Back in Business
I’ve really struggled with continuing the trailer build over the past couple of months. We dabbled with biscuit jointing the base floor together and lining the underside with undertile felt (it’s more of an experiment than a known method of road spray protection).
The actual biscuit jointing went well, but I didn’t think about the extra width and length the felt would add to the already tight fit. So I got annoyed with it and put my foot through the joint. We also learnt that bitumen adhesive is sticky stuff. Word from the wise, don’t apply it at 10pm in a pitch dark car park unless you really know your plan and you aren’t so tired that you lose your temper!
Now summer is ending, I have more free time to work on the trailer, although the new season brings wet weather and less daylight in the evenings. This wouldn’t be a issue if I had a garage; but I don’t. The space doesn’t have enough room to get the trailer in or store large components for longer than a few days. I was left with two options: rent or buy. I couldn’t afford to rent a commercial/industrial unit - it’s just not feasible. I had offers of garages from friends, but again the renting cost would just eat an unnecessary hole into my budget. So after a lot of thought, the only real option was to buy a tent garage, or big gazebo, or a marquee. So I did!
(Instructions said “Needs 3 people”. For what? I was home alone all weekend)
It’s big and I had a mild panic about the neighbours kicking off. But to their credit they all seem OK with it. For now at least.
Lastly, I had to beef up the guylines. The pitiful string that was supplied wasn’t up to much, so paracord and some sort of tensioner were needed. I scrounged around the junk shelf at the space (have I linked it enough yet? - if you’re in Southampton check it out) and found some copper pipe. A bit of sawing, filing, drilling and neon orange(?!) spray paint produced just what was needed.
(Sorry DB. I have more barrels now, so you can have this one back)















