Reliance Logging Trailer

[Muleskinner]

This is the results of the trailer build for the Pete 344 Off Highway rig.
It is done using the modified suspension from the Amt Logging Trailer, with the rest of the trailer built from Evergreen plastic. It is fully plumbed to include air lines and water lines for the brakes. The Reach on these units were made from wooden timbers so I did a search of the valley hardware stores for a square dowel which I could make the reach out of I found that even in an area where Logging is the number one industry, no one had any dowels what so ever! So I had to make a reach from plastic and try to replicate the wood type as best I could. Below is the results of that build. Bare in mind the wheels and tires are not the ones which will be on this rig as it will have steel wheels on it of the five hole type.

Also shown is he bunking unit for the main frame of the Peterbuilt.

[swamp rat]

that looks good William..

[ap40rocktruck]

heavy duty man, nice to a Reliance coming together.

Ap40

[Deleted]

wow very cool log trailer great work on the weathering the rust looks real nice detail

[slurrydog]

That is going to be a nice looking set up when you get it all done William.
Dave

[cruzcontrol]

Great scratch building! Those detail shots will come in handy.

Gary.

[plastictrucker]

Looks great as usual
why did they have wood reaches?

[Muleskinner]

Apr 23, 2013 15:14:40 GMT -8 plastictrucker said:

Looks great as usual
why did they have wood reaches?

Kevin,

To answer your question why did they use wooden reaches is this: A lot of these trailers were built during and after the war when steel was in demand for War time commodities to support the troops and military. The Timber industry was a big supplier of war time wood products but still fell under the War time acts imposed by Congress. They were allowed so much Materials to keep the building of trailers going and the trailer builders as well as truck builders used metal when they could but also supplemented Wood where possible.

If you look at a lot of the old rigs built prior to and during the war, a lot of them have wooden Bumpers, floor boards in the cab and so forth. This was done so as to not short their selves of steel and other metal products which were hard to replace and in greater demand for the war effort. A lot of Trucks during the war had wooden front bumpers on them due to this.

Logging trailer builders were under the same strain and resorted to the one type material there was a lot of in areas where the trailers were being manufactured and that was wood. They resorted to using would under the pretense that after the war those wooden reaches could be replaced by metal when it became more abundant.

When the war finally ended, the Sawmills still had an abundance of wooden timbers which were cut for reaches on hand and the owners of the trailers kept using the wooden reaches for many years as it was cheaper to purchase one from the local mill rather than pay the price for a new Metal unit to convert the reach over. This practice lasted for many years after the war until all wooden reach trailers were converted over or the trucking units replaced the old trailers with new ones. They were also deemed unsafe by the Transportation department for use on highways which were now being built in abundance across America and outlawed on those public highways.

A note hear is that during the First World War, The trailers were built of Ninety percent wood, set on metal springs and axles due to the demand for metal by the government, to support the war effort.

I once knew an old Logging Truck driver who had a wooden reach trailer when he first started driving who told me they lasted a long time if you kept them damp or wet and not creosoted and treated. The damp reach would bend and spring like a twig in the wind and didn't have the tendency to bow and snap like a dry or treated unit. Where as one which is kept damp to the elements would bow upwards or out wards when put under stress and then return to its normal straightness, such as during an emergency stop. A dry or treated reach would bow and snap 9 times out of 10 under the same condition. He said he used to hose his down with water at the end of the day and once more before he sat out on a job. The one draw back to this was as he told me is the reach had a tendency to swell in the reach tunnels of the trailer and lock up preventing it from moving inward and out wards to adjust for the load being put on the rig, but saved money in the long run for not having to replace the reach all the time.

Hope this answers your question and gives a better understanding of the wooden reach.

[gator]

THat is just too cool! Though I like the spoke rims over the proposed stee slotted rims.

Be Well
Gator