The "Scout" trailer

I think it was in 1990 or sometime there about I concluded that I really needed a utility trailer. We had a Ford Aerostar mini van and an eighty something Buick Skylark that I bought used from State Farm. I needed something to haul stuff around in and a pick-up truck wasn't in the budget right then. I had previously owned a Toyota PU but it was small and only had room for one passenger. What I needed was something that would allow me to carry people and stuff. My Friend Jarit Pitochelli had a small utility trailer that he would let me borrow from time to time and it would haul a lot of stuff; more than a pick up actually. I began looking around for a trailer to buy but the new ones were sort of expensive, at least by my standards at the time. The used ones were mostly junk. I couldn't fine one that was exactly what I wanted so I concluded that I should make my own. My Dad had always had a utility trailer, usually something made of wood with an axle and tongue bolted to a wood box. When he would hitch it to the car we would either refuse to ride with him or duck our heads so no one would see us. I didn't want a trailer that would be an embarrassment to be seen with. I knew it needed to have a steel frame with plywood sides and floor but the sides needed to be 3ft high rather than the two ft sides that were common. There were a lot of people building trailers that would utilize one sheet of plywood for the sides which dictated the size of the trailer. Many utilized old mobile home axles and wheels. Technically they were illegal and were hard to find tires for. So after a lot of research and though I designed my own trailer. I copied a lot of the specifications from a Portland company's trailers with my own modifications.

I went to another friend in the ward, Paul Duchateau, who seemed to have a lot of expertise in just about anything a person would need to know. Paul also had a lot of tools and an old barn to work in. I told Paul that I wanted to build a trailer and asked if he would teach me how. Paul is a quiet guy who wouldn't say much but would give the shirt off his back as the saying goes.

So Paul showed me how to weld and suggested a place where I could buy the steel. Turns out that they would not only sell the steel but cut it into all the lengths I needed. I brought my trailer kit over to Duchateau's and began the process of building the trailer. I really don't recall how long it took but I was over there a lot for a couple of weeks I guess. When it was time to square up the frame Paul showed me how to do that. I probably wouldn't even have thought of it. I bought an axle and someone gave me some wheels off an old Aerostar. Grandpa Brinkerhoff gave me the old tongue jack off their travel trailer in spite of the fact Grandma didn't want him to. I painted the metal parts blue to match the Aerostar and the plywood white. Well it kind of matched.

That little trailer turned out to be the most useful thing. It hauled stuff on scout outings, furniture when people needed help moving, yard and household junk, you name it. It took a high adventure trip to Utah that I didn't even go on. When we moved to Medford Phil Jarvis lamented the loss of a "Scout trailer" more than the loss of a Scouter(me). That little trailer made several trips to Utah. When Alison went to BYU it was filled to the top with all her accouterments which were way more than any other freshman in the history of universities. It hauled stuff back to Oregon when my parents cleaned out their Lewiston house and divided the spoils. It has continued to serve well and faithfully everywhere I have lived, Salem, Medford Or. Tumwater WA and now Friendswood TX. The scouting duties have diminished. The Ward here has a very nice enclosed Wells Cargo trailer to haul their equipment around, but I and others still get great service from my little trailer.

The trailer had one slight design flaw. It was exactly eight feet long, five feet wide, but the tailgate fit inside the frame taking up about an inch of the length. That made it impossible to carry 8' sheet goods with the tailgate on. One time while we lived in Tumwater I was hauling several sheets of particle board home. since I could not put up the tailgate I laid it on top of the boards. when I got home my tailgate was missing along with one sheet of particle board. I was panic stricken! I had driven down the freeway and could only guess where that thing would be. I was lucky. It was a short distance from my house, on the side of the road(actually the freeway off-ramp). There was a tire track on the particle board, but it was not damaged otherwise. Obviously someone had moved them to the shoulder. After that I modified the trailer and added three inches to the length overall and braced the back end sides, and re-painted it black and white. I also replaced the old car take-off tires for some load bearing tires and white spoke wheels. The first year we lived in Tumwater I had to re-build a retaining wall that was falling down. I decided to use railroad ties, relatively inexpensive. I had to buy them where ever I could find them. I found some at a home center in Lacey and went over with my trusty little trailer to haul them home. As I was walking around the trailer I happened to glance at the tire and noticed a large bulge on the inside of one of the tires. I made it home ok but bought the new tires and wheels right after. It has endured a lot of hard work and abuse. Kevin used it to haul stuff to Texas. He pulled out of the driveway without cranking up the tongue jack and bent it. I bent it back with a few whacks with a 2lb sledge hammer. The wood sides and floor are rotting out again. In Tumwater, Hardel lumber sold oversize plywood which was very handy because I could make the floor one solid piece instead of two. I doubt I'll ever find 5x10 plywood anywhere again. Maybe I'll have to go with a steel floor and sides.

This has been a long post, rather odd I suppose to go on for so long about a trailer. But I think it represents something much more than just a vehicle to haul stuff around in. I think it was my initiation to the idea that I could do things myself. It was a freedom of mind and action. I built that little trailer myself(with a little help from Paul). And with it I could do a lot of things for myself, and for others that I could not do with out it. I guess you could say that in a funny sort of way this little trailer is a sort of symbol of independence and self reliance that I learned doing something I had never done, didn't know I could, succeeding beyond my expectations, in a home made project.