DOLLY WHEELS

[akeepsake]

Feb 22, 2016 11:41:58 GMT 10 Koala said:

I picked upa this Hutchison Dolly Wheel today thanks to a hot tip from a friend. It was going to the tip if I did not take it.
A bit of a browse of this thread indicated that it is a later dolly made after 1962 as it has provision for the load level bars which also came with it. This one is fitted with squared mudguards which may be replacements but they do appear to be factory made.






I am still working on `Grandads Van' so it may find its way onto that.

Koala

Hi Koala ! Great to see another landfill save! I have never seen any with square guards so my guess from studying the photo is the original guard brackets were used to hold the replacement guards on??? Could be wrong . Mine look similar but with round guards and it has the original leveller bars ...a rare find!
Come to Tassie you can register anything here!!!

[griffin]

I'm with you JD, best not to ask, just get silly answers! I used mine for the first time on Australia Day with the big bondwood and it seemed to make towing much less of a chore with the Vauxhall. I think they created more interest than the van during the day, and I thought someone might come along and be able to tell me all about them but no such luck.

A legitimate period accessory in my book and until someone stops me and tells me to put them in the boot then they will be staying where they were made to be, on the front of the van!

George

[strugglebrook]

We might start a craze George, looking forward to using our Hendy again behind the Kingswood this time.
JD.

[don]

Hi Cobber, I picked up what I believed was a Hutchinson dolly wheel. It is exactly the same in every detail & dimension except that the main body is fabricated from steel plate & welded. There is no ID plate (never had one) & the wheel caps are branded Austral. What do you think. cheers Don

[cobber]

G'day Don,

' Austral Motor wheel works ' were a firm that supplied wheels, and many other chassis components, to many caravan builders and trailer makers in the 40s 50s & possibly 60s but I don't think we have seen one of their hub caps before ? 



So, a photo of what you have would be good to see, as they say, if it looks like a Hutchinson and works like a Hutchinson it is probably a Hutchinson, might be one of the first ones 

Cobber.

[shesgotthelook]

Hutchinson dolly wheel that came with our 1947 homebuilt.

[strugglebrook]

Got to love that Dolly SGL, keep all your paperwork on dolly wheels with the van in case you get pulled over, I did on the way home from the Nationals and after much huffing and puffing by both parties we were on our way again wallet intact. Just be very careful to set your van up nose heavy and your chains strong enough with the rite amount of travel and secured properly. As with all towing the more variables the better your set up needs to be, springs,bushes,couplings, bearings tires and chains and on the tow rig shocks, rear springs and bushes which are even more critical on a rear coil spring car.

Cheers JD.

[cobber]

I am now the proud custodian of the Hutchinson Dolly Wheel previously owned by Ken Koala.
I have discovered that the ball and the coupling fitted to it are both 2-1/8'' which were declared ill eagle 😉 around 1959, see THIS POST HERE
Another complication is the shank on the ill eagle ball is only 6/8'' diameter as is the hole where it is fitted to the dolly wheel.

In order to fit a 50mm ball with the regulation 7/8th shank I have to drill the hole out, I don't own a 7/8th drill but I did once upon a time have a 50mm ball with a 6/8th shank, now what did I do with that ball ?  


Yes, I have to find an old style 50mm coupling too don't I ? 

Have any of you other owners of Hutchinson dolly wheels had this problem or noticed signs that the coupling and ball on your dolly may not be the originals.

Cobber.

[griffin]

Congratulations Cobber on your dolly wheels, I might have to slip over and have look at them, I can bring mine in the boot of the Velox for comparison as they seem to be an earlier type and may have been altered as they have a piece of channel and a hole for a regular tow ball to the van. However, the coupling to the car is still a 2.25" dia ball with a .735" shank.

I recently acquired a strange MTO brand 2.25 coupling with a ball but it only has a .707" dia shank, which on my chart is a weird size. And, I now have a second 2.25" ball with that same size shank too. More than two of anything is a collection right??

