salvage trailer

[huntndakota]

One of my friends works at the local salvage yard. He called me about an Excaliber aluminium I frame trailer (for a 23')they have there. I went and looked at it and they poked a hole the the frame with a forklift. The hole is 1' behind the hitch. I was wondering what the thoughts were on the integrity of the trailer if I get alum. plates welded on each side of the holes. With my buddies discount I could get the trailer for $100.
Pics will be added soon.

 

[jeeperman]

Re: salvage trailer

BUY IT.
Worse case is you part it out and sell whats left for scrap price.
And make money.

How on earth do they punch holes in the rail webs with a forklift?
Without bending the I-beam all to hell.

 

[Bondo]

Re: salvage trailer

One of my friends works at the local salvage yard. He called me about an Excaliber aluminium I frame trailer (for a 23')they have there. I went and looked at it and they poked a hole the the frame with a forklift. The hole is 1' behind the hitch. I was wondering what the thoughts were on the integrity of the trailer if I get alum. plates welded on each side of the holes. With my buddies discount I could get the trailer for $100.
Pics will be added soon.

Ayuh,... Personally,... I'd be All over it...
'course, I can also Fix it....

That said,...
A trailer, any trailer, is Parts, unless it has Paper....
Without a Registration, it Ain't a Trailer, it's just trailer parts....

How on earth do they punch holes in the rail webs with a forklift?
Without bending the I-beam all to hell.

Velocity,....

 

[jeeperman]

Re: salvage trailer

Ayuh,... Personally,... I'd be All over it...
'course, I can also Fix it....

That said,...
A trailer, any trailer, is Parts, unless it has Paper....
Without a Registration, it Ain't a Trailer, it's just trailer parts....


Velocity,....

Yea,
Velocity
with a forklift?
LOL
Maybe the fork tips are ground to a knifes edge?

Without papers, it is called homemade?

 

[huntndakota]

Re: salvage trailer

Thanks for the input. I will post pics soon to show the holes it's like the metal is peeled open. Pretty cool to see to me. Anyway I called my buddy to have him call the owner (his father inlaw) to tell him I'll pick it up in a day or two. There are no papers that I know of but maybe I'll get lucky.

 

[sandersps]

Re: salvage trailer

It is sometimes amazing what can be done with a forklift. I used to repair overhead doors at walmarts. Had quite a few of those what the #?*! moments.
I would do like the others say, at the very least scrap the alum.

 

[Cujo6984]

Re: salvage trailer

any chance if cutting the tounge back a foot or so then moving the coupling back might make it a little shorter. depending on the style trailer should still function 100%

need pics

 

[hungupthespikes]

Re: salvage trailer

"How on earth do they punch holes in the rail webs with a forklift?
Without bending the I-beam all to hell."

I was a stock foreman for over 7 years before going skilled trades. We ran 250-400 trucks and 15-20 rail cars per day. Even a small forklift weighs more than a pickup and the forks are tapered so the psi is huge on the front of the forks. We've all seen the damage of a pickup backing into something with a trailer hitch, and a hitch is a lot bigger than the end of a fork. I've seen holes in trailers, rail cars, cement block walls and even 1" thick I beams that hold up the building. Most of the time just a hole and no other damage. Hole in boat trailer, no problem for a forklift.
OP just have the trailer welded at a good shop. The welder will know if you need the extra plates. Most likely it will not.
Just a note: My son just watched his 25 ft. Mako with twin Yamaha's fall 20 feet off a forklift, total loss of boat and motors. He said 30 sec. before the boat fell 2 guys were walking under the boat on the lift. He said it was common at the marina for people to walk under the lift when it was in the air. Please folks don't do that. A forklift can/do fail, loaded or not at anytime, without warning, I've seen it a ton of times and had to do the paperwork/investigation on the loss of material and damage.