Reference: British WW2 180 Gallon 20-cwt Bowsers restoration

[Ian L]

Hi Guys I have just found & recovered 2 180 gallon 20cwt water bowsers before they went to the scrapman.
Can anyone help with parts to complete the restoration of 1 of them and old or modern photos.
Are there any in UK museums so that I can get photos and measurements.
Thanks Ian

[Robin Craig]

If I am not mistaken I thought there was some info on hmvf about one of these as someone else saved one a year or so back and asked the very same question.

R

[Ian L]

Originally Posted by Robin Craig

If I am not mistaken I thought there was some info on hmvf about one of these as someone else saved one a year or so back and asked the very same question.

Hi Robin I have posted the 'finds' on HMVF but that was only yesterday & about 4 weeks ago when I saved the first one so there may be 2 of us with these bowsers ? if so I would like to contact the other owner.

[Ed Storey]

Here is an image of the 'business end' of this Trailer.


http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e3...r-RearView.jpg

[Ian L]

Thanks thats a realy good start, there are some differences between my 2 trailers and your photo but now I can see how it works and whats missing !!!!!! cant see me ever finding all those fitting so a lot of fabricating will have to be done, do you have any more photos please ?

[chris vickery]

Perhaps Barry C can chime in on this since he owns my old 20cwt water bowser...

[Brian Gough]

Bill Mulholland has a restored one as well. I think Grant Bowker sells the Parts List / Manual for it.

[Ian L]

Originally Posted by Brian Gough

Bill Mulholland has a restored one as well. I think Grant Bowker sells the Parts List / Manual for it.

Parts list would be a start, can you point me in the direction of these guys please.
Thanks Ian

[Barry Churcher]

Hi Ian
As Chris says I have his old water trailer. It is unrestored STILL but I have managed to collect one of the missing pumps. I see you have the hand pumps and that is a good start. Most of the rest of the kit can be reproduced fairly easily. The Caldwell brothers made up the filters out of pipe and plate and I have a photo around someplace. Their repro looked excellent. According to Chris the box on the front of mine isn't correct but it looks the part. If you send me your email I can send a couple more photos.
Cheers,
Barry

For Brian Gough!!
What the heck are you doing posting on MLU?
You are supposed to be on a romantic river cruise down the Danube, not playing on the computer.

Credit for the enclosed photo goes to Hanno

[Ian L]

Just found these photos of the 'user manual' on the internet, the top picture is the first photo of a bowser that is identical to my 2 bowser trailers.

Main differences with my mine compared to all other photos I have seen are:
11:00 x ?? wheels/tyres on mine.
Wheel archs have a curved profile rather than flat.
Steady legs are the same as British 10cwt trailers.
No lifting eyes on the water tank.
Side shelves have wooden slats going across rather than longitudinal.

Does anyone have a user manual forsale of any information please ?

thanks Ian

[Ian L]

Diagram of 180gallon bowser showing larger wheels and 10cwt legs, interesting box on the front, any photos ?
Interesting that they call it a 15cwt trailer as I understood that they had smaller wheels ? and the one with larger wheels was 20cwt ?

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by Ian L

Interesting that they call it a 15cwt trailer as I understood that they had smaller wheels ? and the one with larger wheels was 20cwt ?

Ian,

Nice find those water trailers, good on you for saving them!

Please bear in mind there are differences between the British and Canadian built ones. Although the Canadian trailers were built to the British design, they did differ in respects of methods of construction and parts like brakes etc. The latter were off Ford CMPs on Canadian built ones. The difference between the Canadian 15-cwt and 20-cwt is one or two extra cross members in the chassis and 20" (instead of 16") wheels on special adapters to fit the hubs.

HTH

[Ian L]

Originally Posted by Brian Gough

Bill Mulholland has a restored one as well. I think Grant Bowker sells the Parts List / Manual for it.

Hi Brian could I have Grant Bowker's email address please as I would like to contact him about a user manual. thanks Ian

[Ian L]

Collected the second bowser today and towed it back to my workshop for restoration, this is the better one of the 2 but has some major parts missing such as the towhitch & water hose trays but the 1st bowser which is past restoring has these missing parts.

[Ian L]

Tow hitch behind the Humber has been adapted for a Tractor but the scrap Bowser has a complete hitch.

