Trailer Improvements

OK it's not an engine, pump etc. but may be of interest to anyone modifying a trailer for engine duties.

After a bit of research I bought a 750kg unbraked trailer




It came with a wire from each rear light to a modern 13 pin plug.




So I fitted a junction box to collect the 2 cables into a 7 core cable.




And fitted a "proper" 7 pin plug to suit my tow car.




The original deck was quite thin so I added a sheet of ½" thick Rhino board (Phenolic mesh faced ply) and fitted tie down rings.




Added a couple of stabilisers to the back.




To be continued...

I bought a winch kit and a piece of galvanised plate.




Many hours of cutting and drilling later.




Nice roller fairlead and an eye in case I want to double the line back and use a snatch block.




Radio receiver for the winch remote control.




A stainless steel strake to stop the winch wire cutting into the deck.




I wanted some way to keep the winch stuff tidy so picked up a cheap tractor toolbox.




Keeps all the cables tidy.




Winch finished.




First test of the winch was dragging 250kg of flail mower on to take to the stables.





To be continued....

I wanted to secure the loading ramps inside the trailer so fitted some plates drilled to take a clevis pin.




Plates and R clips secure them in position.




I didn't want the spare wheel in the trailer so got a mounting bracket.




It did the job.




Mounting the spare wheel showed the corner joints weren't very good so I added a couple of stiffener plates.




Found a worklight in the shed so made a bracket to mount it.




Should be good for any nocturnal trailering now





That's all for now folks.

Good idea with the work light, never thought of that! I bolted my winch inside the trailer and then made a frame to sit on the A frame for a battery to power it, just because I could. I am looking into some side marker lights for my trailer as it is around 13ft long and apart from the front marker lights shining forward that is nothing on the sides at all.
Also fitted extra lash points, mine are from a Sprinter van bought from Internal Fire via ebay.

Villiers wrote: <snip> ...Also fitted extra lash points, mine are from a Sprinter van bought from Internal Fire via ebay.

Bugger, I bought the same and forgot I had them so bought some others for the trailer mods, I'll just blame the memory loss on old age

A nice job. I still use a hand winch, but do have an electric one in my van. I intended to fit a new floor of Buffalo board into my trailer over winter as it's getting worn, but now I have the time I can't go anywhere to actually buy any!! I don't think it will be in use this year anyway now so plenty of time later to do it!

Pete.

A very nice, neat job there Stuart. I must get round to fitting some lashing points on my trailer, also a 750kg unbraked one (Ifor Williams P7). I went for the aluminium checker-plate floor option, as I found it wears better than the resin coated wood.

A Lister wrote: <snip> ...I went for the aluminium checker-plate floor option, as I found it wears better than the resin coated wood.

I did consider checker plate in the planning stage, but was thinking of fitting battens as trolley wheel stops and thought it would be easier to screw into wood, didn't happen in the end though.

Tidy job, that lamp will come in very handy, I also fitted my winch inside my trailer, its a personal choice though as it does go away with some room as I mounted it and the battery all in one box, I just could not come to terms with cutting the galvinised front to mount the winch on the A-frame.
Certainly makes loading safer and easier.
Chris

A Lister wrote:A very nice, neat job there Stuart.  I must get round to fitting some lashing points on my trailer, also a 750kg unbraked one (Ifor Williams P7).  I went for the aluminium checker-plate floor option, as I found it wears better than the resin coated wood.

A Lister,

How much is checker plate, I've got an 8' x 5' Ifor in need of a new floor and it might be a better option than wood.
Re Winch's I've fitted a tow ball inside the trailer body and have a hitch mounted winch which can be locked away in the car out of site and can also be used off of the car tow ball to winch stuck engines or trailers etc.

Thanks,

Maryalice

maryalice wrote:

A Lister,

How much is checker plate, I've got an 8' x 5' Ifor in need of a new floor and it might be a better option than wood.
Re Winch's I've fitted a tow ball inside the trailer body and have a hitch mounted winch which can be locked away in the car out of site and can also be used off of the car tow ball to winch stuck engines or trailers etc.

