Boat-to-Generator Trailer

[duaneb55]

Well it's not gonna be a '4shorts' by any stretch of the imagination but here are some shots of a boat-to-generator trailer converstion my son and I are working on. The trailer was a 'freebee' from one of the guys my son works with and the generator is another project altogether. I'll let the photos tell the story and just point out that everything is just set together for a test fit at this point. There's a lot of cleaning up to do before welding begins as the years of being backed into the salt and brackish water here in SE Texas has left it's mark on the old girl. With all the surplus boat trailers out there this type of conversion should prove to be rather cost effective if it fits the bill as this one does. Plans call for a 5.4 cu.ft. TSC toolbox ahead of the generator on the A-frame area for power cables, spare engine filters, oil, etc storage.

[4shorts]

Originally Posted by duaneb55

Well it's not gonna be a '4shorts' by any stretch of the imagination but here are some shots of a boat-to-generator trailer converstion my son and I are working on.

The way I see it is your going to build it with your son which is a great bonus in it's self plus it's going to cost a lot less then I spent on mine and the end result will be the same.
It's a great idea to reuse another type of trailer. Good thinking. My wife is still mad at me for spending to much on mine I can't show her yours because that won't help my case at all so let keep this project between us

I'll look forward to seeing more shots of your project and thanks for the honorable mention

[STwelder]

Excellent way to improvise! Cant wait to see it all finished.

[GSteve]

Wow! Already you can't tell it wasn't a boat trailer.

[duaneb55]

A $120 HF sand blaster and a bunch of sand later the frame pieces were cleaned up this afternoon and welded together. We bought the blaster last week and picked up the media this morning on the way home from the airport because I wanted to keep going on the project. You can see in the weld pics how pitted some of the areas are from the years of salt/brackish water around here but it's still a solid running gear. Still need to clean off the buckshot, blast the axle, suspension and wheels and then get everything primed and painted. Gonna be out of town next weekend and the boy goes back to college next week so it will be awhile before we can get back on it after today.

[duaneb55]

A few more pics. The second one (for one) shows I need to work on my vertical at least.

[Sandy]

Verticles look fine from here. As deep as some of those rust pits were, you'd had a horrible time with out a sand blaster.

[stevinator]

That's lookin good,I like when stuff is recycled to another useful function.

[duaneb55]

Originally Posted by Sandy

Verticles look fine from here. As deep as some of those rust pits were, you'd had a horrible time with out a sand blaster.

Thanks Sandy for the kind words but I really do need to improve on my vertical up and get more consistent with the other directions. Some of my problem was back-glare with my new auto darkening hood. Once I shielded the light from coming in the back of the hood I could actually see.

Originally Posted by stevinator

That's lookin good,I like when stuff is recycled to another useful function.

Then you'll appreciate the generator that's going on this thing. It's a 'recycled' Lombardini 2-cylinder diesel that once drove a direct coupled water pump and is now going to drive a 10K HF belt drive unit. Generator was special ordered last week (when we bought the blaster) and is due in this week. The Lombo was a freebee! Just had to get it running which only took a couple Saturdays.

Can never have enough generators here in hurricane county.

[tanglediver]

Hey Duane, nice job! Do yourself a favor, on the bottom of your sandblaster, spray paint the connectors with some gloss paint as they are prone to heavy rusting over time.

Why I know this is classified information.
I could tell you, but then, I don't want to have to shoot anybody!

[74fencer]

Nice work, i look forward to more pics!

[Joker11]

Nice salvage job!
I hope my boy wants to work on stuff with me when he is in college too!
Can't wait to see your finished setup!