Work Trailer

I've played on a few stage trailers over the years, too.

A few years ago at the Albuquerque airport on a stage trailer owned by the city...
Stage Trailer Example 1024.jpg

Early '80s on another city-owned stage trailer at a park. The bass player in this photo is the same guy I'm playing with today. The show was sponsored by the local rock radio station...
94 Rock Summerfest.jpg

This one doesn't really show the stage, but for this outdoor concert in the early '80s we used two flatbed semi trailers parked side by side and all the PA gear we could muster. Same band as the photo above. These are the two techs running just the on-stage monitor mix in a strong wind...
Rock Fest PA Stacks.jpg

/threadjack complete :rofl:
 
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Brent, this one's for sale near me. Let me know if you want me to snag it...you could come down this spring to visit and pick it up.

LOL, That looks awesome. I have a feeling there might be a time we'll build a drum riser on my car/bobcat trailer and haul it out to moon rocks with a generator to amuse the crowds, lol.

Moon rocks is right where we went shooting at that Burning Wood we had at myhouse. It's very popular with the off road and dirt biker crowd.
 
Darren, before you get all carried away and spend a bunch of money on a trailer, I think you need to re-examine the problem and come up with some more economical solutions. :rofl:

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I was happy to se they used the red flags on the back and end protectors on the front of that ladder, otherwise it just didn't seem safe at all. The external windshield defroster is a really nice touch, but probably won't work quite as well, or fast, as the liquid defroster stored on the back.
 
I was happy to se they used the red flags on the back and end protectors on the front of that ladder, otherwise it just didn't seem safe at all. The external windshield defroster is a really nice touch, but probably won't work quite as well, or fast, as the liquid defroster stored on the back.
That's not a windshield defroster. It's a jet engine for going in reverse. You can back into a parking space in no time with that bad boy! :D
 
Big Horn makes nice trailers. What a great start to this. Are you certain that your truck can pull this when it's loaded? I can see a bigger truck in your future. At least add a big transmission cooler to what you have.

Charley
 
Woke up to a really foggy morning here, but didn't stop me from going to pick up the trailer. I did have to scramble around last night an find a 2 5/16" ball. Unfortunately the only thing I could get was the 3 ball straight hitch. so had a bit of sway on the way home. Hoping to find a class iv with the right drop tomorrow.

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I picked up some D-Rings for the floor and positioned them where the zero turn will be strapped in at. I also added some E-Track on the shorter wall for hauling other things. Both sides will have some. Vertical and horizontal E-Track eventually, but I'm hauling some things out to my nephew tomorrow so installed this to hold those in place. I may also replace the D-Rings with eTrack on the floor just to make it easier to secure other stuff.
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Big Horn makes nice trailers. What a great start to this. Are you certain that your truck can pull this when it's loaded? I can see a bigger truck in your future. At least add a big transmission cooler to what you have.

Charley
The truck is rated for towing 8400 lbs. and has the heavy tow package with cooler and gauge for the tranny. I do need to install the brake controller, which I've ordered. It has the wiring for it, but I have to go in and enable it using the ford scan software.

I have been logging the items I plan to put in there, including the materials for cabinets, either by weighing them or looking them up. So far I've not exceeded 5,000 lbs total on the heavy side of the list, and am trying to keep it light for most of it's use. BTW, the trailer is about 1850 lbs empty.
 
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That eTrack is some nifty looking stuff! Looking forward to see how you build it out (y)
This was called X-Track, which I found at Menards. Harbor freight carries e-track in horizontal or vertical, but this wasn't that much more, like $5 per track. I had to split the far one to work around the door light, but kept the slots aligned between the front and back tracks.

I may end up moving the back one forward a stud or doing a shorter section at that location in the upper portion of the trailer, with similar tracks across the trailer from it. They make beam sockets for you to create loft areas with. I'm thinking they could be handy to load up lumber on and still be able to get in the trailer or even haul the mower and have the lumber above it.
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The beam sockets, some 2 X 4s the width of your trailer, and a few sheets of plywood makes a great deck to put a second layer of stuff in. I had a cube van, but now a trailer with E track down both sides at two levels and across the front. For cargo that might get scuffed sliding against the E track, I installed 1 X 2 strips on each side of the E track. This helped considerably to keep damage to a minimum. I have about a dozen cargo straps with the E track clip ends, and 6 beam sockets, plus three 2 X 4's the length needed, and these all stay in the trailer, if at all possible, to be ready for use. I don't carry the plywood unless I expect to need it, but keep using it for other things, so when needed I frequently need to buy more.

