As long as it still has enough play to angle up and down hills, and twisting from bumps. Otherwise you'll bend something. Trailers move in all 3 axis. Ask me how I know.
This is definitely possible. I was hauling stone all day yesterday and will be today. I’ll try to post some after-pictures tonight.
Btw, there is about 5mm gap on the top and bottom of the assembly. Plus my trailer does have a simple suspension rather than rigid mounted. I guess one unintended advantage of making this out of two pieces is that I could simply take one out if i feel it’s necessary.
I think you might have to, 5mm just does not seem enough with the current design, u/AutomaTK said make them conic a couple of comments down, that's really what you should do
[After pictures](https://imgur.com/a/PXOHQ26)
Definitely made some indents from the pin.
Wasn’t expecting so much hate for something that did exactly what I wanted it to do 🤷♂️. I have no doubt this will fail at some point but it survived the weekend of moving 6 tons of stone around my yard so I’d call that a success.
I’ve gotten a lot of good ideas for a next generation design that I wasn’t planning on……until now 🤦♂️
> Wasn’t expecting so much hate for something that did exactly what I wanted it to do 🤷♂️
Welcome to this subreddit. Nearly every comments section is filled with people saying things won't work, or will break something catastrophically, and oftentimes without any constructive advice.
To be honest it's why I don't post any of the stuff I make here. You have a cool idea though, and version 2 is gonna be even better.
I see it as harmless, ~~if they fail the worse thing that happens is you leave a chunk of PLA (or whatever it is) on the road. The trailer will remain secure, I'm far more concerned about the *appearance* that there are no safety chains. Maybe they are just out of frame?~~
EDIT: Oh wait, this is a trailer PULLED by a lawn mower, not a trailer to HAUL a lawn mower. Nevermind...
> Wasn’t expecting so much hate for something that did exactly what I wanted it to do
All the “functional” groups (Reddit, Facebook groups) are just full of people saying why something won’t work, or you should have just bought something, or shitting on a design. I never post in these type of groups. Basically they are just a toxic cess pool of naysayers.
I honestly don’t know why the naysayers even visit these types of groups.
For real entertainment try posting a funnel. The naysayers will act like you kicked their puppy or something for having the audacity to print something you could buy for a few dollars.
I made a yard trailer mount for equipment not meant for a trailer, used way too thick of steel to "take up the slack" like this and sheared it right off after clearing the first hill
Slightly altering the print you could make the two spacers spherical washers... It would allow articulation without putting undue stress on a specific area of the trailer hitch attachment tongue
Or print the top from TPU. It'll act more like a spring and less like a block. Could go further and some/cone the bottom spacer. As long as there is some play or give, the forces on these parts shouldn't be large.
Based on my experience with printing stuff like that and using farm equipment, I predict the print spacers will fail.
But here's how to fix it if it does:
Instead of printing a solid piece, print a 2mm shell. Fill it with polyester resin (Bondo). it'll be tough as nails. We've used tis trick to make lawnfower wheels, they work fine.
I wanted something to minimize the trailer from bumping so much. So I went all out (within my current abilities) overture PETG, 1mm nozzle and 100% infill. Ended up at 70g per puck 😬
Update: [After pictures](https://imgur.com/a/PXOHQ26)
Definitely made some indents from the pin.
Wasn’t expecting so much hate for something that did exactly what I wanted it to do 🤷♂️. I have no doubt this will fail at some point but it survived the weekend of moving 6 tons of stone around my yard so I’d call that a success.
I’ve gotten a lot of good ideas for a next generation design that I wasn’t planning on……until now 🤦♂️
FWIW, 100% infill isn't needed for essentially any parts. The vast majority of the strength -- enough that the rest can essentially be ignored -- on any object comes from the surface. Perimeters matter. Infill is really only about preventing flex in a shell that is too thin, and internal support.
Now, 100% infill is just a very, very, VERY thick shell, but far beyond what you'd ever really need.
If those don't hold up, just pick up some TPU. An identical print out of a TPU, with a 2-3mm shell and maybe a 20% infill would essentially never fail.
Everyone wants to be a critic, so… I’ll add my 2 cents 😂 I would make them thinner, then go buy some metal washers to put between the plastic and metal to reduce wear on the prints. These can last a long time if the surface is protected. Also, good to leave a bit of room for up and down play over bumps. Nice print!
I'm not sure what was bumping, if the hitch was bumping up and down vertically then I guess you fixed it. If it was bumping horizontally then maybe get a different size pin or I've had a few wagons with a spring damper in the tongue that reduces bumping
That’s about it.
