My Trailer Quest

So a few weeks ago the wheels were put in motion of whether or not we were going to load up the family and head down to NC for Thanksgiving to visit my In-Laws. To be honest at first I was not really looking forward to driving for 17 hours and getting there and realizing that every dam road I’m on down there is begging for my motorcycle to be ridden on them. At times I'm driving along and suddenly I can picture my bike below me wrestling this curve to submission… But then "The Wife" gave me a budget…

The answer to this problem was a trailer. I need a trailer to put the bike on and thus behind the family truckster I could bring my “Trusty Steed” and thus spend a few hours carving out some of those twistys that had beckoned me on previous visits. Now it was just up to me to find one and hopefully do it within "The Wife's" budget. But I didn’t want just a Motorcycle trailer… I wanted it to be multi-purpose. I wanted it big enough for the bike in one configuration and then I wanted it to be able to haul lumber, firewood, and those miscellaneous items you buy at Home Depot and or Lowes that will not fit inside the Yukon.

Surfing the internet I was on craigslist, Lowes, Home Depot and even individual trailer mfg websites. I was on Tractor Supply’s Website when I initially found a floorless trailer for $349.. None of my Local TSC’s could get one in time for me to modify, floor and whatever. It was while visiting the MFG website (carry-on) that I discovered a startling revelation. The $349 Trailer was only capable of hauling 700lbs. Indeed after seeing that stat and looking at the enlarged picture I could see why. Very small angle iron and as I had already looked at a few 5×10 trailers at Home Depot that flexed could only imagine that thing was no better.

I decided to visit the Tractor Supply Company directly and in illuminated nighttime lighting I looked at their 4×6 trailer that was marked at $399.. Now I know you might be thinking that’s barely large enough. Actually, I think it is more than enough. It barely flexed at all like the 5×7 and 5×10. It does not have a ramp but that’s OK I can make ramps. And it has a much beefier 1700lb rating. I decided to Purchase the spare tire and mount which to be honest almost cost just as much as the trailer but I figure playing against Murphy means if I buy the Spare I will not need it but if I do not have it I will need it. (Murphy was an optimist.)

In the midst of all this a friend of mine who had much the same dilemma sent me a link to what he did to last year’s(possibly earlier) model of a 4×7 that had a ramp. He put a floor on it and all so I grabbed a lot of “Idea’rs” from him. SO last week I bought the trailer at Tractor Supply and got a chock and also purchased the Canyon Dancer II bar kuffs (Highly Recomend those BTW)



So this past weekend with the rain coming in heavily on Saturday it put a real damper on me doing any work on the trailer. With my daughter’s birthday party on Sunday afternoon I was concerned about time but with a bunch of help on Saturday my wife was nice enough to assure me all I should need to do on Sunday was help carry in groceries and hang the piñata. So order of the day was to set up the bounce house which had my son in his clothes for the first time ever on a weekend before 8 O’clock AM and then get to Lowes, then come back in build the trailer.

With setting up the bounce house done I started my trek to Lowes. Once there I started to look at lumber and formulate my plan in my head. The plan was going in multiple directions. My initial plan was to get just one 2×10 and put that on the trailer and I could customize the rest later. But then with 200 bucks worth of Lowes Birthday and XMAS gift cards burning a hole in my pocket I said screw it lets floor the whole thing

I soon realized my math skills that I never thought I would ever use were in need… and with no calculator in sight I had to do some math in my head…. SO… you know how that went… Actually, believe it or not, surprisingly well.. I picked up some 5/8×6 pressure treated deck lumber and a pressure treated 2×8 for a ramp, and a 2×4 to put under the trailer (I also had some scrap 2×6 boards at home that I would use as well.) to even up the spacing of carriage bolts. I then grabbed some pressure treated strapping for some guide rails for the Motorcycle tires. I had already purchased the Chock for the front wheel and straps I had bought with the trailer at Tractor Supply.

