I was asked to look over a boat trailer and do a "nuts and bolts" inspection.
Trailer constructed of mild steel box section, ten years old, used for sea launching. Poor design, no drain holes, no jockey wheel hence the nose was always allowed to sit down at the front.
I thought that the tow hitch didn't look to be sitting right and had a look.
i12.photobucket.com/albums/a239/stan_deezy/hitchbo...g
The photo shows the bolts as they came out with a similar sized bolt sitting beside for comparison. One bolt had sheared completely, the other fell apart on being touched by the socket wrench.
The scary thing was that the trailer itself looked okay until "prodded" with a chipping hammer......
When was the last time you checked your tow hitch bolts???
I've never seen damage this bad in hurpmh years of working around boats!!!
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Corrosion due to regular immersion in water, probably salt water.
My neigbour had a boat trailer with a rotten axle. Both the wheels literally came off. They were still attached to their stub axles but the stub axles had completely come away.
I now have the wheels as they fit my old trailer. The rest of it went up to the scrapyard. It was not fit for anything else.
Although you'll see this deterioration with marine trailers more, other trailers are not immune to it. I saw a 750kg trailer's right hand stub axle give way as it was being towed, fortunately at a very low speed. In addition I also saw a smaller trailer at our local quarry snap its axle when fully (over)laden with sand. Even though the axle in qustion seemed to be made out of a short 4x3 H section RSJ!
The problem is that people have to get the cars checked for the MOTs etc but trailers just carry on regardless.
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Here in New Zealand, trailers are separately registered (road taxed) and have their own registration plates and warrants of fitness (MOT checks). For all the reasons noted above, trailers in poor state of repair can and have caused fatal accidents. I realise that trailers and boats are less common in the UK, but why isn't there an MOT system for them?
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Very good question - and caravans as well.
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Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
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I agree. The A12 north of Ipswich was blocked on Saturday afternoon owing to a caravan that had lost a wheel.
But Cliff will be along in a minute to tell us he has dozens of various trailers, and to disagree.
What is the situation with HGV trailers?
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A55 heading into North Wales is usually littered with broken trailers/caravans during the kids school holidays - never ceases to amaze me what bad condition some appear to be in, but still drive at 70mph plus !!!
Should introduce some sort of MOT for these things as well
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HGV trailers are plated and MOT tested by VOSA.
Number_Cruncher
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They also have to have regular safety inspections outside of the MOT, some will be inspected every six weeks some may be on a longer inspection cycle.
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But Cliff will be along in a minute to tell us he has dozens of various trailers, and to disagree.
I do see the logical argument in favour of MOTs actually - it's just that it would personally be very irksome and expensive. I'd spend a large part of my free time preparing for tests, taking trailers for tests, retests, fixing if necessary.
Some trailers would require specialist testing stations - I don't suppose those enormous baling machines or crop sprayers would fit on an ordinary rolling road. There would, as I have pointed out before, have to be special arrangements to test trailers in relation to the vehicle pulling them - a horsebox pulled by a LandRover would need working indicators and brake lights, but not if pulled by an old tractor with no electrical system.
Would my heavy roller need an MOT? I could cause a good few hours of traffic congestion towing it into town to be tested, not to mention the racket from the iron drum on the road surface. I'd have to go very very slowly downhill, because obviously it has no brakes.
It just seems like a further encroachment on one of the few remaining motoring freedoms.
Remember that the major component in any road vehicle is the human at the wheel, and he only has one MOT after his motoring career is nearly over anyway.
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The MOT/road tax would be required on trailers that are used on public roads. I don't think the heavy roller with the iron drum qualifies. Why would a rolling road be necessary? An inspection to detect any defects in a trailer would be largely visual. The horse box, if fitted with indicators and lights, would need to have them tested. I hope you weren't thinking of towing it behind the old tractor at night! All that time taking trailers for tests, retests etc: Just spare a thought for us in New Zealand. We have MOT testing every six months! Here nearly everything on the road is tested. That includes trailers, caravans, horse boxes, road rollers, graders, diggers. If they're used on the road, then they should be tested. Time you chaps caught up!
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Gosh, Pete, I thought New Zealand was the last remaining land of the free!
I assumed brakes would need to be tested somehow, other than just visually.
I see the logic of the proposal, and I suppose in this over-regulated state it is inevitable. But anyone who loved the Wind in the Willows is drawn to the freedom of the road with a little caravan, and now it seems even that will need a license and doubtless a fee.
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Yes Hugo: it was salt water corrosion, just incredible that a trailer used so little over a ten year period was able to rust away so quickly.
I've posted the pictures on a few other (boat-related) sites and there are a few people coming back to say that they have now checked their bolts and found similar. I guess that at least it got a few people thinking about the hidden bits of the trailer.
I'd agree that an MOT test might be a good way forward for trailers in the future (just not one of mine lol!) but perhaps a bit more education could go a long way for example:
How many trailer drivers know:
1. Speed limit is 60mph on a motorway
2. Speed limit is 50mph on all other roads (unless otherwise indicated)
3. Trailers are not allowed in the outside lane of a motorway.
I'm constantly amazed by the number of trailers that overtake me on the motorways and dual carriageways when I'm sticking to the speed limit. I'm also amazed at the number of caravans and trailers that use the outside lane of the motorway!
I discussed this with a traffic officer a while ago and he said "we don't really bother about enforcing the speed limits for trailers. Our job is more to keep the traffic flowing freely. If the trailer was involved in an accident then we'd look closely at speeds involved and would probably look at charging the trailer driver regardless of fault"....!!!!!
(as an interesting aside I also, coincidentally, spoke to a couple of local bobbies and they didn't have a clue about trailer speed limits!
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