500kg trailer

muffin · Just got MTs Joined: 27 Jul 2011 Odometer: 129

First of all I apologise for asking yet anoter trailer question!

I have a tiny tailed that weighs roughly 500kg (5ftx3ft) so it's very small.
Does that mean that on a swb 2.5 shogun I can tow about 200kg on a normal B license?
Thanks

Xpajun · Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2012 2:49 pm Post subject:

You can tow 750kgs with a normal B licence, so with an unladen weight of 500kgs, that would mean you'd be able to load it with 250kgs...

<EDIT>

And that is wrong Rolling Eyes

You would be able to tow up to 3500kgs minus the weight of your truck but a maximum of 750kgs if it is a un-braked trailer or if the weight of your truck exceeds 2749kgs

Munkee · Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2012 3:08 pm Post subject:

Are you saying you have a 5x3 trailer that weighs 500kg???

Are you sure that's not it's load limit?

fourtrak craige · Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2012 5:29 pm Post subject:

made out of solid gold by any chance? Laughing

muffin · Just got MTs Joined: 27 Jul 2011 Odometer: 129

Haha my trailer is made out of lead!!!

I got it wrong it weighs 80kg and can hold 500kg

ferguson_tom · Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2012 1:50 pm Post subject:

You can tow any trailer up to 750kg with any vehicle up to 3500kg (as long as within car limits) So can tow it with your truck.

w3526602 · Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2012 3:54 pm Post subject:

Him

My brain hurts.

Your trailer, plus its load, must not exceed the MGM that is painted or stamped on the trailer chassis. If the trailer weighs 80kg, and the afore mentioned MGW, is 500kg, then your payload is 420kg.

NO trailer which is unbraked may have an MGW (or ALW) greater than 750kg.

NO trailer, which is unbraked, may have a MGW (or ALW) greater than 50% of the UNLADEN weight of the tow car. Note ...UNLADEN WEIGHT, not KERB WEIGHT.

A Cat. B licence holder may drive a car and trailer which have a combined MGW of 3500kg. That 3500kg may be exceeded provided the car does not EXCEED 3500kg MGW, and the trailer does not EXCEED 750kg MGW. You cannot "mix and match" those weights.

If you exceed the MGW limits of your licence, you are driving without a licence, and therefore are uninsured.

Note, it is the plated MGW (MAM) that matters, the ACTUAL weights have no bearing, unless they exceed the MGW ...... or you are towing with a motor-cycle (I think).

If your little trailer has a plate saying 500kg, and no brakes, you cannot tow it with a SJ410, or whatever.

602

fourtrak craige · Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2012 6:03 pm Post subject:

ok i was want to clear this up if its ok? sorryt o steal your thread, but i have a fourtrak, they are rated at 3.5 ton.

i tow a 3.5 load limit flat bed trailer with a 1.5 ton mini digger, i'm on a standard licence. is this legal???

muffin · Just got MTs Joined: 27 Jul 2011 Odometer: 129

When did you pass your test craige?
If after 1997 then you will need to take a trailer test to tow that weight

w3526602 · Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2012 4:54 am Post subject:

i tow a 3.5 load limit flat bed trailer with a 1.5 ton mini digger, i'm on a standard licence. is this legal???
Hi,

The payload is included in the MGW.

You are OK provided you have a Cat.B+E licence.

If you have only a Cat.B licence, you are limited to towing no more than 100% of your Fourtrack (1650kg?) So NO, you can't tow your 3500kg MGW trailer.

The omly safe way is to find the relevent figures on the chassis plates of the tow car and trailer, write them down, and switch on your calculator.

Why do the Law Makers make it so difficult?

602

fourtrak craige · Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2012 10:18 am Post subject:

ok cheers, yep passed in 06 Embarassed

well that clears that up, on my tractor it goes then Smile

its so blooming hard to get your head around all of this Evil or Very Mad

ferguson_tom · Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2012 12:00 pm Post subject:

Its a pain the trailer rules and regulations, stupid thing was i could tow my caravan with my old car but couldnt tow it with my nissan terrano as goes over the 3500kg limit with the standard car license.

If you have the time and a bit of money do the trailer test that way you wont have to worry ever again. Some of the 2 day courses sound a bit steep but if you call them up and explain you have been towing for ages you can normally bring the price down a lot and do it all in one day. I paid about £400 quid for a days training including the test fee.

The biggest joke is the trailer test is a waste of time there is nothing to do with safe loading or anthing useful like that, the reversing test is very very easy, the biggest problem is they mark you as like a normal driving test so push pull steering, mirror signal manoeuvre etc. I failed my first test as i sat behind a bus too long and got done for undue hesitation, retook it and only got 2 minors a week later.

I would suggest doing a little bit of training as well as there are some things they want you to do in the test that you wouldnt think of day to day. I am actually teaching my brother it so he can do his now.

fourtrak craige · Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2012 3:11 pm Post subject:

ferguson_tom · Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2012 8:09 am Post subject:

Good job they held on till after you delivered the scrap, could have been interesting.

