sled4fun

I have an eighties 33' Travel trailer that has very low miles (less than 250) but the living space has seen better days as it has been sitting a lot of the time and mold & dry rot have taken over big time.

Anyway I can get the trailer for nothing and will use a backhoe to strip the living area off the frame. It has 8 inch tall frame with 4 leafsprings per wheel on a tandem set of axels. The hitch ball is 2 5/16 and it has trailer brakes.
I would like to have about a 14' - 16' trailer (pro-cons on both please)

I need to haul around a 1954 ford 640 tractor a couple times a year. Maybe a car or truck a couple times a year. And be able to haul brush, trash or whatever in an easy way.

What is the best way to balance my cut and weld points for a good towing trailer?

Ideas on a tilt feature?

Stake sides?

Dump bed?

MX429

Scrap that thing and buy a new trailer that is made to haul heavy loads. You will be much better off. I know I haven't seen the trailer that you are speaking off, but a lot of times those trailers don't have axles and springs that are worthy if making a good utility trailer with.

reson46

I tend to agree. My experience is that most travel trailers aren't built for lots of weight. I don't know that I would trust one for use as a car hauler or utility trailer.

William Crawley

haloman

Agreed. Get a trailer made for your purpose

bkrukow

I just abough bought a fifth wheel camper frame that had little to no miles on it. I was going to turn it into a fifth wheel ATV trailer that would be capable of hauling 6 ATVs plus some gear. I figured it out and to strengthen the frame to handle the weight I would have on it and put new tires and breakes and lights and a floor on it was gong to be more than a nice used goosneck flatbed of equivalent size. Take a good look at the frame. Most dont have anything structural for cross members or spurs comming off the frame to the out sides. The one I looked at only had sheet meatal crosmembers that wouldent suport any real load. Then they where not spaced evenly because of all the tanks and such under the trailer. I was basicly buying 2 frame rales and a coupler buy time I got done replacing all the old parts that where shot from sitting so long. The axles needed new bearings and breaks and tires. These camper frame trailers are not usaly worth there time and effort in the long run. I walked away from that one and glad I did. Instead i bought a 25K toy hauler.

XLR8R

Don't waste your time or money...

I've designed and fabricated custom trailers out of old trucks (don't worry - no Dodges were injured or killed), and designed and fabricated custom trailer out of all new parts and materials.

Start from the ground up with new unless minor mods are all that's required.

sled4fun

I appreciate the responses and wish I had more money than time. But I am not hauling a whole lot of weight. The trailer has a GVWR of 9200 lbs. And judging by my load tickets from the local disposal weigh station I am hauling about 900 - 1200 lbs. of debris max each trip I make. My old ford tractor is maybe 2500 lbs. and I only will haul it twice a year for a total 18 miles a trip on back roads.

The reality is that I am not hauling 18 bails of hay like I have seen posted on this site. Just brush and S#*t that wont weight very much. Maybe some furniture if the nephew or kids need to move etc. And of course that tractor twice a year.

Any tips for the build?

gunracer1

if you keep the load at 4k and under it will be fine. but you will need to do some bracing to make the trailer live and go 16' as a minumum.

XLR8R

Your 640 weighs more like 3000#, but you mentioned occasional car or TRUCK hauling, so the tractor will be one of the lighter loads...

Decent turnkey 20' tandem flatbed bumper-pulls w/o brakes are widely available new for @ $1K, so if your time's not too valuable, you could make a decent hauler out of your 33' for that money.

Best case scenario: you can cutoff the rear of the trailer to shorten it to a manageable size without creating excessive tongue weight when loaded (sectioning the frame is LOTS of extra work with professional skills mandatory). You buy/procure enough steel angle, channel or pipe (not round) to build a strong bed foundation and box/strenghten the frame as required. Choose pressure-treated lumber and SS carraige bolts for the floor; or steel treadplate coated w/lineX or equivalent; or aluminum treadplate with SS fasteners if you've got the $$$ (don't forget to space the subfloor tightly enough to support the aluminum).

If it was my $1K, I'd cut the back of the frame to length, remove the rear axle and mount it ahead of the front axle, brace the frame and floor as needed and lay lumber in it. Hope ya know your way around a torch, welder and measuring tape (don't laugh, most guys can't read them too well)

sled4fun

Good Idea XLR8R on the axle leap frog idea. That may get me the balance I need while allowing the front section of frame to remain uncut.

XLR8R

Glad you understand

sdaly

I recently got done reading Trailers-How To Design & Build Vol. 1 & 2. According to these books, flatbeds and enclosed trailers are build quite differently, structurally speaking. A flatbed has a much more stout bed, while an enclosed trailer has a much less stout floor because the boxed trailer enclosure adds structural rigidity. So, take away the boxed trailer enclosure, and you are left with a very weak flatbed compared to a trailer originally built as a flatbed trailer. In fact, in the book they show an example of a travel trailer that has been stripped down to the frame, and the trailer frame is so weak that it is already flexing (twisting) without any load on it.

So the short answer is: No, don't do it.