Cedar strip travel trailer.

[makerofthings]

Hi there, I thought I should introduce myself on here with the project I am working on at the moment,
i am building a 26ft box strip cedar trailer for a friend.
the job started about 14 months ago, and have pretty much built it from scratch, starting out with a welding mission to build a chassis suitable, then moving onto the design and build of the shell and interior in a combination of western red cedar, and American olive ash.
the build is fairly well documented on my blog. which also touched on a slight boat obbsession..

it seems i'm not allowed to post a link yet. so please copy/ paste this into google and you will find me at the top hit. - dmc makerofthings blogspot com -

it seems that is the only way i can post that for the mo..


enjoy. Dan.

 

[marcros]

http://dmc-makerofthings.blogspot.com/

 

[makerofthings]

thank you so much... i knew there would be an easy way round that.

 

[marcros]

no probs. one more post (I think) and you will be able to paste links

 

[makerofthings]

wicked... this should do it then....

 

[frosties]

Nice one Dan! Where you score all the cedar? Woodstock is too expensive for me. I make my surfboards from reclaimed cladding most of the time.
I'll keep an eye on this one if I can work out how to follow a post?? I just joined too

 

[makerofthings]

Nice one Dan! Where you score all the cedar? Woodstock is too expensive for me. I make my surfboards from reclaimed cladding most of the time.
I'll keep an eye on this one if I can work out how to follow a post?? I just joined too

mmm... those boards are beautiful..
i got the cedar from robbins in bristol, who are absolutely fabulous to deal with.
cheers. dan.

 

[Max Power]

Wow, thats definitely a first for the site, a self built caravan =D> =D>

 

[Lons]

Hi Dan

Great looking project and of great interest.

I imagine that it will be extremely heavy when finished. How do you stand with regards to testing for roadworthyness?

I was employed for a number of years by one of the largest UK touring caravan manufacturers and we had to jump through hoops to get approvals (different for self build I imagine). Our biggest problem however was keeping the weights within the chassis loadings whilst giving an acceptable loading allowance for all the extra stuff that caravanners carry. Let's just say that there were a few stripped out vans weighed at the testing centres

Our market was of course joe public whose cars were getting lighter whilst I suppose yours will be towed by a truck or a landrover? (edit - that reads strangely - nothing meant by it - just that the gross weight will likely be too heavy for normal cars #-o )

Bob

 

[Chems]

I spent ages reading your blog last night, great read and excellent documentation of a intresting project. I found a few answers to certain questions missing:

1. What was the fast car you sold for you boat?
2. As Lons said, the trailer will be towed by truck once to a location and left rather than moved about?
3. Your day job is obviously something woody realated but what exactly is it?

Thanks for posting this.

 

[soulboy]

Hi Dan, loving the exposed wood interior, chris

 

[Lowlife]

Very nice, I bet the Cedar cost a fair bit though if it's from Robbins?

A guy at work is building a cedar strip-planked boat the same size as mine (21'), he bought his timber from Robbins and it cost him three times what I paid from SL Hardwoods in Croydon. Admittedly I had to saw & plane my own whilst his was ready prepared, but the money I saved on the timber more than paid for a new thicknesser and table saw which will be used on many other jobs.

Back to the trailer though, I built a steel framed trailer bed a couple of years ago intending to build a cedar strip teardrop trailer, then I decided to build the boat first but the teardrop is still on the cards.

Regarding Lons' comment on weight, it's probably not as heavy as you might think, WRC is very light, and I'm guessing the strip is not that thick?

 

[Lons]

Back to the trailer though, I built a steel framed trailer bed a couple of years ago intending to build a cedar strip teardrop trailer,

Regarding Lons' comment on weight, it's probably not as heavy as you might think, WRC is very light, and I'm guessing the strip is not that thick?

Hi Dan
Looked at your blog and I love the work you've done!

You might get a shock at the gross weight when it's finished though - looks heavy to me!

Is the trailer a fully braked system and have you considered the maximum tyre loading? You might need to look at the regulations (if you haven't already) though I can't remember what they were. Unless it's changed however, you can't tow a trailer (might be over a certain weight / size which yours is), without displaying the gross weight on the A frame, so you'll have to put it on a weighbridge for certification when it's finished.
There are stipulations on the weight ratio of trailer to towing vehicle as well if I remember correctly.

