dabelltoller Posted May 22, 2011 Share Posted May 22, 2011 (edited) hey everyone, the other post happen to beunder my name graintruck but for some rson i can't sign on to it. im posting some photos of my wilson grain hopper im scratch building. since i last posted its gotten a suspention, the tarp support bows, the support beams for the hoppers, the crank bar and u-joints to open the hoppers. and also put on the trim on outside. i must say this has been a fun build doing ot all from scratch i've learned alot and if i was to build another on i know or rather have a better plan of attack!at this point im having trouble finding marker lights for the trailer and how to make 40 foot long racthet straps to go atop the bows, i tried useing shoe laces but they are too thick so ill keep looking. also the tarp its self on top is a tuff call too not sure what to do but will maybe make a tarp that pops on and off. here below is the link for the new photos the album that says wilson is the first set of photos My link please tell me what you think i need your reviews to no matter how harsh they help me power on thanks folks enjoy!!! Edited May 22, 2011 by dabelltoller Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim B Posted May 22, 2011 Share Posted May 22, 2011 Excellent job. Looks really nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Johnny Posted May 22, 2011 Share Posted May 22, 2011 Nice! Looks almost like the ones that go by just outside our balcony window every day!(and night, wish the wouldn't use the jake at 3am!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmeryvilleCOE Posted May 22, 2011 Share Posted May 22, 2011 Real nice job! That looks very cool. Nice detail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Semi Trailer Mechanic Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 Well Done... I can give ya some insight on tarps. I use to be a trailer mechanic for a trash hauling trucking company. The prefered tarp was made by Mountain Tarp Inc... I'm guessing you're building whats called a roll over tarp. The anchor bar if I remember was 1,1/8"OD the length of the tarp. The anchor bar mounts and tarp stops may be tricky to scratch build. Usually the tarp will be mounted on the trailers' curb side so the driver just rolls the tarp over from the road side. I did some experimenting making a tarp using fine curtain material. That worked good. On the rool over tarps I have experience w/ were heavy vynal nearly leather. But in the center was nylon mesh. The problem w/ working in scale size using actuall vynal the material cut to that size is too stout and doesn't form fit and looks highly unproportioned. So I used a solid black curtain for the vynal part of the tarp and a black sheer curtain to make the inside mesh part. My ex girlfriend showed me a trick to attach the materials togather. She used a strip that use place on the material then lay the other piece material ti join to it and run an iron over it. The strip was designed to adhere the materials togather from the heat of an iron. It works awesome!!! On the 1:1 tarps they have pockets sewn in the length of the tarp on both sides. One for the anchor bar and the other for the roll bar opposite side. KS tubing worked perfect. The 1:1 tarp bars were 15' sections. The just one end is tapered so it inserts flush into the other section then you weld the seam. When I installed/repaired those taprs on the walking floors the achor bar I made the length of the tarp. That didn't go anywhere hence it's name. The roll bar I would make long enough to extend 18" outside the tarp on both ends. This is because sometimes as the driver is rolling it(opening) sometimes they get sideways and if that bar is just the length of the trailer and gets sideways then it'll fall down inside a trailer. Then the driver has to get inside the trailer and fish the tarp out. When drivers get paid per the load and they have to take time to fish out the tarp they get upset to say the least. For your straps use 3mm wide ribbon you can find in a craft section. Rough them up a little to get the sheen off. Mountain Tarp has black straps only. These straps have a bull ring sewn on one end. Installing the straps to the tarp was simple you just take a razor and cut slits in the tarp directly behind the rollbar. Feed the strap up under the tarp and around the bar and then feed the end thru that ring and pull it straight down. The ratchets are mounted to the trailer in two ways. One, they can be mounted solid by opening up the ratch drilling a hole in the side of the trailer and using a tapered end 3/8 bolt. That's the easiest. The problem w/ that was as the truck's in transit the wind is tring to pull the trailer off an it elongated the hole that bolt is in and gets loose then ya gotta drill another hole and remount the ratchet because it got loose. I've seen them come off if left unattended too long. Then the driver usues a bungee strap hooked to the rathcet to hold strap tight LOL. The other way is a mount that gets welded to the trailer. This is the best but when you're in a service truck at a transfer station 150miles from the shop you have to resort to the first method. If you were to look at the mount fromt the side it might resemble this here----> _l-l_ On the ratchets i s a bolt I wanna say a half inch bolt the hex is 13/16 if I remember. You take that bolt out then take the ratchet and bolt it to that mount and they hang. The bad thing about that is when empty and the tarp is open /secured as the trailer hits bumps they tend to bounce and make the side of the trailer. Considering the trailers I worked on were trash haulers that wasn't an issue. But if it's a well taken care of hopper then the farmer might be upset having the ratchet slapping the side of his trailer. I hope this gave ya a little insight on understanding the tarps 1:1 and the tips to make a scale size tarp. I almost forgot on the tarp is a handle the driver uses to roll open the tarp. Some are attached the the roll bar itself and others the handle is removable. Either version there is a small u-joint at the end of the handle that allows it to be able to rotate as the driver turns it to roll open the tarp. On the removable handle version the bar would hang on the side of the trailer. What I did was I took the tapr stops and unsed the mounting brackets used for the tarps anchor bar for the handle mounts I took the aluminum stops off . ( those were always getting bent and have to be replaced so the stops I just kept in my service trusks' inventory) then I just mounted those brackets to the side of the trailer the length of the bar. Since the handle was basically made from the same OD pipe the achor bars were they worked perfect. Then I would take a bungee strap remove one s hook mount that centered between the mounts. Next I cut one end off so the bungee was a few inches short. I carefully drilled a hole in the end of the strap then I drilled a hole in the trailer. I used the same tapered bolts used to mount the ratcheds solid and a fender washer and screwed the strap to the trailer. This is used to secure the handle tight. Screwing it to the trailer was my way of making it fail safe from the strap getting lost. Again I hope this gave ya some ideas how to make your tarp. GOOD LUCK!