Trailer sailor maximum widtb

C

crown22

Well-Known Member
Joined
19 Jul 2004
Messages
292
Location
Manchester
Visit site
Hello everybody
Thought I read online that maximum width for towing is 2.55metres on a normal A frame trailer.
The Hunter Delta 25 is 2.74 metres wide. Any thoughts or suggestions. Thanks
 
Towing anything that size is often quite fraught.
I had my Impala towed about ten miles, more scary than anything in the 5,000 miles or so we sailed it.
 
Also be careful about legal towing weights; for instance there is a well known trap at the Cadnam western end of the M27 where plod haul over any item being towed - of course this requires at least two jolly expensive pretend Maf Max Interceptor patrol cars and crews - and take the poor citizen to the nearby weighbridge...:rolleyes:
 
Gov.uk site shows the maximum size for a trailer as 2.55M wide x 7M long.

But a boat isn't a Trailer! it's a load on that trailer.

As long as it is clearly marked, a load may overhang the sides by 305mm up to a max width of 2.9M. And overhang at the rear by 3.05M
Giving an overall max of 10.05M x 2.9M before the abnormal load regulations become relevant.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/overhanging-loads-on-vehicles
Gov doesn't seem to want you to know this. You have to search hard to find what should be under "what can you tow" on the Gov.uk site.
 
As said it is worth while investigating over width/length regulations. Locally here in West Oz it was not difficult to get an over width permit for a year for up to 10 feet wide with just an Overwidth sign back and front and restricted to day operation only. So it did seem to me that large trailer sailer operation was feasible.
Mind you we have vehicles (Road Trains) up to 53.5 metres long, 3 trailers, 62 wheels roaring up the highways in country West Oz at 100kmh as a regular long vehicle. A bit daunting to try to pass. a bit different to UK olewill
 
Towed a 24' Eygthene on a 4 wheel trailer with a Ford Scorpio from Preston to Triest in Italy. Got a few stares but got there no problem. Bringing the trailer back got stopped 3 miles from Preston and done for being in the third lane of a very congested Mway.. Such is life !
 
It's not just the width I'd worry about but the weight and power of your car.

I recall the time I called into a brickyard in my VW Beetle and trailer and got them to put a pallet of bricks on the trailer (the trailer was down to the axles as I drove out the yard). As I was approaching the traffic lights I thought "I bet these lights change" and sure enough they did. I hit the brakes and skidded half-way through the intersection and then jack-knifed but in the wrong direction. I kept going as though I meant to go that way but when all the traffic passed me I did a "U" turn and went home without further incident.

Clive
 
Cap'n Creosote said:
Gov.uk site shows the maximum size for a trailer as 2.55M wide x 7M long.

But a boat isn't a Trailer! it's a load on that trailer.

As long as it is clearly marked, a load may overhang the sides by 305mm up to a max width of 2.9M. And overhang at the rear by 3.05M
Giving an overall max of 10.05M x 2.9M before the abnormal load regulations become relevant.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/overhanging-loads-on-vehicles
Gov doesn't seem to want you to know this. You have to search hard to find what should be under "what can you tow" on the Gov.uk site.
Click to expand...

This is good advice, and what I relied upon when towing my old E-Boat (beam = 2.8m) which is in theory over width for a trailer but not as an overhang.

Remember that in mainland Europe their regs are different to the UK. There they need to tilt the E-Boat (and others like Mini 6.50s) over to one side to reduce it's effective with to tow it.
 
Thanks very much for the replies everybody.Yes the GOV site doesn't seem to mention the overhangs which as pointed out that up to 2.9Mtrs is acceptable.If I buy the boat advertised I would hire the biggest 4x4 possible.Would be quite tricky for PLOD to measure a boat at it's widest point I would have thought!Last time I did it I hired something like a four wheel tipper and set off for Windermere from Ormskirk at 4 in the morning.Thanks again.
 
Spyro said:
Yes 2.55m width and 7m lenghth if the tow vehicle is under 3500kg
https://www.gov.uk/towing-with-car/weight-and-width-limits
Click to expand...

The second statement there

9uLu1uM.png


is definitely wrong. Trailers longer than 7m are perfectly legal, as long as they have been built specifically to carry a "single, indivisible load". My Drascombe Longboat trailer is about 8m long and I used to tow a glider trailer which was around 10m from tow hitch to rear end. Mind you, some police forces didn't know the rules so the British Gliding Association obtained standard guidance from the DoT which we used to carry and show if required.

The issue of trailer size comes up regularly, and on a previous occasion I spend some time trying to find out if a similar exemption exists for trailer width. I wasn't able to find conclusive proof either way. There certainly are, as has been pointed out, rules about wide loads, but they seem to relate to the load as a whole and not the trailer on which it sits.
 
Without wishing to sound to patronising or arrogant please remember who puts the information on the Government websites and who their intended audience is. Their general operating principal is to keep things simple....... The advice they give works for most of the people most of the time, but legislation, especially some of the Road Traffic stuff, is a bit of a minefield and it's generally better to go right back to the source if you want a definitive answer. There's also an awful lot of folklore out there...... and as for forums.....:o
 
Triassic said:
Without wishing to sound to patronising or arrogant please remember who puts the information on the Government websites and who their intended audience is.
Click to expand...

A completely agree that the stuff there should be simple, but they could add a "generally" or "in most cases" to avoid giving definitely wrong answers.
 
It's probably not a legal requirement, but I'd recommend that if your load is significantly wider than your towing vehicle you consider having forward (and rear) facing lights at the extreme width.

It's not a problem on motorways, but oncoming vehicles on e.g. country roads won't see the projecting load at night without them. I nearly came to grief once as a result.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Other threads that may be of interest

I
Alternator upgrade on Volvo TMD41A
Replies
7
Views
202
boatmike
boatmike
Frogmogman
My next boat.
2 3
Replies
40
Views
1K
fredrussell
F

Share this page

Top