one ton trailer/generator

robc · Post by **robc** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 3:16 pm

Have just purchased a 1 ton wooden trailer with a PE-95-2 generator, trailer not in to good shape, wood rotten, parts missing, genny is good, only shows 150hrs, runs very well. How do you know the difference between a standard 1 ton trailer and a K-52, there are no plates, the seller told me it was a Queen City trailer, original plate became lost some years ago.

abn CCKW · Post by **abn CCKW** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 10:38 pm

I found a link with quite a list of the mfg's of Ben Hur's "Queen City" was one of many, 24 I believe
http://www.jedsite.info/trailers/bravo/ ... eries.html

perhaps on of the others can answer the K52 question

rgus · Post by **rgus** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 5:34 am

I also have what I think is a K-52 trailer and a PE-95 I will restore and remount.. The PE-95 was issued installed in a K-52 so I suspect if you bought a trailer with the PE already installed in it , odds are it would be correct. Look at the floor of the trailer. There should be holes to mount 4 5 gal jerry can holders two along each side towards the back. On some there are pilot holes on the fenders for 2 more , one on each side. Here is a ling to a fuller discussion and pictures on the G;

http://www.g503.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=122898

Bill_Wolf · Post by **Bill_Wolf** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 6:25 am

I have what I believe is maybe a K-52 but is missing the dataplates.

It has the 6 holes to mount the PE-95 rails in the center of the chassis. It also has the 2 oval holes in the rear floor for something and a round hole in the center of the bed near the rail mounts, (I believe this was for the oil change drain) and a round hole in the left front panel (which I believe was for an exhaust outlet. Note that mine does not have all the additional holes drilled in it for the gerry can holders but does look like holes drilled for the front storage box.

I have seen many Ben Hur trailers and have yet to see a wood bodied one. It does not mean that yours is not, it just means that I have not seen them. In doing some research I have found references to the huge demand for Generators by other units other than Signal Corps. It was noted that there was a huge movement in theater to take Ben Hur trailers and mount Gen units in them as the ground skid mounts were not condusive to quick movement and portability. This was compounded by the quick forward progress of Allied units during the March across France.

I read in a thread about Medical units (forward hospital and collection stations) and their constant movement to stay a short distance behind the front lines caused daily relocation. They needed their power supplies mobile and mounted in a Ben Hur was the way to do that. Ben Hur Generator mounted equipment was not a part of the assignment to a Med company but many ended up having them.

This would place an additional need to adding Gen units to available standard cargo trailers. We all know how resourceful the GI's could be in getting it done. It is my speculation that this is why you find PE-95's in G-518's without all the extra holes.

As a side note I am not completely convinced that my trailer is a K-62. The pattern of the factory drilled holes indicate that it may have had a PE-99 installed rather than a PE-95. PE-99 was a 4 cylinder Wisconsin powered unit with a spec of 7.5KW. It used in a forward air controller and relay capability.

It is clear that some type of generator was mounted in my trailer. Without dataplates or an original picture we will never know which one.

Bill

rgus · Post by **rgus** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 2:15 pm

Bill.... Nice bit of work on the center hole. That simply never occured to me about the oil drain. I think the oval holes on the end are for the 10 foot flexable exhaust pipe that they were issued with. The PE manuel dated 1945 only shows them issued in a trailer. That is where my assumption on the trailer comes from. Here is another Some trailers have the spair tire holder on the underside some don't. Did they all have a spair tire carrier? I had one guy try to tell me the K52's had them because they were in a lot of cases pulled by something other than a CCKW and their wheel size was different. Any info on that?

Bill_Wolf · Post by **Bill_Wolf** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 2:39 pm

rgus wrote:Here is another Some trailers have the spair tire holder on the underside some don't. Did they all have a spair tire carrier? I had one guy try to tell me the K52's had them because they were in a lot of cases pulled by something other than a CCKW and their wheel size was different. Any info on that?

I believe this person is correct. G-518's were pulled behind everything from WC's to Armor. Unless pulled by a Chevy, CCKW, or something that used a 6 hole Budd 7.50 x 20 you had no spare. Thus, the spare rack. There was confirmation of this in an article I read but I have not seen published in an official TM. Could be...I just don't have them all.

My steel Ben Hur came with the tire holder. There is a picture of it on the main site.

They were not limited to "K" series Ben Hur's. I have seen them installed on Cargo Ben Hur's too.

My wood Ben Hur and my #2 Steel Ben Hur did not have them.

Bill

robc · Post by **robc** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 3:35 pm

Thanks for the help, there are no holes in the floor for jerry cans, in fact the only holes are which the generator is bolted in the trailer. Have found in the 'Standard Military Motor Vehicles' manual, the overall length of a 1 Ton trailer is 145 1/2", the K-52 is 140", yet to check mine, but can't understand why they would be different.
The seller also provided extension cables, some ends still wrapped on grease paper, leads are black and I assume plug in to sockets in the control panel, any one seen these before?
If I could work out how to post pictures, would do so.

