Hi All,

I am looking to fir a draw bar onto my trailer so as to make it a
little longer to accomodate a box to put my gas bottles in.

what I think I want is something that is either U section or
rectangular section so that i can bolt one end of it where the hitch
currently bolts on and bolt the hitch onto it. length will be about
600mm.

As I will be bolting the trailer end of it to a flat plate, I think
rectangular section might be needed, as if I use an inverted U then
then it might spread (though I could put a solid spacer under i
suppose.

Assuming you can make any sense of the above,

Where is the best place to buy the "bar"? Steel Stockholders? Trailer
supplier? Metal fabricators?


And what should I buy? I haven't measured the hight and witdth of the
hitch yet, but I would imagine I am wanting something like 50mm wide by
60mm high.

wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi All,

I am looking to fir a draw bar onto my trailer so as to make it a
little longer to accomodate a box to put my gas bottles in.

what I think I want is something that is either U section or
rectangular section so that i can bolt one end of it where the hitch
currently bolts on and bolt the hitch onto it. length will be about
600mm.

As I will be bolting the trailer end of it to a flat plate, I think
rectangular section might be needed, as if I use an inverted U then
then it might spread (though I could put a solid spacer under i
suppose.

Assuming you can make any sense of the above,

Where is the best place to buy the "bar"? Steel Stockholders? Trailer
supplier? Metal fabricators?


And what should I buy? I haven't measured the hight and witdth of the
hitch yet, but I would imagine I am wanting something like 50mm wide by
60mm high.


50mm x 50mm 3mm wall box section from any steel stock holder's off cut rack

However by placing gas bottles so far in front of the axle it will
considerably increase the nose weight of the trailer possibly to more than
your car allows and also maybe make the trailer unstable

Further there will be considerable stress at the joint of existing and new
bits. Better to replace the whole existing draw bar part of the trailer

Tony

I am looking to fir a draw bar onto my trailer so as to make it a
little longer to accomodate a box to put my gas bottles in.

Putting gas bottles at the front is bad for two reasons. Firstly, it may tip
the weight forward too much, making it impossible to get nose weight down.
Secondly, it puts a large mass at a large distance from the axle, making the
trailer much more unstable. It is far better to distribute any large masses
near the axle to reduce its moment.

If it is a large trailer and only a small weight of gas, then you might get
away with it. However, if you can contrive a way of storing the bottles near
the middle, then this would still be a superior solution.

Christian.

Christian McArdle wrote:
I am looking to fir a draw bar onto my trailer so as to make it a
little longer to accomodate a box to put my gas bottles in.

Putting gas bottles at the front is bad for two reasons. Firstly, it may tip
the weight forward too much, making it impossible to get nose weight down.
Secondly, it puts a large mass at a large distance from the axle, making the
trailer much more unstable. It is far better to distribute any large masses
near the axle to reduce its moment.

If it is a large trailer and only a small weight of gas, then you might get
away with it. However, if you can contrive a way of storing the bottles near
the middle, then this would still be a superior solution.

Christian.

Bah!

I think i'll have to abandon the idea of putting the bottles out front.


The original problem is how to squeeze 2 x 40L Aquarolls into a pint
pot. Putting them out front would mean adding about 400mm to the
length which would make the total length of the trailer about 3M!

I think perhaps I need to think about going up rather than forward.
Perhaps by putting some sort of rack on the fridge box and putting the
Aquarolls up there. Or maybe by finding a way to attach a set of roof
bars to the trailer so I can strap the Aquarolls up there.

The message .com
from contains these words:

Where is the best place to buy the "bar"? Steel Stockholders? Trailer
supplier? Metal fabricators?

Go to your local back street metal fabricators and ask 'em to do it for
it. If you're near Telford, drop me an email.

It probably wouldn't be a good idea to have a join where you're thinking
of having a join, unless it's consdierably reinforced.

--
Skipweasel
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.

The message
from "Christian McArdle" contains
these words:

If it is a large trailer and only a small weight of gas, then you might get
away with it. However, if you can contrive a way of storing the bottles near
the middle, then this would still be a superior solution.