Keep up the good work and plenty of pics please

Bob

 

[makerofthings]

Regarding Lons' comment on weight, it's probably not as heavy as you might think, WRC is very light, and I'm guessing the strip is not that thick?

Hi Dan
Looked at your blog and I love the work you've done!

You might get a shock at the gross weight when it's finished though - looks heavy to me!

Is the trailer a fully braked system and have you considered the maximum tyre loading? You might need to look at the regulations (if you haven't already) though I can't remember what they were. Unless it's changed however, you can't tow a trailer (might be over a certain weight / size which yours is), without displaying the gross weight on the A frame, so you'll have to put it on a weighbridge for certification when it's finished.
There are stipulations on the weight ratio of trailer to towing vehicle as well if I remember correctly.

Keep up the good work and plenty of pics please

Bob

Hello again,
Cheers for the comments,
Rregarding the weight issue, and trailer regulations, the chassis started out as a plated 3.5 ton 23ft ifor williams flatbed trailer, with beam axles and some serious brakes, everything on the trailer has been completely rebuilt, and it has tyres that are rated at 2 ton each..
the trailer weighed 1.1 tons when we started with the heaviest plywood bed you have ever seen. with a little calculation i believe the rebuilt chassis to not weigh much more than it started out.
The frame is all built from wrc, as is the cladding which is only 6mm thick, after building the panels it was possible to fairly easily lift a whole panel between 2 people so i reckon the whole shell to be not more than 500 kg,
Obviously the interior weighs a bit but not as much as you might think, a lot of the paneling is only 4mm thick, so i reckon we are going to end up with a completed trailer at about 2.6-2.8 tons which leaves a fair bit of headroom for life stuff.
The key to the whole thing working is the weight of the cedar framing and cladding..
my customer has licenses to tow anything with practically anything so moving it should not be an issue and it has been built with regular movements in mind.
the current possible tow vehicles are either a merc 814 swb van or a toyota landcruiser.
Dan.

 

[makerofthings]

I spent ages reading your blog last night, great read and excellent documentation of a intresting project. I found a few answers to certain questions missing:

1. What was the fast car you sold for you boat?
2. As Lons said, the trailer will be towed by truck once to a location and left rather than moved about?
3. Your day job is obviously something woody realated but what exactly is it?

Thanks for posting this.

Ah yes.. the car. well it wasn't really that fast but certainly delivered kicks,
it was a 1989 vw polo coupe s with a home tuned engine making about 100 bhp
motorbike carburetors were the key.

And this thankfully is the day job, if i was doing it only evening and weekends it would take absolutely forever,
before this i have spent time engineering, making jewelry, a bit of timber framing and a lot of furniture.
cheers. Dan.

 

[Lons]

Hello again,
Cheers for the comments,
Rregarding the weight issue, and trailer regulations, the chassis started out as a plated 3.5 ton 23ft ifor williams flatbed trailer, with beam axles and some serious brakes, everything on the trailer has been completely rebuilt, and it has tyres that are rated at 2 ton each..
the trailer weighed 1.1 tons when we started with the heaviest plywood bed you have ever seen. with a little calculation i believe the rebuilt chassis to not weigh much more than it started out.
The frame is all built from wrc, as is the cladding which is only 6mm thick, after building the panels it was possible to fairly easily lift a whole panel between 2 people so i reckon the whole shell to be not more than 500 kg,
Obviously the interior weighs a bit but not as much as you might think, a lot of the paneling is only 4mm thick, so i reckon we are going to end up with a completed trailer at about 2.6-2.8 tons which leaves a fair bit of headroom for life stuff.
The key to the whole thing working is the weight of the cedar framing and cladding..
my customer has licenses to tow anything with practically anything so moving it should not be an issue and it has been built with regular movements in mind.
the current possible tow vehicles are either a merc 814 swb van or a toyota landcruiser. Dan.

Not much room for error then Dan! :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[makerofthings]

ha ha ha! ... what can you do but guess eh.. this is the first of its kind. as soon as i have the thing clad we will get it on a waybridge..
cheers. dan.

 

[makerofthings]

hi there again. i have just done another post covering the woodburners i built for a while.. might be of interest to anyone thinking of building ine for their workshop. http://dmc-makerofthings.blogspot.com/