Paikea Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 I recently posted that I had located a manufacturer of Fibreglass grating that looked to be the goods for a trailer walkway.(does not corrode like other materials) The grating is used as walkways in chemical plants, oil refineries and the like. I ordered a 250 wide section long enough to go from the front of my (dual axle) trailer to the cross member behind the front axle and a section to provide a platform over the A frame part of the trailer. The grating arrived today and took no time to install on the trailer. The manufacturer provides 316 SS clamps to hold the grating in place. I just drilled and tapped the A Frame and cross members (5/16 Whit) and had it all in place in no time flat. Following are some pics of the grating including a fixing clip holding down the front platform. Very happy with the result although would have preferred a different colour. The grate showing the size of the grids. A view of the depth of the grate. The front platform The SS clip bolted to the A frame member. The 250 wide walkway just fits between the roller posts. Cheers Paikea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fab1 Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 Well done Paikea, just make sure you wear some kind of footwear as walking on that bare feet will be murder on the old tootsies. That last photograph the walkway is just sitting there unattached right? Sent from my GT-I8730T using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paikea Posted July 31, 2014 Author Share Posted July 31, 2014 That last photograph the walkway is just sitting there unattached right? No, it is clipped under the front cross member (two clips) and one clip on top of the second, the rest is fastened using Zip locks until I get the boat off the trailer and can drill, tap and clip the last cross members. Hope to be trying it out this weekend, (at Ulladulla if the weather holds) Cheers Paikea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fab1 Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 Thought so mate, it sure will help you out at the ramp. Hope the weather gods are nice to you this weekend. Sent from my GT-I8730T using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fisherman666 Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 G'day there, I'd like to give my 2 cents but it's not a good 2 cents. It is well established that you should never lay a weld transverse on the upper or lower surfaces of a draw bar beam. This is where the most flex is present. (Longitudinally is considered ok but personally I don't like that the manufacturer has welded the 2 chain links on the top of the a-frame especially considering they're not even being used). There has been many a box, boat, camper trailer been DIYd by the home welder and cracked under severe operating conditions such as corrugated roads. This is why your winch post and jockey wheel are bolted on. Now of course you haven't welded your trailer but what you have done is create a number of stress raisers in the worst possible place being on the top of the a-frame. This pictured I just googled, but it shows the stress concentration around a hole. The red being the direction cracks would begin. I'm not saying your trailer is definitely going to crack at the holes as you may not drive rough roads and it depends on lots of factors such as how much strength is left, weight of the boat. There may be bucket loads of strength left. I'm not an engineer but I do work with them and knowing what I know as a non destructive testing technician (crack detection) I would not have done this personally. I would have mounted angle brackets either using square u bolts or drilled and tapped into the vertical sides of the draw bar. In theory you can 'repair' ie reduce your stress concentration by fitting interference bushes into the holes. Other than the location of your holes I love what you have done here. Makes it much easier to recover the boat safely and with dry shoes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blood Knot Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 Nice job Paikea - that isophthalic resin grating is ideal for boat walkways ( light, strong, and does not corrode). Am sure other colours are available but green seems to be the most common. I dont think that a few 1/4 dia holes in the top of your trailer (RHS beams) will worry you too much given the loading on the top face of the beam is compressive as well tensile. Cheers Blood Knot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Aussie007 Posted August 2, 2014 Share Posted August 2, 2014 nice one Paikea i also dont think those holes will fracture, if u look for instance when a boxed frame trailer is being made u need to drill a bunch of 12mm holes in special locations most right at welded joints and some in the middle of beams to drain the excess galvanizing when its dipped Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NaClH2OK9 Posted August 2, 2014 Share Posted August 2, 2014 (edited) I travelled with Paikea 3 hours south to ulladulla and apart from his ongoing knock / brake issue his rig and trailer are solid as. I was suspect of the walk way as it flexed but after a little testing it is solid as. I have a walk way on my trailer which is invaluable. For single user launch. Retrieve. And looks like it was a standard part of the build. Paikea has done a great job of fitting an easy after market solution. P. S. Fishing report / blasted by the sea report to follow when I'm out of the sticks Edited August 2, 2014 by NaClH2OK9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paikea Posted August 4, 2014 Author Share Posted August 4, 2014 Nice job Paikea - that isophthalic resin grating is ideal for boat walkways ( light, strong, and does not corrode). Am sure other colours are available but green seems to be the most common. I dont think that a few 1/4 dia holes in the top of your trailer (RHS beams) will worry you too much given the loading on the top face of the beam is compressive as well tensile. Cheers Blood Knot Isophalic what? Sounds almost indecent! Obviously you know your stuff Blood Knot, I thought that it was made from Fibreglass (or are they the same?) so thanks for the heads up on the material. The manufacturer assured me that it would be strong enough for my purpose but I could bolt a 90 x 75 timber under the longest span to stop it flexing. Still thinking about that as it is a little unnerving to walk on it and have it bend in the middle. The Trailer is very solidly built and I don't think that given the distances that I tow the boat I should have any problems with cracking. Maybe if I was going to Cape York I would think twice about drilling holes in the A Frame and cross members and use clamps instead. But the way that I have done it was much simpler and quicker. Thanks all for you comments. Cheers Paikea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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