xfmatt:
sammy dog:
when i was running bulkers im sure there was a couple grand diffrence between the price of ribside and plankside the plankside being more expensive .
I have seen advertised a brand new 70cu Fruehauf bathtub for £31000 where as a planksider exactly the same spec is £31750. Not a massive difference in price when you take into account the fuel savings with a planksider.
Sounds about right. I’m told that a second hand planksider will fetch more than a comparable bathtub though so you get the extra back when you sell.
Paul
jimmy2loads:
kr79:
If you do go for a new trailer the merc axles seem best concerning disc brakes.
Personally i would go for drums, i have a 2009 Bathtub on ROR drums, i think there is about 100kg weight penalty, but they have been bullet proof, and so much cheaper to look after, no sealed bearing that need a 1000 tonne press to get them out!! 
I’m going Merc Discs if I get new. My customer who’s trailer I have been using this last week has 3 or 4 trailers at any one time, all Merc discs. Buys them new, keeps them for 3 years, and says he can’t remember in the last 10 years them ever needing anything other than tyres and brake pads. That sounds pretty good to me.
His theory (after being in the business the best part of 30 years) is that buying new and keeping for 3 years is by far the cheapest way to run a trailer. Sure, you lose around £3k-£3.5k/year in depreciation but other than the aforementioned tyres and brake pads that is the only cost. I might have been unlucky but my 2002 Fruehauf on SAF discs has cost me nigh on £3k/year for that in repairs alone (mainly discs and calipers), and that is before you factor in depreciation (probably around £2k/year) and loss of earnings while it was being repaired (harder to quantify).
On that basis I can certainly see the logic behind his theory.
Paul
well the option is,when one of you customer’s trailer’s come’s up for replacement, is to see if you can buy it off him, at least then you have a trailer that has a history that is traceable as well if he’s had them from new…
philgor:
well the option is,when one of you customer’s trailer’s come’s up for replacement, is to see if you can buy it off him, at least then you have a trailer that has a history that is traceable as well if he’s had them from new…
That would be a good idea but sadly it’s not possible as I am TASCC registered because I do a lot of grain work and he is not because he does a lot of glass so his used trailers are no good to me as according to the TASCC rules once you have put a load of glass in one they can’t ever be used for grain.
Paul
ah, didn’t know about that but i can see why…
repton:
philgor:
well the option is,when one of you customer’s trailer’s come’s up for replacement, is to see if you can buy it off him, at least then you have a trailer that has a history that is traceable as well if he’s had them from new…
That would be a good idea but sadly it’s not possible as I am TASCC registered because I do a lot of grain work and he is not because he does a lot of glass so his used trailers are no good to me as according to the TASCC rules once you have put a load of glass in one they can’t ever be used for grain.
Paul
That doesn’t stop some folk,lol!!
jimmy2loads:
That doesn’t stop some folk,lol!!
I know, the whole TASCC scheme is a joke really, it’s based entirely on trust with no requirement at any point to actually prove anything. In practice you can do what you like and as long as you fill in the right bits of paper for when they inspect you then you’ll get your certificate for another year in exchange for your 400-ish quid. Anyone who wants to break the rules can do so with very little chance of any come back. It’s just another pointless tax on our businesses.
Having said that, I do play by the rules, and so my customer’s second hand trailers are a no-go.
Paul
serveral years ago (dunno if this is fact or fiction). easten european grain tipper/bulker came in to a mill, unloaded the grain his was carrying. and once he was empty, he opened the rear door of the tipper up so he could climb in to sweep out. and person at the mill noticed a heavy duty rubber seal going around the door frame and asked the driver what it was for as they don’t usally have them. the reply was “i take used engine/carpart’s back to home land for recycling”, the story goes that the load was rejected and distroyed, and the no other mill in the country accepted and food based load’s off this company again…
heard this a few year’s ago but not sure if it is fact or fiction…
probley a daft idea,
but could you not attach some light weight ally sheet’s to the side of the trailer to reduce the drag the trailer is producing and increase fuel saving’s…
also it would give you a flat surface to signwrite on to as well…
as i said daft idea but thought id through it in to the open…
edit.
similer to the red and green trailer at the bottom of the page.
http://weightlifterbodies.com/due-in/
like that but all the way across the the trailer to give a flat side
Paul, as you have seen, the aerodynamics do play a part, but you can probably guess what’s coming next 
TYRES 
Do the two trailers have different tyres 
You know about the rolling resistance thing, it could be having a big impact too 
I remember, from my time at TRUCK, reading some research about brick nets on flat trailers, it said that once you start moving at decent speeds the gaps in the brick net will be filled with air pressure, this basically means a brick net turns into a sheet at speed, the same research had a piece on ribbed sided v smooth sided trailers, the ribs act the same as the brick net. Personally I think that you only have to look at boats or planes, their design is all about getting through air or water as easily as possible, neither craft has bits sticking out all over the place, so a smooth side has to be better on a lorry too 
Just don’t forget about the tyres
Its years since i drove an artic tipper, and almost all had ribbed sides in those days.
Side winds made hard and expensive work, far worse than head winds, and the further the trailer was from the tractor i found the heavier the consumption.
Absolutely certain that your figures are not rosy because of recent favourable weather conditions?
Not teaching granny etc, but i like you would be wary of short term comparisons.
Juddian:
Absolutely certain that your figures are not rosy because of recent favourable weather conditions?
Not teaching granny etc, but i like you would be wary of short term comparisons.
I’m not even slightly certain, the weather for most of this week was pretty calm and that will almost certainly have played a part. This is why I have been asking what results others have had as I am certain that the almost-1mpg saving I achieved this week has to be down to a lot more factors than just the trailer. That said, even if I only get half the savings on average that I have seen this week then it is still a no brainer. In fact even 0.2mpg on average would more than offset the slight loss of payload. The general tide in tippers does seem to be turning towards the planksider and I’m sure this is at least part of the reason.
Interestingly Payne Brothers at Fakenham have three 2010 Wilcox trailers in that are pretty well identical to the one I borrowed last week. I wonder how much they want for them…
Paul