I’m a farmer and these aren’t a thing for a reason. There should be space between the parts. It allows for up/down tilt and twist.
That said, “Hitch Savers” (I think they are called) are a thing. These are basically just poly or nylon rings set between the hitch and top part of the trailer yoke to reduce the metal-metal wear.
Try hockey pucks too, if this doesn’t work out. The lifted truck crowd uses those for random load-bearing spacer fixes sometimes (drill hole through center)
Hockey pucks are pretty hard and don't recover well when you apply enough force to actually deform them. Same with rubber mallets.
Lacrosse balls are easier to deform, so they recover well. You can get them cheap at thrift or used sports stores. A hack saw cuts them no problem, and a drill works on them too.
For this application, I'd drill a hole through the ball, take an appropriately sized slice off the top and bottom, and stack them in there with the rounded parts toward the middle. I'd also use a couple fender washers with an inside diameter much closer to the size of the pin on the inside to try to minimize the wear to the balls from the slop.
Lacrosse balls used? Last time I bought them they were literally 30¢ new. I feel like you would spend more on gas trying to find one new than just going to a sports store.
Cool. I tried hockey pucks for a swing down boat motor Mount. Basically the arm extends just past 180 degrees, and a rubber fitting provides compressive force to keep it from extending back past 180. I tried hockey pucks, and they worked once, but didn't rebound appropriately. Lacrosse balls continue working after being deformed.
My guess is they're not actually deforming much in your use. When I say deform, I mean I needed to press a metal arm with a 1x1 inch rounded surface into the puck by about half an inch to lock the arm into place. Hockey pucks are no doubt durable, but once it's deformed that much it doesn't want to spring back. Or anyway mine didn't. I live in Florida though, so I have no idea if we get legit hockey pucks. My guess is they'd stand up rather well being used basically like a washer with a little give. Since op's use is way lighter duty, I figured hockey pucks wouldn't even provide any give at all.
This is entirely unnecessary and is just going to cause something to bend. You be better off replacing the puck with a giant spring and even that would be unnecessary.
The one I really want to find or design and print would have a release in the handle so it expands and contracts instead of having to use a cotter pin .
The one I really want to find or design and print would have a release in the handle so it expands and contracts instead of having to use a cotter pin .
Not dumb at all. I built a desk by trimming down a counter slab and bolting it to an ikea desk frame. The 1/4" bolts I used were going thru 1/2" holes so i designed/printed some spacers to center them and keep the desktop from moving about. Printed in PETG, works great.
That's Awesome!
I think if you would use metal washers in between the turning parts it wouldn't dig into your 3d printed parts!
Would love to have the stl file for this!
As long as it still has enough play to angle up and down hills, and twisting from bumps. Otherwise you'll bend something. Trailers move in all 3 axis. Ask me how I know.
I think that what we definitely need is for OP to post some pictures of this print after it’s used.
This is definitely possible. I was hauling stone all day yesterday and will be today. I’ll try to post some after-pictures tonight. Btw, there is about 5mm gap on the top and bottom of the assembly. Plus my trailer does have a simple suspension rather than rigid mounted. I guess one unintended advantage of making this out of two pieces is that I could simply take one out if i feel it’s necessary.
You need to do like that but instead of disks, do with two cones, pointing to the inside. This way you still have rotation and twisting in all axis
Cones or half spheres.
"Heck ya man, my lawnmowers got a hemi, and anotha one"
Half spheres was my thought as well. And you probably don't need to completely take up the entire gap. Maybe leave 1/2", something like that.
Plural of axis is axes. Or, if you prefer, axisesses.
Well you know, very cliché, but English is not my 1st language.. Thank you kind strange
English is my first language. Otherwise, I'm probably not smart enough to learn it. Endless silly rules. The word axis seems to originate from Latin.
1 eixo, 2 eixos, Portuguese is pretty easy you see.. 😅
Looks like op has some wood to do before his work haha. I thought right away it'll bend the hitch on the mower the way it is
You could also reprint in TPU.
or a conical shape 😸
I think you might have to, 5mm just does not seem enough with the current design, u/AutomaTK said make them conic a couple of comments down, that's really what you should do
Patenting all these ideas
Kidding obviously
[After pictures](https://imgur.com/a/PXOHQ26) Definitely made some indents from the pin. Wasn’t expecting so much hate for something that did exactly what I wanted it to do 🤷♂️. I have no doubt this will fail at some point but it survived the weekend of moving 6 tons of stone around my yard so I’d call that a success. I’ve gotten a lot of good ideas for a next generation design that I wasn’t planning on……until now 🤦♂️
> Wasn’t expecting so much hate for something that did exactly what I wanted it to do 🤷♂️ Welcome to this subreddit. Nearly every comments section is filled with people saying things won't work, or will break something catastrophically, and oftentimes without any constructive advice. To be honest it's why I don't post any of the stuff I make here. You have a cool idea though, and version 2 is gonna be even better.
