A few years ago I purchased a trailer that we used to make a few trips across the country when we moved to a new state. It was in fairly decent condition, but needed new wheels and wiring. We fixed up the wheels, replaced the wiring and jack, and also re-worked how the ramp connects and latches.
We've recently gotten back into Kayaking, and we're up to 5 kayaks. We wanted something more permanent for storing our kayaks and being ready to go if we have a chance to get out on the water on short notice.
Here's what I'm starting with. Tired trailer that has some pretty bad dry rot. The most recent we've used it for is moving a piano and we ended up stepping through the floor a few times.
Step one was removing ramp and the decking. With the help of an impacting screwdriver and hammer, all but two of the screws came out:
The deck all the way off. Surprisingly little rust for being an older trailer.
Next up is a lot of grinding and sanding. We've had some poor weather this past week, so naturally it started raining shortly after I started.
With the forecast looking pretty gloomy, I decided to set up a canopy over it so I could work on some more grinding during the rain. I'm working mostly before work and on weekends, so hopefully the weather holds out.
Day 2 I was able to get some more grinding done and I started to prime the already prepped areas so it doesn't flash-rust before I can get back to it:
Day 3: I've got some more of the railing and cross-beams ground and painted. I've also removed the wiring and spare wheel. I have some new submersible LED lights to replace the broken ones that were on it. I also plan on re-locating the spare and removing the front spare mount.
Day 4: Removed the spare tire mount, more grinding with an added bit of sandblasting to clean up some corners I couldn't reach with the grinder.
Days 5-7: More and more grinding and priming over the ground down areas.
Day 8: Getting some final paint on. Frame is semi-gloss black.
Also started to get some water seal on the decking:
Day 9: Finally getting the top painted its final color! Went with Krylon Fusion Satin Lagoon Blue
Day 10: Deck day! Cut the boards to length (and applied water seal to the ends) and started attaching them. I used a pick to make sure the spacing was correct between the boards:
Screwing them down with some outdoor screws made for metal and wood:
I ended up ripping two of the boards down by about 1/2" each, and then routing the edges with a roundover bit. I also coated these edges with more water seal
All done for now! I've gotten most of the big "transformative" work done on it so here's what it looks like:
The final few pieces that I want to do is get the new lights mounted, fabricate a new spare tire mount, mount a storage box to the tongue, and fabricate a kayak rack for the top. But that will be in the next post.