The ‘RAITH Party Cart….

[alwaysFlOoReD]

I like it. Kind of looks like a casket too.

 

[RobbieD]

Hey, it’s only zillions of hours…

That's better than having to pay somebody a zillion dollars to do it for you . . .

The box for fenders definitely has potential.

 

[sgtsandman]

I'm brain fuzzy from sleep deprivation (A shift change with drill weekend thrown in as a bonus). So, I'm not following on what you are doing with the fenders. The hamster wheel in the old brain pan is just not spinning correctly. So, I'm going to just sit back and watch as you update on the progress.

 

[Rick W]

I'm brain fuzzy from sleep deprivation (A shift change with drill weekend thrown in as a bonus). So, I'm not following on what you are doing with the fenders. The hamster wheel in the old brain pan is just not spinning correctly. So, I'm going to just sit back and watch as you update on the progress.

Sounds good. Let me start with a basic thing. When it rains, tires can throw water and mud everywhere. The fenders keep it pointed out into the ground.

More to follow

 

[Rick W]

Seriously, you know how you can buy the exhaust pipe kits that have all the different bends, and turns, etc., so you can put together a custom system yourself without a bending machine or mandrel machine? And then you have some stuff left over?

When I look at one of those big aluminum truck boxes, I see a diamond plate fabrication kit. Especially if I picked one up for $30 or $40, or for free as was this case, I get however many square feet of diamond plate, but almost more importantly, you have the corners and the breaks and the different bends and welds that you can cut out and use for different things. A prime example were the tail light assemblies on the Road Ranger.

(EDIT: Picture those two black light assemblies upside down. They were the face of the toolbox that sat on the sides of the truck bed. I had to cut a 4 inch hole for the stoplight, but everything else was a surface mount LED, all I had to do was drill a few little holes.)

Those corner pieces were strategically cut out of another free box, and I only had to cut the holes for the lights. Cooler than anything I could’ve fabricated.

My original thought for the fenders on the ‘Raith was much more simple. I was simply going to use the 6 foot long lid, and cut it down the middle lengthwise. That gave me the right width for a double fender, with that really well constructed double turn down on the outside, which gives the edge of the fender a lot of strength. That’s basically what I did for the step trailer.

I won’t hash it out again, but I was having headaches with this one, and I just wasn’t liking the way I thought it was going to look, and then the whole fat chick sitting on it issue. Then I had the brainstorm of using the box with those custom breaks and corners and welds, and just turn it upside down and cut down the height.

Progress so far:

A lot more work, but it will mirror the casket, and I think it will just look much better when finished.

This box was pretty beat up, but the aluminum is pretty easy to straighten out, and I’m going to paint these fenders anyway, so the rough finish doesn’t matter.

More to follow…

 

[Rick W]

I got the box cut down and made the two fenders, but they need a lot of cleaning up. I also mounted all six fender mounts. Right now the brackets are too long. I’ll trim the ends off so they miss the tires by about 3/4”.

Ran out of daylight, and I’m exhausted, but I’m happy with the way it’s going now again.

BTW, the way I cut them out, I only had to make one fold to get that 1 inch rise. But with the ends on them, I didn’t have any way to bend them.

I marked them on the inside, and then I created a groove with my angle grinder. Then I used a cut off wheel on my other angle grinder to make that cut a little deeper without going all the way through. Then I clamped down the piece on the tail of that trailer frame, and just muscled it over to a 90° bend. The first side, I didn’t want to cut all the way through by accident, and it took a while. I still got a little crack, won’t show after I clean it up. The second side took about 15 minutes after I figured out the technique.

 

[Rick W]

I went out this afternoon and finished up the fenders. Note these are the outer fenders, there are plans for the inside side.

I squared them up and secured them with self tapping screws. Those screws will be replaced with rivets a little bit down the road, but I had to get them “done” so I could go onto the next steps. I’m pretty happy with them..

I made patch panels for the toolbox handle holes, and I bonded them as I screwed them, caulked the openings, and then used some of the wrong color red as a primer.

