lt10 and a trailer

rimshot · February 24, 2013, 07:22:45 PM

Ii will be building a trailer for my LT 10 in the next few weeks.I managed to locate a nice boat trailer for sale on Craig's list. Yesterday I traveled the 60 miles and met the owner. The boat trailer is not the heaviest but given the weight of the Lt10 according to the LT10 manual is just short of 600 lbs. Spreadout as it is I believe this will be a good trailer for my milll. I only managed to complete about a third but some of that will need to be redone after my welder gets done welding some extra cross pieces to the frame.

Stay tuned for a blow by blow as this thing takes shape. The pictures represent thie start of things. It's half primered right now and tomorrow it is going to the welders for extra cross bracing

Tee · February 24, 2013, 07:45:57 PM

Going by the looks of the shop it's in, I bet it will be a great finished product. Do you already have some ideas where you'll put leveling / stabilizing jacks around it?

rimshot · February 24, 2013, 08:24:48 PM

Quote from: Tee on February 24, 2013, 07:45:57 PM
Going by the looks of the shop it's in, I bet it will be a great finished product. Do you already have some ideas where you'll put leveling / stabilizing jacks around it?

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Thanks Tee,

But you are seeing it after my wife attacked it with a mop. That woman hates dirt and I had cluster bombed the floor with debris and paint flakes after wire brushing and sanding that old trailer frame. I have to admit, I love that floor that we applied Rust Oleum garage floor system coating to last
summer. We applied that garage floor epoxy coating and the stuff is great'.

Now, I'm thinking I will use screw jacks (camper leveling tripods at the four corners as well as beneath the track bed center which is where the track splices. Anybody got any suggestions about where to buy some cheap tripods with a screw adjuster to snug up the frame

francismilker · February 25, 2013, 10:15:05 AM

Going to start on mine next week when I'm off work and using a boat trailer very similar to yours. Mine has a pretty good set of leaf springs and 13" wheels\tires. It was a pontoon trailer so ought to be able to handle the weight of the lt-10 no problem.

It's going to be a long term project and I plan on buying a set of four scissor jacks off of amazon.com for $99.95 to level the rig up. Once it's level, I'll use footed 2" drop posts with set studs to keep it there.

I've got lots of plans for my mill. I'm planning on using scissor jacks on each end to level the log, make adjustable log fences, add a couple more log clamps, and address the head lifting issues I (we) are having. I checked again last night after reading another post and mine is not binding anywhere on the mast. The atf I've been using runs straight to the ground and never even lubes the white plastic bushings installed.

rimshot · February 25, 2013, 10:10:24 PM

I believe my trailer has 12" tires. I finshed scraping and sanding today so I finished up most of the primer. I had to leave some areas undone so my welder can weld to bare steel not new primer. I just bought from Amazon 4 8500 lb (rated) aluminum tripods for $34 for four and then I purchased a 1000 lb swivel tongue jack for $32.00. I will have plenty of points to secure with some up force to keep that frame straight.

My welder had to put me off for a week because he is just too darn busy.

We have to applaude you for your getting the ball rolling on that "hard to operate Head"issue. Maybe we can just call it the "Hard Head" problem for short. I hope it leads to success.

rim

Happycamper · February 27, 2013, 09:26:38 PM

WM will come to my place Friday and replace the cylinders on my new unused LT10 so I am told. The unit is guaranteed for two years which includes the lift assist cylinders.
Jim

hamish · February 27, 2013, 10:54:26 PM

Jim,

Keep your chin up, nothing harder than having a new toy on Christmas morning thats broken, or a case of empties you thought was full!

rimshot · February 28, 2013, 07:15:48 AM

Things are moving at a snail's pace with no welding accomplished as of yet but behinhd scenes I have been busy. I scraped and wire brushed the frame inside and out. Then I sandpapered othe entire frame inside and out followed by a coat of XO Rust (True Value Hardware) rust primer. Theh two coats of white/ You will see however I had to go back and wire brush and
areas clean to the bare steel so that the welder can get a good hold with his welder when those crois peices get doubled up.

After all this iI popped the hubs to inspect wheel bearings and seals. Naturally old boat trailer means water in hubs and rusted wheel bearings so I replaced inner and outer races and cones along with seals. Here iu a picture of the etrailer with new paint less the spots needing welds for new cross members.

rimshot

thecfarm · February 28, 2013, 07:49:43 AM

Looks good. Ever thought about buying a welder? I have a mig that runs off 220 and I use it alot and I'm rough on my stuff and it works fine.

rimshot · February 28, 2013, 12:06:23 PM

Quote from: thecfarm on February 28, 2013, 07:49:43 AM
Looks good. Ever thought about buying a welder? I have a mig that runs off 220 and I use it alot and I'm rough on my stuff and it works fine.