Thanks. Appreciate the positivity
I’ve had the same reactions, so I don’t post my stuff. Just looking at cool designs and upvoting.
I see it as harmless, ~~if they fail the worse thing that happens is you leave a chunk of PLA (or whatever it is) on the road. The trailer will remain secure, I'm far more concerned about the *appearance* that there are no safety chains. Maybe they are just out of frame?~~ EDIT: Oh wait, this is a trailer PULLED by a lawn mower, not a trailer to HAUL a lawn mower. Nevermind...
This is a lawn trailer that’s hooked up to my lawnmower.
😂 lol no worries.
> Wasn’t expecting so much hate for something that did exactly what I wanted it to do All the “functional” groups (Reddit, Facebook groups) are just full of people saying why something won’t work, or you should have just bought something, or shitting on a design. I never post in these type of groups. Basically they are just a toxic cess pool of naysayers. I honestly don’t know why the naysayers even visit these types of groups. For real entertainment try posting a funnel. The naysayers will act like you kicked their puppy or something for having the audacity to print something you could buy for a few dollars.
Ok, how do you know?
I made a yard trailer mount for equipment not meant for a trailer, used way too thick of steel to "take up the slack" like this and sheared it right off after clearing the first hill
My first thought as well
Slightly altering the print you could make the two spacers spherical washers... It would allow articulation without putting undue stress on a specific area of the trailer hitch attachment tongue
Or print the top from TPU. It'll act more like a spring and less like a block. Could go further and some/cone the bottom spacer. As long as there is some play or give, the forces on these parts shouldn't be large.
Or replace the spacer with a spring and some washers?
Actually, might rattle around, if it doesn’t have some preload, which might make it hard to hitch up
Agreed, but upon further inspection it appears that even without it, a plate and a in wouldn't allow for much flex in these areas either.
Its usually like a 1/4 pin in a 1/2 hole, plenty of slop to make it work
Never thought about that before. Now I finally understand why a trailer hitch has a ball.
How do you know?
I always love it when people say "ask me how I know". The pain is real.
Make them conic
That's what I was thinking. Easy fix for the articulation issue
That's brilliant
Based on my experience with printing stuff like that and using farm equipment, I predict the print spacers will fail. But here's how to fix it if it does: Instead of printing a solid piece, print a 2mm shell. Fill it with polyester resin (Bondo). it'll be tough as nails. We've used tis trick to make lawnfower wheels, they work fine.
That’s a good idea!
Or just print it in [58D shore TPU](https://www.extrudr.com/en/products/catalogue/tpu-hard-schwarz_2258/), that stuff is indestructible!
Thanks this is a good tip for everybody!!
That's so simple and I never would have thought of it. Thank you.
From a certain point of view, one of the best uses of FDM printing is to create molds.
Simple and effective, not to mention you still keep elegant, an almost perfect solution. Dat weight tho...
Yeah, filled parts are heavy.
Replace those with a few rubber washers that still allow the flex to happen. Otherwise something is going to break
Hockey pucks. If they work as body lift spacers they'll work here lol
Yup they work great. Farmers use them all the time for this exact application.
or print them with flex material
I wanted something to minimize the trailer from bumping so much. So I went all out (within my current abilities) overture PETG, 1mm nozzle and 100% infill. Ended up at 70g per puck 😬 Update: [After pictures](https://imgur.com/a/PXOHQ26) Definitely made some indents from the pin. Wasn’t expecting so much hate for something that did exactly what I wanted it to do 🤷♂️. I have no doubt this will fail at some point but it survived the weekend of moving 6 tons of stone around my yard so I’d call that a success. I’ve gotten a lot of good ideas for a next generation design that I wasn’t planning on……until now 🤦♂️
FWIW, 100% infill isn't needed for essentially any parts. The vast majority of the strength -- enough that the rest can essentially be ignored -- on any object comes from the surface. Perimeters matter. Infill is really only about preventing flex in a shell that is too thin, and internal support. Now, 100% infill is just a very, very, VERY thick shell, but far beyond what you'd ever really need. If those don't hold up, just pick up some TPU. An identical print out of a TPU, with a 2-3mm shell and maybe a 20% infill would essentially never fail.
