ENG-3 to Gen-trailer conversion

[Speddmon]

Oh, where to put this thread, "trailers", or "aux equipment"????

Today I started in earnest working on my lube trailer/gen trailer conversion. My neighbor came over this morning when I got home from work, and we lifted the cover off of the lube trailer with his back-hoe. Then he was kind enough to stick around and help me unbolt all of the equipment on the trailer bed and lift it off too.

Now that I have it stripped off, I have to go the the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV), and get the paperwork done to register the trailer. Since the state doesn't require titles for trailers weighing less than 4000 lbs, I should easily fall below that mark with the trailer gutted. Once I get it weighed and registered, I'm going to clean off the deck, and mount one of the MEP-003a's onto the deck. A few small mods the the generator and trailer and then I'll put the cover back on to cover it all up. I may not have it exactly the way I want it by rally season this year, but I'll have it far enough along that I can drag it with me to the rallies, if anybody needs power. Also, once I get my floodlights from citizensoldier, I'll also be able to provide lighting for loading up after the sun goes down if anybody wants or needs it.

Ideally, I would like to construct a "poor mans" sound proofing enclosure around the generator inside the cover, but that may wait depending on time constraints and such. I don't think it will be overly loud inside the cover though, aside from the cover and hatches rattling around from the vibration.

I'll keep you posted on the progress and keep updating some pictures as we go. Here is the first lot of pics.

 

[Carl_in_NH]

You're off to a good start, Tom. Keep us informed as to how it goes.

 

[drgreg]

So you are going to leave the LSU base on the trailer to mount the gen to, good plan.

 

[Speddmon]

yeah Greg, that's the plan. It should keep some of the road spray off of the generator in the event of foul weather driving. And the LSU enclosure will help to keep it dry and away from the elements. The enclosure leaks a little bit, but not too bad.

 

[drgreg]

Should be cool. I took off the entire PM-96 unit, skid and all, because I wanted to put the S-250 on the trailer. Heavy little slug.

 

[Speddmon]

No progress update as of yet, but I did take it up to get it weighed for the registration today. The Elliot Machine Works Model ENG-T3 trailer and LSU skid base weigh in at #3360. Since I do not need a title in Ohio for trailers weighing less than #4000, I don't need to waist the money for an SF-97 from GL. The trailer registration will end up running me about $39.50 a year for a commercial trailer tag. Anything over #3000 in Ohio is considered a commercial trailer.

I'm hoping that I can get my neighbor back down here later this weekend or early next week to set the generator on it, so I can position everything and get ready to bolt her down.

 

[Speddmon]

Well, I have a progress report sooner than I thought I would. My neighbor called up this afternoon and asked me if I could look into the wiring on his back-hoe for him. His generator/regulator wasn't hooked up and he wanted to get his battery charging on it's own again. He said if I had the time and was ready he would come back over and put my generator on the trailer and then we could look at his wiring.

I now have the generator set on the trailer, but it's not in it's final resting place yet. I'll be able to move it around and position it where I want it by myself. Getting it up in the air and set on the trailer is what I couldn't get done alone. Once I get it set where it belongs, I'll bolt it down and then start the finishing touches on it.

Here are some pics so far.

 

[m38inmaine]

Looks good, although I would have mounted it so the generator controls were facing the back.

 

[Speddmon]

I thought about that, but the reason I mounted it like it is, was for the air flow and because of the position of the doors on the enclosure. The front of the trailer behind the air tank has a platform to stand on so getting to the controls is not going to be an issue. The rear door of the enclosure is the full length of the enclosure and had clips on it that will allow you to only open the lower half and snap it in the open position if you want to (see pic below). I guess hind sight being 20/20 and all, I could have just put the enclosure back on the trailer in the reverse position, although it would have required some more welding on the deck to re-attach the supports for the enclosure. But I think it will work out pretty good this way.

 

[DieselBob]

Looks good. Nice idea for an enclosed genny trailer.

 

[Speddmon]

Got to do some more work on the generator trailer today. Even though the ground was way too wet to get under the trailer to finish it up, I only have about an hour or an hour and a half of work to do still. Then I'm ready to throw the cover back on it. After that, I'll have to "fine tune" the last few things I want to do with it. But that may wait for a while. At least I'll have it mobile!

