Working on the trailer...

[steved]

Well, seems my log supplier decided to sell only processed firewood, so I'm reduced to hauling it in from local sources and from my grandfather's place 250 miles away (I'm up there all the time anyway).

I already have two trailers: one not so big and one way too big. Needed one about 5x8 for the ease of towing and getting into harder spots. My parents are getting older and are slowly getting rid of their big equipment...they have a homebuilt 5x8 that dad and I fabricated about twenty-five years ago. Plenty beefy, dual mobile home axles, heavy frame and hitch...I've had three tons on it before and it hardly made the springs deflect.

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[steved]

Because it has been neglected, it needs paint, wood, brakes, and at least one set of tires. The paint, wood, and tires are easy...brakes not so much. I'm doing some improvements to guard the lights and better hold the wood sides in place. And tiedowns...lots of tiedowns...

I hate the mobile home axles, the tires are impossible to center, no way to balance...damn thing will shake you out of the driver's seat at 40mph. Add to that insult that parts are unavailable because they are a one-time-use assembly with small bearings and welded backing plates. So I did some craiglist hunting and found these:

8000# Lipperts with a standard eight lug pattern. The axles are 2013 builds, brakes and bearings were just went through...can't believe that score. The bad is I need to cut them down FOUR INCHES...so close, so far away.

I have these laying around:

Those are 17x8 Dodge wheels, if anyone would want to trade the standard painted 17x7 Dodge wheels for these chromies, let me know...if I use them, the chrome will be removed. I also have a set of 16" Dodge wheels for my 99 Cummins. So it will have 245x70r17 or 245x75r16 truck tires.

Should make for a decent setup.

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[NHMike]

Looks pretty beefy. How many logs do you expect it to hold?

 

[steved]

Since I will be cutting at the source, I will probably haul completely processed firewood to maximize the amount and save handling it multiple times. Load it, back it up to the pile, and throw it off.

I think this will also help on the scrounging, more capacity than you typically get at one time and small enough to weasel into residential areas.

 

[JeffHK454]

Stout looking trailer..I hate them dang trailer house axles also, I was glade to see you ditching them and going with a good heavy duty conventional set. I've never pulled a heavy trailer that short , how bad does it scrub the rear tires?

 

[steved]

Not all that bad, the extended tongue adds length and leverage when turning. Being its so short, its almost impossible to put more load on one axle or the other...it typically drags the front wheels in a turn (the reason they wear about 50% faster).

 

[steved]

Before anyone comments on the ugly crossbraces...this thing began life as a single axle trailer some many years ago. We decided to add tandems for something to do...then realized afterwards the crossmembers were bowing from carrying all the weight we were hauling as a single axle. We added the structural tubing and the heavy tongue to complement the extra weight carrying capacity, but left the light gauge angle for tying the flooring to.

Sort of a 25 year work-in-progress...the structural tube steel was formed at a rolling mill I worked at so many years ago.

 

[steved]

Welded some rings in to hang flexible conduit from...rodents (mice and rabbits) chewed the wiring off two trailers last winter...

That's just some fuel line for mock up.

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[zogger]

Beefy!

I am not much of a metal fabber, so just going to army trailers.

 

[svk]

Very nice project!

I've got a single axle 5x8 and was just talking to a buddy about raising the sides from 2.5' to 3.25' to get capacity to a cord. As I haul softwood, weight isn't an issue.

 

[steved]

I thought about the military trailer...would have had to swap axles out to get electric brakes anyway.

I considered swapping back to a single axle, but the tandems are nice in soft stuff. The wood I have access to at my grandfather's is mainly oak and about an eighth mile off the nearest road, back some old abandoned log roads. Even at 4k pounds loaded, that's only roughly 1k per tire...

 

[MICHIGANSAWER]

What do you plan on using for the decking and sides?

 

[steved]

It had 5/4 PT decking, I was able to save most of it and will reuse it.

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[zogger]

Very nice project!

I've got a single axle 5x8 and was just talking to a buddy about raising the sides from 2.5' to 3.25' to get capacity to a cord. As I haul softwood, weight isn't an issue.

A cord of fresh cut pine around here is pretty heavy. Bear to split green, too. Get the bark off and let it check a little, turns into easy wood. Love that smell, though.

 

[steved]

A cord of fresh cut pine around here is pretty heavy. Bear to split green, too. Get the bark off and let it check a little, turns into easy wood. Love that smell, though.

That pine I got earlier this summer was heavy and it is still a bear to split...the rounds have tons of limbs inside them.

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[cantoo]

Have you considered selling the wood at your grandfathers and using the money to buy local logs? That's a long way to haul heavy firewood. Even if you are driving back and forth it's still a lot of wear and tear and extra fuel, potential for an accident etc.

 

[zogger]

That pine I got earlier this summer was heavy and it is still a bear to split...the rounds have tons of limbs inside them.

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Ya, real knotty pine sucks forever to split, but man it burns good!

 

[steved]

Can't be in two places at once...besides, there is very little demand for firewood in his area because everyone either has access to woodlots or knows someone who does. Most guys haul from his area and sell to Pittsburghers.

 

[steved]

Ya, real knotty pine sucks forever to split, but man it burns good!

When cutting and splitting I found pockets of resin, some of those pockets had several ounces of resin...messy stuff.

Ya, real knotty pine sucks forever to split, but man it burns good!

 

[steved]

Well got it wire brushed, holes drilled for all the lights and tiedowns. Going out to wash/scrub it down to get any residual dust off it, blow it dry, and stuff it into the garage to dry for a week.

Got thinking about the mobile home axles...they have their place. If you want a stout axle and stout tires for little $$, they are a viable alternative. The key is that you want to find older versions that have big bearings and real seals. I have two older mobile home axles at the parents place, they have 1-1/2" ID bearings (factory Timkens) and have a 7k rating. The main thing is they are basically only good for the guy using a trailer around town, nothing over the road for any distance. I think I paid $25 per axle and $5 per tire/wheel for the two under the trailer now...they have served a good life even being the poorer small bearing design. You just can't beat that price for that heavy of an axle...

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