Thanks,

Maryalice

Sorry, Martin, I don't know.  I ordered it as a spec option when I bought the trailer new (together with a custom, front-mounted spare wheel).  One of the advantages of buying direct from Ifor Williams in Corwen, North Wales.  I found them very good to deal with at the time, so they may be able to sell you a correctly cut sheet for the floor of your trailer.  Might be worth sending them an email with the type, spec and serial number of your trailer and asking them for a price?  You might have to wait for the current restrictions to lift though, as I don't know if there're open for 'regular' business at the moment?  

Some people suggested that a checker-plate ally floor might be more slippery than a resin coated one if oil leaks onto it.  I've not found this so far, but that might be down to footwear or good luck!  I'll resist the temptation to say my engines are so well restored they never leak any oil for me to find out!    

A Lister wrote:

maryalice wrote:

A Lister,

How much is checker plate, I've got an 8' x 5' Ifor in need of a new floor and it might be a better option than wood.
Re Winch's I've fitted a tow ball inside the trailer body and have a hitch mounted winch which can be locked away in the car out of site and can also be used off of the car tow ball to winch stuck engines or trailers etc.

Thanks,

Maryalice

Sorry, Martin, I don't know.  I ordered it as a spec option when I bought the trailer new (together with a custom, front-mounted spare wheel).  One of the advantages of buying direct from Ifor Williams in Corwen, North Wales.  I found them very good to deal with at the time, so they may be able to sell you a correctly cut sheet for the floor of your trailer.  Might be worth sending them an email with the type, spec and serial number of your trailer and asking them for a price?  You might have to wait for the current restrictions to lift though, as I don't know if there're open for 'regular' business at the moment?  

Some people suggested that a checker-plate ally floor might be more slippery than a resin coated one if oil leaks onto it.  I've not found this so far, but that might be down to footwear or good luck!  I'll resist the temptation to say my engines are so well restored they never leak any oil for me to find out!    

A Lister,
Another person who knows me, please PM me your name before I loose the plot

Maryalice

maryalice wrote: <snip>

A Lister,
Another person who knows me, please PM me your name before I loose the plot

Maryalice

or you could look in the bottom L/H corner of his replies?

[quote="Robotstar5"][quote="maryalice"] <snip>

A Lister,
Another person who knows me, [b]please PM me your name[/b] before I loose the plot

Maryalice[/quote]

or you could look in the bottom L/H corner of his replies? [/quote]

Odd thing is Jules had the same username and photo on Fozzers!

Villiers wrote:

Robotstar5 wrote:

maryalice wrote: <snip>

A Lister,
Another person who knows me, please PM me your name before I loose the plot

Maryalice

or you could look in the bottom L/H corner of his replies?

Odd thing is Jules had the same username and photo on Fozzers!

How quickly they forget! In all fairness, I have been away from the scene for about 5 years and I've never actually met Martin in person, so I can't blame him really. Anyway, best get back on topic about trailers. I was thinking of fitting a winch to my IW P7 trailer, but it has a single, straight, square metal towing arm rather than an A-frame that I could bolt a mounting plate to. Any suggestions welcome as to how to fix one to it (on the outside of the trailer rather than inside mounted on the floor).

If you had a saddle clamp round the box section and a couple of angle brackets either side to support it it should be ok.

As for not meeting Martin, you haven't missed much!!!

Villiers wrote:If you had a saddle clamp round the box section and a couple of angle brackets either side to support it it should be ok.

As for not meeting Martin, you haven't missed much!!!

And theres me thinking that you and I "were" friends, oh well never mind

Maryalice

Oh come on Martin!!!! Surly you know suffolk humor by now!!

Of course, just getting my own back

As a follow up, it all got tested recovering Mrs Robo's quad from the stables...

Looks like it's working well and earning its keep. I used to transport a Kawasaki v-twin 750 4x4 quad with my IW P7e trailer, the trailer could then be used behind the quad to transport stuff off road causing minimum ground compaction/damage.  Quite handy set up in the days when I needed to do that.

Nice job!