Hello,
I just wondered whether anyone had bought a "caddy trailer" from Machine Mart?
Thanks in advance, Stephen.
Yup, we have the 530 I think it's called, bought s/h a while back for daughter to move her chainsaw carvings about in and general luggage / camping duties (and probably behind her Corsa).
Whilst it does feel 'flimsy' by my standards of building a trailer I think it's good enough to do the job as long as you respect the fact that it's not built like a tank and ensure the load was spread evenly etc.
However, we haven't actually used it in earnest yet as when we got it home I noticed some grease up the inside of the o/s wheel and that turned out to be that the seal had been caught during assembly. I bought a set of 'good' bearings and new seals for it as it could be used for fairly long trips and I wanted to reduce the risks of that with better bearings (the ones that are sometimes supplied with this sort of thing are often 'unbranded' and seem considered as consumables these days).
One potential issue (and one I'm sort of tuned to from towing a trailer behind my motorbike [1]) is unladen the suspension shows it's pretty 'basic', allowing to get the trailer airborne over ramps and speed bumps if you aren't careful!
I'm in the process of upgrading an ex RAC take-down motorcycle recovery trailer and have specifically bought softer action suspension units for it.
Cheers, T i m
[1] Watching the Squire D10 especially built with very light, compliant and fully damped independent suspension go over a camping field compared with a more basic car type trailer (or one made for motorcycles but with std suspension units) was quite interesting. ;-)p.s. The best ride was from our Bramber dinghy trailer with 'Flexitor' suspension units. It simply glided along. ;-)
How much load did you have on it? I've never seen a dinghy trailer with decent springs. Mine has 10 inch wheels which help a heck of a lot - especially when run at 10psi or so to match the load.
Andy
missing but Caddy customer suppert were very helpful and got it sorted.
Mine must be 10 years old, or more. For the last five or so it has languished in the garden as I never got around to getting a tow bar whan I changed the car. Still looks in reasonable condition, apart from needing two new tyres (too long stood in the same place).
MBQ
Erm, one of these:
I can't find any stats but it was 14' 'composite' construction and carried it's mast, oars and launching trolley with it.
I like this one:
I replaced the suspension units with more std ones because the originals used 3 stud wheels and they were difficult to find. The (generic) replacements were terrible by comparison and even with the boat loaded with camping gear it still bounced all over the place.
That's what I did first trip out (London to the Lake District) and one of the new (Kenda?) tyres fell to bits before we got there.
I think the Flexitor units were renamed / replaced with Flexiride units but I may be wrong (my originals had nice rounded cast arms which were splined to adjust the ride / ride-height).
Cheers, T i m
p.s. I'm not sure if it's a coincidence but it looks like there might be a link between what I remember to be the units on my Bramber boat trailer (now owned by my sister) and Moulton (which might explain how come they were so good)?
I keep an eye on the temperature. Mind at the moment I don't have a towbar...
Austin Champ...
Andy
Sorry, finding the site was the easy bit (especially if you have owned one for 25+ years), it was the weight that eluded me on a quick scan. ;-(
They aren't that common compared with say the Wayfarer or the Enterprise but I believe that for me the Leader was better than both. Why, because it was cheaper and lighter than the Wayfarer and more roomy and flexible than the Enterprise. The Leader has std gunwales rather than side decks (so more room), has a transom that can take a small outboard (my Yam2 2/ would get it on the plane one-up) and had a tabernacle stepped mast so easy to lower for de-rigging or shooting the bridges. Oh, and it was a proper boat, no interest in windsurfers or Lasers here (other than the models that we race). ;-)
Ah, but that is a single hander isn't it? (I wasn't suggesting it was 'light' as such, just that they stated it's weight as such on that database). ;-)
They should be fine then. ;-)
Hehe.
Cheers, T i m
p.s. Now I have better engineering facilities I might dig out the old Bramber supplied units and look to see if I can replace the hubs with
4 stud jobbies or convert it to 4 stud. They may still do a mating splined arm to take a more modern hub and could be cheaper than complete units.p.p.s. Whist staying up on Oulton Broad as a lad with my family and one of my mates, Dad woke us up to tell us he'd booked us in for the first of the handicap races ... that started in about 20 mins! We got washed (right) and dressed, got the boat launched and actually crossed the start line on the gun but going in the wrong direction. 50 or so boats from Fireballs to Norfolk 'White boats' and some time later we had somehow managed 3rd. 1st was an International Moth (that wouldn't even stand up on it's own) and 2nd by just a few yards in front of us was an Enterprise.
