?? Can a new driver aged 18 drive a 3.5 ton wagon, ??

J

jeanettethree

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Can someone please clarify for me if a 18 year old can drive a 3.5ton wagon, someone has told me they can, and I have seen some adverts for 3.5s stating the same too,
Is it true, as we are changing our wagon to a 3.5 and would want to let DD drive it if its against the law....
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Thanks
 
3.5 tonne MAX laden weight, so only a Transit sized van, a lw such a Renault Racemaster, for one horse or two ponies.
You may also find having a driver under 21 increases the cost of insurance 'Any driver over 25' being the norm
 
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Ye you can, anything upto 3.5ton,or no more than 8 passengers i think!

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I'd love to see the average 3.5 lorry with horse, tack, buckets and 8 passengers
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You should have a look on you drivers license, it will tell you what you are legally allowed to drive
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On the new driving license it does not tell you it just says category A, B etc., It doesn't explain weight of categories
 
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Thanks if its classed as a 3.5t thats not the unladen weight is it ? like a 7.5 ton maybe only weighs 5 ton unladen if you know what I mean ?
Think Im confusing myself now.........

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3.5 tonne is the unladen weight (afterall they don't know how much your horse weighs lol). So, you can drive a 3.5 tonne, but once you get 1/2 a tonne of horse on that makes 4 tonne, which would be illegal...
 
Commercial vehicels are advertised and labelled by their max laden weight-
so a 3.5 tonne lorry is around 2.5 tonne unladen
7.5 tonne may be as muchc as 6 tonnes is full of lots of fittigns and living.
 
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Commercial vehicels are advertised and labelled by their max laden weight-
so a 3.5 tonne lorry is around 2.5 tonne unladen
7.5 tonne may be as muchc as 6 tonnes is full of lots of fittigns and living.

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Thanks thats what i thought, x
 
The 3.5 ton lorries are the LADEN weight, this means that they weigh around 2.2 tons UNLADEN leaving you with around 1.3 tons available to carry a horse or two smaller horses/ponies and their tacks.
So yes, your daughter would be legal to drive a 3.5 ton lorry at her age. I drove mine at 18 so it is definately legal!
Have got one doing nothing in my driveway, if you would like to rehome it drop me a line!
 
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Hmm all I know is HGV is 21 and trailer as soon as u pass ur car test!!!

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No it's not! You can't tow a trailer, after passing your test, unless you passed before 1997!
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You can legally, but may have problems with insuring until over 21....

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You need to take a trailer test to tow anything at all unless you passed your test before 1997.

Also you can take your HGV or 7.5t test anytime you like and do not have to be 21.

If you have catogary B & B1 on your licence all you can drive is up to 3.5t, and you can not tow. If you passed after 1997 this is all you should have, unless of course you have taken any additional tests.

BE - allows you to tow using a car.
C1 - you can drive up to 7.5t
(the above 2 should already be on your licence if you passed before 1997)
 
Lorry weights are a real minefield - I passed my test after 1997 and as a result can only drive up to 3.5t on my current license. I have been hunting for a 3.5t lorry and the number of adverts I've seen advertising lorries that are either 3.5t unladen or just under but that still state are suitable for "new" drivers is unbelievable. Even worse are the sellers who, when questioned, give very misleading info about the weight of the lorry and what the DVLA allow.

As a result I am getting a LWB Renault Master conversion - unladen weight is 2.150t allowing me enough to carry my boy, me and our tack. Not what I was initally after but hey, I'd rather be within the law than risk being fined if I get stopped and weighed and having my insurance invalidated.
 
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Im insured on my 3.5 tonne lorry with Drayton insurance and im 19. The only other insureres that would insure me were NFU but they were quite pricey.

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If you dont mind me asking what figure are you talking about to get insured ?
 
400 ish i think... this was me as main driver and my mum (who has 6points) as a named driver. We also have a 5000 mile limit on it but dont think we will go over that as its only used at weekends. It would have been much cheaper if we wernt honest and said my mum was the main driver... we dont like to lie!
 
Yes you can drive a 3.5 ton gross truck and you can tow a small trailer or caravan so long as the combination doesn't exceed 4.25 tons. trailer not exceeding 750 kgs
 
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