Hopefully this will help some others out in the same situation as I am in....

Recently I purchased a 87" 3DHS Extra. Still assembling it, but I didn't really have a way to haul it. I have a 1999 Ford 4x4 SD long bed crew cab with a v10. A lot of room, but a lot of gas to run. I also have a 2002 Honda Cr-v, not a lot of room, but 28 miles to the gallon. At a recent FLI I got 6 30cc planes, 2 51", couple foamys and my gear. it was a sight! No way to do this with the 87.

So here is what I did.

I do buy a lot of things from HK, but always build my own trailers. I got the 1175# gross with the 12" wheels. It is the fold up type. Comes complete with tires, 1 7/8" hitch, lights, hardware. I chose this one because the shipping weight is under 150#(nice and light for a CR-v to haul. I already haul a 4x7 trailer I made with the cr-v with a 550# foreman with no problem.

Total cost around $500. The trailer is usually a little over $300, but you can get it on sale, then I had a 20% off coupon, then bought it on a tax free weekend. Total for the trailer was around $240. 7 sheets of 3/4" ply around $30 each, some hardware and a gallon of primer and a gallon of exterior gray.

So on with the build and pictures.

So far really a oneman job. Nothing that heavy or hard.

My design was to keep it 8' long, go up 4' but go wider. keeping some pieces a full 4x8 helps on the cost a bit. But I ditched the fenders and ran the ply over the wheels. My tractor trailer I build this way, wider deck, no fenders. The overall width now is about 68". That extra room is a bunch!

To make this work I lowered the axle with some spacers. The leaf design is not a standard with shackles, so this made lifting the deck a little harder. Couple new square U bolts and I was good to go. I have about 3.5" of clearance.

Another thing about this design is it is multi-purpose. I have a ZTR mower I may need to haul. All of the sides and roof bolt on with blind nuts. So that impack, a helper and it's a flat bed in about 10 minutes!

I also dropped the small leaf to take some of the stiffness out of it.

Once the deck was done it's just a simple box build. I put 1x2 cleats on the top and bottom for the blind nuts.

Now just some finishing touches. The drop tongue(for a tile deck) works nice to save a little space in the garage. For now I have room to keep it inside. After looking around and thinking about a door, I saw sportflyers2 trailer at a recent huckfest and saw his ramp door. Wow probably the easiest to build. A latch at the top will secure it and a couple 3/8" blind nuts to help snug it up. Hopefully no one will mess with it.

And the test with some planes. I also copied Zed's bars. Instead of some expandable from HK, I had some 3/4" tubing and 1/2" bar. The screw to the sides and can flex a bit up and down and in and out.

I hope this gives yall some ideas. It's nice and light and cheap and doesn't take up a lot of room. First long pull will be to Oktoberfest 2012!!

Thanks,
Rob

Awesome job! Not having a trailer is the reason I haven't assembled my 3DHS 87” SHP. This may be the solution for me as well. Thanks for sharing.

Cool. But what is HK?

I think Rob means HF (Harbor Freight)

This is a cool build, I have looked at those extensively but my condo association frowns on storing that sort of thing in the driveway

Rob I would check with the BMV about mudflaps, I know here in Ohio thats one of the quickest ways to a ticket is not having any mudflaps on your trailer

Originally Posted by robj

And the test with some planes. I also copied Zed's bars. Instead of some expandable from HK, I had some 3/4" tubing and 1/2" bar. The screw to the sides and can flex a bit up and down and in and out.

I hope this gives yall some ideas. It's nice and light and cheap and doesn't take up a lot of room. First long pull will be to Oktoberfest 2012!!

Thanks,
Rob

Your suppose to return the US postal boxes

Ah, I was wondering if HK has branched out into trailers

Originally Posted by jsmith285

Your suppose to return the US postal boxes

Yup....Federal Violation....... but we won't tell...

SteveT

Originally Posted by joshet89

Rob I would check with the BMV about mudflaps, I know here in Ohio thats one of the quickest ways to a ticket is not having any mudflaps on your trailer

Had to think about "BMV" as in California, it is "DMV".... Department, as opposed to Bureau...

SteveT

Originally Posted by SteveT.

Had to think about "BMV" as in California, it is "DMV".... Department, as opposed to Bureau...

SteveT

LOL I was thinking BMW. Yea down here its "DPS" Dept of Public Safety. But Rob is in LA, don't think he has to worry, you shoud see some of the things on the road down here.

Originally Posted by Eagle34

LOL I was thinking BMW. Yea down here its "DPS" Dept of Public Saftey. But Rob is in LA, don't think he has to worry, you shoud see some of the things on the road down here.

Yup....at first it was ..wait....BMW??? I thought he said he was going to haul it with a Honda....

SteveT