BBQ Pit Trailer

[Agri04]

I have another post going about a bbq pit, Well I got the pit figured out and have most of it put together, I am now working on a trailer for it. I have some rectangular tubing that i believe is 2x3x1/8 maybe thicker. I have an old boat trailer that was built for a 18 foot heavy fiberglass boat. This is where i got my rectangular tubing from. Will this be strong enought to hold my bbq pit. The pit is made of 24" pipe that is 3/8" thickit is about 6' long with firebox and all. I figure it will weigh around 800-900 pounds max. could be wrong. I want the trailer to be 4'x8' and it is going to have room for a cooler and wood basket. my axle is plenty strong it is rated for 2000 lbs. It will never have anything but the pit, wood, and cooler on it.

If it will not be strong enought i am going to go with 2x3x3/16" angle iron. My last question is about tongue placement. I want to know what would be the strongest tongue (material) to put on the trailer for the lowest price. Pictures would be greatly appreiated. I have built several small lawnmower trailers before, but i want this one to be really nice, so all responces are appreciated. Sorry for the long post

[lfagmech]

[FONT="Comic Sans MS"]if you ask me id say you may want to go with a 3500 lb axle. for about 100-130 bucks they are well worth it. then you can throw on a lot more weight. my students and i have made quite a few trailer pits and that really seems to work best. It gives you a little more peice of mind. [/FONT]

[k.a.m.]

i agree with lfagmech i would go with a 3500# axle the axle will be carying the trailer weight also as for the tubing is the old trailer tubes galv.? i belive i would go new angle 3/16 like you stated here is a place i have bought a few things from thehttp://www.championtrailers.com/index.html#INDEXy even have trailer plans good luck

[KBar]

I agree with everybody else, go with a new 3500 lb axle, 3 years later, you'll be glad you did. I would go with the new angle iron also rather than the tubing. If it is galvanized, it was made for salt water and unless you owned it since new, how much was it in the salt water ? If it is regular steel, what kind of steel is it ? Myself, I would feel better knowing what kind of steel I had in my trailer before towing it down the road.

[Agri04]

The tubing is not galvanized, nor is it rusted in any spots, it is very solid, but i am probably still going to go with angle iron. The axleis very solid as well, and has new hubs and bearings. However, I do agree with all of your comments, but money is tight right now, and this might have to be a temporary fix just to get the grade in the shop class.

[dabar39]

Agri04, For what you are trying to build, the 2x3x1/8 tubing will serve you quite well, better than the angle would and easier to work with. As far as the axle goes, I see nothing wrong with using the 2000 lb. axle, that too would better serve you over the 3500 lb. axle. Being as light as it will be the 3500lb. axle would give you a much harder ride with a lot more stress to the equipment on the trailer and bounce around on bumpy roads. The 3500 lb. axle with 1750 lb. springs would act the same as if you did away with the springs, there would not be enough weight to let the springs compress and work as they are supposed to, and could cause fatigue and cracking to all the other components involved in the build.

As for the tongue, the box tubing will also be more than sufficient, I would suggest a 50 degree A-Frame coupler over a single pole straight arm tongue. Some one mentioned Champion Trailers, they do have a couple of basic trailer frame layouts that are pretty good starting points, I don't buy parts from them however because they don't offer me wholesale pricing as some of the other companies do. I do have a company in Arkansas that I could recommend to you if you need parts at a reasonable price. I would stay away from some of the big parts suppliers like Big-Tex, Champion and Redneck Trailers, they are very proud of their stock and their prices show that.

If I can help in any other way or you need to see a specific area of the trailer frame shoot me a p.m. and I'll send you some pictures of trailers I have built over the years, I think the one that left the shop yesterday was number 342. Dave

[Leons2003]

Agri04, check out one of FatFranks rigs.
Good luck
L*S

http://www.shopfloortalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3397

[SundownIII]

Agri04,

Was just going to say that you should PM Dabar (Dave) about your trailer (he's the trailer guru on the board). Then I see he'd already responded.

I'd take his recommendations to the bank.

[weld-tek]

i built this one this summer for one of my customers.

[Bert]

weld-tek, I LOVE IT 'specially the table...like the beginning of a bbq parade!!! Love to see your client going down the road eating ribs

[lfagmech]

Heres is one that one of my students built. It was his frst one, so there are a few things that should have been done differently, but he said it cooked great the first time!!!!