Barry Churcher · Post by **Barry Churcher** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 9:10 pm

One of my Ben Hur trailers is the fuel transfer model which Bill has helped me confirm. I was told by the old boy that bought it surplus after the war that it was a generator trailer. Since I don't have a hope in hell of finding the fuel reels and pump maybe it wouldn't be too incorrect to mount a generator in it, at least by what you guys are saying. I have a generator with a 4 cylinder Wisconsin and wonder if this could be the PE 99 that Bill mentioned. I Googled PE-99 but couldn't come up with a photo. Does anyone have a pic?
Cheers,
Barry

Bill_Wolf · Post by **Bill_Wolf** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 10:24 pm

Barry,

To keep this thread on the G-518 target I started another one about the PE-99. It also helps the search engine better categorize the posts.

Bill

viewtopic.php?p=17518#17518

robc · Post by **robc** » Fri Sep 26, 2008 3:27 pm

Picture of the generator and trailer as purchased.

Corne Lauwerijssen · Post by **Corne Lauwerijssen** » Tue Jan 27, 2009 8:40 am

Anyone has pictures of a restored generatortrailer?

Iam finishing mine and want to do it as correct as possible.

Greets,

Corné

dr deuce · Post by **dr deuce** » Tue Jan 27, 2009 9:22 am

If a K52 genset trailer was towed with a K51 Chev panel, they also had no spare. The mount for the spare on the K51 was cut off to allow the wooden boxes to be mounted on the side(s).

Is the generator mounted to one side instead of the middle?

Corne Lauwerijssen · Post by **Corne Lauwerijssen** » Mon Feb 16, 2009 6:36 pm

I havent done much last weeks, but I did make a picture!
So here it is!

Its starts with a push on the button and runs very strong.. Ofcourse I need to prime it first. I supllies 220 and 380 volts like we have
nowadays in the Netherlands. So I can use it as a emergency powersupply.

My dad is gonna make the sideracks which he also did perfectly for the other trailer. And Iam gonna make a storagebox that comes in front of the generator for cables etc etc and a rack for 3 jerrycans on the left side and 4 on the rightside..

And maybe I will also buy a canvas cover for it in the near future

Pff and then Iam finished with restoring my projects

Maintenance is so boring

But it keeps them rolling

Ohh btw for the experts.. the instrument panel is a take off from a postwar pe95k, best I could get. Most where modified by bubba

during the rebuilds and conversions to 220 and 380volts years ago.

Bill_Wolf · Post by **Bill_Wolf** » Mon Feb 16, 2009 9:02 pm

Nice work Corne,

It looks great.

I hope my setup comes out that well.

Bill

dr deuce · Post by **dr deuce** » Tue Feb 17, 2009 7:43 am

Nice work Corne,

It looks great.

I hope my setup comes out that well.

Me too!

I have to ask though: Is the genset in backwards? shouldn't the controls be by the tailgate?

Bill_Wolf · Post by **Bill_Wolf** » Tue Feb 17, 2009 7:53 am

Doc,

One would think that....but on my Generator Ben Hur trailer the exhaust outlets are in the front. The muffler is under the control panel so I believe Corne has placed it correctly.

Even though it makes panel access more difficult it does make cooling access better.

The TM also pictures the setup this way.

Bill

Corne Lauwerijssen · Post by **Corne Lauwerijssen** » Tue Feb 17, 2009 8:57 am

Well I have about three TMs (2 originals

1943 and 1945 ) of the powerset. Not the K52

Pictures show it like Bill says with controlpanel at front and radiator at the
tailgate.
My first thought also was controlpanel at the tailgate but it isnt,
if a canvas tarp is on the trailer and closed at front it would possibly overheat.
Know if the tailgate is open plus the tarp is open than it would
get sufficient cooling. Only minor thing is that you have no control on
the instruments. And mine has no oil or temp protection, so I must keep on an eye on it. I have all parts for this but there old on not working and I believe that in wwii not all gensets where equiped with this. Mine wasnt and the parts I have are from postwar donors.

Ohh Bill the exhaust is under the radiator, thus at the rear end of the trailer. So yours has had the radiator at front

Bill_Wolf · Post by **Bill_Wolf** » Tue Feb 17, 2009 10:35 pm

Corne,

You are right...I am backwards

I was trying to do this from memory at work this morning. When I looked at it tonight I was wrong. Also the holes for the exhaust were near the door.

Bill

Corne Lauwerijssen · Post by **Corne Lauwerijssen** » Wed Mar 04, 2009 2:11 pm

Well the racks are done, made of hardwood. These will last forever, because the wood is normally used for under water constructions.
So its extremely heavy

Iam only having some minor trouble with the governor, its not keeping the engine at a constant speed. Its set at 235volts and after a while about 10min it drops to 220volt and after a half hour its around 210-215volts.
This aint not to bad, but shouldnt the governor have the engine at a constant speed all time. hot or cold, under load or not?

And the carburatorfeet is freezing

, theres getting ice onto it

Well have about 3 governors left to try, but all ideas or welcome.

Ive also decided to built in a modern oil and temp proction senders with relays, to prevent the wurst and its reliable. Its not the original setup, but beter than ruining the rebuilt engine.

Pictures will folow in 1 or 2 weeks

Greets,

Corné

Corne Lauwerijssen · Post by **Corne Lauwerijssen** » Sun Mar 29, 2009 5:29 pm

Here they are!!!

Its almost complete, within a 1 or 2 weeks the sparepartbox is beeing made for me. That sits in front of the genset.