Building a Trailer Gate (Job #2)

Hey guys!!

Well, my last day of school was today, YEEEHAW, I
couldnt be happier. Partially because as of about
10:30 this morning, Im a pipe welding apprentice.
I start work between the 6th and 9th of june. Im
pumped.

Anyway, someone called me and asked me about
building them a trailer gate.

The trailer is made from an old truck, and its
4x8. The guy needs a gate for it. It only has to
hold a riding lawn mower (>1000 lbs). No cars,
tractors, etc.

Im guessing that I will need to build a
crossmember of some type for this thing to go
between the frame rails, as well as the gate
itself.

For the crossmember, Im planning on going with
some 2x2 square tubing, but I dont really know
which thickness that I have to get. Im gonna guess
1/8" or 3/16".

And the gate. The back of this trailer is 2.5"
high, higher than a normal trailer, and so I was
planning on makeing the gate itself atleast 5'
long. It has to be able to be closed manually.

Thats another thing, how to get it to stay closed?
I was thinking of a piece of steel flat bar that
would run between the trailer, and anchor to the
deck of the trailer somehow. And with two supports
that run across the gate, I guess that I wouldnt
need to use more than 1/8" angle.

But, should the supports run up&down, or side to
side? I cant make up my mind on that one,
concidering this is gonna be a long gate.

Thanks guys. I can use the money

"...couldnt be happier. Partially because as of about
10:30 this morning, Im a pipe welding apprentice.
I start work between the 6th and 9th of june. Im
pumped."


GO GETTEM, TIGER!!

Rick

Most trailers have corner posts at the back where the tailgate and the sides come together. Build tabs from the tailgate to the corner posts with a pin to go through the tabs into tabs coming off the corner posts. Don't reinvent the wheel here.

For the tailgate itself weld up a frame and cover it with metal mesh, it'll be lighter than solid steel and air will flow through when towing. Ask the customer if they wouldn't like you to make it long so they can use it for a ramp to drive their lawnmowers on.

See if you can spot a landscaping trailer around and base your tailgate on it, like I said don't reinvent the wheel.

(quoted from post at 16:33:26 05/25/11) Most trailers have corner posts at the back where the tailgate and the sides come together. Build tabs from the tailgate to the corner posts with a pin to go through the tabs into tabs coming off the corner posts. Don't reinvent the wheel here.

For the tailgate itself weld up a frame and cover it with metal mesh, it'll be lighter than solid steel and air will flow through when towing. Ask the customer if they wouldn't like you to make it long so they can use it for a ramp to drive their lawnmowers on.

See if you can spot a landscaping trailer around and base your tailgate on it, like I said don't reinvent the wheel.

Click to expand...

f gate is too short then the riding lawn mower will high center at the trailer-to-gate transition angle.

(quoted from post at 12:41:27 05/25/11)Im a pipe welding apprentice.

Click to expand...

You're gonna want to take that dead serious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Opportunity of a life time.
Most people have to be born in that union.

Congratulations, Lanse! I see a busy summer ahead of you, but you'll learn more in a week of watching a good welder than you will in a lifetime of flipping burgers or hanging out at the mall. Show up on time, do a little more than your share and listen more than you talk and you'll do just fine. You've proven to the majority of the people on this board (and you're NEVER going to please everyone--learn early who the important people to please are and don't spend much time worrying about the the rest) that you can do all of the above through your projects and listening to other people's advice (at least most of the time!) and I'm sure you'll do fine. It ain't going to be easy, but it should be rewarding, both financially and professionally.

What you say!! Weld anything but a broken heart or Weld up anything except the crack of dawn. Good luck Lance. DH

Congrats on the pipe welding job. My understanding is that that is one of the highest skilled, and paid, welding jobs.

On the trailer: I second what Ludwig said, but that trailer at 2.5 feet high is too high to make a fold down gate ramp. Perhaps you are familiar with those ramps made from a piece of board and some flat steel bent to fit over a pickup tailgate that can be used to load a light riding mower with out high centering the cutting deck. Well, I went out and measured the ramains of one I picked up, it is 8 feet long. Obviously you can't make a fold up gate that long. My opinion is that the 5 feet long one you are thinking of would not be near long enough, and adding that 5 feet to the 2.5 feet height of the existing trailer would make 7.5 feet high to be pulled down the road. I can see a lot of problems with that.

