DIY Garden Trailer

[MarkSLSmith]

I've been shopping for a trailer to pull behind my lawn mower.  I haven't seen any new ones that seemed good to me; either they have a $150 delivery charge or reviewers post pictures of bent axles after loading 50% of rated capacity.  So I'm contemplating growing my own.

I recently scored some nice pillow blocks with 3/4 in bore.  If you were me, how would you go about adding an axle and wheels to utilize these pillow blocks?  

The rest of the trailer build I can handle.

Thanks,
Mark

[mad_planter]

I've been shopping for a trailer to pull behind my lawn mower.  I haven't seen any new ones that seemed good to me; either they have a $150 delivery charge or reviewers post pictures of bent axles after loading 50% of rated capacity.  So I'm contemplating growing my own.

I recently scored some nice pillow blocks with 3/4 in bore.  If you were me, how would you go about adding an axle and wheels to utilize these pillow blocks?  

The rest of the trailer build I can handle.

Thanks,
Mark

typically with garden trailers the axles are fixed and the wheels have the bearings.  You'll need some sort of thrust washer setup in addition to the pillow blocks to handle the axle floating back and forth in the pillow blocks and possibly a set of limiters to go with those thrust washers.  I think I would go with a fixed axle and wheels with bearings, or if its a really crazy heavy-duty trailer some weld on stub axles that have cone bearings.

Curious to see what other people say.

[DieselDennis]

Sounds like you need a piece of 3/4" cold rolled steel (CRS). It will actually be 3/4" and should slide in your pillow blocks. Another option would be 3/4" turned, ground & polished shafting (TGP). TGP is probably overkill tough. You may can find these on the shelf an at industrial hardware place. Take a pillow block with you to be sure it will slide on the shaft.

Then you need a pair of wheels with a 3/4" bore.

The last thing you need are things to keep the axle from sliding around. This could be roll pins, cotter pins, shaft collars, or about a half dozen other things. Careful that you don't compromise the axle strength when doing this step.

[blackhat]

I’d save those pillow blocks for a buffing wheel set up or similar. Go to Harbor Freight and find a pair of wheels with twin 1” or at least 7/8 bearings in them. Grab a length of shaft for an axle.

[srv52761]

Don't think you will like having a set of wheels that rotate in conjunction with each other.  They will skid anytime you make a turn.  Better to have a stationary axle and have the wheels rotate independently.

[ajkoontz]

Facebook Marketplace?? I do hate to discourage any sort of DIY project, but I just wanted to throw that option out there. This is exactly the kind of thing you can find for pennies on the dollar.

[MarkSLSmith]

Don't think you will like having a set of wheels that rotate in conjunction with each other.  They will skid anytime you make a turn.  Better to have a stationary axle and have the wheels  rotate independently.

Good point.  It's starting to sound like pushing a rock uphill.

[MarkSLSmith]

Facebook Marketplace?? I do hate to discourage any sort of DIY project, but I just wanted to throw that option out there. This is exactly the kind of thing you can find for pennies on the dollar.

I've been studying FB Marketplace religiously.  Either local people are selling a very tired Harbor Freight model for $200, or the attractive ones are 2+ hours drive.  Maybe I'm just not having any luck.