18 inch Trailer rims Blitz Semi Pontoon Trailer

[Brett Nicholls]

Hi,
I'm on the hunt for 5 Trailer rims 6 stud 18 inch which I think are going to be hard to get and the same with suitable tyres.. These are for a Blitz semi Pontoon type trailer. So my current idea or alternative is to graft the centers of the original rims(which are way beyond useability) into Blitz 20 inch rims and down size the tyre to say a 9.00x20 so as to have roughly the same overal size as the original 10.5x18 and not have the problem of finding 10.5x18 tyres. Does any body have any suggestions or a suitable alternative? Thanks.
Regards,
Brett.

[Bob Carriere]

Hi Brett

The somewhat recent Gamma Goat had 18 inch tires.... some still floating around the good US of A..... Wallace Wade of Texas has been promising to run a new NOS batch of 18 inch tires soon..... which can be many months or until he has sufficient back orders....

Do you have any pictures of the beast for us to admire....?

Boob

[Brett Nicholls]

Hi Bob,
Thanks for the reply and the info. I have a bit of a project ahead of me as you can see by the pictures .
I have examined the brakes and wheel hubs and came to the conclusion that to just change hubs it would require nothing short of stripping the axels bare and rebuilding them with different hubs/brakes etc.
so I'm hoping some one might have some leads on 5 original useable 18 inch 6 stud rims which I could then use with some of the tyres you mentioned - if I can get them. Another idea I had was to machine out the centers of 20 inch blitz rims and weld/graft in the old 18inch rim centers but this idea is almost as much work as stripping the axels and may even be dangerous if the welds are not propper!
Regards,
Brett.

[Bob Carriere]

Hi Brett

If these wheels were designed/built with two huge stampings similar to a CMP wheels they must be unique to Australian market....

The GM/Kelsey Hayes plants had a 3 story high 120 ton press that stamped the 16 and 20 inch half rims in one blow.... pictures have been posted on MLU before.... if they were made in 18 inches for Australia someone at Holden had some big machinery.

DUKW also used 18 in. rims...... and 6 bolt pattern....wonder if they are similar/interchangable.....?

Good luck on the project.

Boob

[jack neville]

I have 11.00 x 18 inch tyres coming in from America for my Marmon Herrington right now. They are used Gamma Goat tyres said to be 97%. They should land in a few weeks. If they are as good as promised I will consider bringing in a bigger order depending on demand in Australia

[Ganmain Tony]

Originally Posted by jack neville

I have 11.00 x 18 inch tyres coming in from America for my Marmon Herrington right now. They are used Gamma Goat tyres said to be 97%. They should land in a few weeks. If they are as good as promised I will consider bringing in a bigger order depending on demand in Australia

I might be interested in some Jack. If its not too rude to ask, how much were they?

[Brett Nicholls]

Hi Jack and Tony,
Thanks for the reply. I'd be interested as this would make one part of the tyre/rim combo easily solved. Now I just need to find correct rims .
Apparently theese rims where "a dime a dozen" during the war years so someone had the bright idea of using the surplus on trailers. Its now some what frustrating as they are rare! . Oh well the search continues.....
Thanks again.
Regards,

[Lionelgee]

Originally Posted by jack neville

I have 11.00 x 18 inch tyres coming in from America for my Marmon Herrington right now. They are used Gamma Goat tyres said to be 97%. They should land in a few weeks. If they are as good as promised I will consider bringing in a bigger order depending on demand in Australia

Hello Everyone,

Sorry for hijacking the thread - in case you were wondering, like I was, what a Gamma Goat is? I found these links on the web http://www.gamagoat.com/info_history.html
Plus a colour photo http://www.olive-drab.com/idphoto/id_photos_m561.php3
Some walk around photos http://www.primeportal.net/trucks/ha...61_gamma_goat/


Kind Regards
Lionel

[motto]

I'm pretty sure that the four wheeled Wiles Cooker was on 18" wheels and that they were bolted together like a Blitz type but I have an idea they were not two complete halves, the outer half having a large opening and not being held by the wheel nuts. I don't know how many studs they were.
If the six stud pattern on your trailer was the same as GMC CCKW which would be too much to hope for things get a lot easier. This stud pattern was common to DUKW(18"), White M3A1(20"),Studebaker US6(20"),Chev 4x4 1 1/2 Ton 'Yankee Joe'(20") and was carried over to the post war M series trucks a lot of which were on 9.00x20.
David

[Brett Nicholls]

Hi Lionel and David,
The Gamma Goat sure looks to be an interesting vehicle but I wonder if beacuse of its articulated design if it's a mechanically complicated machine?.
I don't know of anyone who has a Wiles cooker so as to examine the rims. The originals were what you could term a 1 1/2 split. One rim (the inner) is complete and has the stud holes where as the other only has the holes for the outer studs and has no rim center. The bolt pattern is six stud and very similar to the GM vehicles but not the same unfortunately. As you can see in the picture mine are pretty well rotted out!
Regards,
Brett Nicholls.

