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Trailing

I have often used the old Defender and now the Mk1 Disco Auto as a sort of tractor to tow boats and other things round fields, but don't have much experience of towing heavy things on the road. The sons and I are trying to consider options to replace a heavy duty but rotten launching trolley.

Today the boat, a 19foot long-keel sailing boat, was hauled out by crane so I got the driver to weigh it. It was 2.8 tons including his heavy lifting chains, strops etc., so he and I think the boat itself will be about 2.5 tons with everything taken out that I can move.

There seem to be "2.5 ton" 4 wheel trailers occasionally available secondhand, and I've been trying to find out what I need to look out for to make sure we don't get pulled over or pushed down a hill in the first few miles. I think we would have to get suitable props added in wood or steel to make the boat cosy. Is there any clear advice, legal and practical, anywhere? I tried asking a trailer dealer but all I got were 2 brochures full of high prices and nice pictures, but no real info.

Will an auto 300Tdi Disco tow something like this reasonably well? Is a trailer with rod brakes OK? I assume we don't have to go hydraulic. Are there dates where different regs came in, thus making it better to look for an older trailer? Should the trailer have a plate showing its capacity and its own weight? If it doesn't, is there anything to look for?

Finally, one place we might trail to is up a short but steep hill to an old garage which would involve the climb (and later downhill run) and then a lot of manoeuvring to back into the garage without transiting any potentially weak drain covers etc. in the tight entrance. Is this do-able ? I seem to remember lots of squealing tyres on sharp turns with

4 wheel trailers.

Thanks for any discussion and, as always, sorry about the length of this..

Reply to
Bill
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In message , Bill writes

Top limit is 3500Kg I believe. Auto box should already have oil cooling rad.

Trailer post 1982 (I think) should be plated and if it is adequate then it's brakes will be OK, just make sure they are up to scratch.

Use low ratio if necessary. With an auto box your greater problem will be downhill rather than up as less engine braking than in a manual. On a very steep hill use low ratio for coming down.

With a close coupled 4 wheel trailer heavily loaded then there will be a lot of pressure on the tyres when turning sharply. Only one way to find out if it's do-able

This link might be useful

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Reply to
hugh

In message , hugh writes

Reply to
hugh

In message , hugh writes

Thanks Hugh for all the advice and particularly this. I'm continuing the search and research

I've looked at a trailer locally that seemed to have good brakes, coupling etc., and was made from 2" x 4" box section steel, with Indespension-type units of unknown capacity, It had only a painted over plate on the tow hitch, and some evidence of surface rust and also some bubbling under the paint by some of the welds. It wasn't galvanised, and had 4 tyres rated at 475kg each, so rated at under 2 tons for 4. Looking on Blackcircles,com for that size of tyre, only one is listed that when multiplying the load rating by 4 gives a result just over the 2.5 tons to be carried. This is something I hadn't really thought about. Although I wouldn't expect to dash anywhere, I wouldn't want to slam on the brakes and have the front 2 trailer tyres go pop, although I suppose the rear end of the Disco getting 'lighter' would balance this out. Although much of the boat's weight is in the cast iron keel, there is a fair amount of oak and metalwork quite high up. Am I being overly cautious or is there a rule of thumb about loading?

Of course, the real problem is finding something for the pittance I can afford.

Reply to
Bill

Tyres want to be capable of taking at least 3.5 tons (assuming you're keeping it legal) over the four of them - the weight of the trailer doesn't support itself! A trailer that's good for carrying 2.5 tons isn't going to be light in itself.

Reply to
Dougal

In message , Bill writes

The Caravan Club have a lot of useful information on towing and the legal side of weights. Where I disagree with them is on their 85% recommendation which they now recommend on the basis of stability. When it was initially introduced back in the days of heavy cars and low powered carb fuelled petrol engines it was down to power/weight ratio.

Reply to
hugh

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