I've gone and bought another Mini, a 1969 Mk 1.5, and now it's time to go and get it.

It's in Ulverstone, and I'm in Melbourne, which is fine as I will simply take the ferry over and back over two consecutive nights. The Tas. ferry is very length concious, and small differences in lengths makes for hundreds of dollars difference in costs (Unless you area caravan, your trip is subsidised).

So what I am asking is to borrow a mini trailer from someone and I'm happy to give someone a few dollars for the privilege as well. In particular one short enough for just the mini, like the racers use. Distance wise it would roll about 50 kilometers once in Tassie, so it doesn't need to drive very far.

Cheers for the help

_________________
SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

All garage work involves equal measures of enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility.

I've got one and I'm local to you - near Werribee

Only problem is that is's a bit longer than strictly necessary, will take a Morris 1100, Corolla etc.



You can see from the above shot the Moke is on the trailer with room to spare.

_________________
Brett Nicholson
Greendale (near Ballan) VIC.
1971 Morris Mini Moke
1966 Austin Mini
1965 Morris Mini Traveller
1973 LR Series 3 88
2007 LR Freelander 2

Yeah it is a little long, which is what I'm hoping to avoid. But I really appreciate the offer!

How long do you think it is from tow ball to back end? An 8x4 trailer is 4 meters, and my car is 4 as well.

_________________
SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

All garage work involves equal measures of enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility.

Hi,

From memory it's about five metres long from tow-ball to end. So a whole metre more than you need.

A Mini will fit in an 8x5 trailer, but it's a tight fit. Tim turned up to pick up his traveller with a slightly modified 8 x 5. The traveller's rear wheel sat on the tailgate but it worked fine.

(Remember a traveller/van/big-wheel moke is 4" longer in the wheelbase than a Mini sedan.)

Cheers,

_________________
Brett Nicholson
Greendale (near Ballan) VIC.
1971 Morris Mini Moke
1966 Austin Mini
1965 Morris Mini Traveller
1973 LR Series 3 88
2007 LR Freelander 2

Saying that, I've checked the site, it's a difference of 50 dollars either way if i squeeze the car down by a meter or two, so if the trailer is under 5 meters then it might not be worth the hassle and danger of squeezing onto a smaller than necessary trailer, like an 8x5 boxie.

_________________
SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

All garage work involves equal measures of enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility.

I'll run a tape measure over it tonight and see exactly how long it is. It may just squeeze under 5m.

_________________
Brett Nicholson
Greendale (near Ballan) VIC.
1971 Morris Mini Moke
1966 Austin Mini
1965 Morris Mini Traveller
1973 LR Series 3 88
2007 LR Freelander 2

Thanks I appreciate it.

I just measured my car, it's 4.40 from front to back in total. I did the maths for squeezing the car down by the few meters, and it may not be worth the trouble. as it is only 30 each way extra.

If it's less than 5.5 overall, we may have a winner.

Thanks!

_________________
SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

All garage work involves equal measures of enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility.

when is the road trip Mick?

Just in the beginning of May I reckon, so two weeks or so away. An overnighter to Tas, pick up the car and then everyone back on the boat for the trip back. I'll get a pie or something in between! Should be a bit of fun I reckon, but the missus doesn't want to go so it's up to me to keep myself amused.

Funny thing is, the distance all up from my place in Melbourne to to the pick up point is only 50 k's all told....the rest is done by the boat.

_________________
SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

All garage work involves equal measures of enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility.

Nice one!

YOu sold your other S?

Yeah a few weeks ago now. It's gone to find a nice and warm sunny spot in Queensland. It living with another of the same colour now. I'm told it's very happy where it is.

_________________
SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

All garage work involves equal measures of enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility.

As Brett mentioned I recently performed the same trip, but in the reverse direction. I managed to borrow a trailer that was essentially just the length of the Traveller, but my tow car was reasonably long. The whole trip ended up being very expensive. I have a couple of observations though.

1) They never measured me. The trailer was longer, with tailgate folded down on the return trip, and no comment was made, so I'd advise you to round things down a little, the worst they could do is charge you the extra when you show up, which would be pretty mean with an empty trailer.

2) Maybe you could find someone wanting to "backload". Its a shame I already have mine, we could have split the costs.

3) Avoid the seats on the ferry and go for a cabin. It costs a fair bit more but a two night round trip in the seats was very very ordinary. They deliberately make them uncomfortable (you can't raise the arm rests and they don't recline very far), then some Nazi comes round and wakes everyone one up a couple of times each night.

Tim

Cheers Tim,

I've done just that and booked a meter down on the worst case scenario of 5+ meters as well as my car. I'll let them get out there with the tape measures if they have to!

As for disurbed and uncomfortable sleep, I've been in the navy for just shy of 11 years. They are the people that have turned disturbed sleep into a kind of art form. You could rattle a snare drum in my ear as I sleep on a barbed wire mattress these days. When I get home from being away the stoney silence at night rings in your ears (until I get used to the quiet again). At least they won't be making announcments over the tannoy in the middle of the night!

So I'm gonna traipse accross on the 11th and come back on the 12th. It's arranged!

_________________
SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

All garage work involves equal measures of enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility.

Cool, I'll PM you on the 12th and see how you slept. I'm a marine biologist with many a sleepless night at sea to recount. I was much more comfortable sleeping on the bench seat in the mess of a longliner last week than I was on the Spirit. At least on the longliner it was only the guys coming in to make coffee and watch DVDs that disturbed me.

Tim

Lol, maybe they've taken a leaf from the airlines book on passenger comfort!

_________________
SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

All garage work involves equal measures of enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility.