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Any metal workers out there?

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Andy

03-06-2002 19:20:29




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I need to know if a piece of angle iron, say a 3in. piece,made of aluminum is as strong as a piece made of iron. I was thinking of making a set of ramps for my dovetail trailer out of aluminum. Need some advise. Thanks




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Trucker

03-09-2002 18:00:03




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 Re: Any metal workers out there? in reply to Andy, 03-06-2002 19:20:29  
The aluminum needs to be twice as thick as the steel you would need,so if 1/4 inch thick steel angle would work you would need 1/2 inch thick aluminum.Then it still wouldnt take as much abuse as steel,it would bend easier.A lot would depend on how you designed the ramps,like if you used 3 angles on the aluminum ones it might work,or made boxes out of the angles.It would take a lot of material and if you weld it yourself a lot of trust in your welds.

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Andy

03-09-2002 19:50:38




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 Re: Re: Any metal workers out there? in reply to Trucker, 03-09-2002 18:00:03  
Thanks Trucker, that's about the way I figure it too.



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Mr. Weld(TX)

03-08-2002 07:20:55




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 Re: Any metal workers out there? in reply to Andy, 03-06-2002 19:20:29  
As Kraig mentioned in the reply post below, steel is definately the way to go. Yes steel is heavier than aluminum, but much better in this case. One option for your dovetail trailer is to design the ramps to be spring loaded. No the spring will not lift them up for you, but they will assist. Depending on what type of machinery you are hauling, the ramps should not be too heavy especially with the advantage of the dove tail. My suggestion is to make the ramps hinge off of the trailer. This way you can slide them back and forth for the different widths of equipment, but you are not having to handle the whole weight of the ramp.

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kraig WY

03-07-2002 07:23:30




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 Re: Any metal workers out there? in reply to Andy, 03-06-2002 19:20:29  
Go with the steel. In fact go with the heavest steel you can get by with. You figure the weight of the tractor and build the ramps. Then when rolling off something happens and you have to hit the brakes you really increase the stress on the ramps. Its not any fun when you collapse a ramp.



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Rod (NH)

03-06-2002 20:20:30




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 Re: Any metal workers out there? in reply to Andy, 03-06-2002 19:20:29  
Hi Andy,

The tensile strength of most grades of aluminum is about 1/2 that of even low strength steels. Furthermore, the modulus of elasticity is 1/3 that of steel. What that means is for the same cross section, the aluminum will deflect 3 times that of the steel. For example, if your steel ramps deflected 1 inch in the middle when loading your equipment, they would deflect a full 3 inches when made of aluminum if you made them exactly like the steel ones. Hope this doesn't confuse the issue for you even more.

Rod

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John ('48 Cub, Ohio)

03-07-2002 09:10:25




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 Re: Re: Any metal workers out there? in reply to Rod (NH), 03-06-2002 20:20:30  
Further, the yield strength (the amount of force required to make permanent bends) of aluminum is about half (or much, much worse for cheap aluminum) that of steel.

JP



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Fred OH

03-13-2002 09:57:45




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 Re: Re: Re: Any metal workers out there? in reply to John ('48 Cub, Ohio), 03-07-2002 09:10:25  
Five inch alum. channel X six ft.long X two with 3/8"X 2" alum. angle every eight inches on center with the point up about flush. (for traction). TIG welded angle on top only with a 3/8 inch fillet weld and whole thing is 16" in width from outside to outside with lower end tapered down to start wheels on and upper end fabricated a hook to hang over lip on trailer with braced 3/8" x 2" alum flat x all the way across. (16") Should lift any utility tractor and mower with no problems if you got your stuff together on TIG or MIG welding. If they have any bow when loading, they need to be reenforced. You're on your own there. The only reason to use aluminum is so they can be carried and put in place. These are not too heavy, mommy could probably use them if necessary. L8R.....Fred OH

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