Dive Trailer Design

[victor]

A little surprised that you have the cascades standing upright.
I would have thought that lying flat would significantly lower the center of gravity, always a good thing.
Yes it will make the overall layout more complicated.
Even better if they could be slung under the trailer, then low and not using any space but it might compromise the ground clearence.

 

[dgreenh]

Laying them down would have been better for weight distribution, I actually had 5 cylinders laying down at first but that just made the interior difficult to organize. It didn't seem to tow notably different. This is a steel trailer and is heavy by itself. All my travel is highway and maybe short, maintained dirt roads. My trailer has the torsion suspension with very little ground clearance so underneath wasn't an option although that would have been awesome.

I have one of those portable battery booster/inverter units in the trailer with a 110v charger port on the outside to charge it. There are 4 12v fog lights inside with wall mounted switches in the front and back. 2 lights run off of each switch so you can have light if you enter from the front or back. They will burn for about 4 hours which for my purposes is sufficient. We rarely teach at night. There is a 110v outlet mounted in the wall that is fed from the shoreline. I haven't used the inverter part of the battery unit, I'm sure it would not last long.

The tank holders have held my tanks securely for 3 years now. Plowing down unknown dirt roads you might want to put a rail of some kind along the bottom.

The pop-up canopy stashes neatly in the front corner by the curb door. The grill gets used almost every trip.

 

[Saint4429]

Ball park, what would a trailer set up like this cost?

 

[oldnotdead]

Check Camping World for your vent cover needs. They will have the electrical solutions also.
Great setup! OND

 

[bigken462]

Ball park, what would a trailer set up like this cost?

Saint,

I can't speak for dgreenh, but I suppose I've got 300-400 hundred extra other than what the initial 2400.00 was for the cost of the trailer. It does however feel like I've put in a fortune though since I built it a lil at a time. Like an old fixer up house, sometimes it starts to feel like a money pit. But on rainy days, its nice to have a dry changing room.

You're welcome to sift through a small photo gallery I have of a few I have of my trailer. Nothing fancy, but it works. I never built it for conducting classes or large trips, more so to have as my personal dive locker and place to tinker with gear on rainy days.

The marine deep cycle battery was a lil pricey, but its worth the cost. The backup lights proved to be a PITA to install, but again is very useful. I wish I had used12 volt LED or fluorescent interior lighting instead of the cheaper cargo lights. They get HOT and I worry about the potential fire hazard.

If I were to start over, I would take out the thin plywood paneling on the walls and install more water resistance stuff that is not prone to bucking and splitting when sprayed with water. My floor seems to be holding up with a coat of no-skid paint every cpl years. If I had a house with a garage or carport, I would forgo the trailer all together and just by a dive van - I think. Lol

Dive safe.

Ken

 

[dgreenh]

After the trailer cost and the cascade setup, like Ken said, there probably no more than $300 - $400 worth of shelves, tank holders, battery, paint, lights and general odds and ends. It took a lot of time but I wasn't in a hurry. I agree with the LED or fluorescent interior lights.

 

[Saint4429]

For that price I'm going to have to look into it. I was kicking around the idea of getting a van for diving, but this is much cooler! Since I don't have a garage there is an added benefit to the trailer. Thanks!

 

[dgreenh]

Now if I had another $400 to spend on the trailer, I would have the floor and about 18" up the walls sprayed with truck bed liner stuff. Be sure to take care of the floor with non-slip weather resistant paint before you start putting stuff in there. I used a few coats of porch and deck paint that has been holding up pretty good so far.

 

[lolarent]

A bit of a different approach here, and not really used for towing equipment nor for teaching, but a buddy of mine and I decided to purchase an inflatable boat (Mercury 430HD) and build a custom trailer for it. We started literally from scratch with my buddy designing the trailer and starting to assemble the various parts. A bit of a daunting task, but a lot of fun. Here are some pictures from my facebook page: Trailer project | Facebook

The trailer isn't finished yet. We still need to put a roof on it ;-) So far, it has been a great project. Not necessarily cheap, but fun nevertheless. We thought about a lot of things, many of which have not made into the final design:
1. Cascade system: out because too much weight and LDS cannot fill it
2. 110V system: out because we don't want to be bothered with batteries
3. Lights: in. Various lights throughout the trailer to light it up like a Christmas tree. It requires the trailer to be hooked up to a vehicle though.
4. Solar fan (mounted in the roof): in, in order to try and increase air circulation at all times. Basically, when the sun shines, this thing runs.

We have some place left in the V in the front (the rest is taken by the boat). We are not certain yet what exactly we are going to do with it, but likely some holders for tanks so they don't roll around everywhere.

 

[bigken462]

Buddy, now that's nice. My wallet jumped clear to the other side of the room and started whimpering like a scolded dog. That had to put you some funds out. Man it looks heavy too for a single axel. For the money, and convenience, you should really reconsider that aux battery and 12 volt lighting. That way you can pull away from the trailer and not worry about it, and you being in the dark when you unhitch and go park somewhere.

Anyway, that's some great looking metal fab you done. It's awesome! How much more do you have to do?

Ken