# Trailer loading



## prog54 (Nov 22, 2010)

Just bought a trailer and Smart car for use behind the Mohican.
From experience can any one advise the best and safest method of loading the car on trailer, i.e connect trailer to MH and drive car on or drive car on and then connect to MH. Or whether jocky wheel should be up or down if driving on when connected?
cheers
Terry


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## Enock (Nov 11, 2011)

I use an Ifor Williams trailer to tow a Yaris...

My method is to attach trailer to MH.... Jockey wheel up, trailer handbrake on (not strictly necessary, but good practice).. 
rear stands down, but not touching the ground...

Drive car up ramps and tie down  

I can load an unhitched trailer if I need to, but the safest way is to have it connected to the van...

Oh and don't forget to release the trailer handbrake


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## listerdiesel (Aug 3, 2012)

Trailer on the MH definitely, you need the trailer anchored before you start loading, especially a single-axle one.

Peter


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## Enock (Nov 11, 2011)

listerdiesel said:


> Trailer on the MH definitely, you need the trailer anchored before you start loading, especially a single-axle one.
> 
> Peter


It is best to be hitched up... 
But I've loaded my single axle IW whilst free standing, with no trouble..... Just make sure handbrake is on (and works properly), and rear props are down


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## Jeannette (Aug 7, 2012)

You should never really load a trailer unless it is hitched, especially a single axle trailer. I can tell you some real horror stories from our power boat towing days.

Recently my friend tried to load our bike trailer unhitched, it was hilarious as it set off down the drive right until it smashed into the back of my car......

My advice is hitch it, secure it then load it. You don't need to put the handbrake on but if it makes you feel better you can do. Pull the jockey wheel up first otherwise when you put the nose weight on its gets difficult to undo!!

Get yourself a good hitch lock that can be used to lock the trailer onto the ball and be used to secure the trailer when unhitched. Without it you have presented a ready to steal package that can be taken in seconds.

Cheers
Steve


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## inthezone (Oct 8, 2012)

*Trailer Loading*

I agree with all of the above its best done with the trailer connected.
But what you do need to ensure is that the nose weight of the trailer will be within the limits set by Autotrail for your model of van.

The best way to find out the nose weight is to get a set of bathroom scales and a short length of wood to mimic the height of the toe ball of the van, slip the car onto the trailer secure it then un hook the trailer if you have rear props best to set them so you can un hook but if there isn't any nose weight on the trailer they will stop the back crashing down, similar use the jockey wheel to raise the front off the van and drive the van away, place the scales and wood and set to the ball height, ensure props and jockey wheel are clear of the ground and read the weight. you can adjust the nose weight by moving the car forward or backwards on the trailer or even turning it around.
once set mark the trailer with a corresponding feature on the car and then your always able to obtain the correct nose weight, remember though safety is paramount when doing this no shortcuts 

I hope this helps


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## bubble63 (Sep 30, 2009)

hi

done this a hundred times

on or off no issues except moving a loaded trailer is difficult.

off- empty, put the legs down, then wind the jockey wheel out to load the rear legs, trailer slanted to rear hand brake on.

I always winch, never drive, did have a electric winch, but prefer hand winch WITH fabric strap, HATE wire cable.

hitched- legs down, hand brake makes no difference , [but forgetting its on burn the brakes out, been there, done that]

on my third trailer, bantam smart trailer, alloy ramps, full deck
love it.

neill


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## Mrplodd (Mar 4, 2008)

I have a Smartie + trailer. (Alko jobby) 

I always load and unload with the trailer hithed to the MH.

Trailer rear steadies down but about 5cm off the ground, when you load the car the suspension compresses, if you put the steady legs all the way down you cannot release them when loaded !!!

I always drive onto the trailer, a winch is just another bit of kit that can go wrong (or of course get nicked off the trailer) 

I find the (loaded) trailer is easy enough to move around when unhitched as well.

I would NEVER contemplate loading when the trailer was unattached. 

I also have 2 recovery vehicle sized tie down straps that secure ALL the wheels. It scares me when I see some cars on trailers that are just secured with a single weedy quality (£10 off ebay type) strap attached to the tie down eye. Even a Smart car weighs nearly a tonne and imagine what THAT could do to the back of your MH if you have to stop in a REAL hurry !!!


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## prog54 (Nov 22, 2010)

Thanks very much for all your help guys.
It's always nice to know the best way to do things from other peoples experience.
Cheers
Terry


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## Patrick_Phillips (Aug 17, 2006)

We are s;ightly different as we have a French built single axle full flat bed break-back trailer. We always load when hitched because with a tilting bed, there are no steadies anyway!

Some points you may find interesting:

We have had the car modified by fitting a second tow-eye on the front. Actually, because Smart use a non-standard thread for their tow-eyes, we got a crane lift eye fitted to the passenger side.
This allows us to use two chains and straps to secure the front to the A-frame of the trailer at an angle that is virtually an horizontal vector using two high strength crane hooks.
The car is then driven on and these hooks attached before driving the car backwards to take up the strain.
The rear chassis of a Smart car is all based on a lrge diameter pipe bent into a horseshoe shape. 
We use a strap that they use for containers bought from Machine Mart which is drawn through the pipe by a bit of string. The strap is then hooked on to the rear cross member of the trailer on one side and winched down with the strap-winch hooked on the cross member of the trailer again. There is nothing in the whole shebang that is rated less than ten tons and the whole excersise takes less than 5 minutes with two of us.

If you do go down the tilting bed route, beware that as the first pair of wheels leave the trailer, the trailer springs relax upward and ther is a 3" gap for the other two wheels to jump off. This resulted in damage to the front skirt untill we hit on the idea of stopping before the second pair came off and resettling the trailer bed so that the 3" gap went away!

Finally, we usually unhitch the trailer whilst on site. At 39 foot overall, the pitches are seldom long enough! We discovered eventually that the trailer was only insured whilst attached to the van--- Another reason to attach the trailer before loading! However, Saga spent some hours discussing with their underwriters in Gibralter before charging us an extra £9 a year for cover whilst not attached... Glad I didn't have to calculate that risk!!!

An extra thought. Our trailer was rated at 1100Kgs but the axle and chassis were marked at 1300Kgs. On consultation with SV Tech, all we had to do was to upgrade the tyres to get the extra 200Kg - enough to include a boat and outboard,

Patrick


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