Amazing what you come across

Keith Orpin · #1 05-07-10, 13:42

This weekend (4th July 2010) we attended a special event at a place called Coleshill near Swindon here in the UK, to commemorate the 70th anniversary of Churchill's secret Auxillary units. Once parked up, I happened to notice though the weeds an old trailer made up to carry wood. On closer inspection, the wheels were Canadian, as were the backplates, brake drums, springs, hangers and chassis all from a C15 ! ( 9.00 x 16 tyres). Instead of leaving the back axle there, it had been replaced with a 3" box section, as a straight beam. Anyway, have a look at the pictures, the last one of which is a period shot of my Chevy and a mates Fordson
Regards
Keith.

jack neville · #2 05-07-10, 14:30

Any other photos of the Fordson. I have a 2H model and they don't pop up too often. Like to see some more.

Grant Bowker · #3 05-07-10, 16:40

Your trailer axles might actually be CMP trailer axles. The CMP trailer axles were typically 2.75" solid square bar stock. The brakes were standard CMP parts (i.e. Ford) and the springs were often described as "as formerly used on Ford 30cwt" trucks. I don't see enough of the trailer frame to be sure, but what I see in your photos looks similar to the frame of the 4 wheel CMP trailer that was made in several capacities between 2 and 5 ton.

Maurice Donckers · #4 06-07-10, 07:39

Yes my idea too , it is a canadian trailer axle , the half shaft cover is on all the canadian trailer axles coverred with a thick plate only hold on with 4 nuts , like this one.

Keith Orpin · #5 06-07-10, 14:07

Grant & Maurice,
I bow to your superior knowledge.
There was me thinking somone had spent a lot of time modifying a cmp into a trailer, whereas it looks like it could be a proper trailer !!!!. Arrrrgh !, if I had moved forward slightly and then hard down to the right, I could have hooked it up behind the Chevy, as it was only 10-12 ft away !. Would the tyre size of 9.00 x 16 give a clue to it's original size ?. I'll have a look in the design records to see what it should look like, but I know it had a proper turntable at the front, I did'nt look for a drawbar, which may have been in the undergrowth. I can feel a return visit coming on, as I have never seen or come across one before. My guess is this is a bit of a rarity, do we know of any others ? .
Jack, I'll find some more pictures for you shortly, but here's one to be going on with.
Regards
Keith

Grant Bowker · #6 06-07-10, 16:24

The frames of most CMP trailers, including the 4 wheeled ones, were made from standard rolled structural channel (C beams) rather than stamped sections like the truck frames. The drawbar should be an A frame with a lunette eye that is free to turn within friction blocks, operating the hydraulic brakes through a short lever arm. The master cylinder for all seems to be the Ford master cylinder. The lighter versions were simple impact brakes brakes while the heavier versions were boosted. There were two versions of the tuntable, the simpler one was two plates (with a grease fitting to ensure easier turning) while the heavier versions used a series of rollers arranged around the rim of the turntable. The roller turntables were clearly marked in the manuals "do not lubricate", presumably because the lubricated rollers would collect dirt and wear more quickly. I have seen one of each version, the plain plate was seized (slightly off straight so it was a beast to put on the trailer for recovery) while the roller version still turned nicely. Neither one had been moved for years before recovery.
Service manuals SB-13 and SB-31 apply, there is also mention of SB-37 but I don't have that to know what is different about it compared to the other two manuals. The manuals that I have are more or less confimed to the chassis, making almost no mention of the body attached. The manual for specialist trailers (brake drum grinding etc.) include the relevant chassis manual and the particular equipment mounted in the trailer but still virtually nothing about the body it's mounted in.

Keith Orpin · #7 08-07-10, 11:33

Hi Grant,
Thanks for the reply, and having now checked out the design records, I reckon that what I found a few days ago was the remains of a 2-3 Ton trailer, see attached. In the text for this type of trailer, it mentions the use of C15 springs, and hydrualic over run brakes. The other trailers look like they have additional springs, both back and front to cope with the higher capacity. They (4 Ton) type trailers also have a vacuum operated servo brakes fitted, as you suggested.
Regards
Keith