K-5 Gutter Machine Photo & Description Pages -  part 2

Updated 3-6-2004

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The pictures below are linked to larger pictures of the same photo
For a closer look just click on the pictures

As shown before, this was the first trailer we had for our gutter machine.  It was only a small 5' x 10' trailer.  We wanted to keep it as light as possible, since it was to be pulled by an Acura 4 door sedan with only a 2700cc V6 engine.  With all the tools and ladders, it is some times all it can do to get up a steep hill.

This is in February of 2001, just shortly before we dismantled it to move the gutter machine off, and in to the new trailer.  It originally came with a single axel with larger tires from a used mobile home axel set, cut down to be narrower. That type of axel was cheap, but the rim was near impossible to balance and was giving me a bit of a vibration.  So I had changed it over to these two smaller axels.  It worked OK, but it was pretty cramped to move around the machine inside the trailer.  also, if I needed to store a box of new downspouts, the inside was just a few inches too short.

You can sort of see how tight a fit it was for me to move around the machine in this picture.  This shows the 2x2 wood ribs of the old trailer.  I had looked into building this frame with extruded aluminum tubing and rivets, but they wanted a small fortune for that tubing, so I decided to get some high grade CVG 2x2 fir boards to build the frame of the shell.  I was glad I did.  It was very workable, and was plenty sturdy.  I used some aluminum sheet metal to make some covers over the cross bracing to help improve the sturdiness.
I do think the weight loss would have been worth the cost of the aluminum tubing, but I learned from my smaller 4'x 8' trailer that mounting the aluminum sheet metal skin on those aluminum 'I' beams with 3/16" rivets, the vibration and bouncing of the road works the rivets loose and it would leave gray streaks of ground up aluminum running down the sides of the white painted aluminum skin.   Using the screws with the steel and rubber washers to hold the skin onto the wood frame was much more stable and did not seem to need adjustments over the 6 years I had the first gutter machine trailer in service.  It is advisable to always pre-drill the wood before driving the screws in, or you risk splitting and cracking the wood, which means having to start over and replace that board.

I later rebuilt this small trailer as well.  I first used Liquid Nails adhesive on the 'I' beam surface and then mounted the aluminum skin on them and used twice as many of the 3'16" rivets.  So far so good, but this does not permit any future changes if I want to reuse any of the frame or skin parts.

In hopes to make a trailer as light as possible, I actually set up this small 4'x 8' trailer to be used for the gutter machine.  But once I found out that the gutter machine weighs a ton, without a 400lb coil of gutter sheet metal, I realized that this would not have worked.  Beside the fact that there was no way to get the 400lb coil onto the machine with the fork lift.  So I just use this trailer for light hauling

Here I have begun to dismantle the old trailer in my work shop we had in Clackamas (we are now in Lake Oswego, Oregon, just South of Portland).

I had the back doors off, along with the front, left side, as well as the roof panels.  Again, you can see here how cramped it was inside.

Here it is with most all the aluminum skin removed.  You can better see the 2x2 wood frame. The aluminum skin does a lot to add structural support to this shell, once it is screwed onto this frame.

I had mounted an outdoor carpet under the wood frame base, over the birch plywood deck.  But that did not permit me to replace the carpet when it wore out and began to look ragged.  It was also more difficult to inspect if  the deck had any water damage.

I had bought this slightly larger 5'x 12' double axel trailer several years before this, to haul roofing debris.  I also bought some high quality CVG fir to deck it with and made the removable side walls.   That wood cost me $1200, nearly the same cost as the trailer frame it's self.  I learned that I could have decked it for half the cost with the same type of wood by using 2x4s instead of the 2x8s I got for the floor. Live and learn?

After a few years I gave up roofing work all together, since it was a great deal of dangerous work, and there was not enough money in it, due to the fierce competition.

Before I got ready to do the transfer of the gutter machine, I had to spend a good deal of time flipping over, sanding, and resurfacing the floor boards.  I re-bolted them to the steel frame with Stainless steel carriage bolts this time.  To minimize the weight, I realized I did not need to deck it under the gutter machine.  This would also leave it a little lower to the ground, lowering the center of gravity.  I simply slipped a sheet of aluminum to shield it from the road grime.  This will also allow access to do some work on the machine rollers from underneath.

Here  we are lifting the gutter machine off the old stripped down trailer, after they removed the gutter coil you see in the back ground.  I also had to remove the aluminum covers on top to place the nylon straps they used to lift the gutter machine with.

So, in the first part of 2001, I finally drummed up the energy and time off my work schedule to do the conversion to house our gutter machine on this larger trailer.

Here it is getting the gutter machine loaded onto it with a fork lift at Custom-bilt Metals, where I had bought the gutter machine. They were very kind to do the transfer at no charge.

Here the gutter machine is just about in place.  In this picture, you can better see the 2x2s I used to close the gaps I had between the original 2x8s deck placement.  No more need for rail drainage, once I have the new shell for this trailer fabricated.
Luckily my measurements were good, and it was a nice tight fit.  It is now ready to bolt it down to the steel frame.  I brought some tools and the bolts with me, so I could secure it before getting back on the road with this trailer and gutter machine, so I can work on the rest at our place.
This is an over head shot, showing some of the inner workings, guides, and rollers.  It has hundreds of precisely aligned rollers on bearings to carefully form the gutter shape from the 12" coil of sheet metal, as it passes through this 8' long gutter roll-forming machine.  It has to carefully do this without scratching or cracking the paint.

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On to page #3 to see the creation of the new shell

Or back to page #1

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Drive this car to see the history of our gutter truck and other trailers

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Other Helpful Roofing Information
For some valuable advice with regards to roofing and rain management issues check out our:

(a) Gutter Installation
(b) Gutter Debris Protection Options
(c) Roofing Quality Standards
(d) Chimney Flashing

(e) Moss Control & Treatment

web pages for answers and solutions that could save you thousands of $ and a great deal of anguish.

If you do find this information very helpful, feel free to send us a $ tip for the assistance we so freely have published on the web here for your benefit, like you might tip a waitress.  Heck, send us a gift certificate for a candle lit dinner for two. <LOL>

 

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