Trailer limtations

[crazyfarmerboy]

I am 18 and have a full uk driivng license,

i think i can tow a small trailer with a limited weight, does anyone know the limits or how old you have to be to take a test to upgrade to larger tailers or a 12 seater vehicle, also are 110's with 12 seats labelled as 12 seaters on the V5 or can the rear seats be removed and insure it as a 5 seater?

any help will be appreciated, charlie

[PITBULL]

if you are 18 that means you wont be able to tow ANY trailers

[madmatt]

if you are 18 that means you wont be able to tow ANY trailers

Completely incorrect sorry.

If your 18 and hold a cat B licence you can drive any vehicle upto 3500kg gross vehicle weight towing a 750kg gross weight trailer.

Or you can tow a heavier trailer i.e 1000kg provided that the gross vehicle weight of the tow tug is 2500kg and the combination is toatling 3500kg or less,

It can all be found on the DVLA site.

If you have a landy and want to make full use of its 3500kg towing capacity I am afraid its a trip to the test centre for the B+E test.

Oh and all weights used in your maths must be gross weights off manufacturers plates not actual weighbridge weights if these are lower.

[cieranc]

I believe you can tow upto 750kgs on a class B license. To drive with more than 8 seats you need a class D license.

See here: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/Drive...ions/DG_4022547

[HoggyN]

From the Directgov web pages it looks like 17 is minimum age for towing a trailer up to 750kg (16 if you are disabled) Link

See here for how to add categories to your licence. Although that last link has more than a passing resemblance to and algebra exam and as such is as clear as mud.

[titan]

From the Directgov web pages it looks like 17 is minimum age for towing a trailer up to 750kg (16 if you are disabled) Link

See here for how to add categories to your licence. Although that last link has more than a passing resemblance to and algebra exam and as such is as clear as mud.

dose anyone know the weight of a militery trailer with a 110 wolf ?? just wondered it may clear up a dispute at work sorry for the hi jack

[cipx2]

.....

are 110's with 12 seats labelled as 12 seaters on the V5 or can the rear seats be removed and insure it as a 5 seater?

From the license p.o.v it doesn't matter how it's insured. You can insure it as 1 man submarine or airplane, it won't help. All it matters is not to have more than 1+8 seats in the V5 AND not more than 8 passengers except the driver in the vehicle when on public roads.

[mike4444244]

As a very quick hijack whats the approx plated weight for a sankey?

Mike

[martinhollings]

3500kg gross rember not the actual weight at the time 3050kg (is the gross) for a 110 defender and a trailer with a gross of 750kg not an empty 3500kg (i use to think that as long as you were under 3500kg then you were ok but you are not) this realy means that you can only realy tow them little trailers like what halfords sell i am one of those who realy needs to take the test as i do push my luck some times been saying that for

[Gingerlandy]

3500kg gross rember not the actual weight at the time 3050kg (is the gross) for a 110 defender and a trailer with a gross of 750kg not an empty 3500kg (i use to think that as long as you were under 3500kg then you were ok but you are not) this realy means that you can only realy tow them little trailers like what halfords sell i am one of those who realy needs to take the test as i do push my luck some times been saying that for

Has any one taken the trailer test recently I need to get round to it at some point and was woundering what it involed

[bobed90]

Im doing mine in about 4 weeks, im just waiting all the information to come through. I was really shocked by the cost. The test fee is £115 plus training fees, which for the course i am doing ( 12 hours traning inclusive of trailer hire but in my own vehicle) is around another £600. This does seam to be a rip off but is the average price i have found. Also the course i am doing is for people with experiance of towing and not for begginers or the cost would be even more and involve around 30 hours of training. I have towed trailers of all sizes since i passed my test at 18 in 2000. I had no idea of the trailer laws and nor did the company i worked for where i did most of my towing.

[Aragorn]

To clarify some of the points made here,

Your allowed to tow ANY trailer under 750kg MAM, regardless of the vehicle weight,

You are also allowed to tow a trailer thats over 750kg MAM, as long as the trailers MAM and the GVW combined does not exceed 3500kgs, and the weight (or perhaps its MAM?) of the trailer doesnt exceed the weight of the tow car

Basically this means that with a defender 90 that has a 2400kgs GVW can tow a trailer up to 1100kgs MAM. A 110 with a GVW of 3050kgs however can only tow upto the 750kg limit.

The rules basically allow most people to tow caravans and the like (maximum MAM for a single axle caravan is usually 1300kgs, although most are more like 900 or 1000) behind most large estate cars as long as the above criteria are met.

[Charlie Drakeford]

Hi all...

I have taken the trailer test, failed though.....

In all the trailer stuff is fairly simple, it isvery similar to the lorry test.

1st - Reverse in to a garage around set out cones making sure you dont hit any, and reverse up to a line making sure a certain amount of your trailer is over the line.

2nd - Emergency stop at 20mph

3rd - Road driving - this is what caught me out, you spend nearly an hour on the road with the examiner, so before you start to learn any trailer stuff you should make sure your general driving is up to scratch.

4th - Coupling and un coupling

As already stated at £115 for a test i wasnt going to have anmother try in a hurry.

