Alko Jockey Wheel

Oh dear Motley how terrible, Must be all the extra weight on the A-frame from having located up the front of the van the breadmaker, coffee maker and Abrolga. Tell you what, how about I look after them for you then you won't have this problem in the future. Just being kindhearted as usual, Angie

Angie, It was the 14 bottles of red that tripped the ballweight into overload [wink] One Soln would be to divide then up amongst other BT owners ! [grin] Pete, My Al-ko completely seized. When I get a chance I'll strip it and see if I can salvage it to use on my box trailer !!! I'm using it as a home for old aged spiders !!! I have now fitted my Maco Mule ... Gross loading is listed as 1016 kg !! That will hold a few wine bottles. Got rid of the pesky handles that hold jockey wheel brackets .... replaced them with 304 Stainless bolts. Careful here ... thread is 1/2 inch BSW (British Standard Whitworth). Have fitted a piece of Stainless Steel 5mm chain as safety .... to pin on chassis. I'll post a pic in Album tomorrow .... Mules Rule ... to quote Amy !!!! Regards Anthony

We had a problem with our ALKO power wheel when the tyre blew out after I put too much pressure in it. I was unable to get axel out to repair and neither could tyre service. (I later found that the end had been hit and because it is made of soft steel if you hammer on the axel, then it expands and will no longer fit through bearings.) While in Adelaide trying to get it fixed, I went to a caravan repair centre and they showed me the Maco mule, so I bought one there and then. It is much better, stronger and easier to operate. The only down side with the Maco Mule is the handle, if you put a bit too much pressure on it it will bend. I had that fixed in Meekatharra by welding the next size tubing over the handle leaving about 20mm of original tube protruding at the bottom so that it will still lock onto the bracket. This made it very strong and no more problems. I found that if there is not sufficient weight on the drawbar, that the power wheel will spin and not move the van. My recommendationis to buy one before your trip, they might be hard to find out back.

The first Maco Mule I saw was Brian's. I'm looking for a bit of RHS to go over standard handle as Brian has recommended. After seeing Brians modified handle and now the standard one best to do it before you leave that's for sure. Anthony

Thanks for the rapid feedback, team. Now, let's see if I've got it right. Lose the breadmaker and the capuccino machine and take out half the red wine supplies and that will bring the weight down to within the specs that the Alko can handle. Alternatively, lose the Alko and replace it with a Maco Mule. Decisions, decisions. Oh, what to do??? Now where did I put the L-Z Phonebook!

Well men, looks like we've averted another disaster in the bush. I'm sure Motley is thanking goodness for his team of Charlies angels. Angie

All, I have had both the ALKO and the Maco Mule wheels. At about 1/3 the price, with the ALKO you get what you paid for - rubbish. I have had similar expereicnes with the ratchet fittings bending, even under relatively light load. Definitely upgrade to the Maco..

Angie wrote, I'm sure Motley is thanking goodness for his team of Charlies angels. Anthony wrote, Dont you mean the team from X-men .... Cable (Brian) Techno-organics Iceman (Anthony) ice cool If you like white hair and leather Angie ..... we can make you Storm !!! [wink] Cheeky regards Iceman