Initially, I put the trailer decking down cut at length spaced with a nail to allow for water seepage using standard deck screws just to get spacing correct. I then replaced each screw one plank at a time with one single carriage bolt at spaced intervals from front to back. Essentially it worked out to 4 carriage bolts per plank. My first plan was I was going to use 8 carriage bolts per plank… I then realized that was just plain over kill not to mention expensive. Before I tackled the ends I mounted the chock and then mounted the guide rails with standard deck screws.



My math for planks was off or so I thought. Apparently my sub conscious was working for me. You see, I started with one plank at the very center of the trailer and worked my way to both sides. I then realized I had one plank left and 2 sides to do… DOH! But I then realized in looking at the problem, that I would have to make a long cut anyway to fit a plank. And I decided to use some of my scraps so there would essentially be 2 smaller planks per side. It worked out well I think, and I decided the sides would be more than fine with just standard deck screws instead of carriage bolts.

Before I could complete that though insert a few hours of my daughter entertaining her friends and opening her birthday presents. (Insert sounds of screaming kids and Happy Birthday being sung.)

Once everyone left I resumed work. I cut the end planks and after that I decided to try and get the motorcycle on. The initial motorcycle mount went OK but I realized the chock was to far back. So I remounted it as far forward with the motorcycle not only touching the chock but the front rail for the trailer as well. With the other way the rear tire was sitting too far back to be able to remove the ramp…. OOOPS… Ok so maybe I should have ordered the 4×7 trailer… But it works and I’m very happy with the balance of the trailer with the bike mounted. One person can move trailer and bike with absolute ease which is a major bonus as the size of the trailer behind a GMC Yukon makes it almost impossible to back up.

Overall I’m happy with the results. Eventually, I will make walls that are removable for motorcycle mode and the walls will be mounted for home improvement chores/dump runs.

 

nicely done..you gonna make a hitch so you can haul it with the Viffer?

 

Uhm No...Though it probably could tow it... As a secondary it may work out for my first trackday as well...

 

great job and great story :thumbsup:

thanks for sharing!

keep us posted on how it works on the trip.

 

I was just cracking on some one else..

Like I said before nicely done I like the front tire holder.... and it looks REALLY stable. you should do custom builds for folks...

 

Nice write up and nicely done.

Just a thought: Did you consider locking lug nuts for the trailer wheels and the spare? I have no idea what kind of areas you might eventually park in, but the "ease" of being able to take a trailer tire (especially a spare) can sometime tempt those less sophisticated thieves.

 

Thats pretty much the trailer I have except I have the fold up ramp attached to the rear and its a 10 footer. One of the best, most convenient things I have. You know have something when everyone wants to borrow it. Also, when you get a load of whatever material you can just leave it on the trailer until you get around to it, unlike driving around with a bunch of stuff in the back of your truck.

These trailers are real popular around here with the grass cutter landscaping business, so you can find them easily for good prices. They are also light weight and since I prefer small trucks and like to leave the big truck in the garage, its perfect.

 

so what was the final amount spent on the trailer?

 

All Told with Buying a Chock, the Canyon Dancer II Kuffs, Straps, Trailer, Lumber, Spare Tire and mount, Hardware, Ramp parts, and Other incendiaries....All told I went slightly over budget... The goal was to stay below or just over 500 Bucks..

I could have saved a bit by getting standard grade planking but I went with heavy weather Pressure treated instead of Standard grade... that would have saved me half the amount I spent on Lumber. Since I do not have a garage and I might forget to cover it I decided to get the better grade lumber plus it had less knots in it..

I think I might need to add a bit of weight to the front. So I'm going to mount the Ramp up front. A locking Nut is not a bad Idea but In NH it should not be so much an issue and I hope NC will be the same.. I have it torqued down pretty tight so they would have to work at it. I need a padlock for thecoupler not only for security but for safty as well. I towed it around the neighborhood and it was pretty darn smooth...