With that, the next step was to do the tongue. After fixing the oxygen cart tire and filling it with air, I moved the jack over and got the sawhorses out from underneath the ‘Raith. For the first time, other than in a drawing, or my imagination, it’s sitting on the ground under its own power!!!

Well, actually, that’s gravity, it has no internal power.

I needed it on the ground to make sure I would put the hitch in at the right height..

I worked extensively with Lincoln and Steve (Steve is the squirrel who lives in my attic), and developed sophisticated blueprints for the tongue assembly.

And then mocked it up:

I already had a couple beers, so I elected to chop the aluminum and steel and drill and weld it tomorrow.

But it led me to another design dilemma. The original plan, front to back, was the tongue box, the barbers chair, the gas grill, and the casket. When the calculations told me that was too long, I changed it to the tongue box, the gas grill (facing the other way), and the casket, where I could sit on the edge of the casket as a grilled.

Now that I see it on the ground, I’m thinking I might sit on the tongue box, turn the gas grill back around and butt it up to the casket, and grill that way.

The only practical consideration is that when the gas grill lid flips up, it will interfere with the casket lid, or with the tongue box lid, but I don’t imagine using the tongue box while I’m grilling.

To reverse it again, I only have to move one piece of the 4 inch channel cross-section.

It’s very difficult to be a design genius on these things

 

[RobbieD]

What's gonna be hilarious, is when you do pull that thing, oncoming traffic is going to pull over to the shoulder and turn on their headlights, thinking that you're a funeral.


Cultural context: This is a custom we have down south; and perhaps in other parts of the country, too.

 

[Rick W]

I am curious what some of y’all might think. If you look at that last picture, the casket comes up to the cross piece on the left (where the toolbox lid is sitting right now).

The bigger rectangle is a pocket where the gas grill will sit, on the right. The smaller rectangle is where my 13Ws will sit if I’m sitting on the Casket. I actually did mock it up with the gas grill on the ground to make sure I had room to stand or sit without burning my nose hairs out. To reverse the seating and the grill, I would just need to flip that center crosspiece.

One of my biggest hesitations is that if the gas grill is next to the Casket, you have to close the lid of the gas grill to open up the Casket to grab a beer. But the way I have it now, my back would be to the casket, which is the obvious focal point of the whole contraption.

Keep in mind that the gas grill, with the extra burner on one side, and the same size wing on the other side, is about as wide as the fenders are now. If I keep it up front, it’s going to look like the bridge on the Edmund Fitzgerald. If I flip it around, it seems to me there is a more cosmetically appealing transition from the narrow tongue to the tongue box/seat to the grill, and then the casket. And I would be facing the casket, which is where the action is.

Does anybody else have these kinds of concerns?

One last thought is a little bit on safety. If the gas grill is forward, it’s hard to imagine somebody would touch a hot surface, trying to dive into the casket. I am planning on putting some step up rails, but if the grill is next to the casket, it might be a natural place for somebody to mistakenly put their hand down on a hot surface.

And one final final thought. Obviously, the casket only opens from one side. I can reverse it head to toe, so the access to the beer would be from the back, and not the center of the contraption. Remember, I’m dividing it into three sections.

Which brings up the final final final thought. With the beer on the front end, there’s great balance on the trailer. If I move the beer to the last compartment, it would literally be over the back axle, and that might not be the best arrangement.

I usually put components in place when I do something like this, so I can see how they will work out. But I’m guessing that Casket is 300 pounds, so I’m not looking forward to moving it on and off more than once.

 

[Rick W]

What's gonna be hilarious, is when you do pull that thing, oncoming traffic is going to pull over to the shoulder and turn on their headlights, thinking that you're a funeral.


Cultural context: This is a custom we have down south; and perhaps in other parts of the country, too.

I am familiar with the custom. I don’t really think anybody will confuse me for a funeral procession, but that doesn’t mean they won’t be scared to death and pull over to the shoulder anyway when they see me coming.

 

[Rick W]

Cut and drilled the aluminum cross braces to hold the receiver tube, and I made the weld on bolt cleats for the sides of the receiver tube that I will bolt into them, but it started raining, so I gave up for the evening.