Thats another joke of the trailer tests you can be towing for years and years and still possibly fail the test because you didnt tick the box they want you to do on the test, and practical day to day trailer towing is nothing like the stuff you do in the test. I passed my normal car test when i was 17 and just did my trailer test this year (now 22) so for 5 years i have been towing caravans and trailers. I actually got told on the first test 'i can see you are safe and confident with a towing a trailer but have to fail you as you waited behind the bus too long.'

muffin · Just got MTs Joined: 27 Jul 2011 Odometer: 129

So wait I drive a a SWB shogun 2.5td.
I'm guessing I wouldn't be able to tow my boss' 12 foot ifor Williams that weighs about 1 tonne?! Still on a normal B license

I will take the test eventually but just don't have the funds at the moment and trying to find a way to tow stuff

fourtrak craige · Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2012 7:26 pm Post subject:

ferguson_tom · Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2012 8:36 am Post subject:

fourtrak craige · Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2012 5:51 pm Post subject:

w3526602 · Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2012 4:26 am Post subject:

so what your saying is the 3.5 ton ifor i had on the back, i'm not menna tow just because somewhere it say 3.5 ton?

Hi,

That's about the size of it!

I'm guessing that it makes it easy for Plod, or man in white coat, just to look st the chassis plates, compare the figures, write you a ticket. But this can lead to some crazy results. For instance .....

My 30ft long boat trailer had ULW of 752kg, and MGW of 3500kg. That meant that a Cat.B licence holder could not tow it. But he could load that trailer onto a smaller trailer with 1000kg MGW, and be allowed to tow that. Same "footprint", and greater weight.

My Disco has an ULW of about 2000kg, and a MGW of about 2700kg. A Cat.B driver is restricted to a total MGW of 3500kg, so is limited to towing a trailer of about 800kg. Some Austin Metros can tow 800kgs. Shocked

A Cat.B+E driver can tow 3500kg with a Disco, or even 4000kg if the trailer has posh brakes. The anomaly is that a Cat.B driver can pull a heavier trailer if he is driving a lighter tug. Confused

I understand that some Land Rovers leave the factory with a MGW in excess of 3500kg. ???? So a Cat.B driver would not be allowed to drive them at all.

Can anyone advise? Are we allowed to change the trailer plate, so that it shows a lighter MGW? Is there a market for a selection of magnetic chassis plates? Very Happy

Yorkie (RIP) was allowed to change the tax disc on his tractor unit according to the MGW of the semi-trailer he was pulling. For thse of our younger readers who never saw the advert on TV, a sun bronzed, blonde, Adonis used to enjoy a Yorkie chocolate bar while driving his pantechnicon .... probably get fined for doing that nowadays. Whatever, he died recently, but left a legacy of a nick-name for truck drivers.

602

602

ferguson_tom · Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2012 10:40 am Post subject:

muffin · Just got MTs Joined: 27 Jul 2011 Odometer: 129

Is there anyway I can tow a small 4x4 (jimny or vitara size)
On a trailer with my shogun still on a cat B license

Xpajun · Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2012 12:44 pm Post subject:

w3526602 · Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2012 2:10 pm Post subject:

Hi,

Freedom caravans are manufactured with MGW of 850kgs, but the UK dealer down-plates them to 750kg. I can't work out why, cos Cat.B drivers can pull the same as the unladen weight of their car, and there can't be many cars with ULW of 750kg or less that are rated to tow 750kgs. ????

Whatever, I asked for my new Freedom to be rated at 850kg, giving it a 200kg payload .... just in case I want to bring a load of wine back from France. I had to wait for a chassis plate to be sent from Poland, but it was a no cost upgrade.

I read somewhere that VOSA likes commercial vehicles to be modified in some way to justify the replating. But of course, goods vehicles are Type Approved, while trailers are not ..... until September.

As it is, my little box trailer wears a 600kg MGW label, cos thats what the tyres are rated at. (Standard Mini wheels are rated at 620kg per axle). I suppose I could change that to something like 400kg, so Barbara could tow it (unbraked) behind her KIA, but then it would have a silly payload when I put it behind the Disco. How about fitting two plates, point to the one that is relevent when somebody asks . Confused

602

602

ferguson_tom · Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2012 2:19 pm Post subject:

Xpajun · Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2012 2:28 pm Post subject:

Just a silly thought after Toms reply above...

My Pajero only has a GTW of 4.9 tonne on it's plate - no vehicle weight - no axle weight

Would this mean a person with a B cat would not be legal driving it???

w3526602 · Posted: Sat Jun 16, 2012 4:02 am Post subject:

My Pajero only has a GTW of 4.9 tonne on it's plate - no vehicle weight - no axle weight

Hi,

Pajeros are grey imports, presumably from Japan. As such, it is unusual for them to have any reference to their towing capacity, and therefore (arguably) they are not allowed to tow anything. Quickly closes that can of worms.

I suspect that VOSA would "default" to actual laden weight, and if that exceeds 3500kg .......... Er, my brain is starting to hurt, so I suggest that you ask VOSA.

602

Xpajun · Posted: Sat Jun 16, 2012 8:56 am Post subject:

fourtrak craige · Posted: Sat Jun 16, 2012 3:45 pm Post subject:

so would that be the same for my fourtrak then?

Xpajun · Posted: Sat Jun 16, 2012 4:44 pm Post subject:

fourtrak craige · Posted: Sat Jun 16, 2012 5:51 pm Post subject:

can't see no plate Twisted Evil

n i can't read.

don't know what weights are.

who am i? Laughing