afterthoughts :

While brainstorming the logistics of removing a county school systems e scrap and scrap. many options were discussed, from monthly rental of trucks to buying another truck. all of this while sitting in the answer to the question all the while.

A recently purchased 24' Nomad travel trailer $500. it has a cracked water pipe and an easily fixed hot water pipe. other then that it is in new condition.

I come across them all the time for near or, better then that price. gutted and with few modifications I have a 24' inclosed trailer and storage facility that would cost $2500 or better as an enclosed trailer. duhhhhhh. any one think of any down side to this idea.

I can think of two potential downsides. I looked into this with a smaller trailer (About a 14' version), but passed (Mostly due to the poor condition of that specific trailer). The tires, axles, and suspension should be the same as a regular trailer. But, the frame rail spacings may be different. This will vary from trailer to trailer, but make sure that the frame rails are close enough. If I remember correctly, an enclosed trailer will be at either 16" or 24" centers.

Also, the walls may not be quite as durable, and will certainly have more spots for potential leaks (And, windows reduce structural integrity). This can be fixed, though. Run plywood and framing boards on the inside of the trailer- you'll get smooth load walls, and it should also beef up the structure of the trailer.

When you're done, take it to a scale. Calculate the GVWR, and subtract from it the unladen weight. This will give you a payload rating (Provided your truck and hitch is rated to tow the initial GVWR of the trailer)

I think it can definitely work. The trailer I was looking at was a 1971, and had fallen apart too much to be usable. If your trailer is in good, sound shape, some elbow grease can build you a very nice hauler (Plus, how many enclosed trailers can have a bunk bed in them) ;)

I am for one glad you post any thoughts or afterthoughts! Your information you provide helps a lot of scrappers out! Thanks

Basically they are building them that way now. Check out the "toy haulers" at your local RV center. They are building them with a small living center up front and a garage in back, with a lay down ramp/door. Maybe you can "borrow" a floorplan you'd like, that way you can go camping/relaxing and take along some computers for the spare time.

2015 Octane Toy Hauler | Jayco, Inc.

Olddude,

Just to elaborate what Matador had said---have a look at the frame underneath the trailer. They are pretty light, intended to hold the "building" that is on them and a few people. If you look at a few, you will soon see which manufacturers build a little heavier than others and can choose to buy accordingly. You will probably see angle iron, channel iron and the newer ones may have box tubing. In general, the deeper the frame, the stronger the frame...6" channel is stronger than 4" channel is stronger than 3" angle.

I have an old trailer that was on the farm when I moved here--I was thinking of stripping it for a dual axle flatdeck....but it has only light 3" angle frame members.

Of course, the axle configuration is also important, since whatever weight the axles are built for is the best you can do with that trailer, no matter how strong the frame is.

I assume you will gut the trailer and reline it with plywood to minimize the trailer weight and toughen it up. A trick to help stiffen the trailer and help a frame that is kind of wimpy is to strip the inside walls of the thin crap they have usually lined the trailer with and screw and GLUE your plywood to the trailer wall studs. Same with the floor. The plywood should be 1/2" or so. It will stiffen your trailer quite a bit.

You may have read some of the earlier adventures of Patriot76...he tried horse trailers for steel scrap, and found out the hard way that covered horse trailers use the enclosure as part of the structural strength of the trailer. (He removed the tops and most of the sides so it could be loaded with a machine.) 'Course, he found out when he was hauling half a farmyard fulla wrecked bulldozers so the weight might have been a little over what you are considering carrying. I don't think that holiday trailers do this as much since they tend to use wood for construction.

But for your uses, maybe an old horse trailer might be worth considering. Don't know if they hold their value as they age in your part of the world...

Maybe Patriot will see this thread and offer some insights.

Keep us posted,
Jon.

Do not do it. They are not made to haul that kind of weight.

In our area, old horse trailers are a dime a dozen, but some of them don't pull very well. I'd test drive one before buying- I've pulled a few, and one in particular from the 1970s was a complete drag on the truck (This was a 3/4 Ton Chevrolet). If you can find one that tracks true, it'll work well.

If the season is dry, you can also enclose a flatbed trailer for not too much if you already have the trailer. I don't know your weather patterns, though....

