Renovating the trailer

I found this old heap by the roadside two years ago. A wheel hub had broken off its axle. I left it for two months to give the owner a chance to claim it. Nothing happened so I put it on my boat trailer and took it home.

A trailer would be very useful for carrying seaweed from the coast to fertilise my land. Also good for collecting manure from horse owners, again for fertilising. It can also carry building materials rather than having them dirty the car boot.

I removed various lumps of wood that had been holding the trailer together with an axe. The floor of the trailer was of plywood and had been carrying some heavy loads as it was propped with two hefty pieces of 2x4.

What was left of the original leaf suspension was cut away. I see many trailers abandoned by the roadside because old leaf suspensions have given up. It doesn't take that much to recycle, renew and reuse a trailer.

A slot was cut into the towing bar of the trailer so that I could introduce a new piece of 2x2 steel box tubing. This was to hold the new rubber suspension units. An existing piece of angle iron was ideally placed to buttress the box tubing against. The trailer's side walls were rusting and falling apart so they were cut out.

Once the box tubing was welded, mounting plates were welded at either end so that the suspension units could be bolted in place.

The trailer now needs to be cleaned of rust, primed and painted. Then some new side walls and a floor can be made from plywood, creosoted and bolted into place. The tail gate is fine so I will just paint it.

The finished trailer can be found here.