 

[Rick W]

Last night I got the receiver tube welded up, took a break and ate some dinner, and then put a little paint on it when it cooled down.

Today I assembled the whole thing. Usually, I’m a big believer in function over form and I don’t mind if a couple of things aren’t just so. For some reason I’m looking for better detail on this thing.

When I cut the two long pieces of channel for the main frame, I didn’t even worry if they were the same length as long as they were long enough, figuring I would cut them down once I tapered them in around the toolbox. Cutting them relatively close was pretty easy, but squaring them up around the receiver turned out to be a giant pain in the rump.

I ran the Skil saw over the top side to side to square up the top of the nose, but it only cut down about 2 1/2 inches out of the four. The cut off wheel would’ve taken forever, and I was afraid of using the wheel of death. I tried the saws all, but it was almost impossible to get the cuts straight and parallel. If it went haywire, I didn’t have a lot to lose in the length.

I ended up digging in the shed of miracles, and I found 24 grit resin sanding discs from a former life. These are the ones that go on a rubber pad with a bolt through the middle and you use them on a drill. I used my big half-inch drill, and it was working pretty well, but you could tell it was still going to take half of forever.

I went back to the wheel of death, but I didn’t try to cut the aluminum the way the sawblade was designed. Rather, I held the wheel perpendicular to what I wanted to remove, and also at a downward angle, and I gently just slid it over the edge, very similar to the sanding disc. This was after I practiced the technique on some scrap. I did it in a way where there was no opportunity for the teeth to grab on anything. It actually worked very well.

That let me get the two channels to be mirror images of each other, but rough, and then I use the 24 grit sanding disc to clean them up. It took a while, but it came out great.

When I do things like this, I always pre-drill my bolt holes a little bit too small. Then I clamp the pieces together, and run the right size drill bit through the pieces so the holes are perfectly lined up. That worked well as well. The only problem I had was I galded a couple more of those half-inch cheap stainless bolts I got (before they bottomed out). I still don’t understand that. One was even after I lubed it with PB blaster.

Next step is the gas grill. I have it ready to mount, but I think the better part of valor is the fire it up and check it out before I load it on the trailer, while I can still flip it over and work underneath, etc.

& then there’s the grass….

 

[Rick W]

First thing I did today was dig in the hitch pile, and a 1 7/8 coupler was the first thing I found. I never use them, but I mounted it to a 2 x 2 tube as a temp, so I could move the trailer around. Trailer dolly had a flat, but it held air all day after I pumped it up. Project for another day.

I pulled it out to clean underneath it before the next step. There were so many aluminum shavings and ribbons and chips and bits and pieces on the driveway, it looked like it had snowed! I dragged it all with my wide magnet to pick up the screws and the welding rod stubs, etc., and then I just blew it off the brick, so it wouldn’t be grinding in my back anymore when I tackle the wiring and such.

I did a detailed inspection of the gas grill. Really the only thing that was wrong was that the connector to the propane tank was broken, the hose that has the regulator built-in. Of course I had a couple in the shed of miracles, so that was no biggie. I went through all the burners and the hinges, etc. etc., I couldn’t find anything wrong.

I stood up and hooked up a propane tank, and everything seemed to work the way it was supposed to (except the igniter). Yeah!

I had already removed the base, so the top is just sitting on the sheet metal walls right now. They’re very high-quality stainless, but it’s pretty top heavy and flimsy without the base. I had it sitting on the step trailer. Instead of trying to muscle it over to the new trailer, I tilted it on its side, and then moved the new trailer right next to it, so all I had to do was kind of lean it up and slide it into the hole. Worked like a charm.

It was pretty wobbly, so I temp clamped the bottom in a couple places, and then I ran a ratchet strap over the top, just for the 10 foot forward, and 15 foot backwards trip to the workstation again.

I used the same holes in the bottom of the sheet metal and four 5/16 bolts to bolt it down to the trailer. Removing the base lowered it about four or 5 inches, and I have it mounted so it’s actually flush with the bottom of the 4 inch channel, which brought the whole height down. Once I had it bolted down, I don’t think you could knock it over with a good field tackle.

