Rocket Hauling Trailer

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dgreger

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New Trailer.jpg


Picked it up on Saturday, Bendron Titan 5x10ft, 6ft interior height, rear ramp door, side air vents.
Have a laundry list of things to put in there:
Fire Extinguisher
First Aid Kit
Shelves
Work table (Piano hinged to wall)
Generator
Lighting
Outlets

Already have an idea on how I am going to secure the rockets inside, hopefully have pictures of the process soon.
 
VERY ,, VERY Cool David....
Man am I jealous....lol...
Good for you man...
I can't wait to see it all set up,,
it's going to come out fantastic....
Very cool for sure...

Teddy
 
I made my racks out of steel L-brackets and foam. My next set of rack will be made of 1010 rail.
 
I recommend putting up e-tracks first then attach your shelves, workbench, and whatever else using the e-track. It's sort of the Erector Set approach that makes it easy to reconfigure the inside of the trailer whenever the need arises.

-- Roger
 
I recommend putting up e-tracks first then attach your shelves, workbench, and whatever else using the e-track. It's sort of the Erector Set approach that makes it easy to reconfigure the inside of the trailer whenever the need arises.

-- Roger

+ 1 fer sur...........
David,,,
EVERYTHING you want to do inside a utility trailer begins with E Track.........
With E Track there's no such thing as an oops,,
I should have put that a bit further over that way.....

Teddy
 
VERY ,, VERY Cool David....
Man am I jealous....lol...
Good for you man...
I can't wait to see it all set up,,
it's going to come out fantastic....
Very cool for sure...

Teddy

And Teddy, I'm going to need some LARGE OBH Decals for the sides and back!
 
Nice trailer! I have also been working on a trailer, here are a few things I have found/learned along the way.

Generator - Honda Inverter, simply the best generator I have found.

Lights - amazon has a large collection of 12VDC LED lighting, it's amazing how bright a 10W LED floodlight is.

Hinges - McMaster Carr has a great selection of good steel locking hinges.

Insulation - Worth every bit of the additional weight, but then again I live in Texas.

Electrical - Amazon has all the cables and connectors for RV style connection to your generator

Inverter/charger - Zantrex all the way.

Flooring - Home Depot has some good rubber garage flooring, but you have to order it.

Good luck with your project, make sure to post as you build.


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I used strips of LEDs in our trailer. I think there is less than 15W total. But, with the strips running along each spar on the ceiling of the trailer, everywhere is lit up with few shadows. I think I spent less than $40 on the lights and that includes the roll of clear duct tape I used to help hold up the ends of the strips.

And .. yeah .. don't forget to treat the floor first. I forgot and had to do it later working around stuff already installed.

Congrats on the purchase. I think our trailer is the best investment I have made in rocketry.

-- Roger
 
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well, I think I have narrowed it down to what I am going to use for the time being:
For Shelves These will go on the left side (facing into the trailer) up front near where the V nose starts. Using Conduit clamps to secure it to the wall, and attaching rubbermaid tubs to the shelves with bolts and using short bungees between the front of the shelves to hold the drawers closed during transport.

For Lighting Probably two of these

Herculiner Roll in Bed liner for the floor, ramp, and 6" up the walls.

And this Table on the right side just inside the ramp, secured to the wall with a piano hinge so it swings up to fold the legs down and a small clamp to keep it against the wall during transport.

For the winter months, some heavy plastic curtain (6-9Mil) hanging shower curtain style to keep the heat in.

Also going to put in some foam insulation board in the cieling then covering it with probably 1/4 in ply. Haven't decided yet if I am going to paint the inside.
 
For the winter months, some heavy plastic curtain (6-9Mil) hanging shower curtain style to keep the heat in.

I can honestly say that that is not something I have had to worry about here in Florida. :)

Also going to put in some foam insulation board in the cieling then covering it with probably 1/4 in ply. Haven't decided yet if I am going to paint the inside.

Good idea. The ceiling of my trailer gets hot enough that I think it could cause a painful burn if you touched it for more than a second.

-- Roger
 
Good idea. The ceiling of my trailer gets hot enough that I think it could cause a painful burn if you touched it for more than a second.

