Car Float vs Car Dolly

[Peter]

Hello,

I have an opportunity to either purchase a car float or a car dolly. A car
dolly is where just two wheel are taken of the ground, as opposed to all
four in a car float.

Would just to ask people's thoughts and opinions on which is better? Anyone
ever used a car dolly? I have seen them, but never used one, but have used
a car float a few times int he past 12 months.

Any information would be greatly appreciated, espcially on the dolly's.

Thanks in advance,

Peter

[Catherine Jemma]

I've never heard them called a car float or dolly before

Here in WA car dollies as such must be rare, I haven't seen one since
"Mobi-Tow" (Trademark) went bust in 1988 losing 4 million $. Some guy near
Rockingham (Perth's southern outer edge) makes things he calls car caddies
for which he charges $3300. I haven't seen one so don't know details

However I'm told that such things are more commonly .around, in Eastern
States

Personally I'm about 80 % finished making my first one (to sell) and have
most of the parts to make my 2nd one (to keep for myself).......

These are well designed and use all new parts, indeed the cost for the first
one is so much, that's why I've gotta sell it ! And yes in case you ask, I
did read textbooks on trailer design first and I have already been trained
in the correct use of power tools and in engineering production techniques

Obviously I haven't towed anything with my, not-yet-completed "Cathy-Tow"
but a few points come to mind

Tare weight empty of Cathy-Tow is 140 kg. The guy up the road has a standard
4 wheeler car transporter (perhaps you'd call it a float) and it weighs 400
kg empty

That's a lot for a car, especially a 4 cyl to tow, even empty. Remember a
car transporter one can reasonably assume will be towed empty 50 % of the
time !

Plus when not in use, it takes up little more room than a normal rubbish 6x4
type trailer to park in your yard....or when out shopping, say in the
carpark at a hardware store etc. Put a 4 wheeler 6x12 ft deck trailer on
your front lawn and see how much is left !

My deck is the standard 6 ft wide, but some 2.5 feet long, instead of the
usual 12 feet. Treated timber decking means things like fridges etc can
also be transported, or a box fitted overtop the deck to carry soil or
landscaping supplies etc. So a "Cathy-Tow" compact car transporter/dolly
can serve as a full size car carrier and also instead of the more common 6x4
which many folks already have for garden rubbish etc

Hey if anyone wants to buy my Cathy-Tow/dolly then phone me on WA country 08
9064 1130 evenings best

I should have it finished and all licenced and road legal within another
week or less.....depending on the weather and other chores I gotta do, eh.

cheers
Catherine
Rural Western Australia

[Catherine Jemma]

.....addition to earlier

Question for you mate

How much is the 4 wheeler car trailer, and the 2 wheel dolly, prices being
asked for each ?

I'm guessing that, odds of probability you're most likely in NSW or VIC, so
not really in my market demographic, but I reckon that if that guy in Perth
is selling his "Caddies" for $3300, I should be able to sell my "Cathy-Tow"2
wheel compact car carrier/dolly for a fair bunch less than that, (for a
quick sale) and still make a healthy surplus, on top of the price of parts
and consumables.

Many trailers are made up of substandard 2nd hand parts sourced from
rubbish-dump and scrap-heaps. Mine's all new parts, mostly from Perth's
main trailer speciality parts supplier

in WA, AFAIK 4 wheelers go for some $ 4000....but don't quote me on
that.....just what I heard from some bloke

Remember that a full 4 wheeler car transporter would be really needed only
on those rare occasions when a car is so disabled as to have, not even 2
good front, or rear, wheels suitable for rolling along the road. EG a car
that's banana shaped after going into a pole or a car body for restoration
that has no wheels/hubs etc

cheers

Catherine
Rural Western Australia
ph WA 08 9064 1130

xena at agn dot net dot au

[Catherine Jemma]

...thanks for your comments Athol, but I's talkin' on the phone to a friend
who lives in NSW and she said that "dollies" are very much in use over there

Hey I'm not calling you a liar ! Now it's possible that she was mistaken,
misunderstood what I's meaning etc

Could you please explain what you mean about the dolly being legally
required to steer, relative to the (towed vehicle's) rear wheels. I don't
think I'm quite getting your meaning

Yeah it's a bit hard to sorta put some of these things into words I
know........easier in the flesh, where I originally worked through some
early designs using a 1:32 scale model car and scale drawing

My "Cathy-Tow" dolly/aka caddy aka compact car carrier can turn because it
has a normal type trailer ball coupling hitch (I've used a rated at 2 tonne
coupling)

Some towtrucks have a hydraulic extendable cantilevered wheel-holder. The
cars front wheels are secured therein. No turning at that point can take
place, so the back end of the disabled car is efffectively "dragged" around
when making a turn

cheers

[D Walford]

Catherine Jemma wrote:
>

> That's a lot for a car, especially a 4 cyl to tow, even empty. Remember a
> car transporter one can reasonably assume will be towed empty 50 % of the
> time !
>

If a car can't tow an empty trailer how will it go with a car on it?

