From The Mechanic

Join the discussion with the Mechanic on all sorts of DIY Project topics, including news, tips and much more about building things. DIY is our specialty, so please enjoy the reading and images, then comment on things that catch your attention. To filter the posts, just select a category from the top line. (Use the X to go back to the full list.) Also, if there is something you’d like to see, please request it. This site is for you.

Converting a Trailer

Converting A Trailer

The concept of re-purposing or converting a trailer is absolutely awesome. My hat’s off to anyone who can find a way to reuse and convert something from end-of-life to new-again. We need more of that in our world!

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Plans In Metric

Do You Have Plans In Metric?

Virtually everything on the internet is by definition “World Wide”. Even though Mechanical Elements (Synthesis Engineering Services) is physically located in the USA, we have a world audience, so it’s a fair question

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How Much Will It Cost To Build?

How Much Will It Cost?

Before starting a project we always want to know — or at least have some idea about — how much with this thing cost to build? If you’re like me, resources are limited, so knowing how much you’re going to sink into a project is smart. So, if I buy these cool ______ * fill […]

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Trailer With Attitude

Does Your Trailer Have Attitude?

When we think about airplanes as they fly, or boats as they sail, it’s not uncommon to imagine how they move. An airplane rolls some as it banks into a turn. A boat pitches up and down with the waves. So, how do these factors — Pitch, Yaw and Roll — apply to trailers and […]

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What Do You Want for 2020

What Do You Want In 2020?

A new day, A new Year, and a new Decade! We don’t get to say that very often, so it’s kind of cool. Anyway, as we look to the near future for Mechanical Elements, we want to know what you want in 2020. How should we improve the website? What new plans should we create? […]

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JTP Building A Trailer

Building A Trailer — Customer Video

We’ve been working with the great folks at Johnson Trailer Parts for a while. Their business is primarily selling trailer parts, but they understand the greasy hands-on Do-It_Yourself paradigm!

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Plans Download Screen

Where’s My Plans Download?

This is a Frequent Question about Downloading Plans after placing an order — And we want to help you! If you have not yet accomplished the plans download after your purchase, definitely, read this.

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Do I Need A Trailer Spare Tire?

Does My Trailer Need A Spare Tire?

What about a trailer spare tire. Do you really need one? Some say yes, and we do see them on many trailers, but they are rarely used. What if you just go without? These are great questions — and we do see a lot of trailer “spare tires” that just dry-rot in place. If they […]

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What Bolts for DIY?

What Bolts For DIY? – Bolts 101

Bolts are an amazingly simple yet complex fastening method. They’re used everywhere so mostly we take them for granted, but why are there so many different kinds? And what bolts should I use?

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Understanding Bolt Choice

How To Choose Bolts

This is Page 2, a continuation of our Bolts 101 article. Here we discuss choices for bolts depending on the application. The previous post, Page 1 of Bolts 101, gives a ton of background information, so we recommend reading that first, then this one on making a good bolt choice. Both pages focus on the […]

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Review of the Folding Trailer Tongue

Trailer Folding Tongue – What I’d Do Different

On a recent trailer, I experimented with a new folding tongue design. Now it’s time to review — What do I like? What would I do different if building another?

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Finishing or Trailer Frame Painting

Recommendations For Trailer Frame Painting

(And finishing other DIY Projects.) Now you’ve invested all that time and effort into building an awesome trailer, how should you finish it? Of course we don’t want it to rust. And, we want it to last. So, here are some recommendations

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Small Trailer with Big Benefits

Excellent Small Car Trailer Caught In The Wild

Caught on the streets, this small trailer provides big benefits. It’s an excellent example of using a trailer instead of a truck, and this business owner understands efficiency.

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calculating-axle-position

Calculating Axle Position

There’s always more to it. Our previous post titled “Where Does The Axle Go?” has spawned a lot of great questions. Here is one in particular asking some very relevant info about calculating axle position.

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Steel for the Next DIY Build

Starting Yet Another Project

This is what the beginning of a new DIY build looks like. Of course, there’s the planning stages, the design stages and finally the acquisition stages where all the raw materials begin to come in.

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Study of Torsion Axles In Triple

Why Shouldn’t I Use Torsion Axles In Tandem Or Triple?

Torsion axles are awesome, so Why not use torsion axles in tandem? It’s a frequent question, along with the corollary “Why shouldn’t I have torsion axles in triple?”

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Cool Air Chuck Tool

Solutions! Found A Cool Air Chuck

Ever find something that wasn’t really a big deal, but you got pretty excited about it anyway? Me too. Found this fun tire inflation air chuck kind of by accident

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Custom Changes To The Plans

Making Changes To The Plans

I can’t find quite the right plans for the trailer I want to build. Can I make changes to the plans at Mechanical Elements to fit my needs?

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Looking At Old Time Tiny House Trailers

Old Time Tiny House Trailers

The Tiny House Craze is cool and feels New, but it’s actually one of those things that has come around — though with a twist. There is a lot to learn from the past if we take a few minutes

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Specialty Trailer ??

What is a “Specialty Trailer”?

When someone asked “What is a Specialty Trailer?”, I had to really think about it. Sometimes words are important in descriptions. Certainly it does not mean “Special”, as in “Unique” because almost all DIY

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How To Make A Trailer Longer

How To Make A Trailer Longer

Sometimes I wish my trailer was longer. Is there an easy way to make a trailer longer? Is that even possible? And, what are the limits

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Engineered Trailer Plans Are Not Free Plans

Why BUY Plans, If You Can Get FREE Plans?

It’s a big dilemma. Why buy trailer plans (or crane plans or whatever) when you can get free plans? Some websites have free plans, other places charge. So what’s the big deal?

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Gantry Crane Failure Modes

Gantry Crane Failure Modes

There are a lot of ways to abuse a crane. We won’t go into those, but let’s do take a minute on crane failures and what they look like.

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What is the right trailer tongue length?

What Is The Right Trailer Tongue Length?

How long should a trailer tongue be? Is there a standard or is it totally arbitrary? Let’s get some answers on this fun trailer tongue length topic.

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Spring Foot for Gantry Crane Safety

Practical Safety With A Crane

Nothing ruins a pleasant day quite like a goose egg on your head, or a throbbing finger pinch. Avoiding those things (and, of course, the much more disastrous potential events) is

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Trailer Axle Suspension - Leaf Spring Length

The Value Of Spring Length

Why choose a long or short leaf spring for your trailer? They come in different sizes, not only for strength, but also in trailer leaf spring length. So, why do I want long ones or short ones? Does it even matter?

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Ways to Make a Trailer Wider

How To Make A Trailer Wider

So, I have this trailer, but it needs it to be bigger. Is it possible to make a trailer wider? Can I make it wider to carry more?

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Analysis of Trailer Frame Material in Main Beam

Choosing The Best Trailer Frame Material

What materials should I use for building my trailer frame? It’s a common question with strong biases for Rectangular Tube or I-Beam or C-Channel. Also, choices of Aluminum versus Steel.

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Common DIY Material and Beam Shapes

Six Beam Shapes To Build With, +1

Whether you’re an experienced DIY builder or brand new to the party, there are often quandry’s about beam shapes. Well, I need to do this, but I only have material like that. I’ll just use it

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The Car Parking Stop Solution!

Solutions! Reverse Car Parking Stop

Yeah, I know, most of the world doesn’t like or use the parking brake any more. Yet, some of us still prefer a manual transmission for the driving experience — and rely on the parking brake. So, what happens

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