It may be the obvious, but will mention it anyway. How do you stop it? Truck and trailer will need a good braking system and if you use it a lot,your going to need to keep up with brake maintenance, especially on the truck (going to go thru front pads quicker). We always want to go, but we also need to stop!

Axle weight and gross weight limitations will define if this trailer is a good fit. The gross weight is based on the structural integrity of the design. Saw provided valuable insight on the building materials used. The more sides in the framing (bar, angle, channel, or tubular) the stronger the frame, if each is the same thickness. Most travel trailers have one ton axles and use the thinnest metal to make them easier to tow.

A single axle travel trailer will have a gross weight recommendation of roughly two tons. This is because the axle only carries part of the weight, the rest is balanced throughout the structure and to the tongue. Assuming this is a single axle trailer, gutting the interior should allow you to move about a ton and a half of ewaste. If it was a short haul, I would not be scared to push beyond this limit. Good luck Old Dude, sounds like a fun project.

Regarding brakes, I thought most trailers (at least here in Canada) needed brakes if they grossed out at over about 1000 lbs.

That would just about guarantee most travel trailers have brakes of some sort. I've used electric brakes, don't know much about the "surge" brakes that have a braking master cylinder on the hitch and when you step on the brakes the trailer brakes automatically apply when the master cylinder is compressed. I don't think they are allowed for very heavy trailers nowadays. A good electric brake setup is worth its weight in wild ukranians.

I would guess Olddude is looking at a 2 axle trailer or even 3 axles, since he mentioned 24 feet. (? are there 3 axle travel trailers around?)

Jon.

I have a heavy trailer that has electric brakes on the 2 axles. I think it's surge brakes as the trailer has it's own 12 volt battery supply. No battery in it now as I bought the trailer as salvage and it still sits where I parked it years ago. I have it up on blocks so that the weight is off the weird "springs" that it has. I think it is a 10 ton trailer. It has ramps that fold up. It was used for hauling a skid steer on. It needs the wood deck replaced, some lights, 2 tires as there are only 2 on it and I have the other pair of rims for it. I might just as well clean it up and trade it off as I have no plans for it's use anymore. I keep forgeting that I even have such things as out of sight out of mind,lol...

We need a SMF filed trip and see your place! LOL Sounds like a scrappers dream!

I'm sure that type of trailer needs brakes on the trailer, just reminding that there is a added brake maintenance expense with that size of trailer and that expense will increase with the truck more than the trailer. All depending on frequency of use, who's driving, road conditions and city or highway roads.

My truck/trailer equipment sets have a higher maintenance expense than the truck only crews. The truck/trailer crews also have a much higher production/earning potential. A trailer almost always gives the ability to make the adjustment to increase cargo capacity and haul different cargo as you need to. Safety needs go up with a trailer, I have drivers that I have no problem with their ability to operate a truck only. Add a trailer to that truck, double the weight capacity and my mind set is safety first issues.

I will never forget one day driving to a job site heading west in afternoon traffic, listening to am radio for road conditions. Hearing a "sig alert" declared on the I-15, with a truck-trailer "jack-knifed", multiple vehicles involved, equipment/debris covering all lanes, a tractor went over the "side" and emergency crews responding.

I knew somehow this was one of my crews, by knowing where people should be approximately, this I figured was a trenching crew heading to the yard, on their way "home". I started heading in the opposite direction and tried to call that crew (getting "please leave a message" recording). After three attempts to get them, I concentrated on getting myself to that accident (20 miles away). To this day, I can only remember changing directions. The rest of the time I was praying that nobody was seriously hurt or dead. I'm not a very religious person, that day I was talking to god and he was listening.

The "backup" on the interstate going northbound, as I got about three miles away, came to a total stop. The traffic on the southbound side was almost nobody (guess what side the accident was in?). Won't go into the details on how I got off the interstate and to the accident on the other side. Can you use a 4x4 in the city? That day I did and none of it was legal, I simply needed to be there, now. The scene was like a disaster movie, CHP, firetrucks, one ambulance being loaded with a victim. In the middle of the interstate was my truck on it's side, trailer still on it's wheels, chains still keeping it attached to truck and no backhoe in sight? I could see two of my men standing to the side of the ambulance, no one with them, but only two. I got out of my truck and ran towards the ambulance, the ambulance left before I got there. My two men are standing in the middle of the freeway with nothing but this total blank look (shock). All I could get from my driver was, the third worker has a back injury, nobody else was hurt and it wasn't his fault. At that point I was thanking god nobody was dead. Got on my phone to our office, got the home phone number for the injured worker. Called there and spoke to his "Mom" (he was only 18), informed her of the accident, her son was injured and heading to a hospital, she was wanting answers and all I could tell her was, someone will pick you up and take you to the hospital.

