Teardrop trailer

del88

Anyone ever had a go at making one of these....there called "teardrop trailers"


I was thinking of making one as a a winter project.
Here's a few in varies states of completion..

jack of all

That's the business, wouldn't be a cheap project though, I'd guess? I'm sure you'd have to use good boat building quality ply and the like if it were to last any length in our damp climate.

Fingalian

definitely on the 'to do list' ,I looked at some plans for them about two years ago but decided to build a boat instead. There was a guy that used advertise plans in the back of Fine Woodworking Magazine, there was one with two berths up front and a kitchen in the back, deadly! Have you a source for the plans? if not I'll look through some back issues of FWW and find the guys ad.

del88

Fingalian wrote: »

definitely on the 'to do list' ,I looked at some plans for them about two years ago but decided to build a boat instead. There was a guy that used advertise plans in the back of Fine Woodworking Magazine, there was one with two berths up front and a kitchen in the back, deadly! Have you a source for the plans? if not I'll look through some back issues of FWW and find the guys ad.

Founds a great web site which has loads of plans on , even some vintage stuff..... http://www.mikenchell.com/forums/

A boats on my own "to do list". So many projects ,so little time (and money):D

del88

jack of all wrote: »

That's the business, wouldn't be a cheap project though, I'd guess? I'm sure you'd have to use good boat building quality ply and the like if it were to last any length in our damp climate.

Hoping it won't cost to much....I'll be calling in some favors for the chassis and electrics and barring the plywood sides and outer skin i have most of the materials....I'm planning on using plenty of epoxy resin to seal the ply ,similar to what's used in strip built kayaks..

Fingalian

Yep I hear you , me too ,Cash poor and time poor. Very interesting site that, thanks.
http://www.mikenchell.com/forums/
You say you will be working with epoxy for coating the ply, you know if you add wood flour to the epoxy mix you can make super strong joints, join plywood at virtually any angle? Mix it as thick as peanut butter and form a concave radius with a tongue depressor. When I was thinking of building a trailer I reckoned it would be a great way to attach the roof and would look good from inside .
By the way Kantor in KIlbeggan have good marine ply at good prices. I've cut 3'' inch squares out of sheets, boiled the bejesus out of them, then freeze them and repeat cycle.( my wife hates when I'm stress testing ply in 'her' kitchen) Very little delamination.
Where do you get your epoxy if you don't mind me asking?
Thanks.

oscarBravo

Fingalian wrote: »

I looked at some plans for them about two years ago but decided to build a boat instead.

What did you build?

I've just started on an Argie 15 dinghy - I'm blogging the build, link in my sig.

scotchy

A guy on a bike site Im on built one.

Some interesting links and photos here.

http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=233781&highlight=teardrop

I had never heard of them, never mind seeing one before this. They’re kinda cool.

.

Fingalian

oscarBravo wrote: »

What did you build?

I've just started on an Argie 15 dinghy - I'm blogging the build, link in my sig.

oh yeah Dudley Dix, nice boat. I think he hangs out sometimes on the Woodenboat forum.I'm still building( got sidetracked with other projects) a Phil Bolger design, its based on a Maine Peapod, 15' double ended rowing boat and you can stick a spritsail rig in it.Hope to have it finished this winter. Great fun. I saw on your blog you would ultimately like to build a cruising boat, ever seen any of John Welsfords designs? Nice Boats.

del88

Fingalian wrote: »

Yep I hear you , me too ,Cash poor and time poor. Very interesting site that, thanks.
http://www.mikenchell.com/forums/
You say you will be working with epoxy for coating the ply, you know if you add wood flour to the epoxy mix you can make super strong joints, join plywood at virtually any angle? Mix it as thick as peanut butter and form a concave radius with a tongue depressor. When I was thinking of building a trailer I reckoned it would be a great way to attach the roof and would look good from inside .
By the way Kantor in KIlbeggan have good marine ply at good prices. I've cut 3'' inch squares out of sheets, boiled the bejesus out of them, then freeze them and repeat cycle.( my wife hates when I'm stress testing ply in 'her' kitchen) Very little delamination.
Where do you get your epoxy if you don't mind me asking?
Thanks.

Sounds interesting mixing the epoxy with wood flour, will do some samples .....the ply sounds like it might be worth traveling for...it's always hard to know if your buying good quality or not.(there's a kantors in dublin, wonder if their the same company)
I haven't used epoxy much..still have from my last job...but there's a place in baldoyle that sells epoxy and fiberglass that seems to have a good reputation...

oscarBravo

Fingalian wrote: »

I saw on your blog you would ultimately like to build a cruising boat, ever seen any of John Welsfords designs? Nice Boats.

His Swiftsure is just adorable, I totally want to build one! But I'm a big Dudley fan, so we'll probably build a Cape Henry 21 after this one, and see where we go from there.