BUT, I don't agree that your 2.125" ball is illegal, the reference you give is merely a self imposed ban by the industry as I read it, to save the boofheaded public from their own stupidity! All you need is a 2.125" coupling, good luck with that I should think!

Cheers
George

[cobber]

G'day George,

That would be an interesting exercise, I'll call you to make a time 

My coupling on the dolly does fit the ball I have on the dolly so, it's just a matter of changing the ball on the tow vehicle anytime I want to use the dolly, not a big deal I suppose  and fit a 50mm ball between the dolly and the van, just have to drill the hole out a bit, job done   

Cobber.

[Jennison]

Ho cobber
I have quite a few tow balls of all sizes. (That must be a collection) I can have a look and a measure to see if what I have. Same problem with my dolly I needed the 2 1/8 or was it 2 1/4" on the car and the 2" to the van.
Jenno

[shesgotthelook]

My 1947 & the bondwood Viscount both need the larger towball. Had to nip in to the mechanics & borrow it to move the Viscount!. Hopefully they have engineered the new tow hitches for me & we will be back to regular size.

An interesting story on our Hutchinson Dolly Wheel that Paul told me:

'Finding the flyer on the Hutchinson dolly which refers to the 'new 1958' Hutchinson dolly reminded me of a story Stuart Ryan (son of builder Keith David Ryan & Rita Eileen Ryan) told us about the dolly.
Apparently KDR was very friendly with a local copper & loaned him the van to go on holidays. The copper started to exhibit proprietorial designs on the van & purchased a Hutchinson dolly to enhance the towing characteristics. Rita Eileen didn't like the copper & resented him using it. Buying the dolly was the last straw & she forced her husband to buy their own dolly so the copper had no claim on the van & they had no dependance on his dolly wheels.'

[thegeneral]

Hi Cobber if you cant find a 6/8" shaft you might try a 3/4" might fit.
  Graeme 

ps in Gundagai.

[cobber]

Yeah righto Graeme   I didn't teach you how to do 'smilies' did I ? 

A caravan dealer told me the other day that all new 50mm balls must have 7/8th diameter shanks on 'em, he didn't know when that rule came in but I'm pretty sure I once had a 50mm ball with a smaller shank, I don't know what that proves ?    

G'day Jenno,

On second measurements my dolly might have 2-1/4 ball and coupling on it instead of 2-1/8 like I said first up, I don' know what that proves  
Doesn't matter, same problem, same solution, I reckon I'll just drill the hole out and fit a standard 50mm ball.


G'day SGTL,

An interesting story about a crooked cop and dolly wheel   ..did KDR & RER end up with two dolly wheels ?

Cobber.

[brenten]

i had to drill my dolly also to fit a 2"ball i had trouble finding 2"balls most are 50mm now ...brenten

[Koala]

Aug 25, 2016 12:36:23 GMT 10 cobber said:

I have discovered that the ball and the coupling fitted to it are both 2-1/8'' which were declared ill eagle 😉 around 1959, see THIS POST HERE
Another complication is the shank on the ill eagle ball is only 6/8'' diameter as is the hole where it is fitted to the dolly wheel.

In order to fit a 50mm ball with the regulation 7/8th shank I have to drill the hole out, I don't own a 7/8th drill

Cobber.

Hi Cobber
I think that it has been proven over time that the ball size is not so important as the shaft size
Maybe some failures were occurring with the smaller shaft so they made it law that you must have the larger shaft.

Koala

[cobber]

G'day Brenten,

Back in 2014 you said :-

May 15, 2014 at 10:12am via mobile
Quote Post Options
Post by brenten on May 15, 2014 at 10:12am
Thanks geoff for posting the photos of robyns dolly ( not that there is any thing wrong with a man owning a dolly)I towed it from melb to broken hill and back the biggest problem was the tyres I thought using aircraft tyres that had a 210 mph speed rating they would be better than the wheel barrow type that had a 80 kph rating but because they are 12 ply and there's only 50kg on them they are like a rock and transmitted every bump into the car im going change the tyres and try it again ....brenten

Did you fit different tyres and did they ride better ?

