M1000 Trailer

[m16ty]

Also, there are a couple of things I learned about RRAD.

A lot of the surplus is out in what amounts to a field, if it rains in can turn into a mud bog.

Ricky with Red River Wrecker was great, but told me something that made me a little nervous. When Dad called him to confirm the load out appointment, his comment was "We will be there, if we don't get a wrecker call". I though when we made the appointment with him, we were his "wrecker call" at that time. Luckily, he didn't get another call at our appointment time and we got it loaded without a problem.

 

[simp5782]

I've dealt with Ricky a lot. He is a really good guy. And yes. That lot is called the mud lot for a reason. Back when all the SEEs were there on that lot I was the only person to be able to load out if it had rained in the past few days.

We plan to pick the plate up on Saturday night coming back from Brunswick Ga so it will be in Cookeville on sunday

 

[gringeltaube]

We plan to pick the plate up on Saturday night coming back from Brunswick Ga so it will be in Cookeville on sunday

Hah... I guess you are referring to a certain 5th wheel plate and parts - which just today I heard, are still sitting on a very nice & clean M322 trailer...?

 

[simp5782]

Hah... I guess you are referring to a certain 5th wheel plate and parts - which just today I heard, are still sitting on a very nice & clean M322 trailer...?

Yes. Russ had to buy a step deck so we can get the three M35A3s out of Brunswick GA. Haul one back on the flatbed and two on the stepdeck

 

[m16ty]

I've dealt with Ricky a lot. He is a really good guy. And yes. That lot is called the mud lot for a reason. Back when all the SEEs were there on that lot I was the only person to be able to load out if it had rained in the past few days.

We plan to pick the plate up on Saturday night coming back from Brunswick Ga so it will be in Cookeville on sunday

Thanks. I may try to get up to Cookeville next week. I'm also going to try to put some air in the tires tomorrow and see how many I'll need.

Hah... I guess you are referring to a certain 5th wheel plate and parts - which just today I heard, are still sitting on a very nice & clean M322 trailer...?

Yep, that's them.

 

[m16ty]

Spent a good part of the day going over the trailer. Got the apu started and ran what hyd I could. The apu fired right up, but after running it for 5 minutes or so, it started blowing oil out of the crankshaft seal. It wasn’t just running out, it was shooting out about 10’. I dont know what is up with that.

counted 10 tires and 3 wheels that are ruined. Extensive hyd and air line damage on the drivers side. Time to dig through the TMs and figure all this out.

 

[NDT]

Data point on the 19.5 Michelin tires. Our local surplus tire seller, Gensco, got a huge batch in a while back, and promptly began selling them to the car haulers and others that run that tire on trailers. They had to refund every sale. Tires are crap.

 

[simp5782]

Data point on the 19.5 Michelin tires. Our local surplus tire seller, Gensco, got a huge batch in a while back, and promptly began selling them to the car haulers and others that run that tire on trailers. They had to refund every sale. Tires are crap.

There are 3 different tire sizes for the trailer. 215 75 17.5. Or 235 75 17.5 for added weight carrying and some new versions have the 235 75 19.5s. Luckily his has 17.5s.

 

[gringeltaube]

There are 3 different tire sizes for the trailer. 215 75 17.5. Or 235 75 17.5 for added weight carrying and some new versions have the 235 75 19.5s. Luckily his has 17.5s.

I'm still wondering how any larger size (dually) tires would work well on that trailer, without them rubbing too much on the upper suspension arm and even on the platform itself. Because even the original 215s do rub, in certain positions.

 

[m16ty]

The gold standard in platform trailers, Goldhofer, uses 215s on their road trailers. They have a trailer rated at 28mt per axle line running 215s. Granted, that weight rating is only at 5kmph, but the 215s seem to hold up, if you don’t go too fast.

 

[m16ty]

I'm still wondering how any larger size (dually) tires would work well on that trailer, without them rubbing too much on the upper suspension arm and even on the platform itself. Because even the original 215s do rub, in certain positions.
View attachment 747787

G, I seem to remember one time that you mentioned to me about somebody connecting 2-M1000s together. Is that correct? I’ve been toying with the idea in my head, but can’t seem to figure out how. Looks like to me it would take a complete steering redesign.

Not that I’m going to do anything like this soon (I haven’t even got this one trailer going yet), but there is always that bigger load.

 

[gringeltaube]

Well, that was an initial idea, yes... but then never prospered. Instead, this guy did stretch one of his M1000 about 10', with the plan to eventually accommodate two more pairs of axles. He even had all the components already to make all but the first axles steer.

