Low Rent Renaissance

Here it is...the final and most intimidating aspect of deconstructing this trailer...cutting up the chassis. We used an angle grinder, and have thus far removed all the crossties and most of the wings on which the floor was fastened. The metal is soft and the grinder cuts it like a saw cuts wood. I'd been spraying the axel bolts with WD-40 for days, and the bolts slipped right off, so we removed the axels intact. Then I finally began cutting the big beams that ran the entire length.

At last, we're pretty much down to the bare metal chassis. We saved many pieces of this mobile home for future use -- most of the wood from inside the interior walls, the trim from inside, the rafters, the interior doors, kitchen cabinets, kitchen and bathroom sinks, tubs, drain and other pipes, some lighting fixtures, windows, carpets, much of the siding, etc. We decided to keep the sheet metal from the roof. But so much of what we pulled off and out of that trailer has been affected by years of heat, moisture, and pests. Much of the paneling and wall board simply fell apart as we attempted to take it off intact, as did the ceiling tiles. Insulation was simply nasty. All of that, for better or for worse, went to the landfill along with many of the exterior wall studs. We learned how to take the floor apart without cutting, so many of the joists were salvaged.

We were moving at a good clip until we got to the floor. Where the floor isn’t soft from the trailer leaking, it’s difficult to pull apart. The press wood is incredibly heavy and well fastened to the joists, which are 2x4. We tried going at the floor with hand saws, crow bars, hammers, and the like, but I ended up buying a reciprocating saw from Harbor Freight. That's working okay. We're taking it apart in about 1.5 by 5 ft. pieces. It's slow, but coming along. I found a video on Youtube in which young men went at the floor of a mobile home with an ax, but that's not for me. They also cut the steel frame with an angle grinder. Since that's the only info I've seen online regarding actual disassembly of a mobile home, it's probably what I'll try. I'm up for any suggestions that don't involve a welding torch.