affect the insurance?, would it need to be recertified?. I know nothing about this area of things so could not advise.

also, do you know if the wheels, tyres, axles are correctly specd on that trailer?

in summary i suspect you have limited confidence with that trailer so just sell it on and get a better one, the cost to you is the delta between what you sell and what you pay, might not be that bad and save a bit of stress

[Bigmuz7]

Originally Posted by Hightower

You think it would?

I'd have though that with the extra strength the fabrication offers, that the whole area will be more ridgid once tight and hence less likely to bend or break.

The problem is that your mod is relying on friction to prevent the drawbar moving again. You would need a hell of a lot of force to stop that drawbar moving with your imrovised clamp set up. Like two sides of a triangle, it wont take much weight on the top to get the bottom of the sides to spread, so with this analogy, you can see that only a little force from the bending moment would require a huge amount of grip to stop the bottom of the triangle spreading. You wont be able to overcome that force /problem with a clamp, you would have to drill and make your mod rigid, with the original draw bar. Perhaps some plates welded to your mod, coming up either side of the origal drawbar, bolted through twice, fore and aft would do it, then it would be rigid

[Hightower]

Well I'm looking at an Indespension super roller coaster or a De Graaff with a 1800kg gross capacity.

[Hugh Jardon]

Originally Posted by Hightower

Well I'm looking at an Indespension super roller coaster or a De Graaff with a 1800kg gross capacity.

mine is 1800kg so enough room in my mind, the sbs is around 400kg