First Build

This boat trailer was rescued from a junkyard.  The surface rust looks worse than the picture shows.  Most of the bolts will need to be drilled out or broken off.  Even though the bunks under the padding were creosoted they were still rotting.  Those came off easy but the brackets and rollers are more difficult.  The winch mast is bent up; not that it would be of any use here anyway.  That will get scrapped but the winch will get thrown in the parts bin for who knows what...  The 3"x3" tongue is 7' long and has a 2" hitch.  That will need to be replaced with a 4' piece of 2"x3" rectangular tube tongue and a 1-7/8" hitch.

This trailer was chosen because of the abilities to modify it.  The tongue slips into a receiver and is held in place with a bolt.  The dolly wheel is in good shape and can be reused.  The wheel bolt pattern is standard so they can be replaced with more substantial 14" wheels.  The axle and springs can be moved along regularly spaced bolt holes in the frame.  This will be handy for a teardrop, especially if the back hangs over the frame a bit.  The wheels can move pretty close to the rear.

Given the openness of the frame it is tempting to build a vardo or some other type of "standy".  As this is the first trailer, the current plan is for a 4'x8' floor with a basic teardrop shape.  As cleaning and repainting the frame will take some time, there is still plenty of opportunity to decide otherwise.