Hope this helps

Charlie

[HoggyN]

dose anyone know the weight of a militery trailer with a 110 wolf ?? just wondered it may clear up a dispute at work sorry for the hi jack

I don't know what a 110 Wolf weighs, but according to Anchor Supplies a wide track Sankey has a payload of 750kg and the trailer itself weighs 509kg.

So B+E licence required at the bare minimum.

BTW Beware of taking your trailer test in an auto, because you will get an auto only upgrade on your licence.

[J@mes]

Bobed90 where are you taking your test/ training? It's something I need to get my ass in gear and do, but there doesn't seem to be many local to me (Bourne) who do it.

It's very expensive to do really, but you can put L-plates on and tow a trailer with a B+E competent person beside you providing they meet the criteria for sitting with a learner driver (over 21, had the license for 3+ years IIRC)

[Aragorn]

I don't know what a 110 Wolf weighs, but according to Anchor Supplies a wide track Sankey has a payload of 750kg and the trailer itself weighs 509kg.

So B+E licence required at the bare minimum.

Those figures would imply that the sankey has a MAM of 1259kgs

This means you could tow it with any vehicle which has a GVW of less than 2241kgs and has a kerb weight higher than 1259kgs.

Means that most landrovers are out, bar a freelander.

Most larger estate cars would be fine i'd imagine.

[bobed90]

Bobed90 where are you taking your test/ training? It's something I need to get my ass in gear and do, but there doesn't seem to be many local to me (Bourne) who do it.

It's very expensive to do really, but you can put L-plates on and tow a trailer with a B+E competent person beside you providing they meet the criteria for sitting with a learner driver (over 21, had the license for 3+ years IIRC)

Im taking my test in Woodhall Spa near Horncastle there website is www.stevedavisadi.co.uk . The other company i found was denby transport based in lincoln although the test is in grimsby, but after several emails sent and voice messages left i have not had a call back.

Hope that helps.

Jason

[smo]

Completely incorrect sorry.

If your 18 and hold a cat B licence you can drive any vehicle upto 3500kg gross vehicle weight towing a 750kg gross weight trailer.

Also incorrect, with a trailer of upto 750kg the vehicle can weigh upto 4250kg - i know as i recently challenged the police for wrongly booking me on this exact thing.

the weights for larger trailers are as stated by madmatt.

[specialbikejames]

Has any one taken the trailer test recently I need to get round to it at some point and was woundering what it involed

Took my B+E a couple ofmonths ago.

Test is split into 3 main parts:

Reverse manouver- reverse trailer around chicance of cones and "park" in imaginary garage. If you can already reverse a trailer this is easy as you are allowed two shunts. If you have never reversed a trailer accurately before you will need practice.

Emergency stop- in the test centre, easy. 20mph to stop under control

Drive- Hardest part, it is examined as a normal car test, that means Mirror-signal-manouver, blind spots, stopping distance. etc. Basically, all the stuff none off us do enough. About an hour in length. Allowed 12 minors. Includes pulling over to a kerb and away again.

Hitch/Unhitch- back to the test centre, have to un hitch,park paralell with the trailer and then re-hitch with no help- twatting the hitch not really any good. There is a set procedure for this and needs to be learnt from an instructor.

You need a box trailer that is double axled, there is a minimum weight but I cant remember it. Also need to have an empty vehicle with towing mirrors.

Getting proffesional instruction is amust I would say, they will also get the right truck/trailer combo. The examiners are very picky, we even had to clean my work 110 as they can reject testing you in a dirty vehicle!

[PITBULL]

Completely incorrect sorry.

If your 18 and hold a cat B licence you can drive any vehicle upto 3500kg gross vehicle weight towing a 750kg gross weight trailer.

Or you can tow a heavier trailer i.e 1000kg provided that the gross vehicle weight of the tow tug is 2500kg and the combination is toatling 3500kg or less,

It can all be found on the DVLA site.

If you have a landy and want to make full use of its 3500kg towing capacity I am afraid its a trip to the test centre for the B+E test.

Oh and all weights used in your maths must be gross weights off manufacturers plates not actual weighbridge weights if these are lower.

I was under the impression that if you passed you test after 1997 you can not tow any trailer without a trailer test?

[J@mes]

have a look here: http://www.ntta.co.uk/law/law/driving_licences.htm

[oggie27_3]

A 110 wolf (TUM) is 3350kg and a 90 wolf (TUL) is 2600kg. these are both GVW that i use for brake test weights.

[PITBULL]

have a look here: http://www.ntta.co.uk/law/law/driving_licences.htm

Just checked here http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/Drive...cles/DG_4022521

Sorry my mistake

[J@mes]

And its absolute bull**** too, I am not allowed to tow a car on a trailer with my disco yet know pretty much everything I need to know about towing safely through reading and having someone with me when I do tow, yet a friend of mine who tows his rally car to events didn't think the car needed tying down and thought it was acceptable to hook the emergency breakaway cable over the electrical hitch and not the towball!

[smo]

I was under the impression that if you passed you test after 1997 you can not tow any trailer without a trailer test?

No, as has been stated post 1997 gives you CAT B which allows 750kg trailer with 3500kg towing vehicle (MAM's) and a combination of upto 3500kg with trailer over 750kg but less than the gross weight of the towing vehicle.

B+E (grandfather rights or via test) allows strange combinations including trailer mam of more than towing vehicle, and much higher weight combinations.