Panniers over the wheel arches?

--
Skipweasel
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.

The message .com
from contains these words:

I think perhaps I need to think about going up rather than forward.
Perhaps by putting some sort of rack on the fridge box and putting the
Aquarolls up there. Or maybe by finding a way to attach a set of roof
bars to the trailer so I can strap the Aquarolls up there.

Provided they're empty, that'd be fine. Or even up front as they'll
weigh so much less than gas bottles.

--
Skipweasel
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.

I think perhaps I need to think about going up rather than forward.
Perhaps by putting some sort of rack on the fridge box and putting the
Aquarolls up there. Or maybe by finding a way to attach a set of roof
bars to the trailer so I can strap the Aquarolls up there.

I'm not sure 90kg up 2m high above the axle is much better...

From a physics point of view, an underslung attachment just fore and aft of
the axle would be best, if this can be accommodated by the trailer structure
without road safety issues.

Christian.

Christian McArdle wrote:
I think perhaps I need to think about going up rather than forward.
Perhaps by putting some sort of rack on the fridge box and putting the
Aquarolls up there. Or maybe by finding a way to attach a set of roof
bars to the trailer so I can strap the Aquarolls up there.

I'm not sure 90kg up 2m high above the axle is much better...

From a physics point of view, an underslung attachment just fore and aft of
the axle would be best, if this can be accommodated by the trailer structure
without road safety issues.

Christian.

Eh?

90K? Surely not?

Oh, perhaps you are thinking i'm going to transport them full??

No, they'll be empty during transit and while i've not checked, I can't
see them weighing that much.

Also the trailer only has sides appriox 400mm high, so I can't see the
bottom of the suggested load bars being more than 1M above the axle and
probably not even that.

Another thought might be to increase the height of the box on the
trailer 6 - 8 inches or so in order to squeeze a little more in.
hmm.... the manufacturer might even have a kit for it.

Oh, perhaps you are thinking i'm going to transport them full??

Indeed. Although I'm confused now. First it was gas bottles, now it is empty
Aquarolls. Just what are you transporting? Do you mean that you need to
shift the Aquarolls out of the way to make room for the gas bottles?

Christian.

Christian McArdle wrote:
Oh, perhaps you are thinking i'm going to transport them full??

Indeed. Although I'm confused now. First it was gas bottles, now it is empty
Aquarolls. Just what are you transporting? Do you mean that you need to
shift the Aquarolls out of the way to make room for the gas bottles?

Christian.

The message . com
from contains these words:

90K? Surely not?

Oh, perhaps you are thinking i'm going to transport them full??

Some might, if they were heading for somewhere with no water supply.

--
Skipweasel
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.

The message . com
from contains these words:


Another thought might be to increase the height of the box on the
trailer 6 - 8 inches or so in order to squeeze a little more in.
hmm.... the manufacturer might even have a kit for it.

Or another little trailer to tow behind the trailer to put the barrels in?

--
Skipweasel
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.

Christian McArdle wrote:
Oh, perhaps you are thinking i'm going to transport them full??

Indeed. Although I'm confused now. First it was gas bottles, now it is empty
Aquarolls. Just what are you transporting? Do you mean that you need to
shift the Aquarolls out of the way to make room for the gas bottles?

Christian.

Bah and double bah!

Just typed a long reply and g**gle trashed it!

We've just bought the Aquarolls, so need to accomodate them (in an
already full trailer) so plan was to put make room for the Aquarolls in
the trailer by putting the gas bottles on the outside of the box.

I think my favorite at the moment is to get some 1/2" ply approx 2'
high and make a kind of box without a bottom or a lid to fit just
inside the existing trailer box. I can then use the existing soft
cover on it. Won't gain a whole lot of height, but overall it should
give approx 6 cubic feet of extra space, which should be plenty.

