Go Kart Trailer... FINALLY!

[OzFab]

It has come to my attention that some members have issues about how I dealt with the situation you see on the previous page... & I don't blame you; that was not my finest hour &, for that, I apologise sincerely.

It has also been brought to my attention that there may have been a bit of miscommunication; that's the problem with forums, sometimes, the written word can be misinterpreted or misunderstood so, allow me to clarify:

In post #14 Rickracer expressed concern about my welding... or, more to the point, the welding prep or lack there of...

In post #15, I tried to explain that one specific section (the centre notches) was not prepped or cleaned, mainly due to the fact that there was nothing definite about it's placement; that was a bad move on my part, I should've cleaned the general area but, I was using the black paint as a marking platform & removing it would've made my job that much harder; it came down to a case of "dam*ed if I do, dam*ed if I don't" & I chose what I considered was the lesser of two evils; let me be clear that I absolutely do intend to clean the area before completing the welds, that stuff is toxic when welded...

Skip forward to post #18 when Rickracer brought attention to the very area I had just tried to say wasn't prepped...now do you see why I was frustrated?

Let me clarify that I am in no way attempting to excuse my behaviour, merely explain it; I'm not saying I was right or wrong, I'm not saying Rickracer was right or wrong, it was simply a misunderstanding on (IMO) both parties...

To Rickracer: My apologies for the misunderstanding, as someone who has many years of welding experience (among other fields), I realise you were only looking out for me; however, if you would care to examine my history, you would see that I too have many years of welding experience, not only in auto body work but in a stuctural environment as well...

I made a judgement call regarding the welding which, in some eyes, was the wrong move but, at the end of the day, it's me who has to live with the consequences of my actions...

 

[Rickracer]

Funny you should mention that, I went and looked at some work you've done before, like your contest winning kart, and I'm thinking "****, this guy CAN weld, WTF???"

Skip forward to post #18 when Rickracer brought attention to the very area I had just tried to say wasn't prepped...now do you see why I was frustrated?

I didn't get that, I thought you were saying it WAS prepped and sprayed, and if that WAS the case, I was pretty sure it wasn't gonna hold.....now mind you, I've never looked at or seen any or your work before I went looking. I was a moderator here for a while, till my hobbies and interests took me to working and learning to get my race car into the 8 second zone, (with twin turbos), and for some reason, the site doesn't email me when there are responses to my threads, and I just kinda stopped coming here, I was a mod on another automotive site, became an admin that one and a mod on another, so my time became even more limited. Anyhow, no hard feelings, sorry for the misunderstanding.

 

[RobertD]

Figured there must have been a miscommunication. I read it wrong, too.

I think since Tony is in Australia maybe we hear him speaking upside down some times?

You guys are great. Keep it up. (And Tony, go clean up those welds ASAP! j/k!)

 

[OzFab]

Funny you should mention that, I went and looked at some work you've done before, like your contest winning kart, and I'm thinking "****, this guy CAN weld, WTF???"

THAT'S WHAT I WAS TRYING TO SAY!

I didn't get that, I thought you were saying it WAS prepped and sprayed

No, that's the only part that WASN'T prepped

Everything else was cleaned, welded then coated with zinc primer to prevent rust...

and if that WAS the case, I was pretty sure it wasn't gonna hold...

Oh, it would hold, I'd make dang sure of that but, the process would probably kill me

Anyhow, no hard feelings, sorry for the misunderstanding.

All good brother

I think since Tony is in Australia maybe we hear him speaking upside down some times?

A bit of "lost in translation"...

(And Tony, go clean up those welds ASAP! j/k!)

At the moment, they're only tacks, which I DO intend to clean before finishing the welds... as stated in post #21... CAN'T YOU READ?

 

[OzFab]

Now that that's sorted, here's a little progress... very little progress; between time restraints, wet weather & "other distractions", I haven't done much lately but, I did manage to tack in the rear cross bracing... & YES, all surfaces were proprely cleaned before welding

I think I may have booboo'd by attaching the bracing to the crossmembers as opposed to the side rails but, I was thinking more about coverage than weight bearing at the time; at the end of the day, they won't be bearing too much weight anyway so, it should be ok...

