Really odd trailer wheels

Topcat47

Topcat47

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I have a little problem. My BIL bought a boat on a trailer. It's in my drive. I'm supposed to deliver it to Norfolk next month.

The boat's an Orkney 315 but it's actually on an unbraked jetski trailer. The wheels are cast alloy with integral hubs. The tyres are chinese 15x6 with what appears to be a modern motorcycle tread pattern. The wheel diameter is around 7' in diameter. There's no maker's plate on the trailer. It looks in good condition and I"m going to repack the bearings but if I"m to tow the thing 200 miles I'd really rather like a spare wheel. There are 15x6 Tyres available for lawn tractors but nothing like what's fitted on the trailer and the wheels I"ve found have plain rather than roller bearings.

I"m also struggling with posting pics here AGAIN!
 
Could you try and get a photo up by someone else, something doesn't sound right, you mention 7" in diameter wheels, are they a solid tyre on a wheel, if conventional pump up, you should find more tyre size detail.Ive just check your size,
It's a 15 inch wheel not 7inch, the wheel can be fitted with either 195/60-15 or 195/65-15 tyre.
They sound like a John Deere with roller bearings, found one straight away on ebay
 
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1) does the trailer have indespension type suspension units? Could you swap for standard units and wheels?
2) Could you swap the hubs for standard units? Inch bore hubs are cheap. 400x8 wheels and tyres are cheap. I bought 2 new wheels for £40 the pair and hubs for about £15 each last year.
On another trailer I bought peugeot fitment hubs and fitted bigger car wheels from ebay, £15 for 3 used wheels. But I had to sort bigger mudguards which turned into a faff.
3) Could you swap the axle?
4) Can you borrow/hire a nice trailer? Flatbed perhaps?
It sounds heavy for unbraked to be legal? (750kg or half the car's kerbweight whicher is lower IIRC??) You really don't want a tyre failure, plod, hassle....
It could be a glorified launching trolley with a tow hitch, intended as a 'yard trailer', i.e not for highway use!

I have had a trailer tyre blow out and now I'm careful in this respect.
Also even a well set up trailer can show an alarming rate of tyre wear on a long dual carriage way trip. Something that isn't right and snakes a bit can shag a chinese tyre in no time.
AA relay?
 
trailer wheel.jpg

Wow Managed this (I think).

The suspension is cart springs on a transverse axle. The wheels are under the boat so no real chance of swapping for larger diameter ones and Yes they are around 7"in Diameter. The tyre size is 15 x6 which is a common lawn tractor size but the wheels obviously aren't.
 
Lawn tractor tyres have 'Not for highway use' written on them. They run at low pressures and would heat up rapidly at road speed.
Anything written on those?
 
It looks as if the Orkney 315 has amass of 250kg, so within the unbraked trailer limit even with an engine and kit.

Though that tyre has a 4 ply rating, there is no speed letter, and I have no idea what GNHS after the tyre size on the wall means except I fear it might be Garden Non-road Horticulture Service (I made that up).


The rim itself looks very much like a lawn tractor and not beefy enough for being towed at 60; my view is that you could get into trouble with the law using that on the road.

If you are going to buy a spare anyway, why not replace both those tyres and rims with road-legal ones ? Take a tyre and rim to a local trailer company, they will try and sell you expensive new ones.
 
NHS is Not for Highway Service. That tyre is not fit for use on the road. Not sure if its a G or a 6 in front or what that means but I doubt it matters.

No mudguards on trailer. Enough to get you pulled over.

Single nut holding wheel on. With no obvious sign of a split pin to stop it coming undone...

If you decide to drive with it can you post up your route and when you are travelling - I fancy making sure I'm nowhere near ;-)
 
Sounds like the wheels and other aspects of trailer are illegal/unsuitable for road use. Incidentally, the AA are pretty useless when it comes to trailer problems. One of my wheels fell off recently (my fault) when towing, the AA man was completely unhelpful, said they don't cover trailers (which is not correct, I've checked my agreement), and seemed to be prepared to leave us in the middle of nowhere at night. Fortunately a well equipped passerby was able to jack up the trailer (with boat onboard) which allowed us to refit the wheel and get going again.
 
I wouldn't take that on the road or at any speed. Rather than messing about, you could beg borrow or hire a flatbed car trailer, load the whole shooting match up and know you are legal for the delivery trip, then BIL can sort out for himself at his leisure. It's your licence that will take the knock when (not if) you get pulled on the M way. Bill just love trailer faults as they help get conviction rates up without too much effort!
 
OK guys, thanks for your input. I spoke to a trailer specialist this morning. The tyre sizes are specifically for garden tractors and equipment. He's looked at photographs of the trailer too and thinks it's more likely to be a yard trolley. A rented Flatbed it is, then.
 
ghostlymoron said:
Incidentally, the AA are pretty useless when it comes to trailer problems. One of my wheels fell off recently (my fault) when towing, the AA man was completely unhelpful, said they don't cover trailers (which is not correct, I've checked my agreement), and seemed to be prepared to leave us in the middle of nowhere at night.
Click to expand...

The RAC lied to me about this as well. Told me I was covered when I joined (I specifically asked) and then refused to help a few years later when my stub axle broke. Wouldn't even give me the number of a local recovery firm I could call myself.
 
the confusion with recovery companies is most will cover a trailer attached to your car if your car fails. But they don't cover the trailer failing.

Check Green Flag and if your trailer is large look at Green Flag with Caravan Club membership...
 
They will usually do the Roadside Assistance part for you - so fix at roadside (but as most trailer failures are probably bearings unless you are carrying spares that ain't gonna happen), and they will usually help you get to a place of safety but not full recovery...
 
Brittannia Rescue recovered a trailer and boat following a broken stub axle from north of Birmingham on the M6 to Scotland for me. No questions asked.
 
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