Fitted a front tow ball

[prv]

Looks like a perfect system.

Good.

What do you think is a good length for the bar, for a trailer carrying an 18' (plus outdrive) boat? Longer is preferable, for getting the trailer deeper without wetting the car, but too long becomes impractical I guess, plus prone to grounding over the top of the ramp. Also, how long was the overlap, ie the distance between the trailer hitch and the loop for the end of the bar?

Cheers,

Pete

 

[bignick]

So, if we assume that nobody's daft enough to try driving down the road pushing a trailer (or pulling it by driving the car in reverse), what is the relevance of the regulation to front-mounted towbars?

Pete

Not sure how the type approval regs fit in with front tow bars, but there are certainly regs relating to pedestrian safety. The same ones that led to soft front "bull bars" for 4WDs. I could imagine that these would affect the figment of a lump of iron that protrudes ahead of the "pedestrian friendly" bumpers now fitted.

 

[davidpbo]

So, if we assume that nobody's daft enough to try driving down the road pushing a trailer (or pulling it by driving the car in reverse), what is the relevance of the regulation to front-mounted towbars?
Pete

The paperwork says it complies with appropriate standards for height, strength and fatigue. I have no intention of driving down the road with it ;-).

 

[ffiill]

Re.leglislation last year my garage for my MOT commented that as my towing electrics were not connected no problem but if connected form part of the MOT and must function.
He then said just remove the tow ball because then neither the towing bracket is MOT able and per say there is no need for electrics working or not!

 

[ffiill]

The extension bar-regularly used by those of us who kept our boats ashore at Coniston boat ramp/jetty/boat pound back in the 1980s.

 

[rhumlady]

I can see the extension working well when in tension ie pulinhg but how do you keep it from jack knifeing up or down when pushing?

 

[Daydream believer]

I did say ' ex '...

Wow !! I have heard it can be hassle getting the ring back but must put the heart in the mouth worrying about getting the boat back - now that could be really serious

 

[Lakesailor]

Re.leglislation last year my garage for my MOT commented that as my towing electrics were not connected no problem but if connected form part of the MOT and must function.

Then if your electrics are single socket seven pin he is incorrect.
For such wiring the only testable function is that they are physically secure.

 

[Lakesailor]

Good.

What do you think is a good length for the bar, for a trailer carrying an 18' (plus outdrive) boat? Longer is preferable, for getting the trailer deeper without wetting the car, but too long becomes impractical I guess, plus prone to grounding over the top of the ramp. Also, how long was the overlap, ie the distance between the trailer hitch and the loop for the end of the bar?

Cheers,

Pete

I made the bar long enough to fit alongside the trailer chassis without protuding if the trailer is towed without a boat on it.
The free end of the bar slips into a loop welded to the chassis (or you could bolt it on). It is shown in the diagram, but maybe it's not obvious what it is. Thus the extension is located at two points on the drawbar and so is rigid. You have to remember to draw the jockeywheel well up to prevent it grounding.

 

[prv]

The free end of the bar slips into a loop welded to the chassis (or you could bolt it on). It is shown in the diagram, but maybe it's not obvious what it is. Thus the extension is located at two points on the drawbar and so is rigid.]

Don't worry - unlike many others, apparently, the function of your extension bar is quite clear to me

I was contemplating achieving the function of the loop by some other arrangement, attached to the bar rather than the trailer so that the latter remains unmodified. Also a little concerned about the loop lowering the ground clearance of the trailer, which is pretty low-slung already. But the loop does have the benefit that one can insert the end of the pole into it without grovelling under the trailer, so I might go that way after all. I am a far from expert welder, so I would probably clamp it on with U-bolts.

Still curious how far back you mount your loop.

Pete

 

[Avocet]

I used to have an extension pole which I used on the front of the Landrover when launching and recovering. It was about 10' long and had a tow ball on one end and a cheap pressed steel hitch on the other. That kept the trailer standard. I used to prevent "jackknifing" by having a cable from each side of the far end of the pole, going to a shackle on each end of the Landrover bumper to "triangulate" it. To be honest, when launching, the weight of the boat on the slipway pulling on the pole tended to keep it fairly straight anyway. The only times it went into compression was when a trailer wheel encountered an underwater obstruction (a stone, or something). Recovering was never a problem in THAT plane, but in the vertical plane it was less successful. I usually needed to have the jockey wheel on the trailer down, to stop it just falling on its nose. As the car got to the level road at the top of the slipway and the boat was still coming up it, there was a big downward load on the jockey wheel (I trashed a few like that)! Lakey's solution would, of course, help in both planes, not just with jackknifing.

