§ Phase 1 — purchasing a used trailer.
All I know about trailers is that I have a few friends who’ve towed them on occasion - some more frequently than others. Apart from that I’m completely ignorant of what I’m getting myself into. Now, it may seem to the casual reader that this would qualify as a very bad thing. I respectfully disagree. I strongly suspect that if I knew in advance exactly what I’m getting myself into, I’d never even begin. Also, I’m generally a quick study. I’m banking that a dose of blissful ignorance coupled with decent learning ability will carry me far. Perhaps not to the end I envision at this point, but hopefully somewhere I want to be.
I began my used trailer search on Craigs List. There were a few options in central and western NY, but they were mostly very far away (thanks to Rowena, Christopher, Maurya and Cori for offering to go scope out some of these far-flung trailers for me.) Ultimately, I leveraged the fact that I work for a newspaper. The Classified department was on alert, and came to me one day with an ad that had been called in but had not yet run. It was close by, so I drove out to look at it, and there sat a trailer almost perfect for my pruposes. The only drawback is the slight ramp section on the back end, but that can be built over. As a bonus, the owner was very impressed with the level of service from our Classifed department, since they sold his trailer for him without even printing the ad!
Anyway here it is in all its glory. It’s 8’ x 15’, weighs 3000lb unladen, can haul 6 tons, and came with chains, a jack, light fixtures, and brakes on both axles. The owner has graciously offered to tow it to my mechanic. All this for $500.
8/20/08
So, my first expense is tires. The owner set about towing it yesterday, and found one of the tires to be unusable. No big deal. There is a quaint little tire shoppe not far from the trailer itself; close, musty, dingy, and staffed by a doddering but expert little old guy named Larry. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say it was the set for the famous “Rubber” sequence from “Harry Potter and the Wheels of Fire,” or some goddamned thing. Anyway, $50 later, and I have a used tire that Larry assures me is more than adequate for the task at hand - and indeed, it’s rated for 3100lb. I like it when things are over-spec. This will enable the delivery to my mechanic, and the real meat of the work can begin.
Update: Indeed - by the end of the day, this thing was safely at my Mechanic’s place of business. He will now, in theory, render it inspectable.
8/21/08
Just got back from the DMV with a startling array of forms to be filled out. Evidently, there’s something different (and potentially easier) about registering trailers in NY that were manufactured prior to 1973. Just out of curiosity, I contacted the manufacturer listed on the tag;
The bemused customer service girl tried her best, then routed me to a very helpful gentleman. With more than a hint of amusement, he informed me that he’d guess the date of manufacture to be about 1964, and that the serial number printed on the tag is actually the VIN number. Apparently, prior to 1981, these numbers were considerably shorter. Who knew? Anyway, the important thing to note here is that since I actually do have a VIN tag after all, with the weight stamped on it, I will not need to have the bloody thing weighed, which is, if you’ll pardon the phrase, quite a load off.
Update: The DMV actually wasn’t at all hellish. There were 4 forms, which I took out to the previous owner all filled in and needing only his signatures. Fortunately, the local DMV is one building away from my office, so I darted back there with all the forms, and I now have plates, a registration, and a temporary inspection sticker, for a total of $62.75. I now have $612.75 into this thing, with mechanical work yet to go.
One hot tip the DMV cashier gave me was to be sure NOT to renew the registration when it expired in December if I wouldn’t be using it. Apparently registering trailers in winter is very expensive, or something. She said not to renew until I really needed it.
8/26/08
Yestereve, I was given some amazingly useful advice by a trailer mechanic with 30 years experience regarding certain vagaries of trailer registration, inspection, and DMV procedure. Since this plan involves a bit of a legal ‘gray area,’ I will not publish the details here in order to avoid shooting the feet of myself or others. Suffice to say that it will save me some expense and considerable hassle, and given my desire to protect my investment, will NOT lead to an unsafe trailer. Anyone wishing to know these details may contact me privately.