I really miss my sailing but not enough to bother with coastal sailing (tides and the water vanishing) or sailing round in circles on reservoirs etc.
Some of those erde's are so small, I wonder what use they are. I'd quite like something big enough to use for the occasional 8'x4' sheet of plywood or plasterboard but trailers that size seem to cost £1000, more than I can justify for very occasional use.
The DIY approach sounds good but as I have never done any welding, I think that's a long way off for me yet. How did you build yours?
Thanks, Stephen.
Thanks. That sounds like a recommendation. I wonder when their next
10% off weekend is?Can you stand them up to store them, or aren't they designed to do that?
I notice the erde's have the option of a jockey wheel. Is there an option with these? Is a jockey wheel necessary or desirable?
Thanks, Stephen.
I think it may all depend on what you are towing them (small trailers) with. The one I tow behind my motorbike is only 10 cu ft (283l) but that's way more than the capacity of even the biggest touring pannier cases. ;-)
Quite but the 'problem' with making a vfm trailer to carry that size stock is what are you going to make the trailer out of (normally the trailer is made from 8x4 sheet etc). Not to say you can't get round that sort of thing but it can take it out of the mainstream therefore common / cheaper materials.
You can (or could) buy chassis kits that I think could be finished off with just nuts and bolts but I don't think they would give as strong (or rigid) a solution. May well be sufficient though.
The 6' 6" x 4' box trailer I built using a basic bought in chassis (it was as cheap to buy as to make and all the 'design' stuff was already done etc) and then welded on uprights, top frame and made a tailgate to suit etc (SIP arc welder in those days).
A mate has just gone through the camping trailer thing and picked up something via Gumtree for not a lot but it was quite small and needing a lot of work. He now intends to get something slightly bigger as he has worked out they don't cost any more to keep (assuming you have the space) or use and 'bigger' is generally more useful (within reason and assuming a good match with the towing vehicle).
I also bought a s/h 4' 6" x 3' 6" continental made trailer for more general purpose tasks and even though it was in pretty good shape I spent quite a bit of time installing new suspension components (it came with a fairly sophisticated trailing arm system that used torsion bushes for the suspension (not your std independent suspension units). I've forgotten now but it may well be an Al-Ko chassis.
Good luck,
T i m
It keeps the hitch out of the mud.
It makes for easier manovering of a loaded trailer. My 6 x 4 fully load for a dump trip is quite a weight, OK it's not all down on the hitch (assuming I've loaded it evenly) but trying to pull something and lift it at the same time is much harder work.
----------------- When I was replacing my fence panels, I made up a 6' x 6' frame from lengths of Dexion obtained from a store which was closing down. It was then bolted to the trailer. It worked well and later I needed some 8'x4' ply and that was no problem because the trailer was 5' wide and I had already made an H section for the front of the trailer for carrying ladders. All this work was done by bolting them together because I am useless at welding and I have no welding gear either! I fitted a jockey wheel, it saves a lot of straining and helps when you are connecting up the trailer on your own. One thing I have yet to do is to fit a tow ball to the rear of trailer because in Germany I found it useful to be able to nose the HGV box trailer into difficult positions. I have seen then do that on caravan sites.
Robbie
Stick them on the roof. With a blanket and properly tied to restrain it in all directions you dont need a roofrack.
NT
Not easily. You'll probably damage the lights and the weight distribution would require some sort of restraint to stop it just falling down.
Don't know.
MBQ
I think some are designed to be stored on end and have the lights sunken into the (strong) rear frame for that purpose (as with our Caddy).
We also have a Rapido Confortmatic folding caravan (not a 'trailer tent' nor 'pop up caravan') and that's designed to be rolled onto it's side for storage (all be it with a fame and castors of some sort).
Cheers, T i m
That's a shame. I had a confirmation email saying that the lights would be damaged if stood on end. I think other makes are designed to allow this.
I had one that i could stand on end, after I screwed a piece of 4x2 to it to stop the lights being damaged.
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