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Best towing vehicle for 40' drawbar trailer?


Iain

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Hi,

I was wondering if anyone has any experience of towing drawbars & what would be the best vehicle for the job?

I've bought a big old 1940s/50s Showmans Living Van. I'd like to use a period British Army lorry to pull it with & I would be wanting a 4x4/6x6.

The wagon weighs around 8 tons, so that narrows my choice even more. She's 34' + 6' A-frame, 11' high x 9' wide.

It would be good (but maybe hoping!) if the lorry could manage 50mph for dual-carriageways etc.

I'd guessed from looking at other rigs that the shorter the length of the lorry, the better?

 

I've kind of narrowed it down to a Scammell Explorer. I've always really liked Mk.1 AEC militants as well (there's one for sale just down the road from me), but seems like top speed is around 30 mph? The Mk III seems to have a better turn of speed (I know it's 60s/70s). But it's 7' longer than the Scammell.

 

Any suggestions/advice would be much appreciated, up to now it's just been me & my copy of Tugs of War for help!!

Cheers, Iain

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How do these showmen types get away with dragging huge vans round the place? It dosen't look stupidly wide and looks quite respectable so i doubt you would draw attention and get pulled. But then if you did have an accident.......:blush:

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How do these showmen types get away with dragging huge vans round the place? It dosen't look stupidly wide and looks quite respectable so i doubt you would draw attention and get pulled. But then if you did have an accident.......:blush:

 

Aye, that's the problem. In 20 years of driving, including many big old vehicles, I've never so much as clipped anything or even run over a rabbit!

 

But, I have been hospitalised for 6 months by a solicitors wife in a Volvo ( & nearly had both legs amputated). Fractured my spine & been trapped in a blazing wreck thanks to a careless driver I was a passenger with. While being driven by my girlfriend, been spun into a tree by an uninsured drunk driver who died in the process (had to crawl away from that one, as my legs were still broken from the Volvo Incident).

 

I have absolutely no trust in any driver out there, & more or less regard everything else on the road as a potential enemy!

 

Thanks to all this, I have a horror of being even slightly illegal while on the road ,sometimes just have a horror of being on the road, full stop!

Edited by Iain
Ranting!
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Coincidently, today in the post arrived a complimentary copy of classic car buyer from Kelsey publishing. There is a Pilot living van advertised within. I looked on their website to se if there was a good copy of the photo, but, nowhere to be found. I've taken a photo of the tiny advert, but my macro zoom is not very good. You may be able to glean some info from it though.

pilot 004.jpg

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Coincidently, today in the post arrived a complimentary copy of classic car buyer from Kelsey publishing. There is a Pilot living van advertised within. I looked on their website to se if there was a good copy of the photo, but, nowhere to be found. I've taken a photo of the tiny advert, but my macro zoom is not very good. You may be able to glean some info from it though.

 

Thanks Davie. :-) I think it looks very much like the one in the Glasgow museum. That one has a pull-out kitchen as well.

 

I wonder how long that's been an exhibit, sure it wasn't there last time I went in....er...um...1985 I think. Glasgow Transport Museum used to be my favourite building as a kid. But I mostly remember the glorious steam locomotives & the big model ships like the "Hood".

 

Anyway, back to the wagon. I was almost hoping that that's an advert from another decade, it seems very cheap for a decent wagon!!

 

I'm pretty sure now that mine isn't a Pilot. It's being delivered on friday, so I can finally dust off the ol' magnifying glass & hunt for some clues!

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I had never come across this thread before now , but for those interested I thought I could possibly offer some sound advice after towing my wife's collection of living vans behind both military and classic commercials.

First thing to remember on early examples these were all on vacuum brakes , generally to the rear axle only , so once converted to air you still have only one axle braking. If it's a quality wagon on an Eagle chassis this can easily be between 8 to 12 tonnes , so stopping them is a factor.

Original tyre / wheel combination was generally split rims with 10.50 x 13 balloon tyres , like rocking horse dung today , but even when we could buy them not a practical tyre at over 30 mph , I can still recall a nightmare trip on a hot summers day with two blow outs on the m27 at 28 mph max speed. It was about 18 years ago the British Rubber Company started producing a low loader tyre option on a bespoke spun rim centre , money well spent then as peace of mind ever since.

Never let the tail wag the dog , so your towing vehicle needs to be ballasted heavier than the trailed weight , that's when loaded with your provisions for your adventure away. I always joke my family can add at least a tonne , when you include water tanks , wine and beer.

Speed on the road is not really an option when towing a 70 year old shed if you want to arrive with it in one piece ! 40 mph on modern tyres on billiard table tarmac is the best, but more like 25 to 30 and pot hole dodging if you live in Sussex.

Military vehicles make good ballast tractors , just look at what the showmen used when ex Mod surplus first came for sale., scammells , matadors , AWD , and diamond T's were favourites post war.

Long bonnets and long wheelbase vehicles are not best suited with some of the modern road layout's , mini roundabouts and ridiculously positioned keep left bollards ! I often leave home at 65' if I tow with the Constructor , but today's attitude with long slow moving vehicles has prompted some eye opening road rage at us , so be warned.

Cab over motive power , with power steering , all wheel drive and SWB with a rear winch would make a very nice vehicle to use here in the U.K, to tackle tight access muddy show entrances.

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