O/T mobile home frame

Tony S. · Apr 23, 2012

Thinking about building a light duty bridge out of a mobile home frame. Anybody know about how much the frame might weigh from say a 12x60 foot?

JOHNNYfromMI · Apr 23, 2012

Would be a very light duty! Not worth messing with.

John B. · Apr 23, 2012

I'm not sure how much it would weigh but I would be more concerned how much weight it would hold. If I were you I would look for a 48-53ft flat bed trailer. They have a much beefier frame and I would think they would hold a lot more weight!

Janicholson · Apr 23, 2012

Point loading will collapse it. Not designed for concentrated weight. It would be too tempting to drive on if it were built. Pedestrians OK. Go with the Scrapped Flat bed trailer. Jim

Greg1959 · Apr 23, 2012

I bolted/welded two 40 foot flatbed semi trailers together and decked with 3 1/2 inch white oak. It handled 98,000 ponds multiple times a day. Put it in in 1997 and still going strong.

Stephen Newell · Apr 23, 2012

More than likely the steel frame will weigh 15 to 18 pounds per lin ft so with the cross pieces I would guess about 2500 pounds. As far as building a bridge out of one, I built a bridge using 2 10-26 I beams that I span 20'. The term 10-26 means 10" beam and 26 pounds per lin. ft. I've had 5000 lbs on it without a problem. I'm sure if you would put piers every 10' you could drive a car or small tractor across it. I believe most mobile homes have a 8" I beam. I'm sure the mobile home frames are engineered to the standard of residential construction which is rated at 40 pounds per square foot load.

Todd Hovick · Apr 23, 2012

In NY many are used for snowmobile bridges

old · Apr 23, 2012

A lot depends in the type of frame it has. I know of 3 types that where used on mobile homes. #1 is a 10-12 inch I beam which is pretty strong over all but needs support to hold much of a load say not more then 10 feet between supports. Another type was a 5 or 6 inch C channel which is stronger then the thinner I beam stuff but less common. Then there was the stuff I call dock section frame which is angle iron with roll bar welder to it in crisis cross manner to make the frame and this is the weakest of them all. That said I have 3 building made from the stuff and it works well for that so for a bridge if you have the support you should do ok unless you want it to hold up a big rig

Zachary Hoyt · Apr 23, 2012

I cut up a 12x60 frame and put two 30' 10"x3" light weight I beams side by side down the middle of our sawmill/tractor building when we built it. The beams hold up the loft floor and the loft frequently has a few tons of hardwood lumber in it depending on supply and demand. It is however a relatively static load and there is a post in the middle to help hold it up. I think I have a picture here somewhere. I also kept a 16' section where the axles were where the I beams were doubled down each side and used it to make a double axle wagon to haul logs and such. I still have a 2' piece and a 12' piece left for some future project. I would not try to drive anything more than a lawn tractor weight over a mobile home bridge, they are not very stiff and I would think it would be risky.
Zach

fixerupper · Apr 23, 2012

10-4 on that. The load a mobile home frame carries is spread out over the whole frame, so it'll work fine for a roof or loft, but as a bridge it will have to carry a point load of several thousand pounds in one little 12"-18" area. Not good. Jim

Brian G. NY · Apr 23, 2012

One day while I was watching a car being loaded on a rollback I got to thinking, what a nice bridge this would make if you didn't need too much of a span.
All aluminum and it would last a lifetime!!

RayP(MI) · Apr 23, 2012

From my experience working in a trailer factory years ago, I wouldn't trust one for much more than a pedestrian walkway.

showcrop · Apr 23, 2012

(quoted from post at 07:23:58 04/23/12) In NY many are used for snowmobile bridges

But does the groomer cross them?

Tony S. · Apr 23, 2012

Thanks for the replies. I was thinking of the bridge primarily for a 4 wheeler to cross a canal. But it would be nice if I could drive a small tractor on it. I actually need about 50 feet with no supports except at the ends. Our neighbor has a bridge made out of rail cars. They drive loaded 10 wheel trucks across that one. I just don"t know how I would move one of those.

O/T mobile home frame

Tony S.

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JOHNNYfromMI

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John B.

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Janicholson

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Greg1959

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Stephen Newell

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Todd Hovick

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old

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Zachary Hoyt

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fixerupper

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Brian G. NY

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RayP(MI)

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showcrop

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Tony S.

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