According to the instructions on the plate on some of these dolly wheels the minimum weight on the dolly should be 200 lbs ( 90 kgs) 
I too would have chosen to fit anything but wheel barrow tyres but I'm not sure how I will be able to get 90 kg on the vans tow coupling.
The tyres fitted to my dolly look OK but exceed the recommended life of tyres by around 50 years, I'm not sure I should use them for a test run even.

what do other dolly wheel users recommend I should use ?

Cobber.




  

[brenten]

hi cobber for the nats at swr i fitted new boat trailer tyres no problems but they are about half the dia of the fx tyre so they do twice the speed but so far all good ...brenten

[shesgotthelook]

I think ours are boat trailer tyres too. Just took old ones in to tyre shop & that is what they gave us.

[griffin]

I took my lovely old Olympics in and they were replaced with a Deli Tire (Indonesian made, American influenced!) 4.80/4.00-8 which are rated for a max. load of 335kg at 5.0 bar. No issue with them yet apart from the spelling of tyre. Twelve months ago the pair with new tubes was around $80, fitted myself.

The wheels have twin roller bearings in each, or mine does, so hence the advertised "High speed races fitted in wheels" claim I suppose.

George

[Koala]

Hey Cobber, are we going to see any photos of Ole '36 on the road complete with dolly wheels. ??

A full report on road handling

Koala

[cobber]

G'day Ken,

At the moment I am having a little bit of trouble getting decent tyres for my dolly wheels, one last try then I'll do the smart thing and find out where George Griffin got his  

Tell you the truth I'm a bit apprehensive as to whether they will make much improvement to Ol '36s handling, we'll see on the trip to Shell Harbour

Cobber.

[shesgotthelook]

Ours are from the local tyre business.

[cobber]

G'day sgtl,

I like the look of the tread on those Kenda tyres, all I seem to be able to get in my neck of the woods is Deli Tires, which would be OK if I could get the right ones.

Some times I feel like I might have killed a chinaman, (I did run over one 62 years ago on my push bike, I was a telegram boy working out of Sydney GPO at the time,that was a fun job)

I too went to my local tyre bloke, next day tyres came in with a very narrow tread pattern, no good.
Went to a couple of other places, they weren't helpful.
Went to a mower and marine place, they ordered 'em in for me, after 6 days I rang 'em " where are my plurry tyres" I said. They said they were having trouble with this particular supplier... Re-ordered from somebody else, tyres came in today 'Not for Highway Service'
I have now re-ordered from a different local tyre place, quote $10 cheaper each including tubes, sounds to good to be true, see how we go on Monday ?

Chinamen really hold a grudge aye ?

Cobber

[cobber]

OK , picked the deli tires up from Jax on Tuesday and fitted 'em to dolly, no worries.
Hooked Ol '36 to dolly and went for a test drive, worked OK.
There are a couple of issues due to the short 'A' frame and the ancient tow coupling on Ol '36 I would not be able to fit the torsion bars even if I wanted to.


Then introduced Driftwood to Dolly they got on much better together


Actually ...... I don't think either van needs dolly wheels, Ol '36 weighs 70 kg on the tow ball and Driftwood is 64 kg.


And the dolly's torsion bars (load levellers) are only needed if the caravan front end load is excessive , I reckon.
Too much weight on the dolly's rear tow ball would result in too little weight on the cars tow ball, I reckon. That's when the torsion bars would be used to lift the van and take some of the weight off the tow ball, they work in the opposite direction to the normal load leveller/stabilisers we are all familiar with, I reckon
So I reckon Hutchinson Dolly Wheels would be useful if you had a van that was really front end heavy, but otherwise ordinary load leveller/stabiliser bars will do the job I reckon instead of fitting an extra pair of wheels that will surely find the pot hole you managed to avoid with the front wheels of your car.

What do you reckon ??

Cobber.