-- Roger

Exactly why I'm doing that, last weekend it was only 79-80 here and it was blistering hot to the touch from the inside.
Also thinking of putting a roof vent in, an RV style one that has a fan in it.
 
I'm curious to know how you plan to stow your rockets?
I tried netting stretched across the ceiling of my trailer, but they all seemed to end up in the middle and banging together.
Plus the loss of head room didn't work out.
 
I'm curious to know how you plan to stow your rockets?
I tried netting stretched across the ceiling of my trailer, but they all seemed to end up in the middle and banging together.
Plus the loss of head room didn't work out.

For the smaller ones I took two pieces of 1"x12"x4ft, drilled holes through one for wooden dowels as close to motor sizes as possible, then screwed the two pieces together, ran screws in from underneath into the dowels (1ft long dowels) these get secured to the floor of the trailer then just slide the boosters of longer rockets onto the dowels. I will take pictures of it this weekend and post here. these also double as display stands. I also made some PVC cradles for the larger diam./taller rockets (Archer and Frenzy) drilled holes into the horizontals and just screwed them to the floor for transport for now. That will change once I get a few more stands made.
 
Also I would mount your lights in the center of the roof, easy to hit with your head and other things, mount closer to the side your workplace is.

After years and racing in many trailers I took my wife to a rock at lunch and at the table she goes boy you really need a trailer for this :) I love this woman
 
Sadly Dave I don't have the floor space, I carry the clubs equipment also with me.
I did make a display stand for once I get to the field, out of an 8' landscape timber. screwed 24" pieces to the ends of the 8' piece and drilled holes for dowels.
it does a good job for the larger rockets at the field, its the getting them there part I'm not finding a good way.

View attachment 263879
On the right
 
For trailer lighting I would look here before I put home lighting in my trailer. https://www.superbrightleds.com/cat/led-strips-and-bars/

LED strip lighting takes up far less space and will light everywhere. If you string them around the roof-line of the trailer, you will have no shadows in the lighting.

They may not be the least expensive option, but they take up virtually no space and are designed to run off 12 volts.

Bob
 
I looked at that, but I already have a generator to run 120v for heater, fans, lights, power tools if I need them etc.
 
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For rocket storage, you could turn the guts of this 45 degrees: https://www.rocketryforum.com/showt...Carry-17-rockets-with-one-hand-(Now-with-pics!)



It would be pretty simple to expand from 4" squares to whatever size you need to accommodate your rockets. The only thing I find is that even with foam, there still tends to be some shifting, so maybe some bungee cords across the back to keep everything in place?

IMG_0898.jpg
 
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I already made something similar to those, basic X frame, with different length longitudinal legs for varying sizes of rockets. Pretty much using those for the taller rockets (6ft and up) I'll snap a couple pics how I use them for transport.
 
For rocket storage, you could turn the guts of this 45 degrees: https://www.rocketryforum.com/showt...Carry-17-rockets-with-one-hand-(Now-with-pics!)



It would be pretty simple to expand from 4" squares to whatever size you need to accommodate your rockets. The only thing I find is that even with foam, there still tends to be some shifting, so maybe some bungee cords across the back to keep everything in place?

Wow is that rack well done and well thought out..
I think that's a pretty great idea for both of you guys..
Joe, If you made a rack out of PVC maybe a few 2 screw pipe clamps and you could fix
the rack to the wall...

Teddy
 
For trailer lighting I would look here before I put home lighting in my trailer. https://www.superbrightleds.com/cat/led-strips-and-bars/

LED strip lighting takes up far less space and will light everywhere. If you string them around the roof-line of the trailer, you will have no shadows in the lighting.

They may not be the least expensive option, but they take up virtually no space and are designed to run off 12 volts.

Bob

I looked at that, but I already have a generator to run 120v for heater, fans, lights, power tools if I need them etc.

Being a long time RVer, I would really suggest you reconsider what Bob said. Having the generator is great, but having a 12V deep cycle RV/Marine house battery to run the lighting that is charged through a DC converter whenever the generator is running is not a bad way to go. It gives you a lot of advantages like having light to load the trailer the night before without having to run the generator. There are a lot of RV items available the run on 12V that you might want to consider installing also, especially in a trailer. 120V house fixtures are not always the best way to go with a trailer. The 12VDC items are made to handle the vibrations and shocks that come with a trailer. House fixtures are not.

