My starting point is a janky 4x8 I bought off facebook marketplace plus a few bits and bobs I’ve been picking up and buying.
- 4x8 trailer- needs a lot of TLC, but I got it really cheap.
everybody starts somewhere with equipment and gear. My advice is to never skimp or be too cheap when it comes to safety related items. I do not like your tie downs at all, a 600 pound rating is nothing. There is a distinct difference between a dynamic and a static rating. What will hold something while travelling down the road a 50mph (80 kilometers) will fail miserably if you have to jack on the brakes. Spend the extra dollars on good tie downs and make sure they are either into metal or span several boards if your rig bottom is planks. If your rig bottom is some type of plywood you better hit the rails (metal).
A gallon of water (3.78 liters) weighs 8.34 pounds (3.785 kg), and you have a tote, so you better drain that tote every time with those tie downs. Don’t get me started on the 1" straps, stop wasting money on those garbage straps. get yourself a real rated strap and ratchet, or chains. That is an accident waiting to happen. Those things deteriorate around chemicals and sunlight and they are weak to start with. A real weight rating for a strap will have reinforced stitching and stamped weight rating on it.
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Be careful with these E3 spark plugs…when I used to work in small engine repair shops we were constantly removing these from customer’s machines. Homeowner would do a tune up on their machine using one of those plugs and then end up bringing it to us as it wasn’t running correctly afterwards. Just a poor quality plug, but easy fix.
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Thank you for this, I’ll return it in that case.
Are you trying to carry enough water to wash a whole house? If not, with the pressure washer shown, I’m wondering if you need to carry a water tank at all. That tank alone will probably more than max out the axle capacity of the trailer, and it’s taking 3/4 of the space… Unless you’re planning on working where water supply isn’t available, just ditch the water tank.
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Hi guys, I kind of let the ball drop on this, picking it back up now.
I do realize I don’t NEED a tank, but I’m building this trailer in a way that’s easily scalable, so if I buy a belt drive washer, I only need to replace the washer and not replumb everything.
I’m going to get working on this today, despite the constant rain in Vancouver. How do I go about repainting my trailer with the weather so wet? There’s a lot of rust on the frame and I would really have loved to get it repainted, plus I have some spray on bed liner which I want to spray on the wood to make it more water resistant.
I also picked up a pressure hose reel and garden hose reel from Princess Auto & Amazon respectively.
Looks like youre going to have to put it inside somewhere. Garage, etc. Depending on rust you can knock it off and use a flapper to smooth it all back out, corroseal or some other rust inhibitor thats compatible with your paint you have and then try that. Make sure that wood is nice and dry before spraying any of that stuff on it. I used Raptor Liner on my wood and its held up surprisingly well. Good luck and stay warm!
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This is exact what I landed up doing and now it’s half way done. Thankfully the weather cleared up nicely and it’s been pretty sunny.
Your pressure washer has an injector built into the pump. Don’t use it. It will eventually go bad and you will not be able to replace it. Buy a gp hi draw downstream injector and a spare one.
GP High Draw Injector Kit - Pressure Tek
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My opinion:
Sell the trailer and get a dual-axle trailer if possible. Imagine getting a flat tire full speed on the highway with this setup.
If you won’t do that, take the tote off. You don’t need it and this trailer is not fit to carry a tote filled with water. And if it’s not filled with water, what’s the point of carrying it around.
When setup is done get everything weighted including trailer and anything you will carry to check that you’re below capacity.
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What vehicle are you towing with?
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It’s a 2016 F150 3.5 ecoboost. Also, I don’t plan on actually carrying water most days.
I’ll definitely get everything weighted, though I really don’t plan on carrying water, or at least too much water. I am aware of how much water weighs and I have no intention of carrying around such a huge load on this trailer. Thank you for your input though.
Thank you! I already have an external injector, just been too lazy to install it till now… lol I’ll get it done as soon as I start plumbing it.
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Have you checked the speed rating or weight rating on those tires? Some of the cheaper trailers use very cheap Chinese tires that dry rot in a year, have a lower speed and weight rating, and generally are put on the trailers to enhance profit margins. I’m not knocking all chinese products, I own some that I would compare to anything else. Just check for safety for yourself. Nice job working that rust out. Please tell me you will be using 2x and not deck boards. Deck boards will last a little while and if your planning on tossing the trailer later that will work out. If not, then go with 2x6. I have no idea what you call them in canada (maybe 50mm x 150mm or something?). Don’t blame me, lumber used to be 2x6 (real lumber) then they cheaped it out and now it is smaller. But if you rip apart older homes those boards are all (well most) are full sized and tight grained.
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Hi, thank you for your reply! I actually used to manufacture trailers back in my home country, so I’m pretty well aware of the weight ratings, etc… I just bought a set of used 16" wheels and tires with a 94 weight rating, which should be plenty for my needs.
Also, for the flooring, I’m using 2 sheets of 3/4 ply sheets stacked on top of each other. I also sprayed the top sheet with a bed liner spray to make it water resistant.
This is just my starter trailer, as soon as I can afford to, I want to switch to a 5x8 aluminum trailer.
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Never thought I would find someone else in the lower mainland starting up on here. Pretty much everyone is from the US or a trickle of Ontario lol. Good luck to ya on the startup!
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Well, if you worked on trailers you will be familiar with many of their pitfalls. Just a quick question out of curiosity, why plywood? Is it marine grade?
Well if you upgrade and if you are ever going to haul water, and there are jobs that will require it, I’d go with dual axles for the added weight rating. I know that everyone has limitations to both budget, sized and weight for towing vehicle, and parking space, but I like the idea of being able to manipulate the load around on the trailer. Ensuring a proper tongue weight and weight distribution will prevent that trailer swaying on them. That is how you wind up with brown shorts and underwear 
example of someone getting the brown pants:
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I think he just likes the look of a tote, because he’s dead set on carrying one for no practical reason. As well as a 55 gallon drum of sh. And that’s fine, if he doesn’t drive with them filled up.
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