Fingalian

del88 wrote: »

Sounds interesting mixing the epoxy with wood flour, will do some samples .....the ply sounds like it might be worth traveling for...it's always hard to know if your buying good quality or not.(there's a kantors in dublin, wonder if their the same company)
I haven't used epoxy much..still have from my last job...but there's a place in baldoyle that sells epoxy and fiberglass that seems to have a good reputation...

Kantors in Ballymount? same company but they closed that branch. I reckon that is Waller and Wickham in Baldoyle Ind Est., they don't open Saturdays though. I buy epoxy from this guy in the UK , cheaper and a really sound bloke.
http://www.epoxy-resins.co.uk/

Fingalian

oscarBravo wrote: »

His Swiftsure is just adorable, I totally want to build one! But I'm a big Dudley fan, so we'll probably build a Cape Henry 21 after this one, and see where we go from there.

Lovely lines to that Cape Henry, good luck with your build.

oscarBravo

Fingalian wrote: »

I buy epoxy from this guy in the UK , cheaper and a really sound bloke.
http://www.epoxy-resins.co.uk/

I've found http://cfsnet.co.uk/ good too.

Fingalian

Hi del88,
Found that site I was talking about , some good ideas, especially the one where the guy build it as a module to drop into a regular trailer.

http://www.kuffelcreek.com/teardrops.htm

freida

wow! these are so cool. I'll be looking out for you guys in wexford this year with your fancy trailers, f

oscarBravo

Just bumping this to mention that I've also bought from this eBay store - reasonable shipping charges considering the weight of the products, and very quick delivery.

Fingalian

Thanks for that, good deals on the epoxy.Must try it out.

fergal.b

Hi fingalian, I love the look of of this project it's right up my street, if you have any questions on epoxy or anything please ask as this is just like a boat upside down and on wheels

Donal94

Sorry for dragging this up, just wondering did anyone ever go ahead wih one? I've been considering building one myself.

irishtear

Hi lads ,if your into the teardrop trailers (fingalian and del88) you can contact The teardrop club of Ireland at 0877800134 we are based in dublin and have affiliation to clubs in USA and England .I built one in 2004 and use it in the club regular.if you wish to join or build your own and need info ,,,Call me and see what we can do ,like put you on the right road. Irishtear.

fergal.b

Some basic plans for one on the link below page 2,3,4 Great to hear there is a teardrop club of Ireland can you post some photos of the teardrops.

http://www.oldwoodies.com/shoptalk-trailer2.htm

They are sweet but I would like mine to have a built in boat when ever I get divorced

Donal94

Thats nice looking alright. I just had a chat with John who posted above. He has built a teardrop. I'm hopefully going to go have a look at it during the week. It would be great if a few people decided to build them and we could all try help each other out with finding materials etc.

fergal.b

Donal94 wrote: »

Thats nice looking alright. I just had a chat with John who posted above. He has built a teardrop. I'm hopefully going to go have a look at it during the week. It would be great if a few people decided to build them and we could all try help each other out with finding materials etc.

I will have to finish building my boat first but I am sure I can help you with finding materials as they are much the same.:D

irishtear

Hi, When I say I use it with the club ,,,,thats the camping and caravan club. We camp out up in Wicklow and the teardrop does the job every time. I will post photos soon.You can see it on the american sit T&TTT forums.Go into the personal album of Cool and you will see it various stages of build and the finished job .Or give me a call and come over and have a good look around it yourself anytime .I would love to see a few more teardrops around the place it getting very lonely out here,,,Irishtear.:)

Fingalian

Ditto for me, have to finish my boat first (worlds slowest builder). A teardrop is on my ''1000 yokes to build in the shed before you die'' list so I'm interested to see how y'all get on and offer any advice I can give.

oscarBravo

Fingalian wrote: »

...have to finish my boat first (worlds slowest builder).

I might be giving you a run for your money for that title...!

Donal94

I had a look at your teardrop on that forum it looks great John. I'll be over sometime next week to take at look at it in person.
Anyone who's intersted I have a guy lined up to build me a custom 8x5 chassis for£220. I think he said h'e do an 8x4 for £200.

irishtear

Sounds just about right price for the chassis,Now for the ply floor and two wall and your almost finished, Good Luck,Hope you keep going. Cool

Donal94

I went out to have a look at Johns Teardrop today, it's really very impressive and he's a lovely guy, well worth asking for a look if anyone else is thinking about building one.
Thanks John hopefully I'll start collecting parts and make a start soon. I'll keep in touch and I'd love to get a look at those plans at some stage. Thanks again Dónal

jack of all

For anyone interested in Teardrop trailers, here's a great link:

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=52970

It's a very long thread, but well worth a read and plenty of information on a no-nonsense build!