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Futures	MO	Last	Chg
Corn	December	391'0	-4'0
Soybeans	January	1046'0	7'0
Wheat	December	559'6	-2'6
Milk	November	14.06	0.00
Feeder Cattle	January	92.675	0.850
Live Cattle	December	83.950	0.275
Lean Hogs	December	57.600	1.625
Cotton	December	70.41	0.00

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Des Moines , IA

32°		Wind Speed N, 3 MPH
	Humidity 88 %	Wind Chill 32°F
	Dew Point 29°F	Barometer 30.09 in.

Farm Journal Media eNewsletters

Task Master

1/11/2008

By Darrell Smith, Farm Journal Conservation & Machinery Editor

Everybody loves snazzy pickups, but it takes a connoisseur to appreciate what often follows in their wake—a trailer. Adam Goblish knows a fine hauler when he sees one. In fact, he built one.

The fifth-wheel flatbed trailer has come a long way from the $400 wreck Goblish purchased from his grandfather. “All four tires were flat, the brakes were shot and the bed was rotten. The paint was faded or gone and only one light worked,” says the South Dakota State University (SDSU) engineering student, who works on the Welu family farm near Milroy, Minn.

Thanks to Goblish’s tender, loving care, today the trailer hauls plows, planters, show tractors and combines as big as a John Deere 4400. It even got dressed up as a float in the SDSU Hobo Day parade.

Goblish considered lengthening the 191/2' bed, but the cost and labor that would be required seemed too high. Instead, he gained additional space by shortening the beavertail from 5' to 21/2'. “I didn’t want to have to park on the beavertail,” he says.

The flip-over ramps took up too much space and got in the way, so Goblish removed them and created a space to store them underneath.

He also cut off the gooseneck hitch and raised it 6". “I’ve seen too many pickups with dented tailgates or sides from going through ravines with a trailer,” he says. He updated the old 3" ball to 25/16".

Storage compartment. Goblish filled in the space in the gooseneck hitch with wood to create a storage area and added safety chains. On the rear, he installed a receiver hitch, which he uses to tow a hayrack and a support bracket for carrying long pieces of steel.

Using a framework made from 3" bent channel iron, Goblish moved the fold-down siderails outward, away from the bed. “That gives me access to the tie-downs when the sideboards are up,” he says.
The sideboards flip up and down on hinges made from strap-bar metal welded to the channel-iron frame. Goblish ground off the ends of the bolts that attach the sideboards to the hinges, so they wouldn’t hit the bed when folded down.

For use with heavy loads, Goblish added jack stands. He moved the jack handle for the tongue from the right side of the hitch to the left, so it’s handy when he exits his pickup. He installed all-new LED lights.

Extra-heavy-duty mud flaps were fabricated from 3/4"-thick rubber matting. The trailer rides on 145x75x16 tires—the standard tire for a 3/4-ton pickup. To mount them, Goblish replaced the 161/2" rims with 16" rims.

“I run used tires because the triple axle wears them out on turns,” Goblish says. “This size of tire is cheap, readily available and can carry the load. It was hard to get used tires for the old rims—and those rims were ugly.”

Of course, few jobs are ever really finished, and the trailer is a work in progress. Goblish plans to update the suspension system and install aluminum rims for the tires. “They’re shiny and attractive, and it’s one less thing to rust,” he says.

Share your machinery ideas and win $500. Entries are judged in 12 categories: technology, livestock, planters, drills/air seeders, harvesting equipment, chemical handling, sprayers, shops, tillage tools, hay tools, service trucks and miscellaneous. Just send a photograph or sketch and a brief description of the idea to Darrell Smith, Farm Journal, P.O. Box 13018, Des Moines, IA 50310-0018. Category winners will receive $500 when the idea appears in Farm Journal. Any idea that is published—even if it's not a category winner—will earn you a check for $100. Send your entry in today!

You can e-mail Darrell Smith at dsmith@farmjournal.com.

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Farm Journal Media eNewsletters

Task Master

1/11/2008

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