Vintage Tractor Trailer: Project

[Triumph66 1,256]

I just bought an old garden tractor trailer which I hope to pick up in January. I have been looking for a vintage garden trailer for some time ever since the Showman's trailer project earlier this year and came across this old one dating from the 1960s. It will need a bit of welding and new timber and possibly new tyres. It been owned by one owner for the last 40/50 odd years. I plan to do a restoration project not too dissimilar to Chris's project and will do a photo record of it. Does anyone here recognise the make and model?

 

 

[Charlie Smith 192]

Doesn't look like a bad project! Should make a real sturdy trailer once you've finished with it! Look forward to seeing it restored,  

[harryt 281]

Looks a good project, however it is RED, you may need to get youself a wheelhorse

[Stormin 4,458]

The suspension looks like early Indispension  units, along with the hubs. May be a home made job. Look for a plate or holes where one might have been. Maybe made by Howes themselves. Are they still on the go?

 

[Triumph66 1,256]

1 hour ago, Stormin said:

The suspension looks like early Indispension  units, along with the hubs. May be a home made job. Look for a plate or holes where one might have been. Maybe made by Howes themselves. Are they still on the go?

 

 

 

I did google Howe but nothing popped up. The trailer is in Newbury, not far from a garden I got to write about for a gardening magazine, so it never left the area. I will ask more details from the seller and hopefully he can fill in the gaps. I like the fact that it got suspension which is what piqued my interest. 

 

 

[slf-uk 914]

Looks like an interesting project Andrew. The brackets on the side are intriguing, I assume they are for locating the uprights for greedy boards.

 

Iain 

[Triumph66 1,256]

8 hours ago, slf-uk said:

Looks like an interesting project Andrew. The brackets on the side are intriguing, I assume they are for locating the uprights for greedy boards.

 

Iain 

 

Not sure Iain about the purpose of the brackets but will find out

[Chris 642]

I know why its taken you so long to find a trailer.

 

The rest are rotting away in Norfolk

A great project for any make of GT

[Wristpin 400]

Will be both an interesting project and a useful trailer but with those Indispension units,  was it originally built as  a " garden trailer"?  Possibly a basic lightweight car trailer ?

[Stormin 4,458]

20 minutes ago, Wristpin said:

Will be both an interesting project and a useful trailer but with those Indispension units,  was it originally built as  a " garden trailer"?  Possibly a basic lightweight car trailer ?

 

With the draw bar altered to a pin coupling?

[Triumph66 1,256]

23 minutes ago, Wristpin said:

Will be both an interesting project and a useful trailer but with those Indispension units,  was it originally built as  a " garden trailer"?  Possibly a basic lightweight car trailer ?

 

It will certainly be an interesting project. The seller brought it new back in the late 60s/ early 70s and that was how the trailer was when he bought it. I will know more once it's collected.

 

5 minutes ago, Stormin said:

 

With the draw bar altered to a pin coupling?

 

It was definitely towed behind a garden tractor/ride due to the pin coupling which is what caught my eye.

 

[Wristpin 400]

I take the point about the pin coupling but it could have started life with a cheepo pressed steel ball socket. Unless it was just a one off built with "what we had around us", I cant see that a commercial manufacturer would spend on Indespension units for a low speed off road application. Garden trailers of the day, such as Saxon, made do with a 1" diameter bar for an axle and wheels with either plain or roller bearings.  

[Triumph66 1,256]

Hopefully I can find out more about the trailer. In my view, the wheels look very agricultural as opposed to road wheels.

[slf-uk 914]

Andrew, when you do get to find out more information about the trailer it might be worth asking about the sides and base. Looking at the bolts for the side brackets and the remaining floor brackets, it very much looks like the material was 1-2 inches thick and not the usual 1/2 inch ply.

 

When I was a lad I remember an uncle having a trailer which was mainly used as a garden trailer but occasionally he towed it on the road behind his Austin A35 van. The unusual thing I remember about it was the van was fitted with a non-standard hitch to facilitate the hook up, so the trailer hitch did not have to be changed for this purpose. Unfortunately, he is no longer about to ask but the hitch on the van did not look homemade and he would not have had the skills or tools to make a hitch, nor would he have been inclined to pay someone to make one. It does make me wonder if the makers of these trailers also supplied a hitch for occasional road use, which would explain the suspension.

 

Looking forward to seeing the rebuild.

 

Iain

[Triumph66 1,256]

I got the measurements today from the seller.

Here are some measurements. 

Total length including tow bar is 6 foot 1 inch

Total width including brackets is 34 inches

Total height including wheel is 22 inches