Hey Maaxim, how is the build going?

How do rego costs and the like work in WA?

I just got my trailer project weighed today and inspected, and it tips the scales at 270kgs. Over 254kgs and it needs to be inspected each year and costs an extra $109 a year on rego. I would try and trim it down, but I don't think I could do that easily, so I have decided to keep it as is, and suffer the drama of inspection each year.

I think the next one will be less complex and just a rectangular box on wheels. It will make it easier to put together, and lighter.

The project was not going at all as I was busy as......
Tomorrow I'll finally be able to do some work on it.

Over the last few days I have purchased few bits and pieces that I needed to continue with my build:

Duragal Square Hollow Section 25x25x1.6mm for the trailer top frame,
I got dozens of different joiners (plastic outside with steel inside for strenght) which I am planning to use for frame construction instead of welding.
Aluminium Rivets which I will use to attach the sheets to the top framework,
Aluminium composite sheets (ALU-Polyethylene-ALU sandwich) in brushed aluminium look (looks amazing) for trailer top,
Aluminium angle for corners,
12mm marine grade PLY sheets for the trailer deck.
Also got some charcoal grey metal paint for final coat on frame which apparently after finished should look like orange skin texture in very nice grey metallic appearance.... will see...

I am almost broke now.... hehehe but I am in good spirit to do as much work as I can tomorrow.

I have visited the transport wa website to check the fees for registration and licencing trailer below what I found:

Vehicle fee calculation for trailers is $9.74 per 100kg +Recording fee $13.05+Prescribed flat fee $6.60
It looks like it goes up with the weight but only $9.74 per 100kg which is good news.

I am not sure how heavy my trailer is going to be but i guess it will be approx 300kg after finished.

I read that the best trailer deck solution is marine ply protected with deep penetrating epoxy coating to seal all edges and the top/ bottom surface. Went to Bunnings today and they dont have anything other then oil based stain...
Next station was Boating Camping Fishing and they dont have anything in store..

I am wondering if any of you guys out there will point me in the right direction on where to get it or what to use instead

Hey Maaxim, I used a product from called FormPly. It's apparently used for plumming applications and Bunnings do have it. I went for a fairly thick one (17mm) but in hinesight would go the thinnest one out there. The FormPly will probably out last the trailer however the product is heavy. FormPly comes in 2400mm x 1200mm sheets and is available in 17mm and 12mm but Bunnings doesnt sell the 12mm to my knowledge. Given the weight restrictions, I would try to find an equal product as light as possible.

I used a sheet of 1.6 gal sheet and sika flexed
It to the subframe then siliconed all around the top edges to stop any water get in , then glued marine carpet to the gal , 2 years later and zero rust !!!! And a lot lighter than ply .

Form ply be way too heavy & you still need to seal the edges where you cut. 12mm marine ply lasts pretty good even if it isn't sealed (most boat floors from alloy boat companies aren't sealed on the edges except for the carpet glue), personally I prefer sealing though. If you are going to put stick marine carpet down then seal the whole lot with something as you'll use alot less glue which is far more expensive.

Surely bunnings would have had urethane deck coatings, that should be ok & cheaper than epoxy. If all else fails & you want to spend the money these guys have been pretty helpful for some stuff i've done in the past- www.boatcraft.com.au
If they don't have something suitable they should point you in right direction.

Make sure you plan plenty of ventilation into the trailer so stuff dries, this will help stop it rusting sooner.

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Maaxim said..

I have visited the transport wa website to check the fees for registration and licencing trailer below what I found:

Vehicle fee calculation for trailers is $9.74 per 100kg +Recording fee $13.05+Prescribed flat fee $6.60
It looks like it goes up with the weight but only $9.74 per 100kg which is good news.

I am not sure how heavy my trailer is going to be but i guess it will be approx 300kg after finished.

That's heaps better than over here. Ours have a registration fee of $62 and then a vehicle tax of $107, if your trailer weighs more than 254kgs. If its less than that, its only $62.

