military trailers
 

ITs about time this subject was included, so manytypes to cover i feel there will no shortage of imput
1. crane 7.5 ton light recovery trailer loading Carrier

Hey Hey!
 

That was me yesterday! I got a call late tues night from my chum who's Chev tractor was dead in Fort Resolution. So weds morn I loaded up the chains and boomers and thermos and hooked up the fifth wheel beavertail and headed off to the next town to pick him up. 320 km later I got to the next town its -21 and windy and were right on the shore to the great Slave lake. We try to line up his Tracker but pushing it, its small after all, and I find out all the wheels are frozen solid. So I end up having to unhook and drag that bloddy thing all over to line it up . Finally get it lined up and because the trailer is on ice I can't get it to stay put while towing the Tracker up on to it, even the blocks were sliding. So bunched up some chains and stuffed them in front of the trailer wheels and then gave the tracker a jerk with the strap , and it popped right up on the trailer. Crossed chained and boomed it down , hit the diner "Lena's" and three hours later arriving in darkness we were back in Smith.
Funny
Sean

What's the handcrank on that 6wheel 7 ton trailer for? Is that for the built in winch? I've been eyeing one of these over in the Netherlands for some time now. Seems like it would be a nice piece of kit at WWII events.

Scammell
 

Nice trailer photo, thanks! H 4427874 is from the Scammell batch H 4427762 - 44427892 to contract T.8056 'Tractor 6 x 4 Break Down'.

I would make a move on securing that trailer they do not become available that often, there are one or two in the UK that have been preserved i will try to find the photos i have taken in the past. They do look good when towed behind the right piece of kit.

Whilst the interest is still with the 7.5 trailer here are acouple more shots, the first another view of the same from the front and a rear view showing the drop down stabilizer legs,useful shot for restore. The crank handle is the winch no electric buttons here my boy
Les

Attachment 8252

Attachment 8253

Cranes Trailer
 

X 333817 to 4333816 T.9064 TRAILER 6-TON 6-WHEEL RECOVERY

LWD has had one for some time now. 2100 Euros isn't bad either. But, it's in the low Countries, I'm in the US. Then there's the kind of vehicle needed to tow it and if it'd even be legal here in the US. Then there's the issue that you cannot backup with this kind of trailer. At least it's bloody difficult. Getting it over would in theory be a trick too since I think it's too large for ISO containers. A problem that.

Re: Hey Hey!
 

Dang Sean! -21! T'ain't fit for man nor beast! But its a DRY cold, right! LOL! Yesterday the temp. here was +21C., which is a trifle on the warm side for this time of year, but we'll take it. Any time you need a mid-winter break, git yer cold, arctic ass down here before it gets really hot!


:cheers: :salute: :drunk: CHIMO! coming to you from 33 deg. 9' 13" N. lat.

Hi Ryan,
the correct truck, as the Scammel in the picture would be too slow over here, and just about anywhere in the world now, 24mph flat out.
Dave

I kind of think that a Slightly post war 5 Ton with a bit of modifications to make it look like a WWII era Mack NO or Diamond T would work well. I think the trailer has air operated brakes so that's a key piece that more or less excludes a CMP C60X as much as I like the look of them unless it's a 2.5 ton or 5 Ton dressed up to look like a C60x, then the brakes would work just fine and you'd get some decent speeds out of it. Neat thing about a 2.5 ton is that the singles on it raise the tire diameter and raises the maximum speeds to around 55-60 MPH. A fair bit faster than that Scammel.

Did the Scammels have an Air Glad Hand on the back for the trailer brakes?

Hi Ryan,
if by "Glad Hand" you mean a bayonet air connector, then yes. The SV2S has air-on brakes to the rear wheels, the front are steering only.
One problem with increased speed in regards to a 7-1/2 ton trailer would be the tyres, 9:00 x 13's, I think. Would they, and the bearings hold up to the strain? Might be just better off with a modern trailer.
Dave

Re: Re: Hey Hey!
 

Actually, I wans't complaining about the -21 , because it is about 10 degrees warmer than normal :D . It was sunny and the trees were heavily laden with snow and ice crystals. I should have taken my camera because very few people have witnessed that kind of beauty. It is one of the endearing and secret bonuses of the north. There was the odd issue, I lost my tail lights, but other than that is was one of the nicest trips I have taken out of here.
My wife is more of a heat Lizard , I like daytime highs of no more than 20c and low humidity. Of course , there is a happy medium with the cold.
Sean

Ryan and Dave,

These trailers did not have air brakes, the early ones had cable operated brakes. The towing vehicle had to be equipped for towing guns with the gun cylinder attachment though.

They were mostly used behind a Breakdown Gantry, either Leyland Retriever, Dodge WK60 or later on, the Austin K6 and with these vehicles you had vacuum facility, so later trailers were single line vacuum servo operated. Earlier trailers were uprated later on. Also there were no brakes on the front axle. Tyres were 10.50-13 which is harder to get than 9.00-13. I recently sold a new one, for a chap restoring a Scammell Mechanical Horse. Not a trailer you would wish to take much more than 35 mph I think.

Richard

Hi Richard,
ahh, the old Bowden cable. In a nut shell, not a suitable trailer for today's roads.
Dave

Dave,

Would be alright over here, so much traffic you could'nt go too fast :D

No suspension as such either, rocking axle on front and pivoting on the rear, much like a Scammell.

Richard

The data page I have out of a book shows the 6w7t as having Air over Hydraulic. Much like most Military Trucks today. At least the ones that are in the surplus market and in partial use still.