The first picture is of the new hoses I brought home from work for the work on the generator. The rubber "hydraulic hose" is to replace the stock oil pressure gauge hose and relocate the gauge to the front under the control panel. The 3/4" stainless steel braided hose will replace the OEM oil drain hose, and stick through a hole in the trailer deck to make oil changes a little easier. I put a plugged cam-lock fitting on the end of that hose so if the valve at the oil pan would leak, I wouldn't be dripping oil all over the road while I'm driving down the highway. The other two 1 1/4" stainless steel braided hoses are for the exhaust extensions to reach down through the deck so the enclosure doesn't fill up with fumes.

The next picture shows the oil drain hose in place.

The next two are of the new bracket I had to make to mount the oil pressure gauge under the control panel of the set. I have to wait for the paint to dry before mounting the bracket.

And two of the pressure gauge located in about it's final position. It will be better looking once I get the bracket mounted and the gauge mounted to it.

The last pics are of the exhaust hoses in place. I still have to get out the hole saws and drill 2 holes in the deck for them to poke through. Then I need some dry ground to get under the trailer and connect the pipe fittings to divert the exhaust away from the trailer and clamp them in place.

I'll take a few more pics and post more info as soon as the ground dries out enough to get under the trailer and finish up.

 

[glcaines]

That looks like a very nice setup you've put together. It will be even nicer when you get the cover on. Do you think you'll lose much power with the exhaust extensions? Probably not since the length isn't that great. Really nice!

 

[Speddmon]

Gary,

I don't think the exhaust hoses will affect the power at all. The OEM pipes that are on the generator are 1 1/4" pipe threads, and this is a 1 1/4" hose. And they are only 3 feet long. Once they pop through the deck, they will have a short nipple on them and a 90 with another nipple just to get them out from under the deck. I don't think that will provide enough restriction to cause any issues. I've seen pictures on GL of sets coming straight from the military with all kinds of funky piping on the exhausts and they were still using them.

 

[Speddmon]

Well, today it was dry enough in my parking area to go out and finish up the major work on the lube trailer/generator trailer conversion.

I drilled the hole and mounted the new oil pressure gauge bracket, and plumbed up the gauge.

I also got out the hole saws and drilled through the deck and did the piping on the exhaust hoses.

Once my machine shop get's in touch with me about my oil filter adapter being done, I'll change the oil. Then it will be time to run the generator and put the home made load bank on it to check everything out really good before I put the cover back on it.

Here are the last of the pics.

 

[Ferroequinologist]

Looking really good! Any thoughts to the exhaust hitting the back of the tire? I would have concidered maybe putting a stack type exhaust on it to get the fumes above the heads of the people who might be around the trailer.

Can't wait to see it at Haspin! Keep up the good work and the great pics!

 

[m38inmaine]

Looks great, the oil gauge is the same place on the laundry units, they should have mounted them all that way. The laundry units also use a stainless flexible extension that is about 12' long so I would not worry about yours.

 

[Speddmon]

Ferro,

I thought about that when I put the pipes in. It's hard to tell in the pictures but there as at least 8 to 10 inches of clearance before it get's to the tire. I'm sure it will get warm, but I don't think it will be hot enough to do any damage. When I do the test run and load bank it, I'll let it run for about an hour or so at load and see how hot that tire gets. I can always weld a small heat shield on the trailer frame to block the tires exposure.

Mark,

I knew the laundry units had the oil gauge mounted under the control box, that's kinda why I moved mine there. That, and since it will be in the enclosure, it would be hard to see the gauge without opening up the side hatches of the enclosure, which I don't want to do unless it becomes necessary (noise levels and all). However, I did not know about the laundry units having exhaust extensions on them. I wasn't really concerned about the length of mine to begin with, but now I'm even less concerned.

 

[mdlbldrmatt135]

It's looking good!!!

off on a tangent....LOL I really need to get my @$$ in gear and finish FrankenKompressor.... I finally have the propane adaptor machined out of a hunk of aluminum..... just need to get it all plumbed up.

 

[Ferroequinologist]

I wasn't as concerned with the tire, as with all that exhaust pooling around under the trailer. Definitly looking forward to seeing it in person! keep the pics coming too.

 

[Speddmon]

I hadn't though about that aspect. But if that happens I'll just have to come up with something to cure the situation.

In reality, what I'm hoping to do is to have remote outlet stations (along with the remote floodlights) so nobody has to be right against the trailer to have things plugged in. But that may wait till next year to get done, unless I can find the parts I want/need for free. But I will have it at Haspin and GA this year with the good lord willing.