Turntables

Howdy,

I would would appreciate some opinions from you full time steering wheel attendants on turntables.
I have a few of them and im trying to decide which one to use on the Tranny.
I have a good 2" Jost fork and bar type but have had quiet a strong opinion thrust at me that they are crap.
Opinion thruster reckons I will lose a trailer for sure if I use a Jost. There is thousands of them out there so they cant be that bad ?...or are they
Whats better the jaw type or the fork and sliding bar type ?
I have a York Q coupler on the 190 which is the fork and bar type and it works good. Easy to use and always locks first go.
Or do I go with my old school Pacific No-Slack fork type with the greasy plate base for abit of nostalgia.

Basil

I've never heard anything bad about Jost, most of the Europeans use them, and Shephards fit 100's of them.

Basil - I would ask the opinion-thruster as to explain exactly why he reckons the Jost turntables are crap. If they had a major recognisable, and identifiable fault, I could not imagine authorities allowing them to continue being manufactured and used. There are plenty still being sold, and in use out there, as Cam says .. so I don't see where people are backing away from them, holding out a cross.
Like all mechanical devices, they probably have their foibles, that you have to watch for, such as the possibility that they are slightly more prone to problems with locking than other brands.
In my earthmoving/contracting/trucking world, anyone who hooks up a trailer and then drives off without ensuring that the turntable is properly locked, wouldn't last long, before they were in a new job, asking .. "did you want fries with that?" ..

Ron, Cam,

I formed an opinion of the fella with the Jost comment quiet quickly....in forum friendly talk I believe muppet would be the correct descriptive word for him.
Granted sometimes when you back under they dont always latch first go and If you dont do your checks and drive off and the trailer slides off serves yourself right...not a problem with the coupling.
I reckon this is why he has formed his opinion.
Ive narrowed it down to two that have the right width base plates. A Jost with the fork type setup or a Holland with the normal old jaws.
Im sure after a beer and a think one of them will end up on the old girl tonight.
I appreciate your sensible comments.

Basil

Try this recipe:
Open two beers, stand one beer on each of the turntables in question, periodically take sips from each beer and keep replacing the beers when empty with open full ones again. After a period of time, eventually one of the beers will fall off one of the turntables, this process may take quite some time but rest assured it will eventually happen. DO NOT FIT THE TURNTABLE FROM WHICH THE BEER FELL OFF, as that one was obviously bad luck, fit the other one which obviously has outstanding balance, unblemished track record, and besides who would want a turntable that can't hold it's beer!
cheers
Bretto
PS : Jost has never given me any pain..

i totally agree with you theroadbossman jost are a excellant wheel for holding a beer steady long term.

Hi Basil, in my years of driving Semi's & B Doubles I haven't had any problems with Jost or Holland Turntables and have also used Calandro turntables, they all seem to work OK .
Is the old Pacific TT worn? If not bung it on.
Cheers Ray

I reckon the Jost would be fine, though the Holland will be more the right era. My mate accross the road has a mountain of used turntables, and I picked out a Holland for the Reo, it had the right hieght feet, and looks the part.

Basil, ive never had any trouble with Jost turntables. the later ones have a spring loaded angle that automatically locks the handle. the earlier versions had a clip on a chain that you had to manually clip through the hole to lock the handle. i have heard a few blokes say that if you didnt put the clip in then the trailer can fall off if you are driving over uneven ground.

Thanks for all the comments.
What is apparent is they all do the job they are designed to do and all of them are doomed to fail if the dill that is using it is only half there.
Roadboss way of selecting has merit if not a fun factor and is worth a try.
Ray the old pacific is a cracker. I dont know how old it is really but it hasnt done much work. Still tight as.
It works the same as the fork and bar type and has a greasy plate base. I had thought of using it as Ive not seen another one before so it would be a good conversation piece.
Im not sure why it has the greasy plate base though as it wouldnt turn easier than the plate on the coupling.
Cos the surface area is bigger I wouldve thought it would be worse unlike a ball race....unless silly old person here is missing something

Basil