At one time I had an amusement vending machine business and used the truck for that. When I no longer had the business I downsized, getting rid of the truck and hydraulic tailgate, but kept all of the cargo tie down hardware from the truck and then installed it in the trailer. The trailer is only an 8 X 12 single axle, so I had some E track left over. Right now, the trailer has two 8' long wide format printers, and 16 moving pads in it. I'm hoping to get one of the printers moved upstairs into my photo/video studio soon. I just have to get #2 son in the right mood to help. They weigh about 200 lbs each.

Charley
 
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I towed it over to Kansas today, I think on the most windy day of the week, 20-25 mph. Had a bit of sway, but did fine. I did measure for ball drop this morning and currently it is a little high,, but think I'll hold off getting a new hitch until I have the cabinets and tools in there. It's really not that far off from level sitting empty.
 
So I took a first stab at a layout around some tool/equipment locations I've already decided on. The mower will go on the side with the side door. The majority of it's weight (engine/transmissions/etc) will be parked over the center of the axles. The front nose area, I'm thinking about a work bench there. I still need to work in storage for a bunch of stuff, so it may not be the best use of space, I'm still grinding on it.
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The tool drawers/cubbies will most likely be a bit different layout and width of drawers, but for the most part will occupy the real estate that is shown, some lower drawers will actually be shelves for some of my HF hardware boxes. I may have some cubbies up higher and work in a space for the miter box in the middle and use the front of the bottom row of cubbies as a axillary fence for it. The location of it should have the majority of the tool weight over the axles as well.
MobileWorkshop3.png

The wall with the mower is going to be modular. I've found various e-track brackets for use as shelving, hooks, even some that are threaded to make your own creations, so I'm planning to use it much like the french cleat system. Sometimes it will be what is shown, others it will have hanging cabinets and such. The shorter vertical e-track will be on both walls and will be used to create loft space as needed for hauling lumber/supplies as mentioned in the post above.
MobileWorkshop4.png

Lastly, I've been shopping ladder racks. Most seem to be much taller than I'm wanting and over priced. I may end up welding up my own. I plan to incorporate some solar panels between them and below the level of the ladders to keep them from getting damaged. The ladders should set to each side when I do have them on there, but also should still get a good charge between the runs of the ladders if they do get covered. I've also found some RV mounts that are screw-less, using tape and caulk to adhere them to the roof, but leaning towards just making them part of the ladder racks.
MobileWorkshop5.png

No bigger than the floor print is, I may check into some kind of garage floor covering also, just to help with drips from the mower and keeping it clean.

For determining tool layout. I've been using a Google Worksheet to draw compartments to match the tool cabinets, then noting the tools on it base on how often I may access them and from what location. Depending on if I do the workbench in the front, I may have some of the common tools on each end of the trailer.
Tool Layout.PNG

Here's the current Sketchup drawing...

Open to thoughts & suggestions.
 
some kind of garage floor covering

I was initially thinking the 1/4" hard rubber "stall mat" type mats.. BUT they may well be a bit on the heavy side.. Some of the vinyl stuff might do what you want for a lot less weight cost.

The idea of using the cubbies as a fence is smart. Maybe a piece of angle iron to anchor that in alignment (just looking at the cubbies.. not sure I'd get it all straight).

should still get a good charge between the runs of the ladders if they do get covered.

I think the newer class of panels shouldn't be as much of a problem with that. The really old style were designed such that the charge was gated by the lowest cell but, I think, almost all new panels the cells are basically independent even within a panel so you can cover one but still get full power from the rest.. If nothing else with it being slightly recessed I'd make sure that you have those kinds of panels (not sure if the old type are even still sold.. but..).
 
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