Driving a Unimog on a post 1997 license

mogmaner · Posted: Sat Aug 15, 2009 7:23 pm Post subject: road youse

404 as tractors come under vintage insurance . mines insured with cherished car if i remember right they will insure yonger drivers .

dxmedia · Mud Obsessed Joined: 10 Dec 2008 Odometer: 2185

If you want to go down the tractor route, suddenly there's the 22 tonne trailer limit which comes into play Wink

I've no idea how the post 97 licence effects this though. A mog's official tow limit of something like 2 1/2 tonne is for offroad. I've yet to find the on road towing limit. I've seen vid of a stock 404 taking part in a tractor pull and wiping the floor with some heavily modified tractors.

Just a thought. I know I keep harping on about the tractor thing, but it opens sooo many doors, and the mog was designed as a tractor so the paper work is supposed to be a breeze.

mogmaner · Posted: Sat Aug 15, 2009 7:37 pm Post subject: road youse

my little 401 i had befor the 404 had a rating of 40 tonne in 1st gear droping as you went up the box that was with a 1,7L engine .you could also insure a 404 as a clasic truck or milatry .

paul_c · Off-Road Guru Joined: 17 May 2009 Odometer: 1378

dxmedia · Mud Obsessed Joined: 10 Dec 2008 Odometer: 2185

paul_c · Off-Road Guru Joined: 17 May 2009 Odometer: 1378

mogmaner · Posted: Sat Aug 15, 2009 8:21 pm Post subject: road youse

under historic most of the agric youse is not yoused as you tend to take it to and from shows wether static or playing it dose not have to be for agric youse.

dxmedia · Mud Obsessed Joined: 10 Dec 2008 Odometer: 2185

mogmaner · Posted: Sat Aug 15, 2009 8:24 pm Post subject: road youse

40k aplies to two wheel brakes and no springs

Tom.H · Guest

Hi

I still think the honest way would be to 'de rate' the mog and then take a trailer test. Meaning I'd end up with a B+E license

This would allow me to drive the mog up to a gvw of 3.5 tons and also tow a trailer weighing up 3.5 tons

Although I'd still be up for registering it as an agricultural vehicle .... As I wouldn't have to 'de rate' the gross vehicle weight as well as not taking a trailer test.

I suspect there's away of registering it so that it meets my needs... It will just rely on me saying the correct thing to the DVLA/Office

Tom

dxmedia · Mud Obsessed Joined: 10 Dec 2008 Odometer: 2185

If the tractor route is chosen and proved to be legal it isn't dishonest.

The mog was originally designed as a universal tractor. If you are licenced to drive a tractor and you happen to own one, all well and good.

I own my mog since it's a tractor. The MOT exemptness (new word?) I would suggest is a reason to make sure that the MOG is mechanically as near perfect as you can get it, it's not justification to run a dangerous vehicle (IMO the opposite since if you do get into any problems then the condition of the mog will be checked and double checked). The free tax and the classic tractor insurance all help in keeping a historic vehicle on the road.

Total cost of ownership for a mog for a year as registered as a tractor is £90 for the insurance. The savings else where all go towards keeping a 45 year old truck (um tractor Laughing

) in road worthy condition which is not only safe, but safe enough to pass a thorough inspection if anything bad was to happen.

Non of that is dishonest.

mogmaner · Posted: Sat Aug 15, 2009 9:06 pm Post subject: road youse

depending on year of build it will alter the licence requied to drive it as a clssic truck. minse 1958 so is exempt test as a truck and can be driven on a basic car licence as can large ridged milatry trucks. so there is a mine field to be picked through but you should get the result you are after.

Turnip · Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2009 9:04 pm Post subject:

Guys, I have read this thread with great interest and my understanding is that........ There is no limit as to how far from home you can go with a tractor, I think this stems from the old system of a tax exemption for farm tractors which did have a limit of I think 7 road miles in a week. There may also be a sting in as much as Im pretty sure that you cannot actually carry a load on a tractor - apart from in a link box? There used to be a company which took the back off a landrover and fitted it back as a removable box. This could then be taxed as a tractor but was definately restricted to 30mph, I drove one! Having said that I have seen a JCB Fastrack on the motorway - he was popular!. I insure my Mog with the NFU as a vintage commercial vehicle at about £60 PA - wouldnt want to have an accident with it loaded though!
Fired up the Mog with the Iveco 8140 TDI for the first time today, tight squeeze to get it in there, but if it goes well it could be the way forward for those wanting to go Diesel!

mogmaner · Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2009 10:22 pm Post subject: ROAD YOUSE

Glade to hear youre up and running should be a good option just needs refining now youve proved it will fit. Im looking at my prima and a vm i have sat around both have turbo and inlet on the same side as the M180 . As for trailer test its a good idear to take it as its only going to get harder .

TigerMog · Posted: Wed Aug 19, 2009 5:51 am Post subject:

I find this thread interesting because I wasnt aware of this forum when I arrived to the UK last year and tried to register my mog. With no forum guidance to help out I will tell you it is a huge struggle to register an old 404 here. I bounced around between DVLA, VOSA, and every other four letter acronym office you have here for three months until I was told that I simply couldn't register my truck in the UK. As a 1962, my 404 was too old for an approved type test, etc etc.

I was asked what I had the vehicle registered as before coming to the UK and told the man "...a vehicle. It was just registered as a vehicle. We dont have all these TYPES of vehicles". After all of the pain of fighting through DVLA and being told that they simply would not register it, I went to the Mercedes website, looked at the history of the Unimog, printed off the page and highlighted the sentence that said "originally designed as an agricultural vehicle".

One more trip to DVLA, I showed the page with the highlighted sentence, the lady smiles and says "oh, so it is an old tractor then? great!" No MOT, no tax, have a nice day and see you again next year.

boatman · Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2009 7:59 pm Post subject:

Hello Tom
I know its a bit late but I have had to derate my 404 as my licence was restricted for medical reasons.Itis quite straight forward.You need to cotact an outfit called SvTech (specialist vehicle technology)5B Talbot Road,Leyland,Lancs PR25 2ZF.
This was several years ago.
Hope this may help you or anybody else.By the way you do not have to do anything to the vehicle,its just a paper exercise with a fee of course.

Regards
H

steeee · Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2009 10:36 pm Post subject:

Tom I would highly advise you to get insurance quotes now before you get a nasty surprise on your 17 birthday.

I think youl find that without it costing a fortune you will realistically only be able to insure it under a tractor or classic tractor policy, bear in mind that NFU no longer insure under 25's

sorry to bring a downer

paul_c · Off-Road Guru Joined: 17 May 2009 Odometer: 1378

The confusion over a distance limits relates to the exemption from needing an operators licence. More info here, in particular post #13 which has a scanned page of a book:

http://farmingforum.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=16265

bluesj · Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2009 9:31 pm Post subject:

dxmedia · Mud Obsessed Joined: 10 Dec 2008 Odometer: 2185