OF4WD Maintenance Trailer
A military M101A2 trailer was purchased back in January 2012 and a project plan and budget was established to make a versatile and capable trail maintenance tool.Story By Brian Sibbles Photo by Jacqueline Wettlaufer
A sustainable off-road trail system in the Province of Ontario is the goal of almost every trail user. Riders want a safe trail where they can enjoy the scenery without running into downed trees or impassable areas such as mud holes. Volunteers from all the different organizations are the back bone to providing this to the trail users. These volunteers spend their own money, time and equipment ensuring trails are clear and ready to use every season.
Often trail work requires aggregate to be brought in by contractors. This is generally accomplished through the use of a dump truck or other heavy equipment. In order to allow this equipment to get to the repair site, often trails need to be leveled out and widened first. This work can be quite costly and reduces the interest and beauty of the trails to the users. The 4WD vehicles owned by many of our members are very capable and useful vehicles, we just need to outfit one with all the tools required. While buying a nice 4X4 truck was out of the question the board found a very unique device.
A military M101A2 trailer was purchased back in January 2012 and a project plan and budget was established to make a versatile and capable trail maintenance tool. This trailer was already imported to Canada from the US Military and had a modification done to it allowing it to dump loads of up to 1 ton in an off-road application. Now we have a way to get materials to a site without upgrading half a trail and taking on that extra cost.
Great, we have a small dumping trailer, now what?
The OF4WD approached its devoted sponsors and a list was formed of items and devices the trailer could be outfitted with to make it even more useful. As all the sponsors have different strengths and talents they took a simple M101 and made it into an unstoppable trail maintenance machine!
Autoworks Off-road, Off Road Addiction, Rock Spyder 4X4, Jeep Outfitters, TMR customs, Rubicon Grill, Staang’s Fab, CT motorsports and Just Jeeps all put time and money into this unique project for the 4X4 community. Upgrades that were completed consisted of new tires, custom tool box, towing equipment such as pintle hitches, box liner, trailer removable cover and bows, life time warranty hand tools like shovels, rakes and loppers with custom mounting tubes for storage, a 1400 watt gas generator and safety gear for volunteers. Over 2 months many people were involved and placed their mark on this project to give our volunteers and trail users an excellent tool for years to come.
For full details on what items were provided by whom, the whole story and operation guide can be found on our website www.of4wd.com trails.
The trailer can be signed out by any member of the OF4WD via our website.
If you are part of another 4X4 organization or other trail user group, this trailer can also be requested via our website and we will arrange to make it available with a volunteer to tow it for you.
For information on how you can obtain this type of device for your region in the country and upgrades we performed please feel free to email us at trails@of4wd.com and we will be happy to help.