But that second phase never happened, after he bought himself a series of much longer, modular type trailers from a Chinese company called "Heavylift" (which I think are Goldhofer knockoffs...? )

 

[m16ty]

Well, that was an initial idea, yes... but then never prospered. Instead, this guy did stretch one of his M1000 about 10', with the plan to eventually accommodate two more pairs of axles. He even had all the components already to make all but the first axles steer.

But that second phase never happened, after he bought himself a series of much longer, modular type trailers from a Chinese company called "Heavylift" (which I think are Goldhofer knockoffs...? )

View attachment 747819View attachment 747852

I was in serious talks with China Heavy Lift about a Goldhofer knockoff, but wasn't comfortable sending most of the money to china ahead of time before the trailer got here. I was also worried about the quality. From what I can tell, they are built exactly like the Goldhofer, and the Chinese salesman claims that Goldhofer parts will work on them, and you can also couple them with Goldhofer lines. They are roughly half the price of Goldhofer (I don't know about know, with the tariffs). If I could have gotten him to agree to get the trailer to US soil before I paid for it, I would have made the deal.

 

[m16ty]

Well, I reached out to DRS about parts and this is the response I got.

"Unfortunately we don't carry or sell spares to the general public. The spares we do
sell are in large quantities to DLA, and manufacture them only after being
contracted to do so. We are contract defense manufacturers.

Good luck finding whatever parts you need. There are a number of old M1000s that
have been sold to the public, so maybe you can find someone who is cannibalizing
one."

At least they took the time to respond.

Any parts I've needed so far, I've been able to source locally, mostly brake parts from NAPA. I do need a couple of hyd hard lines that were damaged by forklift, I guess I'll just have to make them.


Another problem I've got to solve is a APU oil leak. When I first did a test run of the APU, after adding fuel and a hot battery, it fired right up. I did a limited function check on what I could (some hyd hoses damaged), but after running the APU for about 5 minutes, it started blowing oil everywhere. After inspection, it's coming out of the crankshaft seal, but I couldn't understand why it was coming out with such force (spraying several feet). After more inspection, I find the crankcase vent and discover it is plugged. I got the crankcase vent cleared, but the damage was done, the crank seal is shot. Now I've just got to figure out how to replace the seal, all I've found in the TM says "excessive oil use or leaks, replace APU".

 

[m16ty]

Spent $1,000 in hoses today, got enough to replace 1/3 of them. Fixing to spend another $1,000 on tires. I'd suspect I'll spend another couple $1,000 before it's ready to go to work.

All these expenses were figured in the purchase price, but I couldn't imagine a hobbyist owning one of these, unless they had some pretty deep pockets.

 

[m715mike]

All these expenses were figured in the purchase price, but I couldn't imagine a hobbyist owning one of these, unless they had some pretty deep pockets.

I am only one winning lottery ticket away from that. But, until then, I’ll be happy to live vicariously through you and Mitchell.

Thank you for posting the descriptions and pictures of your progress!!!

 

[m16ty]

I've also looked into replacing the APU seal. According to the Kubota manual, you've got to remove the whole case side to replace the seal. I've thought about some field mods to fix it though. One is to drill through the boss around the shaft, in order to be able to drive out the pin where the manual crank engages. With the pin out, you can slip a new seal over the shaft. The other option, and the one I'm going to try first, is I found that a rubber cap made for 1.5" PVC pipe is the right size to fit over the boss. You really only need access to the shaft for manual starting, so I could just leave it plugged off. $3 from Lowes.

 

[Tinstar]

Spent $1,000 in hoses today, got enough to replace 1/3 of them. Fixing to spend another $1,000 on tires. I'd suspect I'll spend another couple $1,000 before it's ready to go to work.
All these expenses were figured in the purchase price, but I couldn't imagine a hobbyist owning one of these, unless they had some pretty deep pockets.

For the amount of trailer and capability your getting, it’s still a bargain.

Even with lottery money, I wouldn’t own one.
Extremely cool trailer, but just too big for fun.

 

[m16ty]

For the amount of trailer and capability your getting, it’s still a bargain.

Agreed. I’m not complaining about the cost, I know full well what things like this cost to get operational and maintain. I’m just posting the cost so if somebody wants to buy one, they know what they are getting into.

 

[Tinstar]

Agreed. I’m not complaining about the cost, I know full well what things like this cost to get operational and maintain. I’m just posting the cost so if somebody wants to buy one, they know what they are getting into.

I knew you weren’t complaining and had factored in replacement parts cost.
Needs fixed before it can work and earn money.

Definitely a Killer trailer at a bargain price.