New project.

[joegrgraham 30]

Hi all, not entirely sure which category to put this in, it's not horticultural as such, but is related in a round about sort of way! 

I've just picked up this old Rice horsebox, the idea being that with internal dimensions of 9' x 4 and a bit foot, it is the perfect size for transporting my Ransomes Mg2, plus other machines. Then, once at the event, unload the machines, set up the camp bed etc, and I have somewhere half habitable to sleep in! Thus doing away with the annoyance of tents!! 

Anyway, the plan is to rub down and repaint inside and out, replace the checker plate bits with perspex to allow some light in, new piece of plywood on the floor, and fix the leak in the roof. 

I believe this is quite an early model, so there is an element of restoration here too, has anyone else any experience of fixing up these trailers? 

I will add some more photos when it stops raining! 

[Anglo Traction 1,016]

I imagine home built forum section would be appropriate, if it is moved, but don't personally see a problem with it here.

 

The H box is the same as my fellow neighbour's. He obtained one to accommodate his Kubota Mini Digger some years ago. Later, he also planned to use it for camping. 

Converted the front using a cut down 'over cab' wind deflector which were fitted to 3.5t Vans etc to cut down wind resistance.

Also modified the Tailgate area with extra high doors. Sealed up the side access.

 

Currently, he is replacing all the floor boards because there appears to be a design defect, the lower lip of the cladding is tucked inside of the Angle iron lower frame and rots the end of the boards. He's finished treating all the metal chassis parts.

If you wish, I will see if I can get some pics for you.       

[joegrgraham 30]

Thanks Anglo traction, any pics would be great. 

I have also noted the flaw with the floorboards, though the worst rot on mine are by the door and tailgate. 

I plan to keep the grooms door to use as access when in camper mode, I have an aluminium sheet (not sure whether original) above the tailgate, this overlaps the tailgate ad has to be removed to open the tailgate, I will try and modify this so it can stay in place, maybe adding a window. 

It seems that stopping water ingress will be the biggest job, at least today has been a good day to look for leaks!

[joegrgraham 30]

More pics. 

And inside. 

[Stormin 4,458]

 I'd say the sheet above the ramp is an add on. Most, if not all horse boxes had two half doors above the tail gate. If your putting a Ransomes crawler  in it, I'd put some more cross members in the chassis. You don't want it going through the floor, as happened to a certain person I know.

[joegrgraham 30]

There'll be no worries on that front stormin. 

First job is to get it watertight, then the floor will be coming out, several boards are pretty spongy, plus I want to clean and paint the chassis, and find somewhere to fix some lashing rings. 

Not sure what to do the floor with yet, whether to go like for like with thick planks running crossways, or a couple of layers of thick ply, topped with either a layer of phenolic ply or ally checkerplate. 

[Anglo Traction 1,016]

I've been to look at my neighbour's today and he had only sealed the side door temporarily, so it's back in use.

He's finished positioning the boards for fit, but is taking them back out to finish the Frame/Chassis jobs.

This shows the r/h rear corner where the outer skin tucks inside the angle iron frame-

 

He will be fitting 40 x 40 box steel on the threshold edge to protect the first board's edge.

And the same corner on outside. Double sealed with silicone, then flexible acrylic between the outer skin and Angle Iron frame before the temporary red sealing paint-

 

This inside shot shows the extension space to the front which originally housed the Digger Arm and Bucket. I think the window is slide opening and the walls are lined with ply -

 

 

And the front end view-

 

Rear additional doors at the top to fill the originally open gap. The lock with a sliding linkage mechanism-

 

 

But he hinted that the back doors will disappear in favour of a H Duty roller shutte.

It will serve more as storage for his current early 70s Honda 4 projects and the M'bike trailer he's just finished building, but wants it road worthy too. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[joegrgraham 30]

Thank you for the pictures Anglo traction, very helpful in what to look out for. 

I like the idea of the box section to protect the end floorboard, I will have to look into something similar , I'm planning to use scaffolding boards to replace the floor, and with the good old imperial /napoleonic measurements discrepancies, I will have a small gap to fill, so some box will do the job nicely. 

Due to visitors, I didn't get much achieved today, only got the checkerplate replaced with perspex, still need to finish with mastic. 

I notice one difference between mine and your neighbours, mine has a seam running the centreline of the roof, (note the piece of timber on the roof in mine) where the other appears to be one piece. Although the piece of timber is a bit soft, I'm loathe to touch it as there are a lot of screws holding the roof panels into it, I think I will run mastic along the seam and hope for the best.... 

[Anglo Traction 1,016]

Not sure of the weight and track width/footprint of your MG2, but the frame supports under the floor are probably laid out like this-

The 2 longitudinal beams that taper off to the front are the ones that the boards are fixed to, with the ends resting around the edge in the frame angle iron.

The 4 red circled points are weak and only the flat edge of the Angle iron is welded to the frame to clear the leaf springs/mounts, so you may need/want to beef them up.

My neighbour used 38mm (1.1/2" thick boards).

Good project....enjoy it.      

 

 

[joegrgraham 30]

That's a really useful plan, thank you for that!. 

Once the floor is removed, I will definitely look into beefing up the frame!.

Thanks again. 

[joegrgraham 30]

So, I made a certain amount of progress this weekend. 

Windows and ventilation louvres are fitted, it looks a little rough at the moment, but final sealing and then paint will improve the looks (and yes, I forgot to take off the protective film before I fitted the side window). 

Also had an exploratory dig at the floor, apart from some planks being made of cheese, the metal structure underneath seems solid. Hopefully I should get the floor out next weekend. 

The only iffy bit is one bottom rear corner where the aluminium skin has reacted with the steel angle, it's only a small hole, so should be a simple repair. 

[joegrgraham 30]

A little more progress today. 

I decided to install a 'cat-flap' in the sheet above the rear door to allow more headroom during loading, and a bit more ventilation. 

Just need to add some catches and a stay. Also a few more bolts needed around the aluminium sheet, but that can wait, today was curtailed by it being too flippin cold and a broken drill bit through the thumbnail!