Refurbishing a trailer.
Refurbishing a trailer is a big undertaking. If you really want to do a good job of the renovation you need to think about every area.
I recently acquired a small box trailer which was in a poor state - apart from two new tyres! See the photos.
The first task was to remove all the old wood from the metal framework. Most of the old plywood just crumbled away. With this wood gone, the state of the angle iron frame could be seen. On the outside of the angle iron there was only surface rust. However, the inside was rusted a lot worse due to water lying between the plywood and the frame.
A wire brush was used to remove the rust, initially. Then the frame was rubbed down with white spirits to get rid of the rusty dust and see the condition of the metal. Then sheets of Emery cloth were used to rub the metal until all the rust had been removed. Rust eater was applied all over the framework before grey metal primer painted on.
After two coats of primer all over the frame, the trailer looked good. Gold coloured metal paint was used, mostly. With silver coloured metal paint used on the hitch coupling. Particular attention was made of the numerous holes drilled in the angle iron to make sure the primer covered the bare metal. See photo.
I decided to choose ranch style fence planking for the sides of the trailer. 22 mm thick was a good choice because it provided a strong side to the trailer. Existing holes in the angle iron frame were used to insert woodscrews to hold the planks to the frame. This can be seen in the photo. I also decided to only do three fixed sides. Each plank was painted with two coats of ranch paint, before fitting in place.
The base of the trailer proved a problem. I first thought of using the ranch planking for the base, but six planks butted together would probably not work very well. So I then considered using plywood, again. However, the problem with plywood for the base is that the thin outer veneer would get torn and scratched easily. This then leads to delamination fairly soon after such damage occurs. I eventually decided to use a combination of the plywood and a sheet of mild steel. The mild steel provides the protection the plywood needs without being too heavy. The plywood was primed on both sides then two coats of exterior paint was applied. The mild steel sheet was primed with two coats of metal primer then two coats of metal paint.
See photo.
Wood trim was used to seal the base to the sides with woodscrews at 300 mm centres. Silicone was applied before the trim was secured in place. This will prevent water getting between the wood and mild steel and cause rot and rusting. See photo.
The wheels were rubbed down with a wire brush and Emery cloth. Then metal primer was applied. At first I painted the wheels with black metal paint, but then changed my mind and settled for silver coloured paint.
The wheel mudguards were also prepared using a wire brush, emery cloth and primer, before being painted with gold metal paint. See photo.
The suspension was examined and found to be in good condition. The wheel bearing were greased. All metal in this area was primed and painted, silver.
The trailer was then assembled with the wheels and mudguards bolted on. Bolts were painted with metal paint and silicon applied where they passed through the sides of the trailer.
See photo.
I had decided to make the rear of the trailer have a lift off tail piece, for easy loading. This was measured up and made to fit snuggly in place. An additional piece was glued and screwed on to support the lighting board from sliding down. See photo.
With the trailer complete I decided to load it up with the old waste plywood and other stuff to take to the council recycling centre. As I was finishing unloading the trailer, I heard the two council workers at the recycling centre talking about my trailer. "That's a neat little trailer over there" one said to the other. I was chuffed. These guys must see hundreds of trailers each month at their place of work and mine stood out!