Trailer Bunk Brackets

[bruceb58]

Re: Trailer Bunk Brackets

I could do that in 3-5 hours

Let's see 8...brackets, removed and welded. You can't just cut off the bracket flush with the frame because the new one needs to sit where the old one was. I can see a lot of time removing each of these brackets. You just can't cut them off. That would be easy if you could. Could easily be 30-45 minutes per bracket to do that which is 6 hours right there.

Grinding off welds is a time consuming effort. You also have to be careful here because its a tube trailer(pieces of junk if you ask me). The tubes are usually much thinner than if it was a C channel trailer.

Welding the new ones on will be the easy part.

With so much that can go wrong here, the estimate looks fine to me.

And for future reference, never buy a tube constructed trailer.

 

[TJS]

Re: Trailer Bunk Brackets

Let's see 8...brackets, removed and welded. You can't just cut off the bracket flush with the frame because the new one needs to sit where the old one was. I can see a lot of time removing each of these brackets. You just can't cut them off. That would be easy if you could. Could easily be 30-45 minutes per bracket to do that which is 6 hours right there.

Grinding off welds is a time consuming effort. You also have to be careful here because its a tube trailer(pieces of junk if you ask me). The tubes are usually much thinner than if it was a C channel trailer.

Welding the new ones on will be the easy part.

With so much that can go wrong here, the estimate looks fine to me.

And for future reference, never buy a tube constructed trailer.

Yes. As I have said in many other posts. Welding is the least amount of time. It is the Prep., jigging and set up. You do want the brackets in line with each other and at the same angle, so you can't just clamp them on and weld away. However the OP states he can cut them off with a cut off wheel and a grinder in an hour. Air arc gouging or plasma cutting will be faster, but being careful as well as not to create more work.

 

[haulnazz15]

Re: Trailer Bunk Brackets

And for future reference, never buy a tube constructed trailer.

Sorry, but that's ridiculous. There are tens of thousands of tube-constructed boat trailers that are still in fantastic condition. If I were playing in salt water, I'd be more inclined to agree. I happen to have original 1976 Rolco trailer for this boat, a tube-constructed trailer, which has about the same level of rust that this 2001 trailer does (basically none, except on the front of the step in the first pic) and it's almost 25 years older. The only reason I'm switching over to this trailer is because it came with the junk boat I bought to salvage a lower unit from (so the cost was sunk either way), has a set of stairs on the bow, and this trailer is capable of holding a 22' boat if I should choose to upgrade some day.

No doubt a galvanized I-beam or C-channel trailer would be superior, but tube-channel trailers are fully capable of lasting for many decades with minimal wear.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Trailer Bunk Brackets

I just removed some rusted out side guides( 2 1/2" square tubing) that are welded to my C frame trailer. I used my plasma cutter to cut off the old ones before I welded on the new ones. Even with the thicker C frame trailer that I have, I had to be super careful.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Trailer Bunk Brackets

Sorry, but that's ridiculous.

My brother is looking for a replacement for his 2000 tube trailer for his 26' Formula because all the cross channels are rusting out in the center. His trailer looks PERFECT on the outside. A great example of how you can't tell a book by its cover. By the way...fresh water trailer.

There was a poster on here a few years ago with a MasterCraft tube trailer that basically fell apart. I will try to find it.

Edit: I found the post
http://forums.iboats.com/trailers-t...rth-what-you-paid-boat-i-disagree-367302.html


I am sure you will be fine(fingers crossed) just make sure all the drain holes in your cross members are open and not plugged.

And as I said before(getting back to original topic), the estimate sounds reasonable. Your idea that it will only take an hour to grind off all those welds(4 sides of the bracket) tells me you have never done something like that before. Just for fun, try one and time yourself. You will see!

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Trailer Bunk Brackets

I would use 40 grit tiger discs on an angle grinder.... Those things go through steel like butter but are much easier to control than torches

 

[haulnazz15]

Re: Trailer Bunk Brackets

Thanks for the tip, Smoke.

 

[haulnazz15]

Re: Trailer Bunk Brackets

My brother is looking for a replacement for his 2000 tube trailer for his 26' Formula because all the cross channels are rusting out in the center. His trailer looks PERFECT on the outside. A great example of how you can't tell a book by its cover. By the way...fresh water trailer.

There was a poster on here a few years ago with a MasterCraft tube trailer that basically fell apart. I will try to find it.

Edit: I found the post
http://forums.iboats.com/trailers-t...rth-what-you-paid-boat-i-disagree-367302.html


I am sure you will be fine(fingers crossed) just make sure all the drain holes in your cross members are open and not plugged.

And as I said before(getting back to original topic), the estimate sounds reasonable. Your idea that it will only take an hour to grind off all those welds(4 sides of the bracket) tells me you have never done something like that before. Just for fun, try one and time yourself. You will see!

I'm sure there are examples of tube trailers that have rusted from the inside out, but it hardly seems common. All of the holes are fine, and this trailer has been sitting in a barn unused for several years. I have had to grind off welds from all sorts of projects. I just used a cutoff wheel to shorten the bow stop on this trailer by 3" as well. Took me about 1-minute per side to cut through 1/4" plate about 3-4" long using a RotoZip with a 4" cutoff disc. I have a pneumatic tool as well, just didn't need it for what I was doing.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Trailer Bunk Brackets

btw..... use the 40 grit to eat most of the way through the weld and bracket edge and then break the brackets off, THEN use a much finer grit to clean up the crossmember n make it pretty... say 120... the 40 is way too coarse for finish work on thin tube... it'll go too deep VERY easily

 

[haulnazz15]

Re: Trailer Bunk Brackets

Good point on trying to break off the brackets after the weld has been mostly cut. I figured the clean up work would be better with a finer grinding wheel to avoid cutting into the cross-member as much as possible.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Trailer Bunk Brackets

So, have you decided to do this yourself now?