Perimeter frames

Here's the first two Haulmark perimeter frame trailers as supplied to Buntine in 1981.
As you can see they are behind an F1227 Volvo that was originally a demonstrator and had brought the two Haulmarks up from Brisbane.Fleet No59.Driver here is Brian"Magilla"
Edwards.The prime mover was red for some months until Buntine actually bought it.
It was one headache after another.The rear single point suspension springs kept fouling their own chassis securing bolts.There was far too much chassis rail protruding at the back
which was prone to fouling the undersides of the trailers.Like all Euros it was 24 volt.
There was a box approx 1x1x2.5 feet hanging under the rear of the chassis that contained a very crude,locally made,inverter for the trailer lights.There was three light plugs on the outside.Use No1 plug for one trailer,No2 for two trailers,etc.
The Engel fridge ended up being connected to this as well.
I never drove it but those that did said it was a pleasure to drive,quiet,comfortable but painfully slow.And,like a 2233 Benz I came in contact with a couple of years later,the A/c
couldn't keep up with the temps in a cab with so much glass area.
At the time I was driving a near new Cu350 W model and on one occassion three of us left Alice with the same load at the same time heading to Darwin.
The Volvo,my KW and a 320 Coolpower R600.
First leg,325 miles to Three Ways roadhouse with a tyre check at 170miles(Barrow CK)
As usual the Mack went in front and made about five minutes on the KW on both sections.
The Volvo arrived at Three Ways 1hr 15mins behind us.

Awesome photos and great stories, keep em up!
Cheers
Richard

the 380-420hp ? of the 12 litre volvo was very misleading ! . . the V8 benz i still have (250hp) was matched by my 175hp UD (both trucks similer size/weight) .. maybe european horses had shorter legs ? (or ingrown toenails)

How right you are Kenny, European horses had shorter legs than the Yanky Iron. Japanese only had shetland ponies.

according to my Volvo chart the earlier F12 motors had 350hp then went up to 380 around '82, and later still it appears that the specs were all over the place. If they had any brains they would have used the F16 at 465hp and with hub reduction option.

The two PF freight trailers are on the rear of the Volvo combination(above).The lead is a Haulmark "Volume Plus"cattle trailer (commonly called a boat trailer)converted to carry containers.
Although it has a deck it is about a foot below the top of the coaming rail.
VP double deckers were,in their time,and in my opinion,the best DD cattle trailer money
could buy.They had the best between deck clearance and the lowest centre of gravity of any of their competitors thanks to the perimeter frame's low deck height.
True,they were heavy.A little over 12 tons without a dolly and I can say from experience,that due to the high coaming rails,left uncleaned could hold in excess of 5 tons of "fallout".
Haulmark started building the VP trailers at the end of 1978 with first deliveries in time for the 1979 cattle season in the Territory.The idea came from
Doug Foster,Buntine Roadways General Manager,having been on a study tour of the US in 1978 and come away impressed with the perimeter frames built by "Utility".



BRL No40 W923AR c/n 403963 and three Volume Plus cattle trailres. 7/79