Hauling Trailers for apples
Our farm has had a few hauling trailers in the past. We have kept only 2 of them as we don’t need more then 1 basically. However it’s a nice thing to have the choice between a open and a closed one, that’s why we have two.
The oldest “Normal” hauling trailer we had was a old trailer from my granddad which was 2m wide and 5m long. We sold this trailer in 2008 as we didn’t have to travel to the warehouse to sell our apples anymore.
In 1979 my Grand Uncle bought a brand new Gijzen trailer this one is 2m wide and about 5,20m long with a foldable extension of 50cm. the trailer has a nice leaf suspension and is rated for 6000kg. that means the suspension acts perfect at 6000kg. This trailer had a place in the old open sheds long ago, but from 2006 until 2015 it had to stay outside. in 2012 we had the trailer being retrofitted with a steel flooring. In 2014 i painted the trailer completely.
In 1995 my dad bought a brand new closed trailer which is still our main trailer today. The trailer is 2,40m wide and 7,5m long and can load 10.000 kg with suspension. This trailer has a nice sail system which can either be completely open or completely closed during transport. The reason to buy this trailer back then was because we sold all our apples sorted to the local cooperation. For the cooperation we had to sort everything in little crates which on a open trailer often caught wind and flied of the trailers. In this closed trailer this was no problem anymore. in 2015 i painted the whole underside of the trailer new with 2 component paint to prevent the trailer from rusting in the upcoming future.
In 2022 both trailers had served a long time already, and we often had issues with the lighting. Also did both of the trailer have some minor rust issues. To fix the lighting for once and all i bought expensive LED lights to install on the trailer, but did not just want to install them. While i was at it i also wanted to restore the rust issues and make the backside of the trailers look a lot better, and capable of holding a license plate which was mandatory since 2022.To manage this i had to cut alot of the old backside away and redesign it completely to my liking.
The Gijzen trailer also got new paint all arround and new wood for the crate on the frontside which made it look good again for alot of years.
The closed trailer got a new rearsail in 2020 and a new roof in 2021 which was heavily needed as the roof was split in 2 from the 25 years of weather.