In other news, I called the Coopers, and they require a ball coupler. This means I’ll be removing that huge, industrial lunette ring, and replacing it with this;
The best feature of this thing is that it does not require the trailer to be lifted on or off the ball. You basically just back into it, and the jaws lock on by themselves. You don’t even have to be perfectly aligned, apparently. This should mean less work for everyone involved, including the Coopers, which can only be good for me.
Sure - it’s only rated to 10,000lb, so I’ll be dropping a ton off my rated haulage. Honestly - if the Amish put 10,001lb of wood on the thing, I’ll pay to have the Coopers relocate Pennsic to the moon, thus tidily skirting the problem.
By the way - if anyone can suggest a better name for this project, feel free. ‘Horsleigh’ was just a quickie title to get the page up. I was thinking “Lurching Manor” might be more descriptive.
11/10/08
Well - the pace over the last little while has indeed been glacial, but there have been extenuating circumstances. There was Morguhn, and Kelila, and a host of other things vying for my attention, all of which trumped this project. Things have stabilized somewhat. Last weekend, with Kenhelm’s help, we actually got the thing off my mechanic’s lawn, and onto mine. Here’s a shot of it with the new quickbite coupler;
Notice the lack of a lunette ring. Kenhelm called in a few favors, and caused metal to be scrounged, and welding to happen (I now owe some people some mead.) That, together with some enormous and very expensive bolts from Fastenal, and I now have a ball-coupler that is the envy of every trailer-experienced person who has seen it so far. Also, during its overlong stay with my mechanic, it acquired new lights, wiring, bearing grease, and half of the tires it will need (they’re proving hard to source, largely because I’m scavenging the used market for them. At $50 apiece I’m not going to argue with the pace at which my tire guy finds them.)
Next stop (I think) will be Rowena’s trailer mechanic for some levelling jacks, a bit of paint, and whatever else he thinks will be needed. Frank really is a trailer god. My project will be in good hands.
12/4/08
So, largely due to the time overrun, I had to outsource the paint job since in this weather, I have nowhere I can allow paint to dry, and as it turns out, Rowena’s guy doesn’t do paint. That cost quite a bit more than I had anticipated spending at this point, dramatically skewing the overall financial framework of the project. Looking back, the previous electrical work, welding and hitch-change cost, between parts and labor, probably around $350. The paint job just cost $540. So, the total cost of just the “foundation” is now considerably in excess of $1000. The good news here is that it was nicely spread out over time, and hence more affordable. Also, the paint job is excellent - having been done by professionals in a real body shop with automotive undercoat. If my $540 buys me a few years worth of freedom from corrosion, it’ll be money well spent. Given the shape it’s in now, with the lights, brakes, tires, hitch, paint, and everything else, this is easily equal to or better than similar trailers I saw while trailer-shopping that were selling in the $3-5000 range, so I’m not too broken up about it. Even with the extra expense I still feel as if I’ve gotten a good deal, given what I’ve managed to make of it. Another very good thing is that the Farmer is evidently willing to extend me a sort of winter discount for allowing him to work on it at his leisure over the colder months.
Now, of course, the trick will be to actually get the remaining details tied up and actually get it there. What details, you may well ask? Well, I’m determined that this beast will be low-maintenance. What would be the point of a vacation home whose upkeep eats into my vacation? In my ideal world, the wooden bits that will fasten directly to the bed of the trailer, essentially forming the sub-floor, will be made of treated lumber to stave off rot. Also, I want Tyvek house-wrap between the studs and outer-siding. Likewise, I want that rubbery nail-hole-sealer stuff underneath the shingles. All of these modern building materials will have to be purchased beforehand by me, and brought to the Farmer. Not to mention the electrial doohickeys needed to make the lights and brakes work with Kenhelm’s truck so that all this stuff can be brought to the Farmer. Perhaps predictably, with the holidays looming, I will likely have to incur some small amount of (gasp!) debt to insure that this project gets completed in time. Is this wise? Who knows. In any event, I’m in too deep to stop now. Whatever happens, I’m definitely within spitting distance of phase two.
