dodgey rascal
Active Member
Your landrover has a payload that would probably manage the whole lot - chuck the whole thing in the back !!!!
Launching or Road trailer...HELP
- Thread starter LochTroller93
- Start date
rafiki_
Well-Known Member
The Landy would need some serious wading mods to launch the boat.
LochTroller93
New Member
Do you know the item number of his trailerIt's not clear from your pic if it has suspension. Does it have a transverse leaf spring inside the cross member?
Work on these types of trailers will usually cost you more than it's worth.
Two suspension units and mudguards and brackets are going to be thick end of £130.
New trailer tyres about £70 (Car tyres may not have sufficient max load values).
Possibly cheaper to buy a trailer from fleabay or Preloved or whatever. (My brother in law got a very nice boat trailer for £180 on ebay)
My 15 ft boat, on it's trailer, with 5hp outboard weighs 480Kg for comparison purposes.
It's probably more heavily built than the Dandy.
Lakesailor
Well-Known Member
No. He got it a couple of years ago from someone in York.
That trailer pack looks like good value. If your chassis is in decent nick you've got a good trailer.
However old the trailer you need to mark the Gross Trailer Eight on the nearside of the drawbar.
If the Suspension units are 530kg just put "GTW 530KG" in felt tip. That complies with the law.
That trailer pack looks like good value. If your chassis is in decent nick you've got a good trailer.
However old the trailer you need to mark the Gross Trailer Eight on the nearside of the drawbar.
If the Suspension units are 530kg just put "GTW 530KG" in felt tip. That complies with the law.
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LochTroller93
New Member
Spoke to the guy in work and after saying that i was going to fit new suspension, wheels, mud guards etc he said that the trailers actual cross member that the axle is attached to wont be strong enough to take the stresses, i find this hard to believe as i have towed the trailer on the road before and it was fine
rbcoomer
Well-Known Member
I think I'd look at this from a different perspective than most and 'ignoring' the legal aspects initially, concentrate on the safety first as ultimately this will largely satisfy the legal anyway. Contrary to what it may appear at times, most 'established' laws aren't there to inconvenience you or insist on unnecessary features etc - although that seems to be more the way we are being steered by the EU! The laws one thing, but I certainly wouldn't want to risk anyone getting injured or worse as a consequence of my actions (or lack of) and that's the stance from which I would tackle the problem, rather than the legality or otherwise. I'm sure others will disagree! An example however would be hydraulic braked trailers - which are usually illegal in the UK/EU, but more often than not vastly safer and otherwise superior to cable braked alternatives...
Most important is the structural integrity of the trailer and hitch. Even 300kgs of dead-weight travelling at 25mpg is VERY undesirable to say the least... I personally wouldn't want to tow anything that could fall apart - as well as being potentially very expensive, you could kill yourself or someone else. Brakes are unlikely to be necessary at this size (or even much bigger with a Land Rover, but that's the point at which the law starts to wag the dog...
)
I'd start at ensuring the strength and integrity of the trailer to carry the boat and any contents. Focusing on welds, the lack of anything more than surface corrosion on structural cross-members, A-frame to the hitch and attachment of axle(s) etc. Following this, secondary parts of the frame should at the very least be securely attached to the frame so as not to be able to become dislodged in transit and become a hazard to other traffic. This also applies to any points where the load is secured to the trailer! If it fails to measure up here, you're probably wasting your money trying to sort the other bits. Even parts that appear not to be structural, may be helping support the boat and without which, more weight elsewhere could result in a hole in your hull!
The next step for me would be wheels, tyres and suspension - all of which are carrying more forces than you would perhaps expect. Braking, cornering etc can exert many times the weight of the load on quite small areas. Tyres and wheel bearings must be in good condition in order to handle in a predictable manner - and not heat up. Suspension is important because it helps prevent some of these forces being transmitted into the trailer frame (and your boat) and also to prevent the whole thing shaking apart on our atrocious roads...
I would second the importance of a safety link to the Land Rover - if the trailer broke loose, the chances of death or serious injury are high and your losses much greater. I use a heavy, welded link chain in addition to the steel cable - this also make theft difficult as I secure the ends with hardened padlocks.
All the other stuff comes further down the list for me, but not really much less important. Although both a common sense and a legal requirement, working lights seem to be increasingly treated as an 'optional extras' on half of the trailers I seem to encounter on the roads! (cars too for that matter
) In reality they're failure is probably much more likely to hit your wallet and insurance premium than kill someone. BUT, that's not to say it isn't possible and if someone runs in the back of you because you don't have working brake lights or drives into the side of you because you have no indicators, it's a) gonna get expensive and b) be your fault for which you might not be insured!
Mudguards probably have the least impact of all and arguably their absence is unlikely to have any detrimental effect on other road users whilst the boat is on the trailer, as the hull usually serves as the mudguard! An empty trailer however could be VERY dangerous due to exposed moving parts - much like the reason you have a bonnet to prevent loose clothing, small children etc from becoming entangled in moving parts of engine etc. Given that mudguards aren't expensive and will prevent stones, debris, water and mud from flying up and hitting people, other road users or your boat, why would you not want them anyway?
That leaves brakes, which we've probably determined you don't need. I don't think I've ever bought a trailer of any kind with working brakes, and I guess that says something about what's on the roads! They are usually very basic in operation and once fixed only take a bit of maintenance to keep up to scratch and in good working order. Unfortunately, trailers tend to get left laying around for long periods and brakes don't do so well in these conditions - especially if they've been dunked in saltwater prior to layup. I towed my new project (approx 1600kgs some 550 miles back from Scotland without trailer brakes - but we did travel on empty roads overnight and under 50mph with a Land Rover Discovery towing. I wouldn't have considered this with a lighter or less capable tow vehicle.
