AAHHH towing a trailer?

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Timmy100

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Me and my OH are having an argument over towing my trailer i passed my test in 1998 and he thinks that as long as the weight of my trailer is not over 3.5 i can tow it with our truck legally..I've said that its not the caise and i would be illegal if i did..He won't have it that i'm right and hes wrong (secretley i think that he just doesnt want to get up early on a sunday to take me to shows) can anyone please settle this row so he will let me buy 3.5tonne box..trailer is a hb505 and truck is a izuzu rodeo 3.5diesel..
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I contacted the DVLA as I was confused by this. I past my test post 1997. They gave me the following advice. I can pull a trailer without sitting the B + E test as long as the following criteria is met:

Weight of car + weight of trailer + weight of horse + weight of passengers + weight of tack = less than 3.5ton.

Therefore I can use the following combination:

Freelander + 401+ 650kg horse + 2 people weighing 60kg + 50kg tack.

That combination comes to under 3.5 ton.

If I pulled a 505 or changed the car to a Discovery, I wouldnt be legal as the combination would be over 3.5ton

There are a couple of other conditions that must be met:

The weight of the trailer load, must not exceed the maximum laod capacity of the trailer and the weight of the trailer and load must not exceed the maximum towing weight of the vehicle.

I had this advice over the phone and also via email.

I am willing to be corrected but I went over this with the DVLA carefully, running theough the figures giving them the precise details of vehicles, trailer, weights etc.
 
Basically the weight of the trailer is the total laden weight that is used in the calculation not what you actually put in it otherwise vosa officers would be constantly having to pull you over to a weighbridge!!

Therefore there are very few horse trailers if any that you can tow without taking your B+E license. It is the total train weight (car + laden trailer weight) that must not go over 3.5 tonnes and the laden weight of the trailer must not exceed the kerb weight of the car, i.e car of kerb weight 1250Kg you cannot tow a trailer with a maximum laden weight of more than 1250Kg to be legal. I believe the IW 401 laden weight is 1600Kg?

Hope this makes sense????
 
According to the national trailer and towing association if you passed your test after 01/01/97:

Category B vehicles with larger trailers i.e. > 750kg, provided that the combined MAM does not exceed 3.5 tonnes and the gross MAM of the trailer does not exceed the unladen weight of the towing vehicle. To be able to tow combinations outside this ruling requires the passing of an additional test.

I highly doubt your combination will be under 3.5tonnes MAM Timmy100.

Freelander MAM is about 2060KG and a 401 is 1600KG so jenmac_85 are you sure you are under?? If you passed post 97 it doesn't go on the weight you are actually towing, it's the MAM of the trailer that matters (ie the 1600KG). Very very confusing isn't it??
 
Hi,

Reading the above confused me quite a lot. Basically If you passed your test before 1/1/97 you can tow your horse, if you passed it after, you have to do the B+E test. So your argument to get a 3.5t lorry is valid!
 
[ QUOTE ]
Freelander MAM is about 2060KG and a 401 is 1600KG so jenmac_85 are you sure you are under?? If you passed post 97 it doesn't go on the weight you are actually towing, it's the MAM of the trailer that matters (ie the 1600KG). Very very confusing isn't it??

[/ QUOTE ]

But MAM is total weight that trailer could possibly hold. So not sure how they'd test that at the road side, as more likely to make you drive onto weighing kit.
 
Right, lots of conflicting advice as always on this topic! I'll try to keep it short and sweet!

If you passed your test before 1997 or have taken the B+E additional test, you can tow pretty much any combination of car/4x4 and horse trailer. You just need to make sure the vehicle you have is up to towing the weight you want/need to tow.

If you passed your test after 1997, you only have B entitlement on your licence, not B+E and are restricted to the below towing set ups;
<ul type="square">
[*]unbraked trailer up to 750kg MAM (obviously not a horse trailer!)
[*]trailer with MAM which is less than your vehicle's kerb weight (unladen weight, can be found on the V5 doc) and vehicle MAM + trailer MAM must be less than 3.5t
[/list]

I have the below set up which meets this criteria;

Vehicle: Ford Mondeo, 2.0tdci 130bhp 6-speed engine (the more powerful one, loads of torque which is good for towing!), kerb weight = 1505kg, MAM = 2035kg. Rated to tow up to 1800kg.

Trailer: IW HB401, has had MAM downrated from standard 1600kg to 1450kg by IW dealer, plate arranged through their head office. All legit as long as the MAM is between the range that is stamped on the hitch.

The unladen weight is 770kg, so this leaves me 680kg for my 15.1 horse + her haynet. (as you can't fit anything else in a single horse trailer anyway!)

So car kerb weight (1505) is more than trailer MAM (1450) and car MAM (2305) + trailer MAM (1450) = 3485 which is less than 3500, all legit.

Have had no problems at all with this set up, manages up and down hill as well as any other combo and got in and out of a very wet event recently where lorries and 4x4s were being towed in and out.

Obviously a 4x4 is the ideal and a 3.5t lorry probably easier to drive longer distances, but you are correct that you cannot tow with your current car without the B+E entitlement. (well you can if you put L-plates on and have a B+E entitled passenger at all times!)
 
[ QUOTE ]

But MAM is total weight that trailer could possibly hold. So not sure how they'd test that at the road side, as more likely to make you drive onto weighing kit.

[/ QUOTE ]

The MAM of your trailer is stamped on a metal plate that will be attached somewhere to the chassis. It is illegal not to have one.

Although, as I mentioned in my other post, you can alter the MAM of your trailer through the manufacturer. You just need to make sure you are within the range that your hitch is rated for (also has a metal plate with this info stamped on) plus you have enough capacity to carry your horse &amp; any kit in the trailer without being overweight. (e.g. no point rating a trailer to have MAM 1200kg if it weighs 1000kg by itself!)
 
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