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i never camped in it just to see it fit
Thank you ! thes quite a little history on them
Thanks some old ads by Ben- Hur * They Made military trailers in world war 11 and made some smaller civilian models for sears in 46 and 47 then David Bradley trailers came in by 48 and were manufactured by them and very similar not the same welds or hinges nor fenders / though similar in style right through til 50s very solid in there build though and time has proven it these trailers are like 74 years old and still in great shape or with a little help . Some need some light refurbishing and rewire (cheap) even the leaf springs on these have grease zerks
The 1946 didnt have the roadster fenders they were just round. The roadster fenders came out in 47. I found some perfect measured round ones at tractor supply 60 bucks each but i really dont mind the prefabbed sheet metal on there for now lol but (. i just might put the round ones on some time in the future! ( After i buy wood and am ready for winter ) another few ben- hurs with the round fenders im not fond of the wooden rack sides high , i might do a couple of racks out of unistrut and some white oak strips on sidein linseed as you mentioned but prob only 2 high The last photo is a 1 ton military trailer from Ben- Hur 1946 its awesome but military didnt have the roadster fenders either on any military vehicle as far as i know . In fact David Bradley generally all had the roadster fenders only , and Ben hurs had round fenders with the exception of maybe a few in late 46 so i was told . If i change fenders it should be to rounded ones( original ) and not the roadster fenders . But they were not bad looking i agree , i doubt id find roadster fenders out there sitting on someones lawn thats for sure . Its prob easyer to just toss on the round ones that came on the ben hur trailers / i dont know exactly what fenders mine had they were missing . it might have had roadsters but more than likely not in 46 . I never was into trailers untill i stumbled onto this little one , its been kinda cool just messing around on it with ideas. it truly pulls like theres nothing there smoothly i like the pintle hitch better than the ball to be honest I was not sure if i would. its easy to hook to and just seems to be less bouncy empty for some reason / i installed a sp101 car alarm on it so its motion sensitive (loud sirene and light flashincluding blue indicator light on the ammo can that has a motorcycle battery in there running stuff . i might get solar panels to recharge it if any one has any thoughts on that !! Welcomed some cheap panels that work . Most of my gear is in my jeep hi lift jack and one of my jerry cans & holders so i dont have a lot on the trailer i also use my air compressor thats in my jk in a jerry can holder (great little compressor to have on board . Least it works for my needs i dont have large 37s though just 33s and i dont air down and up daily . but i do use it frequently enough to know its been reliable and quick .
your correct i looked into that you can still buy square nuts and that stuff in stainless not sure where to get a good military canvas though ive looked and looked every once in a while the army navey gets some though over sized ill grab that deal if i see it again and have it cut and grommets put in in correct places
I found a trailer that looks like this near Cooperstown, NY. I stopped for a farmer who was moving his cows across a back road. I noticed the trailer sitting in the brush by the barnyard. I asked about it, he says he keeps the old "Jeep Trailer" around to move firewood.
yeh i stopped at many places looking at military m 416s and m 100s 1/4 ton trailers in yards not really being used / just neglected and rotting away yet the farmers have one excuse or another for not selling ! I even bought a pintle hitch in hopes of picking one up but the ones available are on craigs list and the prices exceeded 1.200 to 2000 now so i stopped looking . Then i saw this trailer cheap and grabbed it not even really knowing the year until i researched it by serial # and tag and details of everything on the trailer by its design detail and the seller has lots of antique cars etc . dosent really know or care much of their values he gets things through estates and owns bars and restaurants so money isnt really a issue with him he said it was in a barn but didnt really fit his tractor so he was getting rid of it didnt know any thing about it at all . i even low balled his sugested price and he said yeh fine come get it. he only had it out there for a day when i saw it. it would have been gone i bet within a few days at his price idk but , i thought even if i bought a tractor supply trailer there close to 700 and they will be rotted cheap rusty junk within a year or 2 they even start rusting in there parking lot. this was a 46 and only some surface rust underside and a crappy blue color over the orig green paint for way less than other trailers and something that caught my eye as well . not a ton of work involved and no welding or sand blasting was needed for a couple of hundred it was a no brainer for me. 2 new tires and taken care of for the most part being that age . it had a 7/8 ball hitch and was fine i even bought a ball to go get it 35.00 but now i made it a pintle and lunette hitch i prefer this. For looks and even safety reasons not that it required it. Plus i just like the idea of giving something this old a new life with out breaking the bank. I hate those projects that lead to getting something cheap and end up costing you a arm and a leg to get it running until you decide to just get rid of it lol This was ready to be used at purchase and register . The rest is just to improve it over time at my convenience . Since i purchased it ive seen a couple on line being sold usually David Bradley versions for cheap so they are out there if people are looking . Cant go wrong the metal they used it was solid even nuts and bolts . You can feel the difference compared to nowadays bolts and nuts its like something you build to Army spec . Even when i removed the 6" bolts that held the hitch on / i was going to replace them with new bolts and realized i wouldn't find anything built that solid today so i put them back in until i later changed to pintle i went grade 8 .But nothing like the old steel even the grade 8 of today don't compare . Im really satisfied with this little trailer no matter what . You can build it up for a bug out trailer . hunting trailer cargo , close it in . unlimited ideas . I wish we still made things of this quality , shame we dont . so much for technology of the future . We accepted less and now its the normal. We get junk and pay more for that junk .Instead of demanding quality
