I thought I would share a project that I completed recently. I needed to bring a trailer for our most recent Quetico trip to haul our gear and avoid having to drive two vehicles to canoe country for our group. I already had an old metal trailer, but I desired some kind of cover for it to keep our gear dry and dust free and more secure than a simple tarp. The trailer I used is an old 1947 Ben Hur made in Milwaukee. I had perused some online forums and Facebook groups relating to DIY campers and had settled on a budget friendly PMF(Poor Mans Fiberglass) Foamie design. I designed it somewhat similar to a teardrop camper design with a curved front an back hatch. I bumped out the curved front about 20" so that my 6' trailer could accommodate 7' fishing rods in a rod tube. I also wanted to fit 60L barrels, so I came up with a 2' side height above the 1' metal side of the trailer. I used a little less than two sheets of 1 1/2" 4x8 foam board for the front and sides. The back hatch is made of 3/8 ply reinforced with strips ripped from a 2x4. 6 wooden stakes slide into the trailer pockets and the side stakes are reinforced with a 2x4 ripped lengthwise and beveled. There are a couple of 2x2's along the curve for support. The whole thing is then sanded and covered in Titebond II wood glue and canvas(drop cloth) is applied in a similar fashion to the construction of a canvas canoe. Once dry, a couple layers of exterior paint is applied to waterproof and solidify the canvas.






















Hatch propped with Paddle:










Curved foam front construction:










Sanding before applying glue:









Applying glue and canvas:

I'm impressed! I also like the system for hanging cordless drills and such from brackets that look to me made of pvc pipe on the back wall of your garage! :-)

Wow. That's amazing work!

Thanks for the kind comments. I am pleased with how it turned out and it was relatively inexpensive. $30 per foam sheet, $20 in plywood, a few 2x4's, canvas painters drop cloths, glue and paint, probably a bit more than $100 total. The white paint I already had and the blue paint was Menards oops paint that someone apparently did not like the color, so it was discounted to $9. It was a last minute rush project and I literally painted the blue coat to the top the day before we left for our trip.

The only thing I would do different if I had more time was to order some canvas online. The drop cloths I got from Menards had seams down the middle that I had to cut out which resulted in some overlapping glued seams in the finished product. I actually accented the seam along the front and used that as the mask line between the white and blue paint, sort of a wave effect. I also need to redo the piano hinge to try to make it more waterproof. I am thinking of using a strip of vinyl sandwiched around the hinge with perhaps some silicone caulk. It doesn't leak much as is, but some water does come through.

One more detail is that I used some screw in drywall anchors to attach the foam to some of the wood pieces. You can purchase these, but I happened to 3D print them. I feel that this is only a temporary fastener and consider the glued canvas as the real structural bond that holds everything together.













Traveler, good eye on the drill hangers. Yes, that is made from PVC pipe screwed to the shelf above. Borrowed the idea from online, it works well.