I’ve built and co-built a few trailers over the years, but the best one was one my boss built when I worked on the land. He bought the chassis of an ex-C&G cement mixer that had set solid when the engine blew up. It was on super singles. We boxed (I was 14 and just manhandled bits to be cut or welded) the chassis over the axles to stiffen it, the body was 4 mm plate, 3” channel ribs all along and a bit of 4” box all the way round the top, and sized so a drott could reach over the sides at just under full stretch. The only bit I was never keen on was the tailgate, which for some reason Michael the boss decided to make out of angle iron and plywood. Mind you, the last time I saw it the tailgate was the original, so perhaps he was right and I was wrong.
We fitted hydraulics to the existing brakes, an actuator valve (Ford kit) to the existing pedals on a Ford 7000 and ithe outfit would stop in about three times it’s own length. It wouldn’t have been a cheap trailer to build, even in the 70’s, but it was in regular use for close to 35 years until my old boss sold up. That trailer is probably still in use somewhere. It carried cow, sheep and chicken crap, literally many thousands of tons, over the years, as well as carting in a few thousand tons of limestone and gravel to for all the building projects we did on the farm.
All of which is of no possible help or interest to anyone, but I do like a reminisce.
