Structural Repairs

This project began as a simple restoration, but the more layers stripped, the more problems were discovered!  Lots of care was taken when stripping the timbers and rusty walls to salvage as much as possible, but you don't know when you start these things what you are going to find...

The walls had large holes, and were cut off with an angle grinder, revealing that they were not watertight at the bottom, and the water was running into the framework, and allowing it to rust underneath the hardwood floor. 

Once the floor was lifted, the extent of the rust was evident. 

In this picture, you can see the lower part of the walls that were spot welded to the frame.  The vertical supports were rusted through at floor level, but the angles just have surface rust 

The angle beams could be salvaged, but the cost of sandblasting them, was greater than replacing them, so it was cheaper to put new steel in.

 
 

The leak in the roof had allowed water to run onto the main structural beams, at the top of the walls, and they had rusted through in two places (one on each side).

Again, this could be repaired, by replacing the rusted section, and cleaning the rest, but it would cost almost as much as replacing the entire beams.  Since these were the main structural beams of the trailer, it was safer to replace them, and worth the extra money to have that piece of mind.


Original Floor Plan                                             New Floor Plan
Forward Facing Angle Load                               Rear Facing Straight Load
with drop down ramp & rear tack box                with rear doors, step up and slide out ramp

 

 

So began sandblasting!  Well worth every cent!  Cost less than I expected, and took a fraction of the time it would have spend me doing it by hand, even with a sander and drill.

The roof was cut off to make it easier to sandblast, and it needed to be removed to replace the beams at the back anyway.

The front end, roof, and the dual axles is pretty much all we kept! 

Primed it in 2 coats of rust protection primer immediately after the sandblasting.

Then it went off to the metal shop to have the structural beams replaced...



Which turned out great!  New walls will be flat instead of corrugated, so the extra angle to the front end is to add the structural integrity that the walls used to give it. 

The old roof is replaced onto new beams at the top, at floor level a tubular (100mm) beam is used to add strength, and to ensure there is no where for water to collect.  The angles used for floor beams have also been replaced with tubular steel, that is closed at both ends, so water cannot enter.

The tail gate ramp won't be replaced, but two rear doors will be added, so the steel at the rear have been replaced with stronger materials.


All the steel has been replaced with galvanised, so it won't need to be painted, and shouldn't suffer from the rust as it did in the past.  (The idea is that it won't be neglected again either!)

The new horizontal bars have been placed at heights to support the windows that will be going in.  As a rear facing trailer, both horse and pony height windows will be installed at the very rear of the trailer.  Additional windows for ventilation will be at horse height further forwards.



The rear doors have galvanised steel frames, and additional support has been installed for the flush mounted locks (one of each door) and rear windows. 

The horses will have to drop their heads a little to see out, and ponies lift, but both sized equines will be able to see out the sides and the rear easily enough.  I will be able to see in from ground level too.



So that completes all the structural work!  Just the tip of the iceberg, but its finally starting to look like a horse trailer again, which is really exciting after all that stripping for months and months!