Back to work on the trailer for my house! Any work being done on it is truly exciting. I am literally losing sleep thinking about what to do next and design ideas for later down the road. This adventure sure is going to be a fun one I just wish some of my good ideas would not enter mind at 3 AM! After 8 AM would be sufficient!
Although we only had one full day of work we really made some good and important steps towards finishing the trailer. We basically got the mobile home axles cut down so the tires would sit under the trailer rather than to the side. This way we can keep it street legal and I won't have to worry about getting a stupid permit for transporting. We also got the two extra supports for the axles welded on. This was the hardest thing to weld so far and very important because these supports will carry the weight of the house and I want to get it right! Can't have a tiny house crashing out on the road!
That is pretty much what got done. May not sound like a lot but it was an all day project which for the most part was spent in planning and then welding. The only other thing we did was get the frame jacked up off the ground so when I come home during Mardi Gras we will be ready to attach the axles, tongue, prime the frame, wheels, brake lines, lights, jack, floor frame,and floor.
The top picture is another angle of the jacked up frame. It almost looks like it's floating in mid air! At the bottom there is a picture of the two axles supports we welded on. The beam in the center is a main support for the frame and axle equalizer. The two beams on each side of that are the two we welded on that day that will hold the hangers for the ends of the axle springs.
That's all for now. I'll post again after the Mardi Gras holiday and we will hopefully be done with the trailer! Then I can move it to my house and work on finishing the house on a more consistent basis. My goal is to have four walls and a roof by the summer. Wish me luck!
I have a tiny home of my own and i enjoy your tiny farm idea. I do have a few constructive critiques. From my little knowledge of trailer frames they are pre-stressed when they are built. If this is not done the frame will sag ever so slightly under the weight of the house you are putting on it and it will pull it apart at the seams. Any windows put on the sides of your home will soon stick. If you plan on moving your home any considerable distance i would suggest that you take a good hard look at those axles. If the two halves were welded out of square the tires will wear a great deal and may have to be changed in under a thousand miles.
ReplyDeleteThanks. Things I overlooked are certainly welcome. I did not know about the pre-stressed frames. I will have to research on possible ways I can do that. But I will not be moving it very far. Once the trailer is finished, with no house on it yet, it will be moved about 150 miles. After that trip I will finish building it at that location and then move it to the farm which will only be about 20 miles away. As far as the axles go I will be casing them with galvanized steel at the seam where they were cut. I have been reading forums of people that built car trailers with mobile home axles and did what I did. They said they had no problems. Any tips on pre-stressing the frame or where to look for info on that?
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