Straightening out a trailer?

[AClark]

Nope, it was a ringer for @AClark 's trailer. Whoever listed that wreck for that price must be an eternal optimist, super salesman or drunk. Maybe all 3.

Maybe they meant $12.50 - that's more believable lol!

Killed a cheap angle grinder on it yesterday. One thing i will say is it looks rough but the metal on it is hard as a rock. I don't want to use the good Dewalt tools on it just in case, there's a big difference in a $20 Harbor Freight tool and a good one when you tear them up.

Looked closer at it and found out that I have 3 split rims on the trailer and 1 regular, plus the spare being a split rim. The spare's ring doesn't look none too slick, I rolled it off with the ring away from me because I don't trust those things at all. I know someone who was changing a split rim and it blew, lucky for him only his hand was in the way but it sure tore his hand up and broke it really bad.

We've been joking that we're going to name the trailer "Resur-wrecked-ted", it's such a mess that it's funny.

 

[Bruce]

Good thing I looked up "split rim" before I posted something stupid like "I'm so sorry that 4 of the 5 rims are bad and you have to replace them!"

What will the trailer's nickname be?

Sometimes the GOOD and EXPENSIVE tool can do the job without getting killed like an el cheapo from HF. There is a thread on a tractor forum titled "Harbor Freight Tools That Don't Suck". Kinda suggests more of them do than don't!

Is that baby girl making any moves to her grand entrance??

 

[greybeard]

My father, in his last 15 years, was bad about buying lots of stuff at auction and it accumulated in great quantities around the place I now live on. I visited him once and we needed to do some grinding and he hauled out a nib (new in box) 4" grinder. I put the abrasive wheel on it and it lasted about 4 minutes before the shaft started wobbling. He brought out 2 more and the did the same thing, so I took one apart. No metal bushing or bearing in the output shaft--just a piece of plastic for a bushing which wore out immediately. I still have one in an un-opened box, thinking "some day, I'll take it apart and make a bronze bushing or buy a bearing to fit it and have a good grinder" but probably never will.

About 12 years ago, I went to harbor freight and bought a cutoff saw (for steel cutting), a pancake compressor, a 1/2 hp router, a compound mitre saw, some bar clamps, and a couple of other power tools. None of them had power enough to really do anything with and I 'donated' all of them to local resale shop just to get rid of them. Hopefully their quality has improved since then.

 

[AClark]

4 out of 5 rims will be replaced because they are split rims though. They are incredibly difficult to get serviced, they require someone who not only knows how to do it, but has a cage to do it with. They used to put them on pickups in the early 70's or so, my parents 1969 Ford 3/4 ton has them. The military uses them but they are getting away from them too.

Still nothing on the baby, but I'm not expecting her to be a day early even. The rest of mine went 41-42 weeks anyway.

HF has some things that are a good price and don't break down. This was under warranty so it got sent back, I just don't want to torch a Dewalt the same way because it's much more to replace - the batteries for them cost more than several cheap HF ones lol. I usually stick to non-electric tools from HF, like if I need a special sized wrench I'll only use once, I'll get it there, otherwise I buy craftsman or something that has a good warranty so when I break it, it can go back.
This angle grinder wasn't hot or anything, it just quit - thought we blew the breaker or something but no, it just never came back on.
Usually I reserve HF for wire, cheap hand tools etc, but this was on sale and figured we would see how it held up rather than beating on our good one. Needless to say, it didn't hold up for more than about 10 minutes of cutting.

 

[AClark]

My father, in his last 15 years, was bad about buying lots of stuff at auction and it accumulated in great quantities around the place I now live on. I visited him once and we needed to do some grinding and he hauled out a nib (new in box) 4" grinder. I put the abrasive wheel on it and it lasted about 4 minutes before the shaft started wobbling. He brought out 2 more and the did the same thing, so I took one apart. No metal bushing or bearing in the output shaft--just a piece of plastic for a bushing which wore out immediately. I still have one in an un-opened box, thinking "some day, I'll take it apart and make a bronze bushing or buy a bearing to fit it and have a good grinder" but probably never will.

