Trailers in the desert

Colin,you may have found this on another site also, but this is word for word from ExplorOz - I wrote this myself on advice from the SA DEH and first hand knowledge. Have a look at Trailers and Towing on ExplorOz. Not sure what your query is.

Colin, I will be leaving my Kimberly Kamper off the desert because of this request, even though I know that both my trailer and my ability would make the crossing possible. The problem once again is the section of the 4WD fraternity, who see a camper or designated off-road trailer being taken in these parts with correct tyre pressures, etc and then think they can tow their old box trailer to the same tracks, with the corresponding damage. This decision will cause me to make a 800km detour to pick up the trailer for the rest of our odessey, but if it helps the cause then it must be worth it. Happy trails, MIke.

Colin....I had the very same issue to resolve awhile back....I spoke with Ranger, Desert ParksHQ (based at Port Augusta)
1800 816 078 or 8648 5300
Fax: (61 8) 8648 5301.
Pearce Dougherty (a good bloke - very helpful - invites people to keep in touch about their intended trips - will provide information and advice.
Pearce spends quite a bit of time out in the Simpson, on field trips for the NP.I decided to re formulate the trip - no trailer - have not been yet. dp

I was unaware of any official disapproval of trailers in the desert. I came down the Colson track and then across the French line in April. There were no abandoned trailers to be seen. My trailer made it through OK, but did have a broken spring for the second major trip in a row. I hope they don't 'ban' trailers. I find the trailer an excellent way to reduce vehicle weight, and make travel safer and more comfortable (no overhead weight as in roof racks, and no packing the cabin with gear). Talk about nanny state. What about all the abandoned vehicles littering every track and road in the Centre? Are they environmentally friendly or something?

A lot of people seem to give trailers a bad name. Here are some thoughts that I have which change the focus onto those vehicles without a
trailer.

Lets take my example when I travel (with wife and two kids) with a camper trailer. I have a maximum of 1000 kgs in weight on the trailer.
This includes various spares for the trailer and the second spare tyre.

In the vehicle all I have is the people, the fridge, and the recovery gear.

Given the weight of the car (100 series land cruiser) in base is 2245 kgs before the bar work, with people on board and a full fuel load
(in long range fuel tank) and the above gear, the vehicle would weigh around 2900 kgs to 3000 kgs.

Therefore with this weight pattern and a well balanced trailer, the average weight distribution is say 750 kgs on the vehicle and 500 on the trailer.

Now if I load up the vehicle and leave the trailer behind, I get a few problems. Firstly with a gross vehicle mass (GVM) of 3180 kgs, I only have
180 kgs to play with. Take out of that the water and the second spare tyre I am left with less than 50 kgs to cover food, bedding, clothes
cooking gear, second spare tyre etc.

That leaves me with a little problem. I have two choices, leave stuff behind that may endanger my family or overload the vehicle.

If I travel on maximum GVM of 3180 my average weight distribution is 795 kgs, which is an increase over the example with the trailer.
If I overload the vehicle, not only am I putting more stress on the vehicle when it is already under stress from the terrain it is covering,
but my average weight distribution is higher again.

Therefore my view is that travelling with a well built off road trailer with appropriate tyre pressures will place less stress on the road than
travelling with a fully or over loaded vehicle.

This is the bit of the "debate" that I believe people forget. So there was my two cents worth over to anyone else for further comments

Oh! Sorry Bob, we forgot, you are obviously the only person in the world with an opinion worth airing. The desert parks people in SA, do a fantastic job out there, AND they have done all the tracks AND recovered all the "well informed experts" who of course know more. They are not banning trailers because they don't like trailers, hell they aren't even banning them. They are just sick and tired of the extra work they have to do recovering well intentioned travellers like yourself, so they are REQUESTING that we do not take trailers out there. So get off your high horse long eneough to listen to the full story, or at least give others the common courtesy of airing their views without having a know-all jump down their throat. Happy trails, Mike.

To the person who came down the Colson Track - the reason you didn't see any trailers abandoned (or caravans) or anything else is because there are a number of people who go and collect other peoples rubbish and abandoned gear in the Simpson Desert. It is to be hoped that a special permit was applied for and granted before travelling on the Colson Track! If you lived and worked in Birdsville or Oodnadatta you would see why trailers (of any kind, most particularly the family box trailer) are not a good idea. The South Australian Government is formulating a law in relation to this - we have had some input. Go out into the Desert right now (like we do), see how corrugated the dunes have become already this season - think about tyre pressures and think about tyre pressures in vehicles as well as in trailers - use the "I don't have to alter my pressures for anybody "thing - and then, look again from the opposite point of view instead of only your own. No one is trying to stop anyone from enjoying the delights of the Simpson Desert or anywhere else - we promote it at every opportunity for the magical place it is BUT we promote it as a special place on its own where you can spend lots of time - not just as a place on a map, maybe 500 klms wide and a way to get from (a) to (b) and into Alice Springs as quickly as possible. Whilst out there - sit on a claypan (like we do) and watch the trailers being snigged over the dunes, dune after dune - then talk to the families who have been through the Desert in two days being "snigged" over the dunes and ask them what they saw and how they enjoyed it. Ask the wives, then ask the children - then ask the Father and see what different stories there are. Oh yes, then ask the people who have had the misfortune to follow them (or assist them) and see what the real story is. No, it doesn't have to be like that at all and yes, when we are doing a recovery that requires a trailer we have to take them also - but only because it is a recovery. One thing I have discovered though, living and working and giving advice when it is asked for - it matters not one iota what you say in the giving of advice, because most people have made their minds up before they asked for the advice and (in relation to the Simpson Desert) are going to do whatever they like - and that goes for people who persist in going on closed roads and tracks and private property. I sound very pessimistic - I'm not I basically look at life very optimistically, but hey, this is my sixth year of experience in the Simpson Desert, and every day someone surprises me.

