car transporter trailer recomendations?

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bigvinnie

bigvinnie

Active Member
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Location
Catterick North Yorkshire
Right weird question,

Can anybody give me some advice/direction on double axle car transporter trailers? In my line of work I often get asked to move/recover folks cars but I cant do it with my big green kit! So looking at getting a second hand one and making some side money...or beer.

Been looking at the usual suspects Ifor Williams, brian james, bateson and some weird and wonderful home made contraptions. Needs to load VW camper size chassis. ( asked to move 2 of these this week alone?:confused:)

So any ideas?
 
A few of my mates have got the Brian James not the tilts BT the ones with skids and the beavered back end and they are all great! Tow like a dream and they have taken many contraptions on them. Only one down side is if you have a reeeeeaaaaallly low car they can catch on the beaver.

Avoid homemade contraptions! A lot are bodges or dont pull straight so chew tyres! Brakes are often dodgy etc only trust homemade if you built it yourself in my opinion.
 
I have found tilt bed are better than ramp for cars, I have had to jack up the ramps a few times as the center of the car has ground out on the back of the trailer. The bigger weight the better although I have moved a RRC in a Bryan James rated at 1600kg:rolleyes: Always remember the plated weight is trailer and load not just load. I would always go for a known make as service parts are easier to get hold of and cheaper. Hope this helps.
 
Yeah we had a tilt for a while and loading is a lot easier and you don't have the pain of the bottoming out. Get one with a winch if possible and decent strapping eyes and obviously as high a rating as possible
 
If you're moving other peoples vehicles with a trailer any distance over 35 miles you'll need a tachograph and an operators licence if the all up weight is over 3.5t

You can't just hitch up and tow any more unless it's your property and not part of a business

http://www.ntta.co.uk/law/tachographs/tachographs.aspx

I have a Brian James Car Go twin axle, tows well, versatile as it's a cargo trailer as well

You wouldn't get a Ferrari on it though
 
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Gents cheers for the advice and pointers.

Looking at 3500kg gross weight, tandem axle. beaver tail is cheaper and loading anything low wont be a drama, been doing it with big kit for years, bit of skidding will sort that out. But if a tilt came along I may consider it.

Clearly anything I move would be mine:rolleyes:, its mostly squaddies that want motors or projects shifted to paint or specialist garages. Or they,ve smashed them up and want them taking to scrap.

I shall ponder some more cheers !

Meanwhile I,ve borrowed a ex plant trailer to move one of the vw camper shells to paint. Bit High but the shell is light enough, only going a few miles!
 
Ifor Williams every time, they use leaf spring suspension, much cheaper if you hit a pot hole and break one to replace. Other tend to use indespension units which cost a lot more to replace. I have towed a if or Williams horse trailer thousands of miles with no issues whatsoever. They have a good dealer network too.
 
over the years of racing, I used al sorts of home made and well used ex AA type trailors.
last year I used a 4 wheeled Ifor williams plant trailor for my sand and ballast collection.

So, thinking on which type of trailer would I prefure to own, a flat bed every time over twin runner types.
yes I know twin runner types allow clearance of diffs and such, but for bulky more solid like empty car shells the flat bed wins,
plus you can collect sand and ballast with ease ;)
 
bigvinnie said:
So looking at getting a second hand one and making some side money...or beer.

So any ideas?
Click to expand...

In this part of Dorset VOSA are pretty hot on 4x4's towing the type of trailer/load you have in mind. Providing everything is in order ie operators licence, 'goods in transit' insurance, tachograph, 6 weekly inspection record etc etc you'll be on your way in 5 minutes.

But if on the other hand you come up with the excuse you're 'moving a vehicle for a mate', or 'it's for beer money' it wont wash. The whole lot will be confiscated until you get your paperwork in order, otherwise it gets crushed.

Not trying to put you off but there's lots of guys out there that do this legitimately as a living, running this sort of business is not cheap. So before you go doing this for 'beer money' think of the guys that do this professionally and what is entailed :)
 
Nigel-S said:
Not trying to put you off but there's lots of guys out there that do this legitimately as a living, running this sort of business is not cheap. So before you go doing this for 'beer money' think of the guys that do this professionally and what is entailed :)
Click to expand...

I do this for a living, been stopped loads of times, once they see the tachograph , check the O licence disc and stick the card in the machine to check the hours I'm on my way

Once you've been stopped and checked you get red green or amber on their ANPR.

EVen if they believe you were moving it for a mate and let you go you'll be on red so next time they see you they'll pull you in
 
Can't comment on the legalities for an individual, both our Renaults had towbars and tachographs from day one for the company business, which isn't motor trade..

We have moved 109" LWB 6-cylinder, 88" SWB Series petrol, Discovery 2, twice and a Defender 110 CSW.

All were on Brian James trailers, twin axle was enough, we didn't need to go to the 3500kg.

They are fine and just get on with the job.

Discotrailer1.jpg


Peter
 
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SteNova said:
brian james 3500kg, 6 wheel flat bed tilter is what we use for banger racing,

trail by Ste_Nova, on Flickr
Click to expand...

currently looking at one of these on line, if funds allow I may take a punt, it gets good reviews everywhere.

Nigel-S said:
In this part of Dorset VOSA are pretty hot on 4x4's towing the type of trailer/load you have in mind. Providing everything is in order ie operators licence, 'goods in transit' insurance, tachograph, 6 weekly inspection record etc etc you'll be on your way in 5 minutes.

But if on the other hand you come up with the excuse you're 'moving a vehicle for a mate', or 'it's for beer money' it wont wash. The whole lot will be confiscated until you get your paperwork in order, otherwise it gets crushed.

Not trying to put you off but there's lots of guys out there that do this legitimately as a living, running this sort of business is not cheap. So before you go doing this for 'beer money' think of the guys that do this professionally and what is entailed :)
Click to expand...

If was doing this it would only be open to those who know me or require it. So basically squaddies. I've moved many things and recovered many things so when folk want their car/project/horse box?/yacht/shed moving they seem to come to me or my lads. The days of using the big work stuff has gone so often turn mates away.....Before the CPC issue started raising its head a few years back I used to move plant kit at weekends for a well known Scottish firm. They where pretty stringent on their rules so I,m pretty offay with the rules and regs. I,m not taking any bodies work as its all squaddies that want stuff moving....and we're all tight ****s really!:)
 
If you are doing a lot of motorway miles then a tri axle is a good choice as they sit very nicely behind. If you are doing A and B roads, town driving etc then twin axle all the way, unless you like changing tyres, tightening wheel bearings, axles and suspension parts. And this is from personal experience. You also get the same capacity from a tri axle as you do from a twin axle (3500kg) but you cant carry as much on a tri as you have to add the weight of the third axle into the aquasion.
 
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