Mark's generator trailer
I didn't want to make any promises until I had test towed the trailer with Ethan's Volvo wagon. The big test was towing it loaded with a stripped M35 mulitfuel engine and the bottom of its steel shipping box to a metal scrapyard about ten miles away. The steel weighed in a little over 2200 pounds, and I got $33 for it.
I also got some unexpected excitement. I backed up to a crane which lifted off the engine with a four fingered claw (he was careful so the trailer remains undamaged). They had me in a hard hat standing near the car. I heard a thud, and turned to see that a semi just fell over, about 20 feet from me. The driver soon emerged out the driver's side window and men ran over to help. No one was hurt. The problem was that the semi was on sloping soil, and so when the driver lifted the bed about halfway it was top-heavy. I talked to a gate attendant who said that there have been at least eight accidents like this in the last couple of years, and that the company really should pour a concrete offloading area. I have no idea how they righted the truck and its semi, but I'll bet this caused more dents.
The generator trailer is great! I was fearing difficulty towing, but it was quite stable. The scrap metal was top-heavy as the engine was on the boxes' mounting bolts, but the recessed shape of the trailer bed kept swaying to a minimum. The surge brakes worked well, and I tested them with some hard braking to learn if the tail of the car would be pushed sideways. I did limit my speed to 35 mph due to this excessive load. After unloading I pulled the empty trailer at highway speed, again with no problem. It is stable, bounces little and, other than some jolts due to play in the pintle hitch, handles like a lighter trailer.
The upshot of this is that I feel more confident about pulling the generator trailer with a Volvo wagon. I will be selling Ethan's in a couple of weeks to a father/son team who have a 1979 Volvo wagon. Ethan's 1980 and the other will be merged so that the son will have a dependable ride, even if it does look like an old shoebox on wheels. In a couple of weeks I will return to Richmond to work on Ethan's house. The old Volvo and the trailer will be making one last trip to the metal recycler, with a more reasonable load. Then I will put some of the things I inherited from Ethan on the generator trailer and take this load up to Massachusetts with my 1993 Volvo wagon mid November. Mark and I will still have to work out the Massachusetts to Maine portion of the trip, but the trailer will be some 12-14 hours closer to Maine.
Robert Alexander