Bearings would get replaced, hopefully with something OTS that's easily available. I could see re-machining a part or two to get it all to fit. I suspect that after sitting for 20 years at least, that the bearings would need replacement as the upper part of the races would have been spot corroded at one point or another and you'd eventually have a bearing failure in your future.

I'd have to see how it'd really perform to see how it'd work on the roads were I to get one. I'd greatly prefer to have a tow vehicle that could take my WWII vehicle to our re-enacting events and I wouldn't have to hide my clearly post war truck and trailer after unloading. I'd prefer to have a period looking truck, a period trailer and my period armored car all in the same area. Makes for less walking back and forth for tools and kit that one needs.

Acouple more 7.5 ton trailershots before we move up a notch, the first with i think one of those German Borgward tanks, afraid German tanks do nothing for me and two shots of a good example in a dealers yardin the UK in the 1960s

Now a 40 ton Dyson/Crane MK1 in use with the Canadian army employed on the food run to Paris. Hello hello any photos of trailers of any type out there or am i the only one
only jesting
Les

some trailer pics
 

Hey Les , lots of pics about the forum of trailers, maybe not all heavy weights though.
this is Hanno's http://www.mapleleafup.org/forums/sh...hlight=trailer

and then there is mine

http://www.mapleleafup.org/forums/sh...hlight=trailer

I have only seen one pic of my GS trailer in use , being towed behind a 30cwt . Any pics or measurements to reproduce the sides of my trailer are especially welcome :cheers:
Sean

Ryan,

I see you are refering to the 7 ton light recovery trailer, that is shown in the Canadian Data Book, it would appear that they were built in Canada to AEDB specs and differ in a few ways, presumably to be compatible with vehicles in Canadian service at that time.

The ones often found in UK are British built by Cranes trailers and are 7.5 tons payload, brake systems are as I refered previously. If they were air operated they would not have been able to operate with 3 ton 6x4 B/down Gantry trucks, which have vacuum facilities.

Richard

I think the tyre size is actually 10.50-16, isn't it? If your load was only going to be a Carrier weighing no more than 4 tons, then a set of 6x 9.00-16s would be sufficient for the load, and more widely available and cheaper.

Hi Sean
Yes i did a trawl through the forum and noted the trailer items, these were in the main of a specific type and really need to hold on to that identity. this thread is a general one as mentioned for all types and there are indeed many hundreds of applications used by the military that without a thread of this type would never get a mention
cheers
Les

Hi Tony,

No, they are 13" rims, as I mentioned earlier, same size as used on the Scammell Mech. Horse or Scarab. If larger diaeter wheels were used, a fouling problem could occur as the rear axles have to pivot.

Richard

Yes they were and they do differ, wheel size and brake setup being among them. Don´t ask me for all the differences, though!

Ryan, I´d rather see you pull up at a show in a 1960/70´s rig which is it original configuration, than having been "vismodded" into something which it is not.

H.

Hanno, I do of course see the point of that. We have Deuces coming out of our ears over here and it just seems like it would be interesting for a CMP cab 13 on an otherwise Generic M35A2 chassis. Of course a side exhaust and such. Mostly to keep it looking correct in the background. My main focus is the WWII Armor, Dingo's, Humbers, etc.

Some shows like the Reading Airshow are WWII focused, so an M35A2 in Three Color NATO camo wouldn't look right. Of course, the ideal is getting the C60X AND the 6w7t trailer for events. But that C60X would be slow going from Atlanta, Ga to the Mid Atlantic Region of the US (Pennsylvania). It's 10 hours at 70mph in my little Honda Hybrid (1 gas stop on the way, more bathroom stops are needed than gas stops :rolleyes ).

I personally can´t see why such a mongrel / bitsa would be "looking correct in the background". A stock Deuce in military trim working for it´s upkeep is much more interesting to me.

My €0,02 worth anyway!

H.

I dunno, other than fiddly details on the axles and such, sheetmetal is going to be the thing to make it look period. Overall, the chassis are setup the same, the drive line looks very similar and such. I was going over images for a Mack NO and was struck that it looked almost the same as my M813A1 when it came to drive line components. Even the rear axles Same thing for the standard M35 bed and the WWII CCKWs (i'm actually thinking a workshop body would be neat to have, with the canvas tilt etc.). My big issue is parts for a vehicle that'll be making 900 mile trips in a go and offroad capability for recovering vehicles out of the fields if one dies in a bad place. I need something that can go get it. A modern pickup or road truck won't work. I'll not be able to order a standard part from a nearby shop (or just go to NAPA) to get parts for a real C60X. This is why I ended up buying a US truck rather than a Modern but British Bedford or some other truck. I was looking at a Foden 8x8 for a while, but decided against it. Parts would just be too hard for a real working truck.

What parts do you think will be too hard to find? Parts for the GMC 270 engine? The GM 4 speed gearbox? Both easy. OK, the transfer case is only about 90% regular CMP, axles, hubs and brakes are CMP. Agreed, the power braking system is fairly unique (But similar to a Studebaker US6!). Cab is just standard Chev CMP. I don't think you'll have too much trouble keeping one in running order.

here is a couple of oddies for you to think about

1. a specially developed trailer to carry the RB19 excavator, the tracks hung down the sides of the centre frame whilst in transit

2. A pre war light trailer which from the photo has been built to fit the light Cleetrac tractor

comments welcome

cheers
Les

Trailer
 

I have seen one in a farm in Cornwall, about 40 mins drive from home.

The trackways have been widened and air brakes fitted, but pretty much original.

The tyres are 10.50 by 13, split rims 6 by 13.

The vehicle data book also quotes this tyre size as standard.

And yes, the owner tells me they real bu##ers to source.

Les, have you found out any more on the Taskers folding trailer?

George Moore.