> Plus when not in use, it takes up little more room than a normal rubbish 6x4
> type trailer to park in your yard....or when out shopping, say in the
> carpark at a hardware store etc. Put a 4 wheeler 6x12 ft deck trailer on
> your front lawn and see how much is left !
>
> My deck is the standard 6 ft wide, but some 2.5 feet long, instead of the
> usual 12 feet. Treated timber decking means things like fridges etc can
> also be transported, or a box fitted overtop the deck to carry soil or
> landscaping supplies etc. So a "Cathy-Tow" compact car transporter/dolly
> can serve as a full size car carrier and also instead of the more common 6x4
> which many folks already have for garden rubbish etc

It sounds like only 2 wheels are lifted so how do you get the "dolly
under the wheels?
If its got a flat timber floor what stops the car rolling off, the
"dolly" type trailers I have seen usually have an area that the wheels
drop into which makes the car more secure and less likely to roll off.

Daryl

[Catherine Jemma]

Thanks for explaining those concepts Athol

From what you've said it seems that if I run across a cop who wants to make
life difficult, he could. But then they can ticket you (in WA at least) if
they reckon your radio is playing too loudly if the wanna get nasty)

Hopefully a new, well made trailer will not attract tooooo much interest
from the boys in blue

AFAIK the brakes on the tail end of the towed car DON'T necessarily have to
operate

Only 2 wheels need to have brakes fitted (when exceeeding 750 kg in WA), so
those 2 wheels could more easily be the dolly's wheels

I hadn't noticed the pivot thing with the tow-truck hydraulic cantilevers.
I'll try to have a closer look next time I get a chance

Without a turntable on my dolly, a small amount of sideways drag might
indeed occur at the disable car's rear wheels, on sharp corners. But hey
that sorta drag happens anyway, eg with dual rear wheels as fitted to some
Mazda/Ford vans and light trucks etc (inner tyre vs the outer tyre on each
side)

I've stood on the footpath while huge trucks/oversize loads make a
harder-than-90-degree turn at an intersection in a small town, and even at
first gear 5 kmh type speeds the scuffing of the inner tyres vs the outer
tyres is AMAZING. (Clearly audible) The low-loader-trailers typically
have dual wheels and lots of them

Whether one is towing a 4 wheel trailer, a 2 wheel dolly (laden or unladen)
or even flat towing using a rigid A-Frame (yep I've already made up one of
those already) or a tow-rope, obviously corners should be negotiated at safe
and slower speeds, than one might otherwise drive, when not towing anything

cheers

[Using "HatzOlah logic娉]

"Noddy" <dg4163@{nospam}tpg.com.au> wrote in message
news:410acf68$1...@dnews.tpgi.com.au...
>
> "Steve" <ste...@home.now> wrote in message
> news:410a4c22$0$16345$5a62ac22@per-qv1-newsreader-
>
> > You ever seen a Mobi-Tow setup Noddy?
>
> If it's the one I'm thinking about then yeah. Quite swish in it's design,
> and very well made.
>
> However, 3 and a half grand buys an awfully nice tandem trailer that
carried
> most cars a lot easier.

$3500 pays for about 45 trips on a tilt-tray-trucks

It also pays for a lot of trailer hires without having to pay for
rego,maintance,room to store etc etc

CDIHL

>
> --
> Regards,
> Noddy.
>
>

"Peter" <pet...@idl.net.au> wrote in message
news:1091105371.101622@webserver...

[Catherine Jemma]

I agree with you that, in a major city area, such as Perth, then as quoted
by one ng poster "$3500 pays for 45 trips in a tilt-tray truck"

But what got me thinking about making my own compact car carrier a couple of
months back, was the following.....

......recently I's looking at buying a "project car" ie something to fix up

One deal I investigated was a partly done restoration project and the small
4 cyl car involved came with another of the same model, for use as stripping
for parts etc

I made MANY phonecalls to places listed in the phonebook

Several "National" chains, DID NOT service Perth, let alone country WA (I
think that "National" means they service everywhere as far westwards as
Ballarat)

Some companies only accept cars which are drivable under their own power and
less than 20 years old (to facilitate easy loading)

I only found ONE company, operating in Perth, that would accept my potential
job

The fee for transporting 2 small 4 cyl cars (both would fit at the same
time, on a mid-sized truck deck) from a Perth suburb to a country address
some 2.5 hrs drive from Perth's outer edge, was somewhere around $ 750 !

Then I started thinking about making my own compact car carrier

2 return trips at $ 50 petrol = $ 100. Petrol consumption might be even
somewhat poorer than that, it'd be impossible to say, however w-a-y less
than $ 750

But yeah, for folks that live in a major city area, then paying for the
occasional rental trailer or tilt-truck would often be cheaper

For country folks though, or for people who muck around with old cars a lot,
a car carrier might well see a fair bit of use, enough to make it worthwhile

cheers

[Using "HatzOlah logic娉]

Well all i can say is good luck with it.But watch out for the Chinese as
they copy everything these days

CDIHL

"Catherine Jemma" <no@spam> wrote in message
news:410f...@quokka.wn.com.au...