Fuel & Water Bowsers

A fuel bowser trailer is a towable tank that takes diesel or water to the machine instead of bringing the machine to a pump. TRAILERS SA builds bowsers from 500 to 3,000 litres in three tank materials, on axles rated from 750 kg up to 3,000 kg GVM.

The tank material is the first decision, and it is driven by what goes inside it. Mild steel, pressed from 2.5 mm hot-rolled plate, is the workhorse: it takes knocks on a gravel road, it welds and repairs anywhere in the country, and it is the cheapest litre you can buy. 3CR12 stainless costs more and earns it back where corrosion is the enemy, which means potable water, coastal air, or any load that has to stay clean. Double-layer polyurethane weighs least, cannot rust at all, and holds up under Northern Cape sun that turns cheap plastic chalky inside two seasons.

The second decision is the running gear, and capacity settles it for you. A 500 litre tank sits happily on a single 750 kg non-braked axle behind a bakkie. From 1,000 litres up, a full tank weighs more than a tonne on its own, so we move to a 1,500 kg braked square axle with a two-ton braked coupler. At 2,000 litres and above the trailer runs twin braked axles on a 100 x 50 mm U-channel chassis, with a damped galvanised cast-iron coupler and a 60 mm double jockey wheel, because stopping distance matters more than anything else on a loaded tanker.

Farms use these for refuelling tractors at the edge of a land. Contractors park one on site for the week. Mines and municipalities run them for dust suppression and water carting. If the tank never needs to move, the static tanks and stands section covers gravity-fed standby storage from 1,000 to 5,000 litres instead.