Can a ball hitch be converted to a pin hitch for towing?

[Bayliss]

My dear old caravan dates from 1929, has absolutely no identification plates, serial numbers, weight labels or any other 'useful' information. It wasn't supplied new with them either, you simply hitch up and go. My tow car is a Vauxhall of 1928 vintage, again the handbook mentions nothing about towing weights or any other guidance. Happy days indeed!

 

[Flyfisher]

Sadly I can indeed understand why it might be illegal to tow a trailer with a higher max rated capacity than the car's tow rating.

In an industrial environment loads to be added to a trailer would have their weight listed so the driver would have a pretty accurate knowledge of the overall weight on the trailer - so in general there would be no problem.
However outside such a controlled situation, who knows what sort of loads could be added to a 3.5tonne trailer without any check being made of what their weigh. So it is much more likely that the vehicle's tow rating could be exceeded - particularly when the rated capacity of the trailer far exceeds the rated capacity of the tow vehicle.

But surely, if you can't be sure what loads might be added to a 3.5tonne trailer how can you be any more sure of what loads might be added to a 2tonne trailer? The rated load information is surely just that - information relating to the maximum safe working load. The real risk, and therefore offence, must surely be actually exceeding the car's rating, not towing a trailer that could but doesn't exceed the car's rating.

Consider a case where someone has two cars; one that is rated to tow 3.5tonnes and one rated for 2tonnes. It would surely be reasonable to buy a 3.5tonne trailer but only lightly load it when towing it with the lower-rated car.

Next time I'm passing a police station I may drop in and ask for clarification.

 

[Flyfisher]

My dear old caravan dates from 1929, has absolutely no identification plates, serial numbers, weight labels or any other 'useful' information. It wasn't supplied new with them either, you simply hitch up and go. My tow car is a Vauxhall of 1928 vintage, again the handbook mentions nothing about towing weights or any other guidance. Happy days indeed!

Sounds wonderful. Perhaps it's just old age creeping up on me but I really do despair about all the ever-increasing bureacracy that blights our lives these days. Given that laws seem to hardly ever be repealed, goodness knows what our grandchildren will have to put up with 100 years from now.

Feltwell's example of licence changes is depressing enough, what other madness lies ahead? It seems that the more we supposedly advance, the more we feel the need to treat everyone as incompetent or stupid, or both. Can't be long before all DIY work will require training, licences, inspection, insurance etc. :roll:

 

[Bayliss]

My dear old caravan dates from 1929, has absolutely no identification plates, serial numbers, weight labels or any other 'useful' information. It wasn't supplied new with them either, you simply hitch up and go. My tow car is a Vauxhall of 1928 vintage, again the handbook mentions nothing about towing weights or any other guidance. Happy days indeed!

Sounds wonderful. Perhaps it's just old age creeping up on me but I really do despair about all the ever-increasing bureacracy that blights our lives these days. Given that laws seem to hardly ever be repealed, goodness knows what our grandchildren will have to put up with 100 years from now.

Feltwell's example of licence changes is depressing enough, what other madness lies ahead? It seems that the more we supposedly advance, the more we feel the need to treat everyone as incompetent or stupid, or both. Can't be long before all DIY work will require training, licences, inspection, insurance etc. :roll:

Thank you. Its just a wonderful way of escaping the real world, I find that other road users are perfectly reasonable allowing for the fact that my combo' is slow. Naturally I use a bit of common sense to make sure other users don't get annoyed. I will see if I can load a couple of images.

 

[JoceAndChris]

The vintage caravan sounds very sweet Bayliss, I'd like to see the pics!

Despite the excellent suggestions I'm not having much luck with converting the tow hook.

The Witter tow bar fitter I've just been to see said the only way to get a pin hitch on the existing fitting would be to locate a Suzuki garage who would be able to source the pin hitch fitting, that would have been an option for the car when it was made (1998 I think). That sounds impossible really. He did say he could put on a whole new towbar but it would be £200. The car is really on its last legs, with a long term oil leak into the engine, and various bits dropping off - I can't imagine it will get through the next MOT, and so to spend £200 on a new tow bar seems silly. We'll just have to manage without water I guess.

 

[Feltwell]

With a detachable towball like that, what your towbar man says sounds spot on - a new towbar would be the only realistic option. But if you say the car is not long for this world anyway, as you say it's not worth it.

Didn't you find somewhere a while back that would deliver water to you by tanker?