In short: a suitable, well balanced, well maintained trailer will be much less tiring to tow, cost less in fuel, give you far less grief - and ultimately could save you a fortune. I can't answer whether your trailer is viable to get up to scratch as it will probably depend on how much you can do yourself. It is however a known quantity for you and there's no guarantee that one you get from eBay etc isn't going to require some spend too...
An example however would be hydraulic braked trailers - which are usually illegal in the UK/EU, but more often than not vastly safer and otherwise superior to cable braked alternatives...Most important is the structural integrity of the trailer and hitch. Even 300kgs of dead-weight travelling at 25mpg is VERY undesirable to say the least... I personally wouldn't want to tow anything that could fall apart - as well as being potentially very expensive, you could kill yourself or someone else. Brakes are unlikely to be necessary at this size (or even much bigger with a Land Rover, but that's the point at which the law starts to wag the dog...
)I'd start at ensuring the strength and integrity of the trailer to carry the boat and any contents. Focusing on welds, the lack of anything more than surface corrosion on structural cross-members, A-frame to the hitch and attachment of axle(s) etc. Following this, secondary parts of the frame should at the very least be securely attached to the frame so as not to be able to become dislodged in transit and become a hazard to other traffic. This also applies to any points where the load is secured to the trailer! If it fails to measure up here, you're probably wasting your money trying to sort the other bits. Even parts that appear not to be structural, may be helping support the boat and without which, more weight elsewhere could result in a hole in your hull!
The next step for me would be wheels, tyres and suspension - all of which are carrying more forces than you would perhaps expect. Braking, cornering etc can exert many times the weight of the load on quite small areas. Tyres and wheel bearings must be in good condition in order to handle in a predictable manner - and not heat up. Suspension is important because it helps prevent some of these forces being transmitted into the trailer frame (and your boat) and also to prevent the whole thing shaking apart on our atrocious roads...
I would second the importance of a safety link to the Land Rover - if the trailer broke loose, the chances of death or serious injury are high and your losses much greater. I use a heavy, welded link chain in addition to the steel cable - this also make theft difficult as I secure the ends with hardened padlocks.
All the other stuff comes further down the list for me, but not really much less important. Although both a common sense and a legal requirement, working lights seem to be increasingly treated as an 'optional extras' on half of the trailers I seem to encounter on the roads! (cars too for that matter
) In reality they're failure is probably much more likely to hit your wallet and insurance premium than kill someone. BUT, that's not to say it isn't possible and if someone runs in the back of you because you don't have working brake lights or drives into the side of you because you have no indicators, it's a) gonna get expensive and b) be your fault for which you might not be insured!Mudguards probably have the least impact of all and arguably their absence is unlikely to have any detrimental effect on other road users whilst the boat is on the trailer, as the hull usually serves as the mudguard! An empty trailer however could be VERY dangerous due to exposed moving parts - much like the reason you have a bonnet to prevent loose clothing, small children etc from becoming entangled in moving parts of engine etc. Given that mudguards aren't expensive and will prevent stones, debris, water and mud from flying up and hitting people, other road users or your boat, why would you not want them anyway?
That leaves brakes, which we've probably determined you don't need. I don't think I've ever bought a trailer of any kind with working brakes
, and I guess that says something about what's on the roads! They are usually very basic in operation and once fixed only take a bit of maintenance to keep up to scratch and in good working order. Unfortunately, trailers tend to get left laying around for long periods and brakes don't do so well in these conditions - especially if they've been dunked in saltwater prior to layup. I towed my new project (approx 1600kgs some 550 miles back from Scotland without trailer brakes - but we did travel on empty roads overnight and under 50mph with a Land Rover Discovery towing. I wouldn't have considered this with a lighter or less capable tow vehicle.In short: a suitable, well balanced, well maintained trailer will be much less tiring to tow, cost less in fuel, give you far less grief - and ultimately could save you a fortune. I can't answer whether your trailer is viable to get up to scratch as it will probably depend on how much you can do yourself. It is however a known quantity for you and there's no guarantee that one you get from eBay etc isn't going to require some spend too...
Lakesailor
Well-Known Member
I would argue that mudguards are very important as the lack of them will encourage plod to stop you.
The expert who reckons your axle beam is too weak for suspension units must have pointed out that it must of course be even less safe with no suspension units. The loads will be fed directly into the beam without any cushioning.
If you don't feel experienced enough to judge for yourself, nip it down to a trailer specialist and hear what he suggests.
As your trailer has bunks it's likely to spread the loads better than single pads, as long as the main weight is on the keel rollers.
Adding some radius links from the drawbar to the ends of the axle beam (as on the trailer in my picture) would help reduce shock loads from road bumps.
I wouldn't over-stress on the spec. Just make sure it's legal and sound.
The expert who reckons your axle beam is too weak for suspension units must have pointed out that it must of course be even less safe with no suspension units. The loads will be fed directly into the beam without any cushioning.
If you don't feel experienced enough to judge for yourself, nip it down to a trailer specialist and hear what he suggests.
As your trailer has bunks it's likely to spread the loads better than single pads, as long as the main weight is on the keel rollers.
Adding some radius links from the drawbar to the ends of the axle beam (as on the trailer in my picture) would help reduce shock loads from road bumps.
I wouldn't over-stress on the spec. Just make sure it's legal and sound.