I have loaded a small lawn mower on a pick up truck using the wooden ramps in years past and it involved manual pushing to get the thing over the high center problem.

If these folks are insistent on hauling a lawn mower on that trailer they will have to go to separate long ramps or have a bank to back it up to, IMO. If I were them, I would sell the trailer and spend the money on a nice light commercial trailer or hire a nice young welder to make them a trailer using a commercial axle. Lots of people on here, me included, have made trailers and can advise you.

To illustrate the high centering problem, get some scrap 1 x 4 and cut it to the length of the mower. Fasten some 1x4 tabs to the long piece to represent the height of the wheels and mower deck. The problems will be obvious and you can adjust the length of the proposed ramps to fit.

KEH

Congratulations, Lanse.
I've been quietly following your exploits for awhilw now, but never really chimed in.
Do I understand this to mean you graduated from high school? Last thing I remember you were a snot-nosed 14 year old.

Chuck

Pipe welding job? what kind of pipe?
I retired from building crosscountry pipelines.
I was a equipment operator.
Several frends were local 798 welders.

Lance, one thing to watch out for is don't get your gate to heavy. I have a heavy gate on my trailer and I have to add weight to the tongue when the trailer is empty so as it don't lift up on the hitch all the time. In other words I have little to no tongue weight when the trailer is empty. My trailer is 16 feet and is legal with 7000 pounds.

Hey Lanse, I've got several buddies/customers doign landscaping work and all of them have trailers with the lift gates/ramps on them. The biggest problem with them is they have to be both light enough to pick up without straining yourself as well as strong enough not to tear all to pieces under the weight of the mower.

That said, your best bet for material is usually gonna be 1 1/2 x 3/16 angle. Build the main part with the angle turned down as the gate would be attached on the trailer and with you standing on the gate. Your width is usually determined by the distance between the side rails of the trailer so you can make a locking mechanism like has been already been mentioned. Length wise typically around 4.5 to 5 feet is going to give you small enough angle for a typical zero turn mower to get on without bottoming out. An old stype mower can take often take a bit more angle but not too much.

With your outside frame built, you need to do one of two things. One, and the best, is to get the wheel base of the mower and build two 'ramps' about 18" wide with their centerlines at a distance equal to that measurement. Second choice is to place three or four angle iron stiffeners across the length of the gate. When doing either the braces or the ramps you can simply lay the angle iron same side down as the outter frame and weld them to the underside of the frame, or you can cope them in to where the top sides of all the angles are level with each other. Either works fine but coping them in looks more professional and will set your work aside from the 'factory stuff'.

Once you get that all built cover the gate with #9 raised mesh expanded metal. You can use the flat stuff like the mass builders do but the raised provides much more traction for both the tires and anyone walking up and down it. Best thing is the raised doesn't cost but a bit more than the flat and will make your gate unique as compared to the 'cheap', mass produced ones. One mistake the mass producers make, or should I say shortcut they take to increase profits, is to only weld the mesh about every third connection/diamond in the mesh. If you put a good tack on EVERY connection around the outside and then where it touches the inner 'ramps' you can do it about every third one. I've done quite a few like this and in ten years haven't had one come back with the mesh breaking loose like it typically did within a year or two from the 'factory'. The topper to this gate is a set of handles. I put them on one trailer some years ago and when others saw them they asked for me to put them on their's too. You'd be suprised how the little things add to the ease of use for the customer. Anyway, what I actually used instead of making them was two of the lag screw storage hooks from Northern Tool. They were made of about 5/16 round stock and had a black rubberized coating on them. I cut the lag sccrew part off and then cut the coating back enough to allow me to weld it without buring the rest of it off. I then welded them into place about a foot from the top of the ramp (the end that touches the ground when laid down)at an upward angle. This gives you a true handle to pick the gate up without getting your hands into the mesh and chancing getting cut, etc. Basically it's just a small touch of convience for the customer that they usually don't know they have missed until you give it to them.

