Aust. One Ton trailer info. required

[Richard Coutts-Smith]

Have dragged my One ton trailer out of the shed in readiness for Corowa.
(Hmmm, just had a look and trailed equipment is 18 months away, thats forward planning.)
Anyway, now I have started on it, I would be interested on any information on the markings as this is not my field of expertise at all.
What I do know:
Corio Air Engineers pty ltd
(Geelong of course)
Built 16/11/1959
Mk 1
Chassis 1356
Contract C104053

Pic 1 It's bigger and heavier than I remember
Pic 2 Tailgate art, "QA" ?, 50 ?
Pic 3 ????????
Pic 4 Christmas Tree? Do remeber these being referred to years ago on a post, but could not find it.
Pic 5 One of these each side U/L CofG "City of Geelong"??

More to come
Rich.

[Richard Coutts-Smith]

Cont'd
Pic 6 Bridge Plate. I assume this is three Ton loaded? If so why is it a one to trailer? Do we still use these, if not when were they phased out (Decade would be close enough)
Pic 7 Well I guess we know who bought it at auction as well
pic 8 I assume these are also auction details, Lot No. etc

What I need as well is:
An unladen weight so I can register it, surprised this was not on the plates.
There is no provision for a brake lock while reversing, was there? (Over ride brakes work real well, bugger when reversing though)

Vic roads tell me that there is no provision for Club Rego for trailers, and that saftey chains must be fitted. Anyone tell me different?

Any information would be appreciated.
Rich.

[Keith Webb]

Euan can probably tell you about this - he has one the same.

[Keith Webb]

Unloaded centre of gravity.

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by Richard Coutts-Smith

Pic 6 Bridge Plate. I assume this is three Ton loaded? If so why is it a one to trailer? Do we still use these, if not when were they phased out (Decade would be close enough)

Rich,

The bridge plate does not denote the weight of the vehicle, it denotes the lowest bridge class the vehicle can pass.

Hanno

[Richard Farrant]

Hi Richard,

That trailer is almost a direct copy of the British FV2401(A) 1 ton cargo. The main visual difference is mudguards and wheels. Weight laden for our version was 1.78 tonne, which would be 1,780kgs.

regards, Richard

[Richard Coutts-Smith]

Centre of Gravity, I was so close with City of Geelong.... Thanks Keith, explains why there is one of these on each side, near the axle.
Thanks Hanno, bridging signs are just one of those things I never took much attention of, this is the first time I have had a "vehicle" with one, so now I have to play catchup.
Of course Richard, forgot the link to the English trailer, even though I have told people about the mudgaurds in the past. It is in my "54 Chertsey catalogue, and does have the weights.
Plenty more boxes to be ticked off if anyone else wants to have a go.
Rich.

[Mike Cecil]

Richard,

Corio Air Engineers = manufacturer. Not sure about the number they built under contract, as it appears they may have commenced chassis numbers at 1,000. Seems to be about 500 trailers, which would be about right for the Aust army requirements at the time.

U/L C of G: Unladen Centre of Gravity, which is about the same as Keefy said. In other words, the plate marks the CofG point when the trailer is unladen.

5434 and the 'pyramid' above the 'roo: Embarcation code for the Unit, in both numerals (5434) and colour bars, above the Australian National Symbol. No, it does not mean the unit/trailer went overseas.

100849: the Australian Army registration number. This would have been carried on an AMF number plate affixed to the rear/number plate bracket. Black plate, white numbers, letters 'AMF' above in the centre.

3 in yellow: Bridging Plate. The Bridge to be passed over must have that number or higher before the trailer can be taken over that bridge. '3' denotes that the GROSS (fully laden) WEIGHT may be up to 3 tonnes, but that does not mean that the gross laden weight of this trailer is 3 tonnes, just that it doesn't exceed that weight. Gross weight for this trailer would be 1650 pounds plus 2,240 pounds = 3890 pounds = 1.763 tons

50 = Tactical sign of the 1970/80s of 16 Air Defence Regiment, based at Woodside South Australia. They were armed with RBS70 VLLADS and Rapier missile systems at that stage. Also carried by 16 AD Regt Workshop RAEME, so could be configured as serving with either.

Pic 3: a sub-unit sign. Only a former member of 16 AD can tell you what it might be! Whatever 'it' is might be cradling/holding a spanner (ie workshop) or a missile (ie the Regt itself): who knows!

C104356: Commonwealth Contract Demand/Contract number against the manufacturer for the supply of the trailers.

Chassis 1356: manufacturers number. In this case, it corresponds to ARN 100849.

Unladen weight: According to the listed data, 1650 pounds (in unmodified form. A proportion of these trailers were modified with wider wheel rims and mudguards which may alter the weight slightly upwards).

Nomenclature: 'Trailer, 1 ton, Cargo, (Aust) No.1 Mk.1' but changed in late 1959 to:

'Trailer, Cargo, 1 Ton, Aust. No.1 Mk.1'

Acquisition: 1959-1960

Disposals: Mostly 1970s and 1980s.

Regards

Mike C