OLD TOW COUPLINGS

[cobber]

Dymwood tow coupling fitted to a “Safetee” teardrop shown here.


Cobber.

[kaybee]

Here's one I bet you can't identify ;D.....

[cobber]

G'day Kaybee,

That's a "toecrusher" tow coupling but I'll leave it to you to tell us wot it's off..... and how it works, (this is an exciting subject ain't it... got you by the tow balls I can see)

Cobber.

[kaybee]

.... ;D...towballs eh?......it's off our '47 Lantern van,been doing some sleuth work and tracked down the whereabouts of the original '36 towcar......nice man had removed the tow hitch that corresponds to the bit on the van....and now we have it .....how does it work?......no idea,I'll have to get back to you on that one..... ;D

[cobber]

OK...... so that bit goes with this bit



This tow coupling thread get more exciting with every new post.... keep us informed Col

Cobber.

[kaybee]

Yep...that's the bit......not too sure if this will be able to be retained as shown.....the rig has Vac. brakes and I can't see me running all those ugly lines and column mounted control, so it might end up with something a little less obtrusive.....but if I do that I'll keep all the original gear and store it away so it stays as part of the 'van and it's history...if that makes sense.....

[diyman]

Hi All

Here's a pic of the coupling/tow bar on my old Globetrotter, Ive been working on it for a couple of years (part time) and finally it's nearly finished. I can't find my original posts on the site where I posted pics so when it's finished I might have to post them again.

Anyway re the towbar I could not find any numbers originally but have since found the number 11 up near the front of the chassis and wondered what the significance of that is,bearing in mind it really is an old van 1950's or even earlier??


Jim

[cobber]

G'day Jim,

That's a loverly coupling thanks for sharing it with us.... does it have a brand name on it?

Your original post is here... look forward to seeing the updates.

Cobber.

[diyman]

G'day Cobber

The coupling has the name Dymwood and Pat no 3430263 stamped on it.Also just behind the ball section is the no 6959. The number 11 is stamped on the chassis and I take that to be the chassis number?.

A big thank you to you for locating my original post, gee a lots happened since then. I took photo's every now and then so maybe I'll ressurect that thread with a few progress pics. I must say there were a lot of nasty shocks awaiting me once I got started but it was a great learning curve and now it's nearly all finished. Fingers crossed for the registration inspection at the end of this month.

Thanks again
Jim

[cobber]

This unique but beautiful tow coupling was fitted to a 1930s New Zealand caravan.
Examine how the over-ride brake works.... and the ratchet operation of the jockey wheel .... and the lifting handle..... and

If you can see how that socket slides backward to operate the brake let us know

Cobber.

[cobber]

This is the tow coupling fitted to the 1920s pop-top camper trailer on this thread.... fair to say it was not originally designed for this purpose but was adapted to do the job.
Any guesses as to what its original use was ?



Cobber.

[firefighter]

G,Day Cobber

Called around to a friends place today another chevy man
also has vintage motor bikes showed him the photos of Eugowra
and the coupling ....and he said got one of them ,he then pulled it of the shelf ....IT is the coupling that bolts on the side at the rear of old motor bikes and on to the SIDE CAR

In side the coupling is a ball ( like on your towbar) and a spring
f/f ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

[jodel1050]

Hi All,

Put Wanda to bed for a few days as the old cover blew off in the strong S Easterly blows. Had explored this post & thought I would add a few details of Wanda's old tow coupling. The caravan a Franklin 15 ft is registered as 1959, and apart from the rear tail lights it is thought she is more 1963 +. So to the tow coupling and associated hardware:



B-B Trailers LTD Co 742 (Google only produced a UK company that commenced operations in 1986)?



4 Holden 7426556 BRAKE (nice master cylinder but what vintage)?



Panned out view showing the whole plastic brake fluid reservoir.



One for Franklin! showing the 965C SN.



Dymwood Jockey Wheel Bracket clamp???



B&B hitch (could it be Babcock & Brown)?



General view of whole hitch.



Have not found a shed yet but this is the best we could do & it fitted a treat - tough to put on in the 25 knot easterly but worth the effort.

