Firstly, I'm having a decent galv drawbar and Aus compliant hitch fitted at the Marina. They are also going to put some side rails on the trailer for making loading easier. About $1100 for these jobs.
I asked him again about duel axels and single axels and he said NO! you deffinately need duel axels if you want to get this trailer capable of taking more than its current ATM. I asked him about if I could get the ATM changed since it is currently 1905kgs and the axel is rated to two tonne. He said that if I took this trailer in to the engineer and asked him that, "He'd probably throw it out the door".
He said, it is illegal to drive it as is. Its not a matter of if the trailer can handle it or whether you dont go far with it. If something happens when you drive the kilometer or whatever it is home right now, insurance will not pay a cent and you could be in a world of bother.
I rang QLD transport and spent quite some time on the phone there
THe end result being they dont have a clue and gave me the number for a few of the engineers in my area certified for this work. I rang the closest one up and asked him if I could do it single axel with a heavier axel. He said No, i have to go duel axel if I want it certified for more than two tonne. I said well I have been in a discussion online with some guys who seem to know their stuff and they say that I can get it done single axel. He said Are they engineers!! He said, there is not even any bearings available in Australia rated to over two tonnes. He said "If you want that trailer rated to 2500kg (the figure I gave him) you need to have two axels fitted "and new breaks and a breakway system and dont insult me by putting standard electric breaks on a boat trailer please" He said you need to put electro hydraulic breaks on it and the unit alone is $1900. I asked him for a rough quote to have duel axels fitted with these breaks and the trailer recertified and he said impossible without seeing the trailer but the last one they did was about 4k.
This sounds about right as the quote at the marina I got was about 5k but that included the new drawbar and hitch (which I am getting done next week for 1100). He said "why dont you just buy a new trailer rated at 2500kg. You could get one for about 7K and then you could sell your current one. I said because my trailer is boat specific and so would be hard to sell. So it will be cheaper to modify this one.
I asked him if there is anyway to have the trailers ATM changed to a bit higher since the axel is capable of 2 tonnes and 10 or 15 percent of the ATM is taken on the ball anyway. He said NO! The trailers ATM stays at what it is unless you modify that trailer and if you want to carry more than 2 tonnes you need duel axels and electro Hydraulic breaks!
and so there ya have it.......
ANyway, the figure I gave before of 1920kg was wrong. My ATM is 1905 and the Tare is 260kg. What I dont get is, how they got the figure under 1905 to register it because even without the add ons in my boat. The boat, trailer and motor alone weight more than 1905kgs (guess my boat has some extra frozen snot in it or something
)
