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Does anyone have one of these (model 99736) ? I bought this thing for a one time trailer project and presto instant questions. The ad says it bends 3/4" to 1-1/4" diameter steel tube. When I got it put together I notice the roller grooves are 1", 1-1/2" and 2" wide. So how does that work? Don't the tube sides bulge out when bending? I also bought some extra rollers for 1/2" square tube and those grooves are 1/2" wide. I would give the thing a try but I need to make a steel run.

Yeah, they labelled it wrong. I bet some marketing guy (hopefully not the (reverse) engineer who "designed" it) stuck a ruler in the die, found it was 3/4" deep, and decided it bent 3/4" tube. Not realizing that was the radius, not the diameter.

I have this unit, and the capacity is 1", 1.5", and 2". Nifty little bender, really. Be sure to bolt/clamp it to a sturdy bench or something.

(A conversation from junior high shop class.)

me) them numbers look funny
teacher) push the red button
me) this one?
teacher) no, that one there
me) now it's what the drawing said
teacher) now its showing you the radius. ..

Doh!!

What kind of trailer? I am building a 16 x 30 storage barn and need a 16 foot trailer for hauling 2x6x16 joists and full sheets of sheathing and siding in 4x8 and 4x9. I was given a 6 foot homemade trailer years ago but it was useless to me since the wooden deck and rails are built too narrow for sheathing. I pulled it out of the weeds a few days ago and stripped it down for a stretch to 16 feet. It is 2x3x1/8" C-channel, where the outside edges of the rails are 48" wide. I'm using 1" angle verticals as guide rails, 2" exhaust clamp U bolts welded around the bottom for strapping, adding 1 foot after the wheels and 9 feet forward. I'm also adding 14" poly fenders, led lights with markers, reflectors, stainless bearing buddies, etc.

1-3/4 OD axle
1-3/4 wide 3 leaf springs, double eye, nylon bushed
14" wheels and Carlisle bias plies

The tube down the middle was for wire routing and will be cut out.

Etrailer.com has good prices on parts and shipping.

Dave
The instruction book says not to attempt anything larger than 1-1/4" and I really wanted it for 3/4" Ø so I guess I am screwed unless I make some new rollers.

Miatav8
My hauling needs are pretty basic: a midweight bike, 12' lengths of tubing, plywood and the odd hay bale. I plan on towing with a Yaris so the trailer needs to be light. The plan is for a 5'x8'x 1' high space frame with height adjustable 500 lb half torsion axles from Southwest Wheel. This should give me some welding practice before starting the car, Although it is a dreaded side project. Long term I might cover the whole thing with an aluminum top as a mini Airstream.

I could only ever get my roller to work well consistently on larger diameter stuff. Once I would get below about a 12" radius things would go downhill quickly and usually ended with an ugly, kinked tube. As an aside, there is no way that thing will do the claimed 2" tubing of any respectable wall thickness. I tried 1.5" x 0.120" on mine and stripped/mangled all of the clamping screws. They are now too messed up to tighten or loosen.

On another note, I was in the same boat a few years ago and was pricing out building a light utility trailer (my tow vehicle was a 2.5i at the time). Nothing could touch the price for the folding HF one with 12" wheels. When on sale and with a coupon, you can get one for between $250 and $300. I have 1,000-2,000 miles on it at this point and have been pretty happy.

It adds up pretty quickly. I bought flattened expanded metal today for about $45 a 4x8 sheet ( I needed two). I spent about $160 at Etrailer for various bits mentioned earlier. The extension will add another $75 or so in steel plus epoxy. The frame is iron 3 x 1-1/2 C-channel.

The jack screw is salvageable. Adding a piece of plastic around the handle as an umbrella over the top hole makes a big difference in how long it will last. No drain holes in the foot.

Atleast the wheels (14", 5 lug) and tires are in good shape.

Since Home Depot and Lowes now charge around $80 to deliver anything, it will pay for it self quickly. I'm expecting it to be about $350 complete which is a good deal for a 16 foot trailer with all the optional stuff like poly fenders, led lights with guards, markers, metal floor versus wood, reflectors, etc.

An older beam rear axle from a Sunbird/cavalier with the wheels would make a good axle with add-on leafs. An 80s fwd caddy will make a nice wide platform for carrying bikes, atvs, or sportscars.

Tractor Supply and ABC trailer have good prices.

For a tiny trailer, it is tough to beat HBF.

Here is the trailer, mostly finished except for attaching the deck boards. Constrast this pic to what I started with above. I used it for the first time this morning for another building project. The guys who load folks at the local home improvment store kept talking about how great it was and that I should sell them. There are two strap loop positions ahead of the axle and one behind.

I've read that each deck board weighs 20-40 lbs depending on it's dampness, and it all takes away from the towing capacity. There is room for 7 boards but I'm only adding 5, just in case I want to two a motorcycle or riding mower; otherwise, I would not add any boards.

I towed it with my 1983 5.0L Ford ranger shortbed, with a c4 3 speed automatic and 3.08, 7.5" axle. Longevity of everything but the 5.0l depends on my self control on accel. It is slightly narrower than the ranger and very low, so I temporarily added the pvc tubes to make it easier to backup. Despite the length, I never had to swing into another lane to keep the inside wheel in the lane.

The epoxy garage floor coating did not work as well as I'd hoped. I also tried some Por 15 which also has some problems. I found the best, practical stuff to use is the rustoleum heavily rusted metal (even if it isn't) primer and paint.

That trailer looks great. I can't tell from the pic - does it end just behind the axle or is there more?

Thanks!

It is 55 inches from the axle center to the end of the trailer.

I've decided to add one more deck board. Both ends fit down into the frame.

The tongue was shortened to 32 inches from the ball cup center to the first transverse beam, to keep it as short as possible yet still not hit the truck when reversing. It can still go past 90 degrees and still not hit the back of the truck.

Swagoffroad has machined rollers for the HF , not necessarily cheap, but available if it was really important.
http://www.swagoffroad.com/Harbor_Freight_Tubing_Roller.html

Al

Cool other neat tools as well.