Whoever designed these wants sacking.
You can’t get a rizla paper under the pelmet cover at the front and rear let alone the curtain, this let’s rain in to the load compartment.
You can’t tension or more importantly slack the curtain at the front as it’s some stupid wafer metal thing.
The curtain poles fall out of the curtain as you’re trying to open it.
The rear tension handle is the worst design I have ever come across for this particular purpose.
All the big fleets run them so they must be cheap as chips, to be fair not had any probs with the running gear and all the rear doors are made of cardboard on these euroliners so can’t complain about that.
Are Schmitz ones any better designed?
The one thing the british still do best by far, build trailers.
I have no complaints, they are common because they tend to last and they are not cheaper than the competition. try hauling a 25ton coil in a kögel, it will probably be bow-shaped long after unloading 
Like I say, i’m sure the guts are alright on them and they look the part but the issues above drive me nuts especially when you’re sweating from stripping all the bloody boards out and trying to fit them back in the slots again.
Silver_Surfer:
Like I say, i’m sure the guts are alright on them and they look the part but the issues above drive me nuts especially when you’re sweating from stripping all the bloody boards out and trying to fit them back in the slots again.
I will see you and raise you fixed straps that are hung on the top boards on the offside,so when tipping, you have strap tagliatelle to sort out.
Silver_Surfer:
the issues above drive me nuts especially when you’re sweating from stripping all the bloody boards out and trying to fit them back in the slots again.
may I suggest a fridge 
fixed straps are something I have seen once in my life in a krone
Dragged a UK spec Cargobull the other week. It wasn’t too bad for a hire trailer. We usually run Montracon or Cartwright trailers which tend to be built to the same pattern. The Schmidt wasn’t a massive difference.
As the OP said, the curtain mechanism is a bit stupid, go to put some tension in the curtain and it pops the release! But aside from that, it seemed mechanically sound, especially for an old trailer, it pulled straight and took all that I needed to load.
Never pulled a Krone or a Kogel though.
ROADRANGER:
Silver_Surfer:
Like I say, i’m sure the guts are alright on them and they look the part but the issues above drive me nuts especially when you’re sweating from stripping all the bloody boards out and trying to fit them back in the slots again.
I will see you and raise you fixed straps that are hung on the top boards on the offside,so when tipping, you have strap tagliatelle to sort out.
Ahh yes, that’s a laugh too, wouldn’t mind but the ones i’m pulling have loads of boards in not just 4 or so per section, loads of fixed straps and loads of loose straps, the euros are paranoid about load security.
If it needs securing, strap it down to the chasis, them boards are flipping useless. 
The only load i’ve pulled that has needed strapping has been packs of timber…
Silver_Surfer:
Ahh yes, that’s a laugh too, wouldn’t mind but the ones i’m pulling have loads of boards in not just 4 or so per section, loads of fixed straps and loads of loose straps, the euros are paranoid about load security.
If it needs securing, strap it down to the chasis, them boards are flipping useless.
The only load i’ve pulled that has needed strapping has been packs of timber…
Their not paranoid at all they just do the job properly, something that alot of british drivers struggle with.
So, if a load is strapped to the chasis with ten tonne ratchet straps what’s the point of all the stupid inch thick planks of wood along the curtain?
Silver_Surfer:
Whoever designed these wants sacking.Are Schmitz ones any better designed?The one thing the british still do best by far, build trailers.
And a bad tradesmen blames his tools! 
Saaamon:
Their not paranoid at all they just do the job properly, something that alot of british drivers struggle with.
Back in the early nineties (for about 18 months) I was still running a tilt & used to load every week at Timken bearings Northampton to Timken in Colmar and in all that time I never strapped a single load (some weeks I did two loads down & backloaded bearings [all heavy & palletised] to Duston) and never had a load fall off or even slip an inch on the pallets. Not to mention the hundreds of loads I did all over Spain, France, Switzerland etc etc!!!
So Saaamon, what did I do that was so wrong if the ‘new way’ is so much safer & ‘proper’ & I’ve never lost a load since I started driving?? (not to mention that all those thousands of loads were loaded by a driver without a high-viz!!! how could I possibly have survived all those FLT’s?)
Ross.
bigr250:
Saaamon:
Back in the early nineties (for about 18 months) I was still running a tilt & used to load every week at Timken bearings Northampton to Timken in Colmar and in all that time I never strapped a single load (some weeks I did two loads down & backloaded bearings [all heavy & palletised] to Duston) and never had a load fall off or even slip an inch on the pallets. Not to mention the hundreds of loads I did all over Spain, France, Switzerland etc etc!!!So Saaamon, what did I do that was so wrong if the ‘new way’ is so much safer & ‘proper’ & I’ve never lost a load since I started driving?? (not to mention that all those thousands of loads were loaded by a driver without a high-viz!!! how could I possibly have survived all those FLT’s?)Ross.
and shorts, teeshirt and trainers Ross!
Fatboy slimslow:
bigr250:
Back in the early nineties (for about 18 months) I was still running a tilt & used to load every week at Timken bearings Northampton to Timken in Colmar and in all that time I never strapped a single load (some weeks I did two loads down & backloaded bearings [all heavy & palletised] to Duston) and never had a load fall off or even slip an inch on the pallets. Not to mention the hundreds of loads I did all over Spain, France, Switzerland etc etc!!!So Saaamon, what did I do that was so wrong if the ‘new way’ is so much safer & ‘proper’ & I’ve never lost a load since I started driving?? (not to mention that all those thousands of loads were loaded by a driver without a high-viz!!! how could I possibly have survived all those FLT’s?)Ross.
and shorts, teeshirt and trainers Ross!
Haha, I rarely wore anything else south of Bordeaux, all year round. 
Ross.
All the stupid boards can be stored in the special compartment under the trailer 
Or was it just me who was spoilt, almost all of our French trailers had them and that was over 5000.
Krone, Schmitz and Trailor
Having worked regularly with both Krone & Schmitz Cargo bull euroliners. Many years ago, I christened them Krone Krap!