QRTT...the Quick Release TurnTable

...g'day all .. when did the the rise of the QRTT occur in Australia?...as the movement of our old trucks progresses, the dear old fashioned "fixed turntable" seems to have completely disappeared ??

...it's just another part of our transport history and deserves its own space here...are there any clues from the older crew ?....

To add to that what was available before that should be somethings of interest

Hello Detective
Try Napier & Son for the idea and Scammell to build it.
Nothing like we have today but it was quick hitch.
Timing early 1930s I think!
Rex

Dunno about the fixed turntable having disappeared...
Depends what you mean by fixed- a lot have moved to ball race TTs, but not QRTTs.

I look after the welding for a fleet of 20 odd prime movers, and a workshop that services several major local and interstate fleets, and I don't think one of them has a QRTT.
A couple have sliding adjustable TTs but they are rare too- too easy for a driver to back up to the wrong trailer and stick the fridge motor through the back of the sleeper.
And I have never seen a quick release one on an "A" trailer or dolly.

Just what I see in my little corner of the world

Grant.

Wot me remembererer sez

Wen eye twaz a wee ladd jokey n round with our drivers
driver told n showd 2 me the Scammell Automatic Coupling Gear
@ the roundabout the top of Elizebeth st Melb twaz the meat market n they had a few SAC on Bedfords n light trucks
the land n legs/wheels automatically position d by drive n in or out of trailer





Yanky V:
The automatic semi-trailer 5th wheel was invented in 1926 by Fruehauf engineers

In 1926, Fruehauf introduced the automatic semi-trailer in which the coupling and the uncoupling of the tractor were
accomplished mechanically by the motion of the tractor. A single driver, rather than a crew of men, was able to hitch
and unhitch his tractor in minutes saving time and increasing efficiency. This design was instantly
recognized by transportation experts as a major contribution to the industry and still today historians
remark that it was the most important invention made by Fruehauf.







cya

...great info fellas, and thanks for kicking the thread off...

...i should elaborate and say.. when was the normal "day to day" QRTT, seen by the major fleets early on, and embraced by the rest of the transport industry in Australia...and in about what early time frame ...??

...pretty sure Cameron's and George Blomfield were using the QRTT in 1962....maybe they had a big start earlier ??

1960 cica we had a QRTT on truck for the folding goosen neck low loader to work
they had been around for sum time B4 th@
B4 th@ we had the Freighter greasy plate 4 inch cup n saucer type...

FWIW Freighter had rights to use Yanky Trailmobile products etc

thinkn now .... may B Ansett had QRTT for the doitz primemovers B 4 KW arrived there

cya

..Hi Swishy .. the fixed turntables by design were a greasy plate/plates (one for the trailer and one for the prime mover) with the centre boss usually in the trailer, dropping into the "cup" on the p/mover....

...this was all held together with a bloody great threaded bolt and nut (with split pin if you weren't in a hurry!) and was usually accompanied by some "U" bolted and wood steadied chassis mounts....

...Jeeez they must've been the days!

Sorry Detective and all, I seem to have got the wrong end of the stick when it came to this discussion, confusing the common "automatic" fifth wheel with the kind where you pull a couple of pins and lift it off altogether, and completely forgetting the types of turntable available before the Fruehauf hitch.

:-[

Grant.

...all good Wilweld .. no matter what, the hitch arrangement is an ongoing evolutionary story