Towing entitlement

[rustic]

I have the old fashioned driving licence, from 1976. Normal car driving licence.

I tow a boat trailer with boat 600 kg+ 1300 kg approx, gross under 2 tonne, the trailer is plated at 2600 kg, so well within the trailer spec, well within the towing capacity of the Maverick, 2800kg and well below the gross train weight on the maverick plate.

Also well within my licence allowances.

Now here is the question.

I want to use the Picasso to move the empty trailer from A - B
Maximum towed weight for the Picasso is 1300 kg, trailer empty is 600 kg, so well within the vehicles capability, in fact blow the 750 kg limit that doesn't require it to have brakes even.. ( with a suitable vehicle.).

So in theory, I could carry 1300-600 kg ie 700 kg load on the trailer and still be legal right...!

OR is the fact that the trailer is rated at 2600kg gross even though empty over rides this?

I have heard so many conflicting reports.


Rustic.

[jonela]

Originally Posted by rustic

I have the old fashioned driving licence, from 1976. Normal car driving licence.

I tow a boat trailer with boat 600 kg+ 1300 kg approx, gross under 2 tonne, the trailer is plated at 2600 kg, so well within the trailer spec, well within the towing capacity of the Maverick, 2800kg and well below the gross train weight on the maverick plate.

Also well within my licence allowances.

Now here is the question.

I want to use the Picasso to move the empty trailer from A - B
Maximum towed weight for the Picasso is 1300 kg, trailer empty is 600 kg, so well within the vehicles capability, in fact blow the 750 kg limit that doesn't require it to have brakes even.. ( with a suitable vehicle.).

So in theory, I could carry 1300-600 kg ie 700 kg load on the trailer and still be legal right...!

OR is the fact that the trailer is rated at 2600kg gross even though empty over rides this?

I have heard so many conflicting reports.


Rustic.

When I was moving to France ,I hired a large box van to take all are bits and bobs over. Not wanting to overload it I looked at the plate and it was very confusing, axle weight,unladen ,laden etc .
So I rang the local Police station to ask them,they said no problem,they would send a traffic police man round to explain it. sure enough 15 min later he turned up in his jam sandwich, very friendly ,and explained it all, leaving me happy i wasn't going to get pulled and end up with a fine and points,

[Barrbeast]

Hi Rustic

Trailer Plate used to be what they went by but it changed sometime in the last year or so (maybea bit more) and in a remarkable show of common sense it was decided that the actual weight of the trailer plus cargo would be the crucial figure. Plate weight is now only used to tell if the trailer is overloaded or not.

[rustic]

Originally Posted by Barrbeast

Hi Rustic

Trailer Plate used to be what they went by but it changed sometime in the last year or so (maybea bit more) and in a remarkable show of common sense it was decided that the actual weight of the trailer plus cargo would be the crucial figure. Plate weight is now only used to tell if the trailer is overloaded or not.

Wow only changed in the last year...
Common sense said I would have been fine with the Picasso, but it wouldn't have been legal a year or so back.
No wonder I had conflicting information.

Thanks for the update.

[cncfabs]

Originally Posted by Barrbeast

Hi Rustic

Trailer Plate used to be what they went by but it changed sometime in the last year or so (maybea bit more) and in a remarkable show of common sense it was decided that the actual weight of the trailer plus cargo would be the crucial figure. Plate weight is now only used to tell if the trailer is overloaded or not.

I disagree on the old system you couldnt hook up a 3500kg gross trailer to a terrano now you can.Before if you were stopped it was a simple check of the vin plates to ensure everthing was in order.Now to be prosecuted for overloading you would have to be taken to a weighbridge.You may think thats good because chances of prosecution have been reduced but on the other hand if you were injured or killed by someone with an overloaded trailer you may take a different view.It one of the things that really annoy me is the fact that my towing combination is legal but it cost me a lot of money to run such a vehicle whilst people seem to get away with towing ifor williams trailers on the family saloon

[Barrbeast]

Originally Posted by cncfabs

You may think thats good because chances of prosecution have been reduced but on the other hand if you were injured or killed by someone with an overloaded trailer you may take a different view.

Hi cncfabs that's not why I think it is a good idea.

Being involved in the farming community I know there are plenty of folk who for practical reasons (capacity of size as opposed to weight) have trailers that have a higher rating than their pickup or 4x4 is plated for eg. my friend has a 3500kg rated IW flatbed which he tows with a L200 doublecab. He wouldn't be so irresponsible as to overload it past the pickup's towing capacity but for example he needs the trailer size for delivering loads of big square bales (~250kg each) over a long distance. A smaller trailer would be impractical given the dimensions of the bales (0.9m wide x 0.6m tall and up to 2.5m long).

I fully appreciate your point though and agree that it is important to match trailer and towing vehicle appropriately.

[Smiler AS]

Originally Posted by cncfabs

.... whilst people seem to get away with towing ifor williams trailers on the family saloon

I've got my trailer test at start of Sept, I think I'm okay with light stuff but there are days when I fully load the trailer with logs for winter.
Plus Terrano looks good towing a trailer too!

[briggie]

ive got B+E on my licence

[Thomas-the-Terrano2]

Originally Posted by Barrbeast

Hi Rustic

Trailer Plate used to be what they went by but it changed sometime in the last year or so (maybea bit more) and in a remarkable show of common sense it was decided that the actual weight of the trailer plus cargo would be the crucial figure. Plate weight is now only used to tell if the trailer is overloaded or not.

can anyone provide a link, ideally to a .gov site that explains this change please.

[terrano bob]

Originally Posted by cncfabs

I disagree on the old system you couldnt hook up a 3500kg gross trailer to a terrano now you can.Before if you were stopped it was a simple check of the vin plates to ensure everthing was in order.Now to be prosecuted for overloading you would have to be taken to a weighbridge.You may think thats good because chances of prosecution have been reduced but on the other hand if you were injured or killed by someone with an overloaded trailer you may take a different view.It one of the things that really annoy me is the fact that my towing combination is legal but it cost me a lot of money to run such a vehicle whilst people seem to get away with towing ifor williams trailers on the family saloon

yep with you on that one I tow a twin wheel caravan hence t2

[Ianinessex]

Originally Posted by Smiler AS

I've got my trailer test at start of Sept, I think I'm okay with light stuff but there are days when I fully load the trailer with logs for winter.
Plus Terrano looks good towing a trailer too!

Terrano looks OK with a trailer, 'trol looks better.

[terrano bob]

Originally Posted by Ianinessex

Terrano looks OK with a trailer, 'trol looks better.

that's nice

[Banshee]

Originally Posted by Ianinessex

Terrano looks OK with a trailer, 'trol looks better.

Got to admit that looks nice but I prefer Smiler's Terry

[theron]

Originally Posted by Thomas-the-Terrano2

can anyone provide a link, ideally to a .gov site that explains this change please.

VOSA published this guide aimed at horse trailer users but it covers all kinds of towing. The bit I think you are looking for is on page 18:

https://www.gov.uk/government/upload...ler_owners.pdf

[Thomas-the-Terrano2]

Originally Posted by theron

VOSA published this guide aimed at horse trailer users but it covers all kinds of towing. The bit I think you are looking for is on page 18:

https://www.gov.uk/government/upload...ler_owners.pdf

cheers cracking link!

will pass to a chap on a fb t2 page thread that wasnt aware of changes.