I had positioned everything in the driveway before I measured out the channel, but I still think I might have the gas grill a little too close to the casket to stand between them and grill. No biggie, because I have about a foot of play forward and back with a casket.

Next step, I’m going to cut an aluminum floor for inside the gas grill, and cut out two round holes for the rings of the propane tanks to drop through. I’m also planning on making some braces that will sit on top of the channel and bolt into the sheet metal sides. I still have to put the outside burner, and the opposite utility table back on, but I’m probably going to do that close to last.

And after I get the floor in the grill and I’m sure it’s very secure, I think I’m going to slide the casket onto the back. I need to do that to make sure I’ve got the room between it and the gas grill, but I hope to have it bolted down before the end of the day tomorrow as well.

I also have to make some kind of legs for the front for when it’s parked. I’m thinking of mounting some temporary wheels (little bicycle wheels?) at the width of the trailer wheels so I can pull it on top of the step trailer. Once I get the casket located, I can tackle that because the balance will affect it.

Enough fun for today. I can’t believe I did all that in the grass still needs to be cut….

 

[Rick W]

Afterthought, but moving it with the dolly - it was light as a feather. After I loaded the gas grille, maybe two feathers.

 

[Rick W]

Retractable loading & support front wheels questions:

I’ve already mentioned, I’d like to load this thing on the back of the step trailer from time to time. Not because it makes any sense or I have a great need, I just think it’s another cool thing to do with all this junk.

I’m thinking of putting a set of wheels on the front end, about even with where the frame bends in for the tongue. In my original vision/delusion they were simply there to allow the front of the trailer to roll up the ramps without scraping the bottom anywhere while I winch it up. Of course, they would be have to be sitting at the width of the main wheels and tires to line up with the ramp.

I picked up my $15 ramps a while ago, and the tread pattern is such that I don’t need a real large diameter wheel to roll on them. So I have a lot of flexibility on the front wheels.

They don’t have to be level with the rear tires since this ramp activity is their only use, but of course they can’t be in the way when I’m towing the trailer. So I could mount them higher off the ground, but they’d still be sticking out a ways if I mount them solid.

So then I had the thought of making a simple retraction mechanism like a Grumman World War II Duck. They could fold out and down when I need them, and fold in and up when not in use. Mine would not have to tuck in, it would simply be a matter of practicality to have them go down and lock, and come up and lock.

When I was working on the grille on the trailer yesterday, with a single point holding up the front, the trailer can weeble wobble wiggle. I don’t know if this is a matter of the aluminum frame, or just the play in the spring connections, but it dawned on me having two front legs instead of one is going to be desirable for when I’m using it. Obviously these two wheels could serve that purpose, but then I would need them to go down further, so the deck would be level. I am not opposed to installing fold up wheels, and also installing a couple drop down legs if the wheel mechanism gets too complex or too heavy

So, while I was thinking of all of that, I had the thought that when it’s sitting on the ground, and not connected to anything, there still may be a need to move it a little bit, and with two wheels in front, the wheels would need to steer.

That lead me to 15 minutes of research back to the Ackerman steering geometry I studied in engineering school.

That gave me a headache, and I did a little more research on how a fancy Radio Flyer wagon steers.

To keep my planning and design reasonable, I walked through the shed of miracles to see what equipment and parts were available, and I remembered that I picked up one of those high end, three wheel, jog behind, canvas, baby strollers at Goodwill a while back ($15). The wheels are like bicycle wheels, but they’re only about 16 inches in diameter, and the pair is rated for 250 pounds more or less.

That triggered the sparkles and funny colors and loud noises in my head when I think of these things, and I said, if I use those wheels, this thing will look like a top fuel dragster with a casket on top like the Munsters drag casket Drag U. La:

That led me to thinking about Yvonne De Carlo (Lily Munster), which was great, but really didn’t help my productivity on the trailer at all.

Soooo, here’s the question. It’s easy enough to do the wagon steering, and it’s easy enough to do the fold up wheels. Is there a good SIMPLE way to be able to do both?