jimmwaller
Petty Officer 1st Class
- Joined
- Nov 30, 2013
- Messages
- 265
So, my trailer is really, really rusty, apparently. There was a bunch of tape and cloth around this part of the trailer (P.O.... who knows) but I recently pulled it off and found.... this.
The good news, if there is any, is that the trailer "frame" seems to be okay. It's hard to see from the photo, but the trailer frame rails wrap around this part. It looks like the rusted part is really only there to hold up the bow stop:
So I guess I'm going to need a new trailer? Or, another thought was just a new bow stop that I can put in further up. But that depends on whether or not that beam is structurally critical.
Or, can I just.... weld plate steel over this? Before I do something like that, I want to get people's thoughts on:
1) am I correct in assuming that this beam isn't critically structural? It's just to hold the bow stop, right? So it's not like it'll fall apart if I have to trailer it out of the yard to weld it, correct? Assuming the rest of it is in good condition.
2) I worry that there are some applications where the heat of welding can make thing weaker. Is it okay to weld a trailer?
Any other thoughts or tips on how I should be dealing with this? I'm going to buy a new trailer, for sure.... but I guess what I don't know is how critical this is and how amenable this damage in this stop would be to welding as a temporary solution until I get a new one.
thanks!
The good news, if there is any, is that the trailer "frame" seems to be okay. It's hard to see from the photo, but the trailer frame rails wrap around this part. It looks like the rusted part is really only there to hold up the bow stop:
So I guess I'm going to need a new trailer? Or, another thought was just a new bow stop that I can put in further up. But that depends on whether or not that beam is structurally critical.
Or, can I just.... weld plate steel over this? Before I do something like that, I want to get people's thoughts on:
1) am I correct in assuming that this beam isn't critically structural? It's just to hold the bow stop, right? So it's not like it'll fall apart if I have to trailer it out of the yard to weld it, correct? Assuming the rest of it is in good condition.
2) I worry that there are some applications where the heat of welding can make thing weaker. Is it okay to weld a trailer?
Any other thoughts or tips on how I should be dealing with this? I'm going to buy a new trailer, for sure.... but I guess what I don't know is how critical this is and how amenable this damage in this stop would be to welding as a temporary solution until I get a new one.
thanks!