Also, if the trailer GVW will be at or over 3500 lbs, trailer brakes will be required in most states and that will also require a 12V house battery if they are electric. The disconnect pin gets pulled if the trailer comes loose and the battery has to apply the electric brakes to stop the trailer. Depending on what you tow with, even if you are only at 2000 lbs, you might want to consider electric brakes on the trailer. I can tell you the trailer brakes have saved me a time or two. I wouldn't want to tow anything over about 2000 - 2500 lbs without them.

Just some food for thought, if you haven't gone over all that before.
 
Being a long time RVer, I would really suggest you reconsider what Bob said. Having the generator is great, but having a 12V deep cycle RV/Marine house battery to run the lighting that is charged through a DC converter whenever the generator is running is not a bad way to go. It gives you a lot of advantages like having light to load the trailer the night before without having to run the generator. There are a lot of RV items available the run on 12V that you might want to consider installing also, especially in a trailer. 120V house fixtures are not always the best way to go with a trailer. The 12VDC items are made to handle the vibrations and shocks that come with a trailer. House fixtures are not.

Also, if the trailer GVW will be at or over 3500 lbs, trailer brakes will be required in most states and that will also require a 12V house battery if they are electric. The disconnect pin gets pulled if the trailer comes loose and the battery has to apply the electric brakes to stop the trailer. Depending on what you tow with, even if you are only at 2000 lbs, you might want to consider electric brakes on the trailer. I can tell you the trailer brakes have saved me a time or two. I wouldn't want to tow anything over about 2000 - 2500 lbs without them.

Just some food for thought, if you haven't gone over all that before.

+1 fer sur David......
I'd go with the LED lighting in this...
All around the perimeter,,
No shadows,,
Eliminate one reason at a time to run the generator when you don't have to...
This is an easy one...
These LED's will run off of a deep cycle battery really nicely....

Teddy
 
Good little gen, house battery and a zantrex charger/inverter. It's not cheap, but you won't be disappointed.


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For power use a quiet generator. They are more expensive but won't perturb the people near you. I have the Yamaha, I'm sure you've seen the Honda ones as well. Everything else is not even close to being that nice. I chose the Yamaha because you don't have the slave-master arrangement when you have 2 in parallel (for the AC). They are also marginally quieter.
 
For power use a quiet generator. They are more expensive but won't perturb the people near you. I have the Yamaha, I'm sure you've seen the Honda ones as well. Everything else is not even close to being that nice. I chose the Yamaha because you don't have the slave-master arrangement when you have 2 in parallel (for the AC). They are also marginally quieter.

I am aware those are the best Rick,,,
Is the Yamaha a bit quieter then the Honda ??
I know one of the Honda series is geared toward making very clean power,,
for electronics,,
Maybe the inverter series ??
It's been a while,, lol..

Teddy
 
For power use a quiet generator. They are more expensive but won't perturb the people near you. I have the Yamaha, I'm sure you've seen the Honda ones as well. Everything else is not even close to being that nice. I chose the Yamaha because you don't have the slave-master arrangement when you have 2 in parallel (for the AC). They are also marginally quieter.

I went with the Honda eu7000is. I needed a good size gen for AC, fridge, etc. it was a bit pricey but I don't regret the purchase one bit. The unit starts and runs perfectly. It is by far the quietest generator I have ever heard. At the last launch I was parked on the front line one space away from the LCO's desk. The LCO couldn't hear anything running in the back ground. The guys parked on either side of me could hear a slight noise from the fan on my AC unit and that was about it. The unit is also very clean burning, I guess it's fuel injection system makes for a low emission system, no stinky fumes on the flight line. The power output seems to be very clean. It runs computers and UPS's with out issue and doesn't trip anything when my 15,000 BTU AC fires up. No more hauling the generator out in to the middle of the field behind AirFest. :)

I don't have a Yamaha, but I did see a guy at the last AirFest running a small pull start unit. It was very quiet and seemed like a good quality unit.


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