Beyond that prime and paint it, put it on, and collect a check from a very happy customer.

better advice may have never been spoken.

If you determine that the ramp would be too long/tall to accommodate the mower deck clearance maybe you could come up with a pull out ramp that stows under the trailer deck similar to a U-Haul ramp. Just an idear.

Lanse,

if you're looking for a gate assist mechanism... here's what I built

later
john

http://jniolon.classicpickup.com/trailerliftgate/girlygate.htm

Take a look at what local landscapers use for ramps/gates on trailers. Congrats on the apprenticeship! You might not not get to do a lot of welding at first but pay close attention and be enthusiastic even if you don't particularly like what what you have to do, ie/ grinding or being a gopher for the welders. If you can get into pipe welding, you can get your pressure tickets and make real good money. Pipe welding is usually on nice clean steel too. If you can learn how to fit pipe and fittings would be a big bonus as well.

cONGRATULATIONS Indeed. Hang onto this apprenticeship like your life depended on it. Can't beat it with a stick!!! Good luck, be careful and listen with both ears. Dave

Congrats!! I think you'll do fine.

(quoted from post at 09:41:32 05/26/11) Lanse,

if you're looking for a gate assist mechanism... here's what I built

later
john

http://jniolon.classicpickup.com/trailerliftgate/girlygate.htm

Click to expand...

That is some nice work John! And a great idea, thanks for sharing that.

Lanse,

You must have graduated and turned 18 on us. Congratulations! If you didn't do those things, you aren't an apprentice, no matter what your employer says.

I hope you did both of them and are now a UA (United Association) apprentice. The training and subsequent opportunities you will receive are tremendous.

I should know- that's what I did, back in the Long Ago. Take your apprenticeship very seriously and you will be rewarded tenfold.

A word of caution: be careful doing sidework, as some employers discourage or even forbid it, especially if it's work in the trade.

Good luck in the future- you are making something out of yourself.

Lanse,

I'm sure you won't, but make sure as time goes by, you don't become the go-fur/cleanup guy it does happen in union shops (printing) then when you are at 3-4 year pay they expect journey man work immediately.

just a caution.

It depends on the union and on the requirements to start an apprenticeship. There may be an entrance exam you have to pass but you don't normally need grade 12 to start a welding apprenticeship. Often grade 9 is the minimum requirement. Doing side jobs for your neighbors or friends is one thing but if you go to work in a non union shop while waiting for a union opening or run your own welding truck, you can get fined and thrown out of the union.

Even when I got into my apprenticeship I had to show my high school diploma, (last time anybody ever asked to see it) :lol: but I was seventeen at the time also.
I've heard the electricians are requiring two years of college now before starting their apprenticeship! I wouldn't be surprised if certain UA locals aren't doing the same.

Puddles,

My local requires a HS diploma and a passing grade
in Algebra just to apply, then there's an aptitude
test and an interview to determine rank among that
year's applicants, then we take however many
according to rank and demand from contractors.

My caution to Lanse is not meant to rain on his
parade, but rather to say that there are employers
out there who will say apprentice when they really
mean disposable employee. I want Lanse to have a
real opportunity, since I think he has the makings
of a pretty good hand.

It must depend on every different state or province. They might make the requirements higher to lessen the number of applicants too. I know one of the guys I went to school with couldn't pass the entrance exam (math)to get a welding apprenticeship at Procor where he went for work experience but they were decent enough to offer him another position when he finished high school. You sure don't find too many places like that. If your marks were high enough in school you didn't need to do an entrance exam. Because I went to a trade school, I got credit for hours towards my apprenticeship as well. Instead of needing 1800 hours for each of 3 years, I only needed 1500. Now they are giving high school students even more credit towards their hours which is bogus. I worked at a shop that had a student for the summer and he said he could challenge the first year apprenticeship. He had a fancy $450 Miller helmet he liked to polish and show off but as far as welding talent couldn't even figure out that under 100 amps was way to cold for 1/8" 7018 doing horizontal fillet welds. I think he got annoyed when I kept telling him the fancy helmet wouldn't make him a better welder.