2016 - Volume #40, Issue #4, Page #26
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“Made It Myself” Trailer Liftgate
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His lift mechanism was patterned after the Gorilla-Lift tailgate that has spring-assisted cables in low-profile housings that attach to the top of a trailer’s side rails (www.gorilla-lift.com; ph 877-388-8895).
Nichols decided to use a similar idea to lift the hinged ramp on his mower-hauling trailer. “I bought a couple of 160-lb. garage door coil springs and some lightweight conduit. I bolted the springs inside the conduit, mounted the tubes on top of the trailer’s sideboards with muffler clamps, and attached cables to the springs and ramp. I welded a bracket to the back end of each piece of conduit to bolt two ball bearing rollers (from Lowes) to guide the cable as it extends and retracts.
“It’s tempting to set this up without enclosing the springs, but I’ve seen them break and they can be kind of dangerous.
“If I did it again I would use light wall square tubing because it would be easier to mount in place. But the conduit was much less costly. I have about $40 invested in this lift, so I saved about $150 over the commercial unit.”
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Steve Nichols, 1248 N. Seminary St., Galesburg, Ill. 61401 (ph 309 337-7141; seminarybob@gmail.com).
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