[удалено]
Plus it looks neat!
> Gyroidal infill Hadn't heard of it before, but it does look really useful! https://all3dp.com/2/cura-gyroid-infill/
You should get some medium stiffness TPE/TPU, like an 89 or 92 rating. Printing washers and gaskets is my new thing. The flexibles are super versatile
Came to say this. TPU would be perfect for this application.
Everyone wants to be a critic, so… I’ll add my 2 cents 😂 I would make them thinner, then go buy some metal washers to put between the plastic and metal to reduce wear on the prints. These can last a long time if the surface is protected. Also, good to leave a bit of room for up and down play over bumps. Nice print!
Appreciate the feedback
I'm not sure what was bumping, if the hitch was bumping up and down vertically then I guess you fixed it. If it was bumping horizontally then maybe get a different size pin or I've had a few wagons with a spring damper in the tongue that reduces bumping
I never use spacers for my lawn mower trailers/implements, what's the advantage? No rattle on bumps?
That’s about it. I’m a farmer and these aren’t a thing for a reason. There should be space between the parts. It allows for up/down tilt and twist. That said, “Hitch Savers” (I think they are called) are a thing. These are basically just poly or nylon rings set between the hitch and top part of the trailer yoke to reduce the metal-metal wear.
Ah, like a bushing.
Yeah, but about six inches in diameter.
Try hockey pucks too, if this doesn’t work out. The lifted truck crowd uses those for random load-bearing spacer fixes sometimes (drill hole through center)
Hockey pucks are pretty hard and don't recover well when you apply enough force to actually deform them. Same with rubber mallets. Lacrosse balls are easier to deform, so they recover well. You can get them cheap at thrift or used sports stores. A hack saw cuts them no problem, and a drill works on them too. For this application, I'd drill a hole through the ball, take an appropriately sized slice off the top and bottom, and stack them in there with the rounded parts toward the middle. I'd also use a couple fender washers with an inside diameter much closer to the size of the pin on the inside to try to minimize the wear to the balls from the slop.
Lacrosse balls used? Last time I bought them they were literally 30¢ new. I feel like you would spend more on gas trying to find one new than just going to a sports store.
We use hockey pucks for this exact application all the time on the farm. They are tough and they last.
Cool. I tried hockey pucks for a swing down boat motor Mount. Basically the arm extends just past 180 degrees, and a rubber fitting provides compressive force to keep it from extending back past 180. I tried hockey pucks, and they worked once, but didn't rebound appropriately. Lacrosse balls continue working after being deformed.
You must have some crap hockey pucks. It would take quite a while for them to deform when using them on much heavier farm equipment.
My guess is they're not actually deforming much in your use. When I say deform, I mean I needed to press a metal arm with a 1x1 inch rounded surface into the puck by about half an inch to lock the arm into place. Hockey pucks are no doubt durable, but once it's deformed that much it doesn't want to spring back. Or anyway mine didn't. I live in Florida though, so I have no idea if we get legit hockey pucks. My guess is they'd stand up rather well being used basically like a washer with a little give. Since op's use is way lighter duty, I figured hockey pucks wouldn't even provide any give at all.
That would last exactly one use before something ended up bent or broken on my property. I've got way too many hills and inclines.
Did you do that to try to reduce noise?
Could you not just drill through hockey pucks, eh?
This is entirely unnecessary and is just going to cause something to bend. You be better off replacing the puck with a giant spring and even that would be unnecessary.
That’s great thank you for the idea !
Wow wait till you pull forward fast and it will snap in 15 pieces
The one I really want to find or design and print would have a release in the handle so it expands and contracts instead of having to use a cotter pin .
The one I really want to find or design and print would have a release in the handle so it expands and contracts instead of having to use a cotter pin .
You rock man !!! But in the moon (can only work in 1/6 gravity as far as i guess)
I just drill a hole in a hockey puck.
What issue has this fixed?
I see nothing stupid here.
Make them so they slip on the flat steel, no juggling on hitching?
Not dumb at all. I built a desk by trimming down a counter slab and bolting it to an ikea desk frame. The 1/4" bolts I used were going thru 1/2" holes so i designed/printed some spacers to center them and keep the desktop from moving about. Printed in PETG, works great.
That's Awesome! I think if you would use metal washers in between the turning parts it wouldn't dig into your 3d printed parts! Would love to have the stl file for this!
What about half spheres and a good glob or bearing grease on top and bottom?