Gunner wrote in message . ..
With the good graces of our esteemed colleague Leigh from MarMachine,
Im now the proud owner of a Real Trailer.

My old and very tired 4x8 box trailer was on its last legs when Leigh
called and let me know he had found a 5x10 tilt bed single axle
trailer for me rotting away in some fellows back yard.

A fast trade for Stuff transpired.

The trailer has lights and old but still functional wiring, and all
the wood decking was gone.
After replacing the rotted tires, and temporarily installing 1" thick
plywood deck (Leigh again) I brought it home tonight. The critter
pulls like a dream, and after a bit of practice backing it up around a
parking lot, I found its very agile and controllable. This thing is
gonna be a goodie!!!

The trailer was commercially made and at one time pin striped and
probably painted red..but now is pretty much a solid sheet of very
thin rust.

Probably the best thing to do is find a tank blaster and have it sand
blasted, but other than a cup brush and a day grinding the rust off,
are there any other options? Some chemical or paint that will stop
the rust and coat existing rust? Its very well made with lots of
angle iron and channel and its gonna be a real PITA to wire wheel it
clean.

Just pondering. Pretty is not important. Utility and cheap is. G

One last thing. Its a tilt bed. Pull the pin and the bed tilts. Now
this is a very nice thing for machine tools. But I was pondering the
fact I might put a big lathe (for example) on it and not be able to
get it perfectly balanced..how the heck do I get the bed back to level
again? Or the other issue..if the heavy thingy is a bit far
forwards..how to I lift the bed to tilt?

Im sure someone here has addressed this before..so before I go all
Rube Goldberg and reinvent the Framistan Feebelfexer 9000 All Tilt
Gizmatcho...anyone got any good ideas? Trailer is rated at 5000lb
according to tounge stamp,,but its only a single axle..so figure
2000-2500 max load.

Im quite proud of the way I put in the decking. It involved a
forklift, hoisting slings and 210lbs of dead weight G

Gunner

"At the core of liberalism is the spoiled child -
miserable, as all spoiled children are, unsatisfied,
demanding, ill-disciplined, despotic and useless.
Liberalism is a philosphy of sniveling brats." -- P.J. O'Rourke

For small vehicles, that type of trailer usually has the ability
to swivel the tongue off to the side. This allows the small
vehicle to drive forwards, off the trailer once you pull the pin,
and jackknife the trailer sideways.

I have in the past, used a jack under the front of the trailer,
to allow loading or unloading.
Thats how I got a larger LeBlond home eons ago. Used a come-along
to winch it up the bed, till it tipped down on it's own.
Being __ VERY __ careful at that point... It was just ready
to totter, so just walking up the trailer was all that was
needed to tip it up, and install the pin.
The come along could then move it forward and back to adjust
the tongue weight, and back far enough to release the tonge weight
to unload again.
Nowdays, I call the local cement company, with a large boom truck
and schedule when they are already driving past. Get a 30,000 lbs.
boom truck for a just a few dollars if you are flexible on timing.

Pete