So, for my trailer at almost 300kgs, it will be $169 and an annual inspection.

Today painting day again. It took me a little while to paint the top and bottom but it looks great.

Today Marine Grade Plywood arrived.
I will need to paint it over few days in order to seal it properly.
I hope to be able to bolt it down to the main frame this weekend.

dont do it........ use aluminium cladding... so much easier and cleaner finish. light weigh and so easy to work with

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AGK said..
dont do it........ use aluminium cladding... so much easier and cleaner finish. light weigh and so easy to work with

Sorry mate but I am not getting it Aluminium Cladding and do not do what exactly?

For the last three days 3 Coats of Sikkens UV resistant wood stain applied on plywood floor as it takes 16 hours each coat to dry.
Tomorrow will start to paint the other side.........

Jockey wheel fixed to the main frame.
Saturday will finally start building the top frame.

Very nice progress! As for me, I am going to buy a lotto ticket and just get one of this:

Maaxim how did you get on with the chains?

I registered my project trailer a couple of days ago and I asked about the chains and the requirement for them to be stamped. He told me that he was satisfied with the chains I used.

I think in the old regulations they nominated minimum link sizes based on weight, and I guess he figured mine easily met the requirements.

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GrumpySmurf said..
Very nice progress! As for me, I am going to buy a lotto ticket and just get one of this:

If I knew that I could exchange lotto ticket for trailer like this one I would not have started....

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FormulaNova said..
Maaxim how did you get on with the chains?

I registered my project trailer a couple of days ago and I asked about the chains and the requirement for them to be stamped. He told me that he was satisfied with the chains I used.

I think in the old regulations they nominated minimum link sizes based on weight, and I guess he figured mine easily met the requirements.

Hi Formula,
I have brand new stamped chain welded onto the trailer. I hope the way it has been done will be acceptable when going for the licencing inspection.

Woke up at 6:00AM today to do as much work as I could on the trailer and I was just smashing it...........

Plywood base is now bolted to the main Frame,




All steel for top frame profiles cut.




I must say this frame joiners are really good. Ones all the steel is cut you can build the frame fairly quickly (so did I...)



Lifted the top frame on top of the trailer and pop riveting the Sheets of Aluminium Composite to the top frame.
I must say it starts looking like a trailer :)













Now is time to enjoy few beers after all this hard work

Looking great!

before you go too far. get it to the point of being registrable without all the support bars and racks etc. So you can get it weighed as light as possible.

the earlier references to welding the Chain to a plate then to draw bar. This is to minimise the risk of weakening the draw bar that welding can produce.

also as a point of interest. the 'C' channel you have used is not designed to be loaded on its side, and while probably strong enough may need watching for cracks.

Maaxim

What is the lateral stability of the top frame like, i.e. if you push the top of the frame sideways across the trailer with your hand, how much does it deflect at the top of the frame?

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the 'C' channel you have used is not designed to be loaded on its side, and while probably strong enough may need watching for cracks.

Mate this statement is not correct. You have the most out of the channel design if it stands up for sure..... however every channel can be loaded either way and so can be flat bar, angle or any other steel profile. Important is to design it properly and to calculate the steel profiles considering moment of inertia along X or Y axis and allowable stresses/ deflection. This channel will never fail under full 750kg load or even above that....

looks very nice !!!

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John340 said..

What is the lateral stability of the top frame like, i.e. if you push the top of the frame sideways across the trailer with your hand, how much does it deflect at the top of the frame?

The stability is pretty good! The joiners actually are reinforced with steel inserts and ones you "hammer" them in, they sit firm in place keeping the framework fairly stiff. On top of that the side and top panels are riveted every 200mm to each vertical/horizontal profile providing additional stiffness .
I am planning to add a roof rack after registration for kayaks etc.. so it is important to me to make it as stiff as possible. Ones all the rivets and corners are in place i will do more testing....

