[Bob Carriere]

Was out cruising a garage sale on Saturday which was a bust but did notice an "AUCTION" sign that I followed to a large farm equipment auction.

Got lucky and bought another Allis Chalmers CA for parts but it may be to good for parting out. I am in the process of rebuilding a small CA for Joyce.

So went back home to get the float which had not been used since March 2013. As I pulled it out of its parking spot two of the left hand wheels refused to turn..... nuttin' serious I though just rust on the brake lining/drums.

So we pulled and pushed the trailer to the barn door and things got progressively worst....wheels would turn then jam then turn.

We put the trailer on stands and remove both wheels and when we removed the drums the brake linings just fell out in chunks.....completely delaminated from the brake shoes ...... amazing amount of rust inside the drum, return springs, cams, etc all badly rusted probably accellarated by winter road salt.

So had to borrow Grant's trailer for the tractor recovery and get parts.

Lucky for us our local steel shop/fabricator had all the parts we needed.... got four new complete brake plate assembly and 4 seals ...... spent Sunday rebuilding all four wheels.

According to the dealer some of his customers replace these prone to rust parts almost yearly. Mine were 9 years old originals. No shortage of wheel grease when we disassembled..... all the damage was limited to the brake plate assembly, magnet, etc.

So next time you pull out your trailer to check the lights and tire pressure before heading off on a recovery......THINK ABOUT AN ANNUAL BRAKE PLATE INSPECTIONS........

Grant is seriously thinking of pulling off the 4 drums on his trailer, even if newer, than mine for a cautionary inspection.... just in case !!!!

Lucky it happened in the yard and not loaded with a CMP going down hills in Algonquin park....

Bob