All this talk of the trailers, and 8'6" beams.
Most of us have seen the Selsmeyers trailor, and Kurt Korte's also- both haul this beam width flat in the trailor- custom builds.
I'm amazed the seemingly low prices of some of those trailors that are linked here for sale!

Adding even a small support welded at the bottom will make the join much stronger - that is a long lever arm and is constantly vibrating / moving. You could make it large enough to also store the spare tire so that it serves a practical purpose as well as a structural one.

Mike, thanks. There is. I just hadn't taken a photo of it with it welded in place - it's why I made that bottom plate so long. You can kind-of see the lower brace here. It's some 1.5" angle iron.


20160227_143634 by Jake Kohl, on Flickr

Now going completely overboard (and having fun with the welding), I put a 10 degree angle at the top of the mast post so I can just square cut a piece of treated lumber and pad it to support the mast shape. The angle puts that lumber perpendicular to the mast when loaded. I also closed in a through hole through which the wood will be mounted and capped the top (since this will be painted and not galvanized...I can't paint the interior easily so it's easier just to seal it up).


20160227_143628 by Jake Kohl, on Flickr


20160227_144317 by Jake Kohl, on Flickr


20160227_144652 by Jake Kohl, on Flickr