Shelf on Front of Landscape Trailer for Vacuum

[Don52]

My customer purchased a vacuum to be mounted to the a shelf on the front of his landscape trailer. The purpose of the shelf was to maximize storage on the trailer by allowing the tractor to fit under it. It comes with a 60 foot inlet hose so my customer can blow the leaves into a big pile and then vacuum them up and blow them into the dump body of the truck when the truck is parked on the street or in the driveway. The inlet hose would mount to the right side of the vacuum shown in the first picture. The blades of the fan in the vacuum are serrated so that it will also shred the leaves, so that they can be more densely packed. When leaves aren't falling he can use the vacuum to suck the grass clippings out of the bags on the back of his X-Mark zero turn tractor and blow them into the dump body.

My task was to design and fabricate the shelf. My customer wanted the top made of expanded metal so that it wouldn't hold rain, because the trailer stays outdoors. He wanted to also carry a waterproof toolbox and some five gallon gas cans on the shelf. The top of the trailer was neither square or level and the front was bowed out in the middle and was also higher in the middle so I welded together the shelf with only three legs and shortened the cross brace of the shelf to fit and tack welded the fourth leg at assembly so that the feet of the shelf would align with the frame of the trailer. I also added the two legs in the middle of the front at assembly for the same reason. When I took the last picture the side boards hadn't been replaced yet.

Don

[Don52]

Here are the rest of the pictures:

[ryanjones2150]

Is that 9ga expanded metal? Seems like you do a fair amount of fab work for landscapers. Carved a little niche market for yourself?

[Don52]

Is that 9ga expanded metal? Seems like you do a fair amount of fab work for landscapers. Carved a little niche market for yourself?

Yes, it seems that landscaping tends to be hard on equipment which generates a lot work that requires welding. I actually bought the expanded metal to match the rear ramp of this trailer, but I wound up staightening the existing expanded instead. McMaster Carr had a great selection with enough dimensions so that I could match it perfectly. I used the one that was 0.282" thick on the attached chart.

[MMW]

Don, your work is always very nice & professional looking. Once again nice job. Thanks for posting detailed pics of projects you do.

[Don52]

Don, your work is always very nice & professional looking. Once again nice job. Thanks for posting detailed pics of projects you do.

Thanks, I also enjoy your work especially your repair of construction equipment.

Don

[Don52]

Vacuum Complete

Picture 11 shows the weed whackers and the stuff on the shelf.
Picture 12 shows some of the welds that attach the shelf to the trailer.
Picture 13 shows some of the stuff my customer put on the shelf in addition to holding the vacuum.
Picture 14 is a right hand view. In it you can see the plate I added to support the side boards.
Picture 15 shows the vacuum in use.

Don

[Tinker Joe 2]

That is a nice looking operations that you have going, hope you make good money because that is hard work, sure is a lot of compost for someone there, bet your looking forward to some much needed rest from cutting and the heat, take care, Joe

[Don52]

That is a nice looking operations that you have going, hope you make good money because that is hard work, sure is a lot of compost for someone there, bet your looking forward to some much needed rest from cutting and the heat, take care, Joe

Thanks, Just to clarify I do welding repair. The attached pictures are of one my customer using his new vacuum to pick up leaves, on the shelf that I fabricated and mounted to his trailer.

Don

[old jupiter]

Now that's what the hot rodder magazines would call some very "sano" (sanitary) work.

The hard part of any of this stuff is not so much doing good work as doing good work FAST enough to make money and not bankrupt the poor customer. Do you generally use a chopsaw for all those cuts, or a horiz. bandsaw or what? Being fast (I'm asking because I'm not nearly fast enough, LOL) requires making cuts and joints that don't need a lot of, or any, touching up with the 4 1/2" sidegrinder. I'm also curious about the 45 degree beveled tubes that you weld to make your ninetys. Do you just clamp the edges together and weld over them, or do you clamp them with a slight gap to get penetration more easily?

Dare I ask about the billable hours for that project? I'm sure your answer will put ME to shame.

--Old Pokey

[Don52]

Do you generally use a chopsaw for all those cuts, or a horiz. bandsaw or what?

I use a swivel mast horizontal band saw for all of the cuts.

Being fast (I'm asking because I'm not nearly fast enough, LOL) requires making cuts and joints that don't need a lot of, or any, touching up with the 4 1/2" side grinder.

I don't touch up any cuts. The swivel mast cuts them nice and square.

Do you just clamp the edges together and weld over them, or do you clamp them with a slight gap to get penetration more easily?

I cut a little short to leave a little gap for penetration.

Dare I ask about the billable hours for that project?

I spent 20 hours on this project, but my customer assisted me by picking up the material, cutting down the wood planking and removing it, cutting the pieces as I welded them together and painting it when it was done. I welded the flat stock and tubing that was pickled and oiled as it was . I ground off mill scale from the gussets before welding them . I also ground the few "V" groove welds that I had.

Don

[old jupiter]

Thanks for that, Don, and thanks for the great article. I like the way you handle photos and their explanations.