 

[Avocet]

So, if we assume that nobody's daft enough to try driving down the road pushing a trailer (or pulling it by driving the car in reverse), what is the relevance of the regulation to front-mounted towbars?

Pete

I don't think there's anything specifically on "front mounted" tow bars, it just says that "tow bars" need to be type approved (and, of course, nobody would ever bother type approving a front one)! Don't get me wrong, I don't suppose the chances of getting prosecuted would be anything other than "extremely minimal", but technically, if a towbar is fitted to a car registered after 1998, it needs to be type approved.

 

[Lakesailor]

I was contemplating achieving the function of the loop by some other arrangement, attached to the bar rather than the trailer so that the latter remains unmodified. Also a little concerned about the loop lowering the ground clearance of the trailer, which is pretty low-slung already.
Still curious how far back you mount your loop.

Pete

Instead of a loop to fit the bar in, how about a tongue to fit inside the end of the bar, held on with u-bolts.

I wouldn't make the spacing less than a couple of feet. But you're only talking about slow speed steering so it's up to you really.

tongue for extension bar (green)

Another possibility is to weld a couple of jaws on the side of the draw bar with pins to drop through to locate the extension bar to the side of the drawbar instead of underneath.. This wouldn't alter the ground clearance at all and obviate the need to latch into the coupling. I don't think U-bolts would work very well for that idea.

 

[prv]

Instead of a loop to fit the bar in, how about a tongue to fit inside the end of the bar, held on with u-bolts.

That's not a bad idea. I could make the whole thing as one plate, complete with holes for the u-bolts. A very simple and minimal addition.

Another possibility is to weld a couple of jaws on the side of the draw bar with pins to drop through to locate the extension bar to the side of the drawbar instead of underneath.. This wouldn't alter the ground clearance at all and obviate the need to latch into the coupling.

Don't think that would work due to the shape of the trailer frame - but I'm not sure as it's many months since I last saw it, and I wasn't thinking of extension bars then. I'm not too bothered about ground clearance with the bar in place, as the trailer will be moving slowly with people watching it - it's on the road that I want it to be as nearly unmodified as possible, to help with pitching the idea to my mate

Pete

 

[TSB240]

That's not a bad idea. I could make the whole thing as one plate, complete with holes for the u-bolts. A very simple and minimal addition.



Don't think that would work due to the shape of the trailer frame - but I'm not sure as it's many months since I last saw it, and I wasn't thinking of extension bars then. I'm not too bothered about ground clearance with the bar in place, as the trailer will be moving slowly with people watching it - it's on the road that I want it to be as nearly unmodified as possible, to help with pitching the idea to my mate

Pete

Our pusher bar is the same square section as that to which the demountable tow ball is fixed.

We simply remove the drop pin fit the bar and fit the demountable ball on the other end.(fits onto a welded spigot of square section that fits internally.)

In compression the pusher bar is fully restrained laterally by the car mounting. It does not need any further connection to the trailer or the car to keep the trailer in line.

On big camber changes (like the top of a slip way)when the car is at a different angle to the slipway i find the mounting on the car will rotate on its end fixings allowing the coupling end of the pusher bar to stay at the fixed height of the jockey wheel. Alternatively you can pull the boat so far up the slip in the same plane . Chock the wheels. Don't ever rely solely on hand brake. Remove pusher bar, reverse and re hitch.

 

[prv]

Our pusher bar is the same square section as that to which the demountable tow ball is fixed.

Ah, so yours is mounted rigidly to the car rather than rigidly to the trailer?

I've seen that suggested, but I don't much like the amount of sideways or vertical leverage on a mount that wasn't designed for it. I know it ought to be pretty strong to withstand road loads, but whether rational or not I still don't like it. It also turns the car part of the combination into quite an unwieldy beast, albeit not too much of an issue on a slipway where it's pretty much a straight line.

In any case, I think the tow ball on my mate's Navara pickup is permanently bolted in place, not demountable.

Pete