[Ian L]

One of the Bowsers had a makers plate just hanging on by rust alone so removed it to safe storage.
Plate says that its a 15cwt trailer rather than a 20cwt but from all the investigation I have done I thought that the Canadian type with 16" CMP wheels were 15cwt and the early British ones with 11:00 wheels were 20cwt ??

[Larry Hayward]

Dear Ian,

I have just found a further photo for you taken at a Canadian Army vehicle park in UK

As you will see the wheels are different on this version and I would suggest more civilian in style. Where there early and late models I wonder?

When you are short of raw materials any type of wheel will do but once things improve from personal experience I can tell you that in the Army you want the wheel & tyre on the trainer to be the same as the spare for the vehicle. In my old RE Sqn the two wheeled units we towed were converted to have Land Rover wheels and tyres.

The photo is a bit fuzzy but might help with making the tilt hoops

Good luck with these restorations

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by Ian L

One of the Bowsers had a makers plate just hanging on by rust alone so removed it to safe storage.
Plate says that its a 15cwt trailer rather than a 20cwt but from all the investigation I have done I thought that the Canadian type with 16" CMP wheels were 15cwt and the early British ones with 11:00 wheels were 20cwt ??

Ian,

I am not really up to speed on British water trailers, but the thread Regimental Water Cart gives you some insight in this subject.

Please bear in mind there are differences between the British and Canadian built ones. Compare the two 15-cwt trailers pictured below: British-built on the left, Canadian-built on the right. Same purpose, same basic design, but with many manufacturing differences: British has 13" wheels, Canadian has 16" wheels. Look at the chassis construction, too.

http://www.mapleleafup.net/forums/at...4&d=1089486545
http://www.mapleleafup.net/forums/at...0&d=1089369542
Note: both pictures are linked from Canadian 20-cwt GS Trailer.

The same would be true for the 20-cwt trailer. The one in the picture posted by Larry is a Canadian-built 20-cwt trailer. Basically the same as the Canadian 15-cwt trailer, except for one or two extra cross members in the chassis and 7.00-20 tyres (instead of 9.00-16 on the 15-cwt) on special adapters to fit the hubs.

HTH,

[servicepub (RIP)]

Ian,
E-mail me at home (cliveATservicepubDOTcom) and I will send you hi-res photos of these.

Clive

[Ian L]

Hi Clive I just sent you an email & thanks to everyone else for their help so far.
2 more photos I found of British bowsers.


Dunkirk 1940:




Workshop:

[Les Freathy]

Nice finds Ian, heres a photo from my new book British Miliary trucks of WW2
cheers
Les

[Les Freathy]

Some more photos of the trailer which will help in a rebuild
cheers
Les

[Mike Cecil]

Les,

The book is available from.... where?

Mike C

[Bill Murray]

Hi Les:

I second the question.......
Also, have you done any other books/monographs we don't know about.

Cheers

Bill

[Ian L]

Originally Posted by Les Freathy

Some more photos of the trailer which will help in a rebuild
cheers
Les

Hi Les what a coincidence I was attending the MVT National Show at Ashdown Camp today with my Austin K5 & Jeep and we saw your book at Paul Meekins Book Stall but unable to purchase it as not on release untill 26th.
Thanks for the photo, thats exactly the same bowsers as I have. Ian

[Ian L]

Originally Posted by Mike Cecil

Les,

The book is available from.... where?

Mike C

www.paulmeekins.co.uk

[Les Freathy]

The book British Military Trucks of WW2 is published by Tankograd details can be seen on www.tankograd.com I am not sure who will handle it in the US or Australia as yet but a number have it in the UK, i understand Bookworld wholesale are the importers
cheers
Les

[Bill Murray]

Thanks very much Les:
According to Tankograd, there are three very small outfits in the US that now carry their titles and one of them is a supplier to my HobbyTown USA store.

The preview pages looked as smashing as the photos you have posted here over the years with a lot more information and I will be calling my supplier as soon as he opens tomorrow to order a copy. He does not list your book yet by the way as I assume it just came out.

Cheers
Bill

[Ian L]

Hi Guys where can I get a spring like this for the handbrake ? anybody recognise a silimar one on a modern trailer ? once I attempt to dismantle the handbrake assembly with heat & brute force the spring is going to disintgrate.

[Ian L]

Begun the tear down today.