I then headed towards the nearest CHP officer I could see (there was three cars). The one I found was talking to a woman, sitting in a car with most of it's rear end "smashed". I told the CHP, that I was the owner of the construction company and I needed the name of the Hospital where my worker was headed. He told me the hospital and we will talk to you soon. I told him That I was headed to the hospital. All he said was I understand and we are going to be here for awhile. I handed him my business card and I headed towards the hospital. My two other workers still standing in the middle of the interstate "blank stare". I started thinking again for the first time in a hour, nobody was dead (thank you God).

Everything worked out, I had my wife pickup "Mom" and bring her to the hospital. The three of us waited nervously for about a hour. A nurse came out and told us, there was no apparent serious injuries, X-rays show no broken bones and they wanted to keep him for observation for a few more hours. Mom asked if she could see him, Nurse said sure, but only one at a time for limited minutes, he should be heading home tonight. I said thank you to God one more time (verbally) and my wife laughed, saying you really? Only when I went in to see my worker did I learn the details of the accident. The lady that the CHP was talking to, had cut right in front of them. She went from the #1 lane across two other lanes and into the path of my crew. They really never seen where she came from, my driver slammed on the brakes after knocking her car off to the side of the rode. He cut the wheel into the middle of the interstate. All that my guys can remember the truck turning on it's side (passenger side down) right after "bouncing" the other car off to the side. The mystery was the backhoe, how it rolled off the trailer, rolled down a drainage channel and into a large storm canal. Staying on it's wheels the, brakes and buckets dragging as it took a slow ride into the "dry" storm canal.

The lady driver was trying to get to the "Grand Opening" of the Victoria Mall. Having never been to the new mall, she wasn't sure of the exit she needed to take, after spotting the mall, her next concern was the exit she was about to pass, so she "shoots" across two lanes (pure luck) and into a third lane when her luck ran out. She was arrested for DUI, more than twice the legal limit.

Olddude - "Afterthoughts" I give you a truck trailer "War Story", sad but true. No matter how good you brain storm, good ideas, best intentions, good equipment, a good driver, some days things just don't work out like we planed them. Truck and/or trailer good to have both, reality is we need to do the best we can with what we have, hopefully we have a good work day, go home and try to it all better the next day.

It'll vary based on the state as to the requirement. In Wyoming, you're required to be able to stop in a certain distance. They don't care about GVWR. In Colorado, the limit for brakes on trailers is 3000# GVWR. That's a pretty common number. Agreed absolutely on brakes though- don't leave home without them!

Also in America, we go big or we go with the home!
http://www.rvshippers.com/images/Tra...ler%20Long.jpg

I once saw a coach-style bus pulling a matching painted two axle travel trailer. Is that enough home for you? ;)

The largest I felt comfortable towing (when I hauled RV's cross-country) was a 38 footer with a 4 door dualie.
It still had enough brakes to pull down the truck speed, and with the load leveler hitch it was always stable (no tail wagging) and load balanced as sometimes the factory would load the insides down with extra supplies the dealer ordered.

I had one that had an extra roof air conditioner and a half pallet of new paneling inside.

I think due to the fact E waste can build up in weight so quickly (a pallet just 52 inches high can weigh in excess of 1,000 lbs with JUST towers on it...) a travel trailer is NOT suitable. The frames are thin, the ladder structure is not suitable for heavy weights in any particular part of the trailer.

I do have a proposal though...a full size van...most can be found for under a 1,000 bucks that run just fine but aren't anything at all to look at anymore and thus not suitable for MOST businesses.

I would buy one of these, spend a weekend doing basic bodywork (read: fixing visible rust holes) and put it back in service as what is essentially on site storage, with the added bonus you can start it up and drive it away. A full size van can haul the weight, and has the space that a school would not overfill it and force you to split the load and make two trips...that is if I am reading your needs correctly that you basically want to provide the school with a place to put their scrap for your easy haul off.