Trailer repair

[WFO Speedracer]

Among other things I do welding here and I have built and repaired quite a few trailers , I have even built complete watercraft trailers before , this one had a section about 16 inches replaced , I 45ed it where that piece tees into the crossmember and cut a square out of the other side, I also put a tube inside of the tube and I will plug weld that into place later , since the outside rails are channel iron this created an issue .

I couldn't put the inner tube in one piece or the other and then put it in position, what I did was cut a slot at the top where the piece tees in, then I stuck a welding rod to the inside tube , this let me slide that piece into the trailer far enough to get the outside tube in , then I used the welding rod to slide it into the new piece and I welded it in place right on top of the stuck welding rod .

The welds are not that pretty it is a stick welder after all but the penetration is there and it won't go anywhere for sure , I did everything I could get to from the top but there is still a ski on the trailer and I will have to remove it and flip the trailer over to get the rest . I have some more interesting repairs coming up soon and I will update the thread when I do those trailers.

 

[WFO Speedracer]

I did the rest of the repairs, each one a little different , as best I can figure this guy parked on some kind of a slope , apparently this tubing had no drain holes in it and the saltwater rusted all three corners of the tubing where it meets the C channel side rails , the front piece was the worst and was rusted completely through .

The one in the center was rusted through only at the top, I cut a section out of the top , dropped in a piece of thick-wall tubing that fit into the existing tube , stuck a welding rod to it to hold it in place while I tacked it then welded it all back up, ground it down and welded in a bolt where the tube meets the main C channel side railing.

On the rear tube it was rusted out on the bottom and back sides , so I turned the welded up full blast and cut through all the old rusty metal , I do not have a torch or plasma cutter , ground the rt out with a die grinder and carbide bit then cut a piece of heavy angle and welded it in place after grinding about 30 minutes to make it fit .

I made an attempt to weld the underside but overhead welding is in itself an art and it is a skill I have not fully developed yet , so yes the ski will have to come off and trailer will at least have to be flipped on it's side to finish this up.

This trailer is mine , it will most likely not be sold , yard trailers are a good thing to have in my business, if I do sell it it will get full disclosure , it will just hold Seadoos in the yard and transport them from one place to the other 15 miles away just fine and it will make a few trips to the lake and back .

It's welded solidly , but if at some point if I can find 2' C channel cheap enough I will cut the tubing out completely and weld in C channel in place of the tubing, which is what they should have done from the start.

I am not at all happy with the Rustoleum cold galvanizing compound , I realize you will never match old weathered hot dip but it should look more like galvanizing than grey primer IMO , I ran across the product in the link below, it is 95% zinc and is supposed to have almost the same properties and protection as hot dip , it's $24.48 a can but a can should last a long , long time doing spot repairs like these.

https://www.amazon.com/ZRC-Galvanizing-Compound-Aerosol-Z-R-C/dp/B00H9GPY7C/ref=pd_ci_mcx_mh_mcx_views_0_image?pd_rd_w=1tLKp&content-id=amzn1.sym.bb21fc54-1dd8-448e-92bb-2ddce187f4ac%3Aamzn1.symc.40e6a10e-cbc4-4fa5-81e3-4435ff64d03b&pf_rd_p=bb21fc54-1dd8-448e-92bb-2ddce187f4ac&pf_rd_r=4P724JP7CWH0EQTEFG6J&pd_rd_wg=uDPc8&pd_rd_r=07

 

[Baja 252]

For some strange reason I like working on old trailers. I picked up this old jon boat trailer for $45 at a yard sale. One wheel was frozen up and the tires were rotted.



The frame and axle were pretty solid and like WFO, I can always use another yard trailer. I shortened the tongue, installed new bearings, squirted a little paint on it and added new wheels/tires.



I added some used 2x6's to make a place to stand next to a ski if needed. It doesn't show it real well, but a regular Vee bow stop turned sideways works good to hold the front on a stand up. I used a boat transom ratchet strap to hole the ski against the bow stop. It turned out pretty good.

 

[WFO Speedracer]

Excellent work on that !