Towing advice, please?

oldharry said:
Thats not quite right. All cars have a maximum towing weight and a maximum allowable mass defined by the vehicle manufacturer for each specific model. The MAM is the maximum total all up weight of the car, its load, and any trailer and load attached. Clearly a trailer weighing 250kg will not exceed this, BUT, the trailer will also have a maximum designed load. THAT - daft though it is - is the figure that makes up the actual MAM on the road, as well as the maximum trail weight. So If your 250kg trailer has a 1500kg load capacity, then it would be illegal to tow it behind an 1100kg car even if the actual weight is only 250kg. Crazy!

If the trailer has been built in the last 15 years or so, it is supposed to have a plate which defines the maximum load it can carry, usually on or near the towbar.

No good asking the Police, they will never commit themselves - not until they have caight you on the road and decide your outfit is illegal.
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Thats not quite right. WELL WE BETTER GET IN TOUCH WITH THE NTTA THEN !!!
 
Lakesailor quotes only part of the advice/law from NTTA, the full quote was reference to 'unbraked' trailers. I never bothered to look up regs re braked trailers but obviously a bit more weight can be safely pulled and stopped with a braked trailer.
 
Go back and read it again
Category B vehicles may be coupled with a trailer up to 750kgs MAM (allowing a combined weight up to 4.25 tonnes MAM) or a trailer over 750kgs MAM provided the MAM of the trailer does not exceed the unladen weight of the towing vehicle, and the combination does not exceed 3.5 tonnes MAM
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It's not the NTTA either it's from the Dept of Transport website. Follow the links
 
Lakesailor said:
Go back and read it again


It's not the NTTA either it's from the Dept of Transport website. Follow the links
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I can assure you that I took the quote from an article from the NTTA, maybe they got it from some other reliable source!! You are a bit on the rude side I think, I do not intend to go back and read anything again nor do I need you to tell me to follow the links. I contribute to this forum in good faith trying to assist where I can, I don't do Personal.
 
Thanks to everyone for what, to me, turned into a fascinating little thread.

Towing law seems to be a crazily complex area.

Having balanced the various arguments, I decided to move the trailer yesterday.

No drama, no difficult questions from Police....in fact, you could say, it all went without a hitch.

Thanks again.
 
Very useful practical summary, together with explanation of all the various weight measurements relating to vehicles and towing here: Ok its aimed at caravans - but it was written for them. The principles are the same whatever you tow... http://www.campingandcaravanningclub.co.uk/Documents/Matching Car and Caravan.pdf

Glad you got the trailer moved OK! Plod normally only take interest if you are doing something obviously silly or illegal except in holiday areas. Here on the S Coast they regularly have stop and check campaigns on holiday makers towing boats caravans etc. and apparently find a surprisingly large number either faulty or overloaded.
 
Not too sure about that article. There's definitely one mistake in it that I can spot. The "Mass in Running Order" is the empty car with all water, oil, tools, fluids necessary for operation, a 90% full tank of fuel AND 75kg in the driving seat.

I'll try to root out the source regulations 'cause I'm interested now!
 
NealB said:
In fact, you could say, it all went without a hitch.

QUOTE]

Very good!

And there's another good argument for another day - the rules regarding safety chain, where to hook it, does it have to be a separate point from the tow ball, how separate, the difference between a cable that applies the brakes, and a chain that holds the trailer, etc etc...



A long thread on the Honest John motoring forum quite recently finally concluded that there is a loophole in the trailer regulations applying to people who have the pre -whenever driving licence.
This arises because there are different rules regarding what the VEHICLE can pull, and what the DRIVER is licenced to drive. The two do not synchronise, and a gap has been left which allows holders of the older licences to pull an empty trailer even though that trailer's rated capacity might exceed the towing capacity of the vehicle.

So the vehicle has to be permitted to pull the ACTUAL weight, but you have to be licenced to tow the RATED capacity weight. The point is that on an older licence the latter is much higher than on a later licence.
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NealB said:
Thanks to everyone for what, to me, turned into a fascinating little thread.

Towing law seems to be a crazily complex area.
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And how. When the new regulations came in the DoT sent a poster round gliding clubs to "explain them". Nobody could understand it.

I'm in the process of buying a trailer for the Jouster. RM have assured me that I'll be fine to tow it (the empty trailer) north behind a Micra ...
 
orbister said:
I'm in the process of buying a trailer for the Jouster. RM have assured me that I'll be fine to tow it (the empty trailer) north behind a Micra ...
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I think they mean - you can follow a Micra if you like ... might be better to follow a Car or a bike though - not a tin can! ;)
 
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