About 12 years ago, I went to harbor freight and bought a cutoff saw (for steel cutting), a pancake compressor, a 1/2 hp router, a compound mitre saw, some bar clamps, and a couple of other power tools. None of them had power enough to really do anything with and I 'donated' all of them to local resale shop just to get rid of them. Hopefully their quality has improved since then.

My mom does the whole stuff at auction thing, that turns into an organized "hoarding" situation. It's almost all car parts too, I ended up with 10 pairs of brake pads for my 1984 Dodge out of it - I'll still have brake pads for that truck for my grandkids to use, lol. She has stuff packed away everywhere, at least it's not in the house, but she's getting to the point that she's getting rid of some of it because it's either junk or she's never going to use it.

I might use our electric Dewalt skillsaw with a metal blade to take this down. The battery op dewalts hold up pretty nice but the battery life isn't so great and they take too long to charge. I tried the sawzall and I was going to be there all day trying to get through one of the thinner pieces. Maybe time to invest in a cutting torch and call it a day, lol

 

[Baymule]

I love the trailer name, you will have to paint it on the trailer. I'd get rid of the split rims, if you get a flat, just toss the whole thing and replace it.

 

[greybeard]

I hear some people say Northern Tool isn't as bad quality as HF, but unless they both have improved, that's kinda like saying Hitler wasn't quite as bad as Stalin..

My mom does the whole stuff at auction thing, that turns into an organized "hoarding" situation. It's almost all car parts too, I ended up with 10 pairs of brake pads for my 1984 Dodge out of it - I'll still have brake pads for that truck for my grandkids to use, lol. She has stuff packed away everywhere, at least it's not in the house, but she's getting to the point that she's getting rid of some of it because it's either junk or she's never going to use it.

I might use our electric Dewalt skillsaw with a metal blade to take this down. The battery op dewalts hold up pretty nice but the battery life isn't so great and they take too long to charge. I tried the sawzall and I was going to be there all day trying to get through one of the thinner pieces. Maybe time to invest in a cutting torch and call it a day, lol

It took me 18 months of hard work to clean up my father's estate. over 30 rollon/rolloff 8'x'8'x30' dumpsters, hauled load after load of old appliances and other metal items to the salvage yards, and hauled off over 60 vehicles. That, was just the stuff that would not burn. I burned tons of old furniture, 2 reg size pool tables, wooden pallets of every description by the hundreds.
Most of it rat and roach and termite infested. Some mornings, I woke up, sat on the steps of the old house, cried and asked God to give me the strength to get thru just one more day or it. Told my older sisters it was the worst thing I ever went thru, worse even than Vietnam.
I wouldn't wish it on anyone.

 

[Baymule]

Amen to that Greybeard. For the beautiful place you have now, it was all worth it.

 

[AClark]

Yeah, I don't get why mom keeps as much crap as she does either. Her house is clean, and not packed at all, but the barn, shipping container and two horse trailers are packed to the brim. She has a small travel trailer and the floor actually collapsed on the frame from the weight of the crap in it - it took my 1 ton pickup to move it, and you should be able to move this little camper with a car. I had an argument with mom last summer over a box from a horse trailer that was soaking wet and moldy, full of books but everything ruined. Took over an hour to convince her to let me burn it.

I dread the day it becomes my responsibility.

 

[Latestarter]

My younger sister is a hoarder. You've no doubt seen the show, or commercials about the show (or experienced it personally) that the occupant has a narrow little path to walk through to get anywhere inside... that is my sister. Her husband and her kids (now old enough) moved out because there was no room for them. Supposedly she has been working on cleaning it up but I have my doubts. Her son has inherited the problem, but in his case it is garage and outside with vehicles and vehicle parts. I keep very little (that includes pictures for those hassling me for not posting any) and still believe that I have too much "crap" on hand.

Anyway, hope you find the tools to do the job at minimum expense. I think sometimes you actually save time by using the expensive tool and moving a bit "slower" so as to not wear it out/damage it, rather than constantly wearing out and replacing cheaper tools. Bet you're probably plenty ready to have that child out and breathing air as well. Hope all goes well there!