A Light Recovery Trailer from Downunder

[Sam Scholz]

Time for more pictures. Ignore the grain bin.

The front dolly assembly. The drive shaft is for the floor auger in the grain bin.

LRT front dolly 10 2019.JPG


The brake application equipment is in place!

LRT brake cylinder and chambers 10 2019.JPG


But the trailer has been grossly overloaded, and along with incorrect offset wheels, it has bent the 4 stub axles. One so badly that someone has removed the backing plate with all its' attachments with an oxy cutter. I need that lot.

LRT Bent axle problems 10 2019.JPG


First major job is to remove the rusty grain bin, which will be done in a way to liberate lots of useful steel.


Enjoy.
Sam.

[Gordon Yeo]

Sam

I followed your 969 restoration and wondered what you would entertain us with when it was done. Question answered, welcome to MLU.

Gord

[Sam Scholz]

Hi Gord,

Thank you for the kind sentiment. I sometimes wonder about the 'lurkers' who populate the views count!

Unfortunately, this thread will be slow at the start, as the LRT is 2 projects and 2 major rallies down the list. But I probably won't be able to resist doing bits and pieces on it.
I have already found a possible source of 18" rims and have a lead for tires and some rear body jacks that may do the job.
I need pictures/manuals/info on this type of trailer in Australia, who can help?

Have a nice day.
Sam.

[rob love]

I have one of these 7-1/2 ton trailers that was Canadian built. The tires and rims are the standard 16" CMP type. I bought mine thinking it would be a neat way to take the Bren carrier to displays. Once I had it, I discovered you would need a class one tractor trailer license along with air brake endorsement (and annual safeties) to take it out of the yard.

[Sam Scholz]

Wow! That sounds difficult!
I am sometimes surprised at the wide differences in different countries regarding the on-road use of our toys.

As I possess (in Australia) a national HC (Heavy Combination = semi-trailer/truck+dog>12t{IIRC}), I am able to use the 969/LRT combo once road registered. Very fortunately, I am able to club/historic/concessional register it with the brakes as they were when new.
It won't require annual inspections (COI), but does require annual registration fees which are a fraction of the non-concessional rates.

The rims on these Oz trailers were an odd 6 stud 18" split rim. Only recently has 18" tyres become available in Australia, albeit few and far between. Some Asian buses are using them, I'm told. This lack of tyres rendered many trailers unusable, or as in my case, adaptions were made. That is why I am on the hunt for some 18" split rims. One width is to suit 7.50 tyres and one is to suit 10.50/11.00 tyres.

Sam.

[Danny Devers]

Looks like a good project.

[Sam Scholz]

Hi all,

Thanks Danny, I see you are only a few hours north of me. Drop in sometime for a look if you wish.

I've been getting a few hours in to disassemble and remove the grain bin.

First cut off much of the sheeting and remove the augers.

LRT bin disassembly a 10 2019.JPG


Then when the easier-to-access stuff was done, we hooked a chain to it and tried to roll it off. But the lip of the I-beam caught on the lip of the trailer and its' rail hit the wheels and hung there 3" off the ground!!!

LRT bin disassembly b 10 2019.JPG


After a bit of crowbar work, it was safely on the ground where it needed to be. So then I could have a much better look at my trailer. It seems to have much of the original timber floor between the decks and there seems to be lots of dark gray paint on it. More pictures later.

LRT that's better 10 2019.JPG


I still have to cut up the bin to store/scrap the steel. Then I can deal with the wheels and axles problems.

Still looking for period pictures of these trailers in Australia.

Enjoy.
Sam.