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oo
I would just love a welder, now that I have a new sawmill a welder would top it off. I think after all this the wife would clunk me over the head if I did though. Maybe someday.

rim

thecfarm · February 28, 2013, 12:34:19 PM

It's almost like having a sawmill. You can saw logs and build cheaper than buying lumber.I have no idea how much all that welding will cost,but that labor cost would go along ways in buying a welder. Give me your phone number and I'll talk to your wife about it. :D :D

rimshot · February 28, 2013, 12:43:45 PM

Quote from: thecfarm on February 28, 2013, 12:34:19 PM
It's almost like having a sawmill. You can saw logs and build cheaper than buying lumber.I have no idea how much all that welding will cost,but that labor cost would go along ways in buying a welder. Give me your phone number and I'll talk to your wife about it. :D :D

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No question about it. There will be no talking but count on shouting in order to get a word in edgewise. (big grin)

rimshot

thecfarm · February 28, 2013, 04:42:32 PM

You mean like this,

smiley_biggrin01

rimshot · March 01, 2013, 05:47:35 PM

One more step completed. I knew better but I should have waited until all welding was done and done my painting all at once. time to spot bare iron with primer and two more coats of paint.

bs5

rimshot · March 02, 2013, 03:33:56 PM

Well, another day and I am so much closer to my goal. Yesterday, after obtaining 23' of 3" X 1 1/2" C channel steel we headed for my neighbors welder. The 3" HIGH c Channel was all cut to length using my measurements. It was not the same as the originjal steel but worked perfectly. all pieces were welded in place. We kept a tight string on watch to make sure the LT10 base iron would ride strait. If we varied by and eighth of an inch it got a shim to keep it honest.

current tally\\

1: used 1200 lb boat trailer $250
2: channel steel extend frame and cross pieces $100
3: welder (should have bought one) $100
4: and Paint, Sandpaper misc. $ 20
5: tongue and leveling jacks $ 70

total $540.00

Next picture will show the mill aboard

rimshot

thecfarm · March 02, 2013, 03:45:49 PM

Looks good.

rimshot · March 03, 2013, 07:31:04 PM

thanks for sticking around cfarm. As promised, here's a shot of the mill bed mounted aboard the retroifitted boat trailer. I stretched a tight string from frame end to rame end. This bed iron will ride on a perfectly flat frame. For me, this boat trailer worked very well so far as things are looking. The next couple of days and I will mount tongue jack and have 6 more screw jacks to keep this thing honest over the years. I will drill some half inch bolt holes (maybe at 6 locations ) and attach permanently and then bolt the frame down before I mount the saw head back on.

What do you think? I'm sure WM would have been tickled to sent me an LT15 w/ trailering package for an extra three grand but I am thinking this is going to work out well for me at less than 1/6 the cost given price adjustments.

rimshot

t

thecfarm · March 03, 2013, 07:35:59 PM

One thing about it,if it ain't right you can make it right. Seems like most of my projects are that way. I get using it and I did not think far enough ahead or I think too much and something has to be redone. Yes,it may be a bother at times to redo it,but when you use it each time and it's a bother the way it is,it's worth it. Going to paint it orange???

rimshot · March 03, 2013, 07:58:42 PM

Quote from: thecfarm on March 03, 2013, 07:35:59 PM
One thing about it,if it ain't right you can make it right. Seems like most of my projects are that way. I get using it and I did not think far enough ahead or I think too much and something has to be redone. Yes,it may be a bother at times to redo it,but when you use it each time and it's a bother the way it is,it's worth it. Going to paint it orange???

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I just painted it white cfarm. But I almost ended up with orange especially after sanding down some of that rust on the trailer when I got it. I failed to wipe down the metal after sanding and when white paint mjixes with sanding dust from rust ....well it ends up a pretty orange. Hopefully wm used a different recipe for color orange on my new lt10.

rim

beenthere · March 03, 2013, 08:20:10 PM

Am I seeing wood bolsters between the mill frame and the trailer frame? Do they stay there?

rimshot · March 03, 2013, 08:31:05 PM

Quote from: beenthere on March 03, 2013, 08:20:10 PM
Am I seeing wood bolsters between the mill frame and the trailer frame? Do they stay there?

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I'm thinking why not. It does help strengthen that splice in the frame. On the other hand it would lower the entire mill by 4" if I was to remove it. It also makes a nicer sled for moving the mill if I need to rmove it for any reason. The mill sits entirely on the frame with the exception it cantileavers the back end by 12". The mill will ooperate about 29" off thie deck now.

rim

justallan1 · March 04, 2013, 09:05:33 AM

Nice job. Thanks for the pictures. I really advise a small mig welder if at all possible. Keep up the good work.
Allan

rimshot · March 04, 2013, 04:57:48 PM

Well, here it is, this jalopy is a done deal. The motor head made it to the top of the heap and everything fit like a glove. Before I permanently bolted her down to the frame I pulled a tight mason's twine own the middle top of the rail. After a touhi of routine allignment to the track bed we p[ut the drill to work and got some 1/2" bolts to keep the mill in place. As luck would have it the mailman delivered my etrailer.com $32.00 1000 l lbs tongue jack and got it in place. We balanced the motor head once mounted leaving 100 lbs of weight to the tongue and drilled the track to allow for two 3/8" bolts.

Big improvement for my LT 10. Now when I itakethe mill to the job site I do it thanks to the invention of the wheel. When we get done sawing the whole mill goes home to get backed into my nice pole barn.

Thanks to youi all for sticking around. I hope this story was'nt too big of a boar. I sure had a good time doing the work. Maybe next timw Iwill have one of those tig welders.

rimshot

I imagine this will be the last picture of my version of a retrofitted boat trailer substituting for an LT10 trailer.