Trailer galvanising

[frankS]

Noel. I always make my own bolts. Buy lengths of Stainless all thread and a heap of nuts and cut the all thread to length I need and weld nut onto end and you have the perfect sized bolt every time. A bit time consuming but it saves the frustrations of not having the right bolts and nuts. Also make my own washers from plate.

Trailer looking good , only problem by the time it's finished the summer season will be almost gone.

Oh well there's always the winter Snapper and kings as well as the John Dory and Hairtail to catch.

Frank

[noelm]

Plenty of time for fishing (I hope), I did think about making bolts, but just bought them, they were cheap enough, high tensile and the right length. I need some stainless rod to make two extra long roller shafts, not too sure where I can get that in short lengths.

[Fab1]

You forgot to follow rule #1and #2.

Rule #1 Never buy Nuts & Bolts from Bunnings or ask the morons working there anything as in my experience going there for the last few decades my 10yr old nephew knows more than those incompetent clowns.

Rule# 2 always go to a good Fastener supplier for all your fastener needs as they have thousands of different types and more often than not at a fraction of the price than the rubbish sold at the green shed and much better quality.The more you buy the cheaper it is in bulk.

One last question to you @noelm….By tapping out the threads and drilling out I would of thought you’d compromise the galvanising exposing bare metal?

 Great work thus far on trailer mate.

[noelm]

Yeah, it probably does remove some of the gal in the threads, but, the bolts are going to be covered in grease, all bolts/nuts on my trailers get smothered in grease before use, then every 6-12 months or so I spray them with Lanolin, most times I can undo them years later for repairs, that's why/how I am able to use lots of the old bits and pieces.

[Green Hornet]

Keep in mind that Bunnings is a hardware/building supplies store, not an engineering shop. I can say in my life as a builder, I never needed or was specified to use a 14mm bolt. Plenty of 12 and 16mm, but never a 14.

Good to hear you’re happy with the galvanizing job. As good as the old Port Kembla galvanizing plant was, man they used to “lose” a lot of stuff. More often than not when I sent steel up there something would go missing. How do you “lose” a 6.0 meter I beam LOL.

When I first left school, my first job was assembling Jawar boat trailers and after galvanizing, first job as soon as the frame hit the rack was to tap out all the bolt holes (done with an air powered rattle gun in those days) otherwise there was no way you get a bolt in. Maybe hot dip galvanizing has changed since the early 70’s, I don’t know.

Anyway, glad to see the trailer is coming along nicely mate. Looks great.

[noelm]

Yep, I have has stuff "lost" when I took it to the galvanising place at Port Kembla in the years ago. Most of the same people work there, except the actual plant operators, I asked the booking guy if they will open again and he kind of said he doubted it, laying idle for so long, it would cost heaps to get it all up and running. As it stands, it's kind of no different, you drive in, they unload your stuff, give you the paper work and you go, not knowing it's all going to another city to be done. Tapping out bolts is necessary, zinc just fills the threads, sometimes it's just a clean out, sometimes it's a drill and tap, like some of mine. About the bolts, 9/16" is not exactly rare, and why they jump the 14 is beyond me, everything else is 2mm increments, the coupling is made for 9/16"/M14, 12 is "sloppy" 16 doesn't fit through, it was 9/16 in there from new, so I just wanted to "be safe"

[noelm]

What to coat the trailer in just became an easy choice, my neighbour had 3l of fishoil he was going to dump, so I am going to brush fishoil on the frame and roller brackets and stuff, no idea if it's a good idea, but it can't hurt (I guess) it will look crappy, but, better than rust, I have a fitting that sprays out sideways that I am going to poke up the insides of the tube steel too. Got to bleed the brakes next week, got too much on this weekend to do trailer work.

[BaitDropper]

In my opinion, fish oil is one of the better options for boat trailers, it's cheap enough and easy enough to apply. Spraying up inside any enclosed steel, as far as you can go, has gotta be a good idea.

Lanolin products and tectal products, are commonly used, but fish oil will penetrate, it's cheap enough and seasonally brushed on has always done the trick for me.

In fact, this has prompted me to get out and re do mine again...

[dunc333]

looks great Noelm fish oil tried and tested good stuff.

[noelm]

Fitting the rollers across the back tomorrow, looked everywhere for 20mm gal round bar, could only find threaded, looked for Stainless, none to be found except from some overseas place. Then fit some more bits and pieces, a few adjustments then it's oil time.

Edited January 23, 2023 by noelm