With a long weekend coming up, there won't be any progress for quite a few days (I have the little princess & I try not to do any work in favour of spending time with her)

Oh, hey, check out what my brother bought me

...Well, not really, he bought it to undertake a few projects he has in mind for his yard but said "once we're finished, it's yours" (there's the catch, I have to help him... I'm ok with that )

 

[Rickracer]

I have one of those I haven't used in YEARS, not since I got a portable bandsaw, (A LOT quieter, less messy, and more accurate). I have a stationary bandsaw as well, but it's got some broken teeth in the gearbox, gotta repair that one of these days, but the Porter Cable Portaband does just about anything I need, so it's not that big a deal that the big one doesn't work,

 

[supermanotorious]

funny rick, I haven't even considered using my noisy obnoxious chop saw since I got the hydraulic feed bandsaw

 

[DeathMachine]

It's funny, I got a horizontal bandsaw first, and have found no need to buy a chopsaw.

We use them at work, I can torch stuff off almost as accurately as those things cut.

Oh, and they smell bad too.

 

[RobertD]

I'd like get a horizontal bandsaw. I have a nice chop, but it would be nice to upgrade.

 

[OzFab]

If I had my way, I'd have a horizontal band saw too but, at the moment, a drop saw is better than a 4" grinder with a cutting wheel... or a hacksaw...

Besides that, even with as much metal work that I do, I can't warrant the money for something I'd only use "every now & then"; I'll probably end up with a tube bender before a bandsaw...

 

[Poboy kartman]

My "chopsaw" is actually an old Makita 12" miter saw that I started out using circular saw sized abrasive blades on and I would just block up the metal with a 2×4 underneath.....

It started as a Poboy necessity....I was doing stairs and suddenly metal balastuers became all the rage......

I have finally upgraded to a 12" blade.....it does what I need it to....

 

[RobertD]

Yeah I think a tube bender would probably be more useful dollar for dollar. I found out recently a friend of a friend has a really nice hydraulic tube bender just sitting around begging to be used. I need to remember that for the future!

 

[OzFab]

The weather around here has been horrible lately (cold & wet) so, I had to find small things I could do inside...

Front platform assembled & (somewhat) tacked together; some areas still need some cleaning but, should have that done today...

 

[Poboy kartman]

The weather around here has been horrible lately (cold & wet) so, I had to find small things I could do inside...

Front platform assembled & (somewhat) tacked together; some areas still need some cleaning but, should have that done today...

Hmmmm......Would that be 55°f with a light drizzle? ????

 

[OzFab]

It was a bit wetter than that... around 12" in 6 days...

The last two days it was just enough to be a PITA; it'd start to rain &, by the time I put the tools out of the rain, it'd stop

 

[RobertD]

12"?!? Wow.

 

[OzFab]

After almost 4 weeks, I managed to fit in a days work on the trailer; my friend Alex came over for some more welding practice & the base is now all tacked together but, he still needs a lot of practice...

As my welder is only 130A, welding thicker material means moving slower; I had a bit of trouble getting that through to him until I had him weld 2 small sections together, which I then split very easily due to lack of penetration on both pieces...

 

[OzFab]

Because this trailer was built as a boat trailer & as the majority of the weight in a boat is in the rear, the axle was set back on the frame which made the trailer very front end heavy...

As the load on the new design will be balanced (either one kart in the middle or one on the front/one on the rear) the trailer also needs to be balanced so, yesterday, I moved the axle forward 13"; the axle is now about where the front spring hangers used to be...

The hardest part was removing the spring hangers as the front ones were welded where the original crossmember meets the rails (inside corner); I ended up drilling a series of small holes, then cross-drilling until the welds broke...

You will see a line across the rail in pic 2 which was at the front of the rear hanger...

Much better balance now...

 

[landuse]

Nice job tony