 

[JoceAndChris]

Feltwell - Thankyou so much for reassuring me I'm not being spun a yarn by mechanics on this.

Yes, delivery is an option, but £400 and odd for 1000 litres I seem to recall. We're now looking into buying a bowser, which we'd resell post-borehole, or travelling across the country if one can be hired with a ball hitch. It might be worth looking in a county where there isn't drought, North Yorks or Cumbria?

 

[Feltwell]

I think it's just pot luck really. Where did your last one come from, can they not tell you when it's off-hire?

Buying one sounds like a good idea - get a cheaper one secondhand and chances are you'll get close to what you paid for it when it comes to time to sell. Trailers aren't like cars, they sell secondhand based more on their condition than their age.

Seriously, this one is near you and finishes tomorrow - and it has a ball type hitch, see the questions at the end of the listing.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Water-Bow...K_BOI_FarmingEquipment_RL&hash=item19cf44d241

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Or you get a thousand litre plastic IBC tank from eBay and put it on a normal trailer (if you have one).

That'd be even cheaper. If you don't have a trailer hire one (or for that matter I seem to remember that places like HSS hire out water bowsers...).

Good luck!

 

[Feltwell]

That'd be even cheaper.

Hmm - but less stable when being towed, which is important especially if as in this case the towing vehicle isn't really up to the job. If you do this Joce then please, do use DECENT heavy duty lorry ratchet straps to hold it to the trailer and preferably also block the IBC against the trailer sides with wood as well - otherwise it will elevate your already moderately dangerous antics to whole new higher level! Plus of course the trailer needs to be able to carry at least 1200kgs - a lightweight non-braked trailer is a definite no. And the IBC must sit over the middle or very slightly in front of the axle(s).

And if you look at IBC's, make sure it's a clean one - they are sometimes used to transport chemicals, it may not be obvious that a residue is still inside an empty one.

 

[FamilyWiggs]

All good advice - and should be followed. I've had IBCs that have previously carried adblue or fruit juice. A good pressure wash and they're fine for use.

 

[Flyfisher]

Seeing that towbar, I can see the problem. I've only ever had independent towbars fitted and they've all been of the type that accepts a bolt-on coupling. Apologies for raising your hopes Joce.

I agree with the comments about being careful with IBCs on trailers. A full one will weigh about one ton, so it's a serious load and should be treated accordingly. Given your water predicament, a decent bowser seems like a good investment.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Oh, you're all so kind and helpful.

Just bid £1056 on that bowser Feltwell has linked to near us, let's hope we get it! Chris works from home on Wednesday, we could have a shower on Weds night if we're successful!!

Even more than that (I'm able to shower in the gym) I'm longing to get on with my Campaign room. The next step is washing the walls.

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Ah Joce - you should never bid in an eBay auction until the dying seconds (it's called sniping); all that early bidding achieves is to declare your interest, ramp up the price as people seek out your max bid against theirs, and drive the final price.

My tactic is to always determine my max bid - in odd pounds and pence, and then place that bid but not press the second confirm button until the counter gets to less than 10secs. It is surprisingly successful. 8)

Oh - and my second tactic is not to publish my max bid on a public website! :wink:

 

[JoceAndChris]

We've lost out with sniping tools not working too many times!

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Do it manually.

Although if you MUST have an item, your approach of an early and high bid will work most times.

The other trick is when you have searched for something, click on the left to show completed listings only - it'll give you a good idea of what a reasonable price is to pay and how often things come up. Useful when planning a purchase.

 

[Feltwell]

I've used auctionstealer.com for at least 2 years now, probably a hundred or so times - and it's never let me down. Obviously, as with all snipers you've got to have all your details entered correctly! It's free for up to 3 auctions a week, which is adequate for what we buy.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Will try that one next time Feltwell! And a useful tip from Robin on how to find out the value of things.

Chris's favourite tactic with auctions is to bid around 20% more than the thing is probably worth. This is because a) he hates losing b) he values his time at £85 an hour. :lol: We struggled in Morocco where the seller starts 8 x higher than he expects really to receive, and came home empty handed.

 

[Flyfisher]

£1056 seems a bit generous. £525+vat seems to be the going rate here: http://www.bruceatfield.co.uk/Other-Plant/Bowsers/products.aspx

OK, not a convenient location for Joce but there must be plenty of agricultural/plant machinery dealers in Lincolnshire.

 

[MdB]

Never had a problem with auction stealer here either (not that I use that much).