I think given that some of the stuff is fairly light (though some is
pretty heavy) I should still fall within the 400Kg limit of the
trailer.

wrote:
Christian McArdle wrote:
Oh, perhaps you are thinking i'm going to transport them full??

Indeed. Although I'm confused now. First it was gas bottles, now it is empty
Aquarolls. Just what are you transporting? Do you mean that you need to
shift the Aquarolls out of the way to make room for the gas bottles?

Christian.

Bah and double bah!

Just typed a long reply and g**gle trashed it!

We've just bought the Aquarolls, so need to accomodate them (in an
already full trailer) so plan was to put make room for the Aquarolls in
the trailer by putting the gas bottles on the outside of the box.

I think my favorite at the moment is to get some 1/2" ply approx 2'
high and make a kind of box without a bottom or a lid to fit just
inside the existing trailer box. I can then use the existing soft
cover on it. Won't gain a whole lot of height, but overall it should
give approx 6 cubic feet of extra space, which should be plenty.

That's similar to what I have done. I added hooks to take the shock
cord of the soft cover and used more shock cord between these hooks and
the old hooks on the side of the trailer to hold the new box down.

I haven't been pulled over yet ;-)

It also makes the top of the trailer visible in the rear view mirror
which is useful.

MBQ

wrote in message
ups.com...

wrote:
Christian McArdle wrote:
Oh, perhaps you are thinking i'm going to transport them full??

Indeed. Although I'm confused now. First it was gas bottles, now it is
empty
Aquarolls. Just what are you transporting? Do you mean that you need to
shift the Aquarolls out of the way to make room for the gas bottles?

Christian.

Bah and double bah!

Just typed a long reply and g**gle trashed it!

We've just bought the Aquarolls, so need to accomodate them (in an
already full trailer) so plan was to put make room for the Aquarolls in
the trailer by putting the gas bottles on the outside of the box.

I think my favorite at the moment is to get some 1/2" ply approx 2'
high and make a kind of box without a bottom or a lid to fit just
inside the existing trailer box. I can then use the existing soft
cover on it. Won't gain a whole lot of height, but overall it should
give approx 6 cubic feet of extra space, which should be plenty.

That's similar to what I have done. I added hooks to take the shock
cord of the soft cover and used more shock cord between these hooks and
the old hooks on the side of the trailer to hold the new box down.

I haven't been pulled over yet ;-)

It also makes the top of the trailer visible in the rear view mirror
which is useful.

As to that, I put a couple of 22mm pipe clips on the back of the trailer and
use a 2-3' piece of copper pipe with white tape at the top. This gives me a
centre line for the back of the trailer when reversing and, as they are open
pipe clips, the pipe can be removed and replaced easily.


--
Bob Mannix
(anti-spam is as easy as 1-2-3 - not)

Or another little trailer to tow behind the trailer to put the barrels in?

Illegal unfortunately.

Or another little trailer to tow behind the trailer to put the barrels in?

Illegal unfortunately

Or another little trailer to tow behind the trailer to put the barrels in?

Illegal unfortunately.

Or another little trailer to tow behind the trailer to put the barrels in?

Illegal unfortunately.

On 4 May 2006 04:51:55 -0700, "John"
wrote:


Or another little trailer to tow behind the trailer to put the barrels in?

Illegal unfortunately.
Repeat offence?
--
Regards,
Mike Halmarack

Drop the (EGG) to email me.

Illegal unfortunately.
Repeat offence?

Computer stuttered.

Sorry

The message .com
from "John" contains these words:

Or another little trailer to tow behind the trailer to put the barrels in?

Illegal unfortunately.

I've always wanted a train of little trailers - like the sort they used
to carry bombs round airfields on.

--
Skipweasel
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.

wrote in message
oups.com...

Christian McArdle wrote:
Oh, perhaps you are thinking i'm going to transport them full??

Indeed. Although I'm confused now. First it was gas bottles, now it is
empty
Aquarolls. Just what are you transporting? Do you mean that you need to
shift the Aquarolls out of the way to make room for the gas bottles?

Christian.

Bah and double bah!

