Landscape Trailer Repair - Correcting the Root Cause

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There were basically two problems this time with the trailer; broken fender welds and a cracked strut. (See “Landscape Trailer Fender Repair 1” for the first part of this repair.)

Broken Fender Welds

The welds on the fenders broke and the inner panel on the fender rubbed on the inside of the tire and wore it out. The root cause of the fender weld problem was inadequate welds and workers stepping on top of the fender to access the weed whackers, which are in front of the trailer. The side boards of the trailer have an opening on top of the fenders, for access for hand tools as shown in figure A1.

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Broken Fender Welds - Continued

The solution was to weld the fender to the rails and add a support brace that attached the bottom of the fender to the rail of the trailer in the front and rear as shown in pictures A2 to A6. The support brace may be used as a step, but I’d prefer to add a second support brace and cover them with expanded metal for traction, to make a proper step, especially for wet shoes. My customer isn’t ready for this yet so this will have to be a second phase project.

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Cracked Strut

The last strut before the ramp that attaches the upper and lower rails broke on both sides. The break started on the inside of the legs of the angle iron and propagated to the outside. I believe that the root cause of this failure was the tractor hitting the side boards, during loading or during transit if it wasn’t adequate tied down. The force on the side boards loaded the rail, which loaded the strut. The problem was aggravated by the fact that the struts were only 1/8” thick angle iron and the fact that there was a fairly long span between the strut that was centered between the wheels and the strut that failed. The first part of the solution was to weld up the strut, which is shown on pictures A7 to A10.

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Cracked Strut - Continued

In addition a strengthener plate was added to the inside of the angle iron to make it onto a triangular tube, which is shown on picture A11.

Last but not least, an additional strut was added just behind the rear tire, which can be seen in picture A12 and A13. I used 3/16” angle iron for this strut to help share the side load with the strut that failed. The completed trailer can be seen in picture A14.

I don’t like just welding up a crack because if you don’t determine and correct the root cause of the failure it will just fail again.