Trailor novice seeks advice

[oRGie]

So I've got a tow bar, electrics plumbed in and ready to go :)

Never had a trailor before, so I have no idea whats good, whats bad etc..

I could do with a trailor with a box on it, aprox the size of a transit load space. I want to be able to transport the bikes, furniture when needed and general boxes of stuff thats need moving from a to b...

so what do i look for, 2 wheels or 4, its own brakes or not needed for this size ? what size of wheels/tyres are best ? are there different hitch set ups ?

I figure if its not taller or wider than the 110 that it may be better for fuel economy ?

Caravans, can you use them to transport stuff, ie load them up ?

Any photos of yours would be apprieciated :)

[Hector]

I think I own just the thing you're looking for. I'll post some pics later when I get it back.

For a trailer of this size definately get a twin axle. Its much more stable and far easier to reverse.

As for brakes - everything over 750kg needs to have "overrun" brakes fitted. With an unbraked trailer when you brake the trailer pushes forward on the car. Overrun brakes capture some of this force and use it to apply brakes on the trailer. They are quite effective to the point where they will actually lock the trailer wheels if you brake hard.

You're probably best to get one with a standard 50mm ball hitch. Other stronger types are available but are a bit OTT on something this size. It also means you can tow it with another vehicle if you want. My Box Trailer sometimes gets towed with a Rover 25TD on occasion - does a damn good job as well :)

There are quite a few good manufacturers that make trailers like this. Ivor Williams being probably the best known.

Don't worry too much about it being bigger than the 110 as it won't make a massive amount of difference to the fuel economy.

A caravan isn't really worth considering as they're only designed to carry very light loads and as such have quite a slender and fragile chassis on the whole.

Any more questions give us a shout.

Cheers

Jamie

[oRGie]

Jamie, thanks for that :) in the space of an hour or so I know what I'm looking for allready :yay: look forward to the pics :)

[Newsreader]

As well as Jamie's excellent advice, have a look at the Ifor William website www.iwt.co.uk as it has pics of all the different models, with specs etc, and quite a bit of advice about trailers and towing too. Ifor Williams are very good trailers, they are also expensive - as with everything, you get what you pay for... :buck:

Also check out National Trailer & Towing Association (http://www.ntta.co.uk) site, lots of useful info there...

[Hector]

Finally got the trailer back from my dad.

Its about 15 years old now so doesn't look great but it does the job. More modern ones are a lot more stylish and tend to be slightly more aerodynamic.

Its fairly heavy duty for its size with a maximum payload of 2000kg. It has no suspension at all and so tends to be quite rough on the towing vehicle and whatever you're carrying. The 109 has heavy duty leafs so doesn't really bounce about too much. Most modern vans have some sort of suspension I believe so are a bit nicer to tow.

The only other problem is speed, or lack of it. It'll trundle happily along at 45/50 on the flat but hills are a different story. If you load it anywhere near to capacity you end up with an outfit weighing 5 tonne plus, but with low ratio it'll trundle up most hills just ridiculously slowly. You shouldn't have much trouble though with the 110.

If you need to know anything else just let us know

Cheers

Jamie

[Hector]

Here's another. Sorry about the crap picture, never was a very good photograher :)

[Barry]

Hi,Is it for sale then?
What's it's height/width please?