Just typed a long reply and g**gle trashed it!

We've just bought the Aquarolls, so need to accomodate them (in an
already full trailer) so plan was to put make room for the Aquarolls in
the trailer by putting the gas bottles on the outside of the box.

I think my favorite at the moment is to get some 1/2" ply approx 2'
high and make a kind of box without a bottom or a lid to fit just
inside the existing trailer box. I can then use the existing soft
cover on it. Won't gain a whole lot of height, but overall it should
give approx 6 cubic feet of extra space, which should be plenty.

I think given that some of the stuff is fairly light (though some is
pretty heavy) I should still fall within the 400Kg limit of the
trailer.


Years a go I made an upward extension of 18" to my trailer by making a cage
out of reinforcing mesh (about 6" square mesh made of 5mm diameter steel the
sort used for concrete floors)

bent it to shape a treat and welded the corners lift up flap at the back
padlock for some security etc

made fixings to fit it to the trailer and a new cover from lorry side
curtain material machined up on SWIMBO's sewing machine with upholstery
thread and leather needle)

Mind you I had built the trailer myself in the first place

Used it for camping holidays in France for several summers, its done about
6,000 miles by now and apart from needing new shock cord is as good as new

Well worth the effort but I suppose it depends on how much you intend to use
yours

Tony

The message
from "TMC" contains these words:

Well worth the effort but I suppose it depends on how much you intend
to use
yours

There's a lot to be said for making your trailer yourself. Off the shelf
trailers are rarely good for anything except trips to the dump (barring
specialist things like canoe trailers and horse boxes[1]).

They're dead easy to make and you can fit 'em out to suit whatever
particular task you have in mind. I knocked up a 2' deep 4'x3' one a
couple of months ago to go camping. Takes the kit nicely leaving just
the bikes in the boot. I thought of putting the bike carriers on top of
the trailer but there was no need.
The trailer fits nicely inside the tent and provides a good solid table
for cooking - one which the wife and kids can lurch into without
spilling everything, unlike camping tables.

[1] you know how horse boxes have things like bow doors at the front
which open to allow the horse to see out? I'd never seen them open
during transit before but one the other day was and at 50mph the horse
seemed to be enjoying it hugely. Lips flapping in the breeze it was
leaning as far out as it could and I swear if it could have giggled it
would have.

--
Skipweasel
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.

Guy King wrote:
I've always wanted a train of little trailers - like the sort they
used to carry bombs round airfields on.

Which one is Guy?
http://www.bobfreitag.net/korat_web/...mb%20train.jpg
--
This space intentionally left blank.

In article
Guy King wrote:
The message
from "Christian McArdle" contains
these words:

If it is a large trailer and only a small weight of gas, then you might get
away with it. However, if you can contrive a way of storing the bottles near
the middle, then this would still be a superior solution.

Panniers over the wheel arches?


Or just fore/aft, to keep the weight low. Probably not the safest thing
to have sticking out the side, though, and it might wreak havoc with the
aerodynamics.

The message
from "soup" contains these words:

I've always wanted a train of little trailers - like the sort they
used to carry bombs round airfields on.

Which one is Guy?
http://www.bobfreitag.net/korat_web/...mb%20train.jpg

One of the barrel shaped ones on the left.

--
Skipweasel
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.

The message
from Rob Morley contains these words:

Or just fore/aft, to keep the weight low. Probably not the safest thing
to have sticking out the side, though, and it might wreak havoc with the
aerodynamics.

Trailers don't do "aerodynamics". Except Airstream caravans of course.
And possibly those little trailers made from a top-box.
http://china-centralsupply.en.alibab...s_Trailer.html

--
Skipweasel
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.

In article
Guy King wrote:
The message
from Rob Morley contains these words:

Or just fore/aft, to keep the weight low. Probably not the safest thing
to have sticking out the side, though, and it might wreak havoc with the
aerodynamics.

Trailers don't do "aerodynamics".

I was thinking that they mostly sit in the wake of the car, and
extending the width might cause buffeting at the sides.