Another 6x12 Vee Nose Trailer build begins

[Canine]

May have to have one built.

It shouldn't take more than 4 months to have a trailer made with barn doors in the back. I wouldn't consider that a special order. If you had a regular door put in instead, then that would be a special order. A lot of manufacturers will make a special order trailer, but keep in mind that is like getting your food through the drive-thru: Half the time your order will be wrong.

 

[Riverman]

I see you went with dual axle's on a 6 x 12, do you think it tows better than a single axle?

 

[BigRockSpeaker]

It shouldn't take more than 4 months to have a trailer made with barn doors in the back. I wouldn't consider that a special order. If you had a regular door put in instead, then that would be a special order. A lot of manufacturers will make a special order trailer, but keep in mind that is like getting your food through the drive-thru: Half the time your order will be wrong.

I agree with canine, I don't think double doors is a special order.  It's definitely not the preferred configuration, but even looking locally up here there were trailers on the lot that had barn doors.  Shouldn't be too hard to find or have built.  Even mine, with all the options I had in it, took less than a week to build after the broker put the order in.
I also agree, however, that they do get things wrong a lot, especially if you put a lot of custom options in.  Be very specific as to how they measure trailer height, and what specific dimensions are desired.  I even provided them with sketches with dimensions printed on them, and they messed it up when they transposed it onto the CAD drawing.  I would recommend not authorizing the build until you see the final CAD drawing - NOT just the build order, because again how they measure things is different than how the end user measures them.

 

[Riverman]

Apparently, there is not one 6x12 double rear door trailer in GA, AL, MS or TN. I've called all day and didn't find one. I can get one built in two weeks, they say. All they are building now is cargo ramps, and I don't need or want that. .

 

[tx2sturgis]

Did you call these guys in Douglas Georgia?

https://diamondcargo.com/6x12-Single-Axle-DIAMOND-Model-P2357874.aspx


https://diamondcargo.com/ContactUs.aspx

 

[Canine]

...do you think it tows better than a single axle?

Tows the same. Harder to back up while turning. The tires scrub hard and wear out faster on a dual axle. The advantage is if I get a flat, I don't have to scrape the bottom of my house off to pull off the road to a safe spot.

 

[tx2sturgis]

 The advantage is if I get a flat, I don't have to scrape the bottom of my house off to pull off the road to a safe spot.

Riding on the rim with a rubber tire carcass flailing about is not fun, and it might even tear up the rim and the fender, but normally the rim will carry the weight of the trailer at least far enough to get to a safe spot on the side of the road. 

You can buy a trailer TPMS system to reduce chances of a tire going completely flat during travel, and I've heard of run-flat tires for trailers but I dont know of any sources. 

There are downsides as well as upsides to run-flat tires....thats a topic for another thread, I suppose.

 

[Riverman]

Diamond has a silver one in stock with RDD, but I rather have a white or blue in color.

 

[Riverman]

I will call more companies tomorrow.. Thanks

 

[Riverman]

double post

 

[Riverman]

BigRockSpeaker.... sorry, I didn't mean to post so much on your thread. I should have started my own.

 

[BigRockSpeaker]

BigRockSpeaker....  sorry, I didn't mean to post so much on your thread.  I should have started my own.

No worries, Man!  I like this kind of traffic.  And it all kinda shares the same theme.  We can all work through our build issues together!

 

[Riverman]

Just thinking about some rigging plans...

Every person will have different ideas on how to set up their trailer. I'm going to build a desk in the front/nose of the trailer for my laptop and wifi hotspots. It will have 12v and 120-volt outlets so I can use whatever power is available at the time. Then mount my 24" LED tv above the desk too.

How many 100-watt solar panels do you think will fit on top of a 6 x 12 trailer?

 

[Canine]

Riverman, it depends. Are you set on 100 watts or would you take 120 watts that are the same size? Or would you want 180 watts for slightly bigger? Some 100 watt panels are small while some are bigger. All are 36 cell panels. I have a 6X12 trailer, so I'm familiar with what fits and what doesn't.

 

[John61CT]

And no reason to limit yourself to 100w units, with a good MPPT SC you'll get more total watts per roof area going to higher voltages.

Also fewer, larger panels can be sized to maximize your roof usage and means less / simpler wiring.

 

[Riverman]

I'm not limited to 100 watts, I will go with anything that will fit, but the 100-watt panels are pretty good on price right now.

I rather stay with 12-volts though.

 

[Canine]

I had a rack built for my panels for two reasons. 1) To help keep the panels out of sight and protected from branches and such. 2) For an easy, waterproof way to mount the panels. If you want the panels to fit on the inside of the rack like I did, you will lose some space.

Some 60 cell panels are going for cheap even with the high cost of freight. It's worth a look.

EcoWorthy has two, 180 watt panels (52 inches by 40 inches) for $389. That's a tad over a dollar a watt, so that is a great deal. You can comfortably fit four of them making 720 watts.

http://www.eco-worthy.com/catalog/worthy-360w-2180w-polycrystalline-solar-panel-p-508.html

 

[John61CT]

I'm not limited to 100 watts, I will go with anything that will fit, but the 100-watt panels are pretty good on price right now.

I rather stay with 12-volts though.

Going to a higher Voc rated panel has nothing to do with changing bank voltage.

Most MPPT controllers have greatly increased efficiencies over PWM SCs when you get to 40Voc and above.

Of course with PWM that's all wasted, stick to 20-22Voc or so (what we call "12V" panels)

 

[Canine]

I rather stay with 12-volts though.

Are you referring to the battery bank? Or are you calling 36 cell panels 12 volt panels? A 12 volt panel is actually 15 to 19 volts. It's better to refer to a 12 volt panel as a 36 cell panel.

 

[John61CT]

Nominal "12V" panels are understood to be rated between 17 and 22 volts or thereabouts, and "24V" double that.

Higher voltages just call grid-tie panels.

Using cell counts only works for the currently most popular panel technology, there are other types out there and many more coming.