Can of Worm From Start to Finish (Warning... Lengthy lol)

[OutoftheWoodwork]

Well, the can of worms was opened, drained, and fried up.  (No, I didn't eat any but I DID help burn the old wood lol)

 

Everyone saw how it looked in the beginning... Here it was:

 

It was pretty ugly to say the least.  He matched Beastie almost to a 'T' I would say lol

 

 

Teardown... Wow.  What a mess he was.  As I posted earlier, I think we found like four generations of carpenter ants and their eggs between the layers of plywood... Y U C K!!!!

 

 

Down to bare metal, and painted...

 

Got the wood and hardware at the Home Depot in Mount Pleasant, and started with the flooring.  I didn't want plywood, because if it rains, the water sits there, to sit and rot the wood.  So we opted for the 5/4 wood, and attached it like we did when we built our decks... spaced them using nails.  Since the wood was still quite wet, once dry, the spacing should be perfect, and allow any liquid to fall through, rather than sit there and rot my trailer...

 

 

Now for my touch... I wanted to do a scene along the side planks (and still might, while Ken isn't looking lol) but decided because of time constraints, and wanting to do something other than build the trailer our entire vacation, I did my design on just the back gate.  We built the back gate out of 1x6's for two reasons:  One, they're lighter, so I would be able to lift it easier, and secondly, it still matches relatively close.

 

 

The finished product... (I DID, however have to go back and touch up the wolf - if you look at the picture where I transferred the pattern, I forgot the right side of his face... oops lol I thought it looked a little bare. )

 

I have to thank SullyScroller, I think here, for the amazing pattern of the Snow Wolf.  I hope I did it justice. 

 

 

OH!  I gotta add here; on our way home yesterday, we stopped at Cops and Doughnuts in Clare for coffee and donuts for the ride home.  When we pulled up, we were barely out of the truck when a woman asked if we had built the trailer, or bought it this way.  Ken told her that we did the trailer, and she said "I love the wolf burned in on the back!"  I thanked her, of course, then told her that I had routed it in.  Kinda boosted me a bit on our project.  (I'm always apprehensive when I get something done... her comment assured me it was okay.)

Edited August 5, 2013 by OutoftheWoodwork

[Phantom Scroller]

Wow what a transformation and what a good job done, love the pictures brilliant. Thanks for showing Barb.  

 

Roly

[Clozy]

Wow! really well done, you guys can pat yourselves on the back, what a transformation from the old trailer, love the wolf on the tailgate, now I know where to get a rebuild when needed

 

Les.

[OutoftheWoodwork]

Thanks Roly and Les.  Still thinking we may have to change the side brackets on the 2x4's... they wiggle too much for my liking.  And of course, after we got it all done, we went to a store (for something else) and found the exact braces we needed.  Home Depot didn't have 'em.  Menard's did.  (OF COURSE!)

[bobscroll]

Thank you very much Barb, For showing us the way you and yer feller did the

job, It was really interesting to look through the photo's, Great job! 

Bob 

[keefie]

What a fantastic job,  excellent transformation from wreck to a fully serviceable trailer with a beautiful wolf on the back.- great Job.

Keefie.

[OutoftheWoodwork]

Thanks Bob & Keefie... warned you I was gonna post pics of the mess lol

[MrsN]

LOL of course Menards had what you needed, they have everything! 

I love your trailer! the wolf on the back is awesome, makes the whole thing look even better. 

[OutoftheWoodwork]

LOL Katie... isn't that always the way?  And thanks.  Ken really likes wolves, so Thanks to SullyScroller, I had a perfect pattern to transfer for the main picture.  Not sure if I'm going to add a scene on the middle side plank or not, and someone in my router forum told me I need to add on the back "We Make Beautiful Handcrafted Custom Signs. Inquires Are Welcome."  But I don't think I can do that here in Michigan, because it would make it a "commercial" trailer, and I don't want to get pulled over with it for missing the DOT registration numbers.

[Travis]

That turned out amazing! I love the pictures, too. It's fun to see how these projects come together.

[ChelCass]

Beautiful transformation.  The wolf if the perfect added touch.  Great job guys.  Thanks for the stage by stage photos.

[OutoftheWoodwork]

Thanks Travis and Judy.  We're proud of the final product. Still think we need to redo the back braces, and may do that pretty soon .  But Ken is a big fan of tie downs and bungies.  He put eyelets in it all over the place and it's pretty secure when he gets done so it's still up in the air.

[amazingkevin]

More work than I want lol,looks like it will go far now ,great job!  

[heppnerguy]

Barb,

I felt kind of sorry for you when I first saw the trailer. Now I feel sorry for myself for not understanding the skill and desire you put into it. Good idea plus good tools plus good imagination plus a lot of desire and work equals great end results. Very ambitious and well executed job. My hat is off to you and your husband.

[Lucky2]

Barb, you and Ken have done a beautiful job on the restoration of this trailor, but, I see that there is no fenders on it in the final picture. Are you not going to be installing the fenders on it, or, were you just anxious to post the final picture?

Len

[gator]

wonderful job. love the pride in something you took and gave a new life too

[Huntter2022]

You did a awesome job and restoring the trailer

[OutoftheWoodwork]

Lucky - Not so sure on the fenders.  They were hodge-podged together, and I believe we found a boo boo in our building of the trailer to reattach them; may have to make some modifications, but we really need to do that.  Just haven't been able to since coming home from our vacation.  Someone has decided to throw us a curveball and put our lives in a bit of a mess right now.  Have to contend with that, first.

 

Thomas & David - Thank you.  This was actually a fun project, but may have to disassemble it and fix a couple boo-boos as I mentioned above.  But it's in storage, out of the weather, so I don't have to worry about the elements rusting it out making it more difficult to fix.