I’m running a 44 ton artic. and need a new trailer, I run on my weight limit all the time carrying corrosive ton bags of ballast ( has salt in it)
A pal of mine has a new sdc trailer trailer brand new I could not cope with being fully loaded all the time, cross members kept cracking… I’d never buy a sdc it’s not man enough for the job…
Any one have any suggestions for a rock solid manufacturer of a new trailer
Maximum payload and rock solid construction are at the opposite ends of the scale. You probably need to look at those whose reputation is not for making large numbers of curtainsiders. You will need to tell them what you are carrying mostly since if the load doesn’t fill the platform then the trailer is under greater strain than if the load is spread out over the full length. Also mention that the load is corrosive.
As said already, id be looking at what you need tare wise and going from there.
Krone do a re enforced trailer, but i bet its heavy, and at the other end you could run a berger eco trail at 4.5t tare but im not sure itd hold up to your needs.
I run mainly sdc (curtains and flats) with a few montracons and Schmitz (uk spec). Sdc by far the best, I run the trailers for 11 years, and we’re doing haz fertiliser onto farms running at 44tne all the time. Never had a trailer crack in 15 years, (other than one that rolled with a fully strapped load on)
However, if I was speccing a specialist flat, go dennison or even muldoon, you’d certainly get whatever unique spec you require from them, but at a price, and not particularly quickly.
For Christ sake don’t have a Cartwright at any price, the bloody things fall to bits and rot at an unbelievable rate!
What spec is your mates SDC? By that I mean is it built strong or is it built light for an increased payload?
Your never going to get strong and light!
Some pics of your mates SDC problems would be interesting
Moose:
For Christ sake don’t have a Cartwright at any price, the bloody things fall to bits and rot at an unbelievable rate!
What spec is your mates SDC? By that I mean is it built strong or is it built light for an increased payload?
Your never going to get strong and light!
Some pics of your mates SDC problems would be interesting
Yehhhhh, at last, his sdc is built for the job buy sdc, its crap, thanks for the advice Cartwright will be avoided,
I think the likes of SDC, Tiger, Cartwright are mostly set-up to build trailers for the large distribution operations, built to a price, not for longevity, this isn’t to say if you paid the money for something else they couldn’t do it, but it not their bread and butter work.
There are specialist chassis makers who work on small volume jobs made to the customer specification, the chassis for the race trailers we get are made by Weightmaster Trailer in Scunthorpe, obviously I can’t say if they’d make a trailer to fit your requirements, but might be another option to look at.
If you want it rock solid I’d be looking at a Hingley, basically an M&G even built it the same factory in Lye, very strong, very well built, but a bit heavy and definitely not cheap but you get what you pay for. Muldoon could be worth a call too.
I’ve got an SDC flat which has never been the slightest trouble running at full weight. It was built to my own spec and is very strong indeed. Weight wise? on an FM Volvo 3 axle unit, around 16.5t with a full set of full height log pins and a rear steer axle.
I have a Dennison also, which is a good trailer too, probably better finished than the SDC.
I would think though if you want a true one off, the smaller manufacturers like Hingleys may be the way to go. The trailers always have a “proper” look to them.
Hingley Trailers made at the old M+G factory in Lye but they also have the ex staff from AHP trailers from Wombourne, I’d keep away from cheap foreign crap!
Having never had thye problem with a 45’ trailer, but needed strong safe trailers on lift tanks which twist and turn constantly Montracon were good, as well as Van Hool, they didnt crack and get easily damaged.
A lot of operators want the lightest chassis they can so they can put more shy tea in the cab