[Lionelgee]

Originally Posted by Brett Nicholls

Hi Lionel and David,
The Gamma Goat sure looks to be an interesting vehicle but I wonder if beacuse of its articulated design if it's a mechanically complicated machine?.
I don't know of anyone who has a Wiles cooker so as to examine the rims. The originals were what you could term a 1 1/2 split. One rim (the inner) is complete and has the stud holes where as the other only has the holes for the outer studs and has no rim center. The bolt pattern is six stud and very similar to the GM vehicles but not the same unfortunately. As you can see in the picture mine are pretty well rotted out!
Regards,
Brett Nicholls.

G'day Brett,

No worries about my posting the picture - Jack Neville put the post up about how he is shipping in the Gamma Goat tyres. Also Bob Carriere mentioned about the goat in his post too


Until Jack & Bob put their posts up I did not know that such a thing as the Gamma Goat existed.

A couple of the links I put up do mention how the Goat spent a lot of time in the workshop, however the article says that when they were working they were hard to beat.

Apart from the trailer do you have any WWII type vehicle to pull it with - more photographs would be great!

Kind Regards
Lionel

[motto]

Wow! That is sure one sad looking wheel. Has Clevo been visiting your place?
Austral Wheelworks in Melbourne if they are still going could easily replace wheel centers, I've had them do some for me.
I don't know about complicated but the Gamma Goat was certainly peculiar. As I understand it the vehicle didn't carry a spare wheel but instead carried a 'truss' that was used to hold up the crippled corner and run on five wheels with the offending wheel removed. Odd indeed.
David

[Grant Bowker]

The Gamma goats also had the reputation for being hard on the driver's ears. Imagine a screaming Detroit Diesel 2-stroke only a few feet behind your head for hours on end without ear protection (because that's just the way it was back in the "good old days"). It's true the engines weren't the largest of the series but they all screamed at anything over idle power.

[Euan McDonald]

Hi Brett,
I think I may be onto some 18" wheels but haven't seen them yet. I have a set on my pontoon trailer so they would be surplus to my requirements. I will keep you posted.

[Lynn Eades]

Originally Posted by Grant Bowker

The Gamma goats also had the reputation for being hard on the driver's ears. Imagine a screaming Detroit Diesel 2-stroke only a few feet behind your head for hours on end without ear protection (because that's just the way it was back in the "good old days"). It's true the engines weren't the largest of the series but they all screamed at anything over idle power.

Yes Grant, but it is a lovely sound at a distance......Or is it my mechanics ears?

[Snowy]

There is a Gama Goat in Tassie, is this the only one in Oz? Perhaps the owner could verify measurements for you. There's a photo of it on the DTHT website in the Vehicles page:
http://www.dtht.org.au/

Steve.

[Richard Coutts-Smith]

We had a Gamma Goat at Corawa a few years back, possibly from Adelaide? Last vehicle you would expect to be amphibious. Bit of a worry that the fuel tank was below the waterline, owner had used some extra water-proofing on the fuel cap, but was still draining the water out of the tank bottom every 3 or 4 trips. He also went to some effort to load passengers evenly by weight, so both halves sat evenly in the water. Had never seen one before, so was quite a thrill to have a ride. By all accounts they are very capable off road.
I believe there was another being restored, maybe in Queensland.
Rich

[Brett Nicholls]

Hi Everyone,
David - Thank you for the information but the whole rim is shot!

Lionel - I dont have a Tractor unit as such yet! but I am working on it. I am looking for a C60s chassis as I have many parts and could build one up but it's probably better to get a whole vehicle if I can find one.

Euan - I wait with great anticipation - or something like that and would be very much appreciated. If it's possible and time permitting, could I get some detailed pictures of your trailer? I can then compare to see what's missing or extra on mine. If you email me at BRETT_TRACEY2@bigpond.com that would be great. ps: dont worry about file size - the bigger the better.

I have attached a couple of pic's from AWM which shows that they had a varied work load...

and then a couple loading and unloading the trailer.
Regards,

[Brett Nicholls]

this was the easy part!

[Lionelgee]

Originally Posted by Brett Nicholls

this was the easy part!

G'day Brett,

That photograph of the trailer being lifted up by a crane and your pride and joy hanging there brought back memories. I got my 1935 REO Speed Wagon freighted up on a semi-trailer from the paddock it had sat in out in all the elements for decades. It was off loaded at home by a mobile crane. To see a rusty old truck being lifted up and hanging from four points on a chain and it having to support its own weight certainly puts your heart in your mouth. I half expected to hear this steel cracking noise and seeing the truck self-destruct into little pieces all hanging off the chain. Luckily Ransom Eli Olds (REO) was known to over-engineer his trucks! It behaved itself very well and stood up to all the strain without a creak or a snap!

Kind Regards
Lionel

[Brett Nicholls]

Hi Lionel,
I know exactly what you mean I had that especially unwanted feeling when the trailer went upwards. It has an amount of structural corrosion and all I could see was it sagging and bending like a sling if soft steel reo or one of those lolly snakes the kids like . But fortunately it didn't. Your REO truck would have had a great deal more weight behind it - the tension must have been awkward to say the least.
Regards,