[humpty2]

AS promised Cobber here are some photos of the coupling from Janorma.
It is bigger than the standard 50 mm, quite a sloppy fit actually.
There are no ID features at all either.



this also shows the jockey wheel setup.....it goes through the wooden drawbar!!

[cobber]

Out of the September 1961 "Australian Motor Manual"... a tow coupling designed by the man responsible for the "Jones Dolly Wheel"

Don't know if it ever went into production, has anybody ever seen an example of it ?



LATER INFORMATION TELLS US IT NEVER WENT IN TO PRODUCTION.

Cobber.

[cobber]

The September 1959 Australian Motor Manual shows two "new" couplings... the "Wesco" and the "Dymwood"

The "Dymwood" coupling should take some of the boredom out of a long trip.... (read the text)


Cobber.

[RS 1990]

Have you seen this type of coupler?

Don't know what brand it is, but it's an 'American Style' latch type coupler!

[RS 1990]

Here's another unique type of coupling, seen on the 'Highway Palace'



And a simple but weird-looking 'pre-towball' connection!

[Don Ricardo]

At the recent Mildura V V Nationals I had the opportunity to look at a caravan with a very unusual tow coupling. The van is almost certainly of South Australian origin and has been provisionally identified as an early Adventurer:



More pics of the van can be found on the DHL Adventurer thread (see Reply #11).

So here's the tow coupling:



The jockey wheel swings up on a pinion and is guided by a curved arm. The electrical wiring is fed through the handles which are hollow tubes:



The coupling consists of a cup (the bit that looks like a cobra about to strike) and a tongue underneath the coupling which is attached to a vertical bolt. The bolt has a horizontal lever attached to it:



The hitch is lowered onto the ball on the tow bar with the tongue pushed to the rear of the slot, like so:



Once the ball is engaged in the cup, the tongue slides forward to lock the coupling onto the ball. The handle on top of the tongue mechanism is then turned to tighten the coupling and keep the tongue in place. A swing down lever (to the right of the handle) engages with the teeth at the base of the handle to keep the whole thing tightened:



There was no obvious maker's name or other inscription on the coupling...although I have to confess that I didn't look as carefully as I should have. (Sorry Cobber ).

Don Ricardo

[cobber]

Thanks for the photos of that coupling Don R. could be one of the most interesting designs yet..... I hope they find a way to keep it on the 'van when it's restored.
You would expect the genius who made it to brand it somewhere wouldn't you

I roamed around the couplings at Lake Goldsmith and found a few variations on how to make hydraulic over-ride systems work




OK..... so this operates the same way but the coupling is a bit different


And then this non- hydraulic one,


Cobber

[griffin]

Don Rs Adventurer hitch reminded me of this one I found illustrating an article in The Australian Caravan Magazine an Log Manual for 1938. The article was a general one about tow hitches and did not describe or name the one illustrated. This one seems a much more basic type but the mounting for an angle iron frame intrigued me. Hope it's of interest - and the photo attaches ok!

[kustombruce]

Found this add from a book 'How to build Trailers


Bruce

[cobber]

Surf tragics coupling on a Don 133..... post 1956 but we don't think it is the original coupling.
The thread on this Don is here.









Cobber.

[nugget]

G’Day all,
Wondering if anyone can help me out dating this coupling , it may help date my van. I have not found any numbers or i/d marks on the coupling or van ..


The
The A frame attaches to a wooden floor beams (ie not steel frame the length of van) .
You can follow my resto and see more pics of the van in my post - vintagecaravans.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=photo&action=display&thread=6533
Cheers Nugget ;D

[cobber]

G'day Nugget,

As you would know it's not a very exact science
trying to date a 'van by its tow coupling..... or it's
wheels, but I like your coupling because it is another
example of a good coupling with no markings
on it …. at the moment

It looks to be much the same as this one on Humpty's
“Janorma” which was made sometime before 1949, and this one that
does have a makers name on it.
It was a pretty popular coupling apparently that had
a few minor variations to the way it was clamped... this one was on a
“Sandrover” caravan that was thought to be a 1968/69 model ?

The fact that yours is fitted to an over-ride brake makes it special

So there you go.... take your pick.

Cobber.