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dabelltoller Posted May 23, 2011 Author Share Posted May 23, 2011 Well Done... I can give ya some insight on tarps. I use to be a trailer mechanic for a trash hauling trucking company. The prefered tarp was made by Mountain Tarp Inc... I'm guessing you're building whats called a roll over tarp. The anchor bar if I remember was 1,1/8"OD the length of the tarp. The anchor bar mounts and tarp stops may be tricky to scratch build. Usually the tarp will be mounted on the trailers' curb side so the driver just rolls the tarp over from the road side. I did some experimenting making a tarp using fine curtain material. That worked good. On the rool over tarps I have experience w/ were heavy vynal nearly leather. But in the center was nylon mesh. The problem w/ working in scale size using actuall vynal the material cut to that size is too stout and doesn't form fit and looks highly unproportioned. So I used a solid black curtain for the vynal part of the tarp and a black sheer curtain to make the inside mesh part. My ex girlfriend showed me a trick to attach the materials togather. She used a strip that use place on the material then lay the other piece material ti join to it and run an iron over it. The strip was designed to adhere the materials togather from the heat of an iron. It works awesome!!! On the 1:1 tarps they have pockets sewn in the length of the tarp on both sides. One for the anchor bar and the other for the roll bar opposite side. KS tubing worked perfect. The 1:1 tarp bars were 15' sections. The just one end is tapered so it inserts flush into the other section then you weld the seam. When I installed/repaired those taprs on the walking floors the achor bar I made the length of the tarp. That didn't go anywhere hence it's name. The roll bar I would make long enough to extend 18" outside the tarp on both ends. This is because sometimes as the driver is rolling it(opening) sometimes they get sideways and if that bar is just the length of the trailer and gets sideways then it'll fall down inside a trailer. Then the driver has to get inside the trailer and fish the tarp out. When drivers get paid per the load and they have to take time to fish out the tarp they get upset to say the least. For your straps use 3mm wide ribbon you can find in a craft section. Rough them up a little to get the sheen off. Mountain Tarp has black straps only. These straps have a bull ring sewn on one end. Installing the straps to the tarp was simple you just take a razor and cut slits in the tarp directly behind the rollbar. Feed the strap up under the tarp and around the bar and then feed the end thru that ring and pull it straight down. The ratchets are mounted to the trailer in two ways. One, they can be mounted solid by opening up the ratch drilling a hole in the side of the trailer and using a tapered end 3/8 bolt. That's the easiest. The problem w/ that was as the truck's in transit the wind is tring to pull the trailer off an it elongated the hole that bolt is in and gets loose then ya gotta drill another hole and remount the ratchet because it got loose. I've seen them come off if left unattended too long. Then the driver usues a bungee strap hooked to the rathcet to hold strap tight LOL. The other way is a mount that gets welded to the trailer. This is the best but when you're in a service truck at a transfer station 150miles from the shop you have to resort to the first method. If you were to look at the mount fromt the side it might resemble this here----> _l-l_ On the ratchets i s a bolt I wanna say a half inch bolt the hex is 13/16 if I remember. You take that bolt out then take the ratchet and bolt it to that mount and they hang. The bad thing about that is when empty and the tarp is open /secured as the trailer hits bumps they tend to bounce and make the side of the trailer. Considering the trailers I worked on were trash haulers that wasn't an issue. But if it's a well taken care of hopper then the farmer might be upset having the ratchet slapping the side of his trailer. I hope this gave ya a little insight on understanding the tarps 1:1 and the tips to make a scale size tarp. I almost forgot on the tarp is a handle the driver uses to roll open the tarp. Some are attached the the roll bar itself and others the handle is removable. Either version there is a small u-joint at the end of the handle that allows it to be able to rotate as the driver turns it to roll open the tarp. On the removable handle version the bar would hang on the side of the trailer. What I did was I took the tapr stops and unsed the mounting brackets used for the tarps anchor bar for the handle mounts I took the aluminum stops off . ( those were always getting bent and have to be replaced so the stops I just kept in my service trusks' inventory) then I just mounted those brackets to the side of the trailer the length of the bar. Since the handle was basically made from the same OD pipe the achor bars were they worked perfect. Then I would take a bungee strap remove one s hook mount that centered between the mounts. Next I cut one end off so the bungee was a few inches short. I carefully drilled a hole in the end of the strap then I drilled a hole in the trailer. I used the same tapered bolts used to mount the ratcheds solid and a fender washer and screwed the strap to the trailer. This is used to secure the handle tight. Screwing it to the trailer was my way of making it fail safe from the strap getting lost. Again I hope this gave ya some ideas how to make your tarp. GOOD LUCK!!! hey thats so much info thanks but yes this is a replica of the 2011 wilson trailer i pull and you got all your numbers and facts right. yeah i was looking at using cloth for the tarp i just wasnt sure what kind and how to go about it. all i can reply with is thank you for the info again and again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dabelltoller Posted May 23, 2011 Author Share Posted May 23, 2011 also folks with the comment about the u joint truck mecanic made how do i go about making or getting a working scale u-joint could it be done ? i 'd love it if i could make my tarp open and close Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.