We drove across the Simpson on the french line east to west in a 3lt Patrol auto towing a 650kg tandem trailer as a back up vehicle for a Polaris 6 wheel drive in September last year. Our trailer which we built ourselves 2 weeks before the crossing, even had a 12 ft tinnie on top. We travelled alone, we were experienced although this was a first desert crossing, well prepared and well set up and experienced no problems and that is the key to the whole thing. We decided to go to big red and if we couldn't tow the trailer up her we would have left the trailer at Birdsville. We would not have been able to do what we did in a manual car, the auto made it reasonably easy to stay in the torque range of the motor. We also had 39 x15 tyres all round running at 12 lb cold, an 8 " lift and a lokka diff in front. I don't consider we did any damage to the dunes as no winching was required A couple of dunes we had to back down and try again with more momentum. Common sense should always prevail. Know yours and your vehicles limitations and capabilities. We asked lots of advice from people at Birdsville when we got our permits and know one suggested not taking the trailer police included.
Cheers,
Rob Berrill
Certificate IV Instructor\Assessor
www.4wdtraining.com
4wdtraining@cairns.net.au
www.cedarparkresort.com.au

I believe this becomes not a technical issue - of course it can be done, but more a moral issue - should it be done. There is also the point about excatly how much needs to be taken on a trip - do we need so much gear, do we really need the drag of a roof rack, do we really use everything that gets put into the car?

Guys , take it easy for Christ sake . Leave poor Bob alone. Not everyone has the room in their vehicle to store all the gear required(Disco comes to mind here) . Especialy four swags that Bob needs. What about the nice light weight tent Bob ? And the nice full size roof rack , long range fuel tank etc. C,mon Bob you can spend few weeks without the kitchen sink and the trailer. All you have to do is think about it for a while. Unless you driving as a support for an mineral exploration crew that is.

All you guys can just keep hammering away all you like, Ruth has lived there for 6 years and seen it all before. "I am an expert, in the best setup in the country so whatever Desert parks personel (Who are out there) Ruth (Who is out there), SA Police (Who are out there) say, I've crossed the desert once so my opinion is the only one that counts" Great attitude guys, I'm just bloody glad I don't have to travel with you. By the way, I tow a Kimberly Kamper just about anywhere, but after accepting the advice of the people who REALLY know about these things, I am leaving it where I will travel about 800kms to pick it up and continue my treck. And I think I could tow my trailer across as well!
Happy trails, Mike.

The people who are for taking trailers have put forward several valid reasons for a trailer such as spreading the weight across six wheels instead of four ( which would have to be better for not wrecking the tracks ), the safety factor of not having an overloaded vehicle and the ability to take more water and spares etc.
Those who are anti taking a trailer haven't put forward any valid points that I can see to back up what their saying -
One comment was " think they can tow their old box trailer to the same tracks" that comment really means it's not an issue with all trailers at all but only with the inappropriate & un-maintained trailers.
Another comment "see how corrugated the dunes have become this season" what's this supposed to mean that towing a trailer causes corrugations?? - I notice there was no response when someone actually asked how towing a trailer causes corrugations.
Another comment was "of course there are always city dwellers who know more" - well if you have that attitude (chip on the shoulder) towards city people no wonder people don't bother listening to you.
Another comment was "there are a number of people who go and collect other peoples rubbish and abandoned gear" - perhaps all this abandoned gear is from the people without trailers who are having difficulty with overloaded vehicles???
Another comment was "So get of your high horse long enough to listen to the full story, or at least give others the common courtesy of airing their views without having a know it all jump down their throat" - Talk about the pot calling the kettle black!!!

If there is a genuine reason not to take a trailer then how about coming forward with some sensible supporting reasons instead of nasty replies.

Seems to be a very lively discussion on to trailer or not to trailer,,and would seem that the against have only one valid point, that being the cost ,time ,and effort required to retreive a broken trailer,,no mention of the towing or other vehicle ,, why not just get off the high horse, oops cant use a horse,might just need a horse float to do a recovery,,,,the whole point is that if the vehicle and TRAILER are BOTH purpose built and servicable why deny their use.

Methinks we might all be missing the point here a bit. Let's just, for a moment, remain open to the possibility that both sides of the argument might actually be valid.
The original post suggested that the SA Department of Environment and Heritage were responsible for the original advice. My understanding is that it remains advice at this time. However, given the experience in other places, if this department, or any other agency responsible for maintenance, clean-up, etc. of any parks or deserts decides that trailers, rubbish, etc. are responsible for degradation, it is only a matter of time before there will be bans put in place. And we all know what that means. How many more tracks, how much more access do we need to lose?
Finally, given that many 4-wheelers proclaim themselves to be environmentally responsible and follow the TreadLightly ethos, I would be interested to hear the views/recommendations of that body in regard to this issue.

mmmmm.......
Why would a well maintained 4x4 camping trailer , Well set up , be any different from say one and a half 4x4's doing the same crossing?
The way I see it, the trailer would do less damage, as the wheels are not "powered".
Lets face it, the problem is not properly set up trailers, but rather people trying to take their garden clipping specials , where they were not designed to go.......
I suspect the same people wpould also attempt to take their clapped out EH holden across Big Red........