self supporting shelf

Camper trailer owners are great thinkers when it comes to solutions for simple problems around camp.

Alan Spencer came up with this simple idea for an extra self supporting shelf on his swinging tailgate kitchen when he realized he didn't have a place to put hot pots & pans. The material for the shelf had to handle heat as well as spills of hot water. Aluminum checker plate was chosen for the project. The approximate cost for the shelf was around $50 including bending & stainless steel nuts & bolts.

Measuring the distance from the side awning to the tailgate when opened, he found a shelf 450mm wide was suitable & a total length of 1 metre. It could have been longer but this would have caused storage problems. Alan rates the shelf at around 5kg to 10kg without extra support.

    The shelf is self supporting using clever channel brackets bolted to the tailgate.

    Shelf sitting in place.    

    Close up of aluminum shelf showing slot which slips into support bracket.

The rear upturn is 50 mm & the front downturn is 70 mm.   

 Working kitchen with rear shelf in position.

The shelf fits neatly on the top of the kitchen for travel.   

Thanks to Alan for sharing this great idea.