It's so much simpler when you ask for forgiveness

Why's it so hard to find out what the actual law is?

I've gone and bought a new Tonka toy. A vintage Thwaites dumper truck no
less.

It weighs 800 kg. Kerb weight of my car is 1340 kg (I can get some
kilos back by removing the seats. Add 130kg for me and a bit of fuel.
Trailer (braked) weighs 680 kg. Grand total 2950 kg. The Gross Train
Weight of my car is 2950 kg. So I'm legal right?

Except no flippin' trailer company will rent me a trailer because the
max. /recommended/ towing weight is 1,300 kg.

So who's right?

According to
url:http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/roads/vehicles/vssafety/towingwithvehiclesfrequently4577,
I am.

 

Can't you just lie to the trailer company? I would.

 

It's a bit difficult when they see the car you rock up in. I still think
I'm right but many web sites seem to think the plated weight on the
trailer is the important number, ie doesn't matter two hoots what you've
actually got loaded on there.

It's a complete PITA.

<FictionalSection>

Of course now I know all this it makes it worse. Previously, I^H^Ha
friend was happy to tow a car over 100 miles on an (unbraked) spectacle
trailer where the car I^H^H he was towing weighed more than the car
I^H^H he was towing with. Oh, and I^H^H he loaded a 700kg tractor onto a
motorbike trailer I^H^H he subsequently noticed was plated at 350 kg. I
did wonder why it looked a bit bent after I'd^H^H^H he'd finished.

</FictionalSection>

 

Lie about the load you're putting in the trailer not the car.

 

*ding*

 

They seem to think it's the plated rating that matters too. So even if I
load the trailer with 800kg of feathers[1], if the trailer's plated at
2,000kg, that's the weight you're towing sonny.

[1] see what I did there?

 

JHC, that makes them arseholes of the first order.

 

You are quite gloriously insane!

 

Well, either we're missing some vital bit of information or they are
completely stupid.

 

<proud>

 

They don't have to obey the law I guess.
It's their trailer.
They'll have seen this though:
http://www.dft.gov.uk/vosa/repository/Quick Guide to Towing Small
%20Trailers%20Feb%2008.pdf

 

Yup saw that too. I still think I'm right.

 

Can't you borrow a bigger car to fetch the trailer with

 

Substituting your numbers:

"So if for example you have a car with a maximum weight of 1340 kg and a
train weight of 2950 kg the maximum towing capacity will be 2950 kg
minus 1340 kg which gives a towing capacity of 1610kg"

Dumper + trailer = 1480 Kgs, so on the face of it you are.

I'm confused (as so often) though. Is the trailer itself only rated at
a maximum all up weight of 1300 Kg? If so, you can see their point. Find
a less pikey trailer?


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The trailers I've looked at are all plated at least 2,500 Kg gross. The
recommended max towing weight (also in the handbook) is 1,300 Kg. (just
over the 85% Karavan Klub/AA/RAC whatever suggestion). This would appear
not to be a legal limit, although there is much confusion about it.

 

Ah, so the VIN data legal calcs are over-ruled by the manufacturer's own
recommendation and safety nazi suggestions.

What a quandary. No chance of finding a lighter trailer with a high
enough plated capacity that is physically big enough to get it on I
suppose.

My old Tarn trailer dates from the era before plating. So either it's
totally illegal or I can put anything I like on it up to the limit
according to those calcs for my tow car. Though it might give up the
unequal struggle and collapse.

The Guzzi outfit must have weighed in fairly heavily. 250 Kgs + say 100
Kgs for the chair, then the camper van awning and frame inside the chair
and the lad's bicycle lashed between bike and chair. Not forgetting the
trailer spare wheel and other odds and sods. Say 400Kg.

Or, three road trim Morinis at 150 Kgs each.

Hmm, No wonder I had to do some reinforcing with angle iron, box tube
and a stick welder after the first camper van and trailer with outfit
trip to France. It gets an easy life these days - as befits its 32nd
birthday.





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I got new document from the Dft. Unsurprisingly, they didn't answer my
direct questions. It's a long doc. but here's an interesting excerpt (my
emphasis):

For M1 category vehicles (motor vehicles used for the carriage of
passengers and comprising not more than eight seats in addition to the
driver’s seat) the maximum permissible trailer weight may be quoted by
the vehicle manufacturer. Alternatively, the vehicle manufacturer may
provide a maximum gross train weight (the laden weight of the trailer
plus the laden weight of the towing vehicle). If /either/ of these
weights are exceeded it is /possible/ that the Courts or Insurance
Companies /may/ take the view that this constitutes a danger.

The maximum laden weight of a trailer which may be towed by an M1 or a
light goods vehicle depends on
(a) the stated gross train weight of the towing vehicle (GTW) and/or
(b) the vehicle manufacturer’s recommended maximum permissible trailer
weight.
Neither the maximum permissible trailer weight nor the maximum gross
train weight (the laden weight of the trailer plus the laden weight of
the towing vehicle) should be exceeded.

So still no clearer as the what the actual law is then.