Continuing with riveting the panels this week and starting to think about lighting.
Got new Rear LED lamps, licence plate lights, 7 pin connector and wiring and will make light bar some time this week.
Really looking forward to the weekend where I can spend more time on the build and hopefully make the trailer ready for licencing.

How about a good reverse light better than bending all your hard work!

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Maaxim said..

I read that the best trailer deck solution is marine ply protected with deep penetrating epoxy coating to seal all edges and the top/ bottom surface. Went to Bunnings today and they dont have anything other then oil based stain...
Next station was Boating Camping Fishing and they dont have anything in store..

I am wondering if any of you guys out there will point me in the right direction on where to get it or what to use instead

As an ex-yachtie I can certainly recommend International "Everdure", a 2 pack unfilled epoxy resin. This is like water when mixed, applied with a disposable paint brush to all exposed timber and can be overlayed with paint or whatever. 2 coats, wet on wet, works very well. Sets in 1-2 hours. Worked really well on all deck timbers in my yacht and I always used it pre-drilling screw holes......no chance of water damage then.
Available from Whitworths Chandlery in different sizes. Not cheap tho' : 250 mls Part A, 250 mls Part B @ $20 each. I think you can get 125 ml size as well. Stores well.
Timber is almost ( I stress almost) impervious to moisture forever after this IF you cover the Everdure as it WILL breakdown in sunlight in time......cover with paint = no worries.
Cleans up with acetone or thinners.
Might be worth a look.

$40 for 500ml of epoxy resin , I just ordered a 6lt pack or epoxy infusion resin for $130 ,it's a bit thicker than water but its epoxy and is water proof and a hell of a lot cheaper

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keef said..
$40 for 500ml of epoxy resin , I just ordered a 6lt pack or epoxy infusion resin for $130 ,it's a bit thicker than water but its epoxy and is water proof and a hell of a lot cheaper

Sure is! Even in the larger sizes Everdure is way more than that.
The Everdure is specifically to get deep into the grain so it's thin, thin, thin.
Like all boatie stuff it's expensive.
I've not been able to find other similar stuff other than at chandleries though. No luck at Bunnings, Masters etc

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WazzaYotty said..

keef said..
$40 for 500ml of epoxy resin , I just ordered a 6lt pack or epoxy infusion resin for $130 ,it's a bit thicker than water but its epoxy and is water proof and a hell of a lot cheaper

Sure is! Even in the larger sizes Everdure is way more than that.
The Everdure is specifically to get deep into the grain so it's thin, thin, thin.
Like all boatie stuff it's expensive.
I've not been able to find other similar stuff other than at chandleries though. No luck at Bunnings, Masters etc

Wazza and Keef thanks for the info!
I have already painted the deck using SIkkens exterior paint as above.... It will be good for many years to come.....

Today I spend some time making the light bar....
First of all I have searched the internet for dimensions of a standard registration plate and made a simple drawing to make sure all fits nicely on the bar.




I have then cut the panel out of my Aluminium Composite Sheet and v grooved the corners for folding.
Folding it to a box was a bit difficult. The corners seem break fairly easy as there is not much material left there so I used the aluminium angle which I riveted to the sheet to reinforce it. I must say this was great choice as it makes the box section stiff and the alu angle looks just cool
Lights bolted to the box section and connected all wires. I am not great in electrical work but it looks tidy and all lights are working so job well done.
Tomorrow I will cut plastic blocks to close the ends of the light bar box section which will protect all wires and connections from getting wet.

Hi Maaxim...migth be a bit late for this but...have you thought about your trailer enclosure width ? to carry 2 boards side by side you will need a minimum width of about 1.3m...obviously wider if you have bigger boards...try to have a good play around with different racking configurations..I changed mine 3-4 times before i was happy with it...I also used mast sized lengths of 100mm drainage plastic pipe secured with brackets to the roof of the trailer fitted with end caps to store both halves of individual masts;keeps them from being banged around...also a couple of vents to give a bit of airflow so inside doesnt smell all musty and damp...look forward to seeing your all finished...am starting to build another one myself..