Trailer Repair

With spring ranch work ahead of us, we needed to give some attention to the ole stock trailer.

This 06 Circle D is a work of art in my world. Built tough, the rust just adds a patina to her. Darin and I ran out to the ranch and brought her to town. 

The dividing gate had a broken bracket and doesn't stay closed.

Down low, the weld rusted off and broke when we hit it with a snowmobile ski. 

Manure really compounds the rust. 

Which old chunk of scrap should we use?

The big one will do. Just cut the corners off of it.

Should make some nice gussets.

Wheel the welder out and get to work. 

We ground it down the best we could and then welded them in hot. Something should stick. 

The spring on the latch also lost some strength, so we added this bungee cord. Works. 

Mui bien. 

When we keep it open, I put this leather strap around it. Sucks it up tight, so you don't hear it clanging all the time. 

While we were at it, we dunged out the tack room. 

Once straightened up, we just blew the dirt out. 

Better. 

Then got her up to date. 

Ready to ranch.

Good stuff. I love this trailer. Mainly in comparison to the old stock rack system, But nevertheless, she is handy. Got a little cow work in the morning, so we'll put her right to use. Ranch on.