Trailers and towing

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coen

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Hello, I am going to get a 4x4 which will also allow me to get a trailer eventually, however I need a little more information on this.

Firstly how much is the towing test? How hard did you find this.

Secondly is their any truth in the following? I viewed a car last night which didn't have a tow bar but the seller said that having a tow bar fitted can reduce your tax by half as it can then be classified as a commercial vehicle.

Thirdly which trailers do you have, what do you recommend? Looking for a second hand that takes two 16.2 + horses
 
With regards to the comment of the tow I have NEVER heard of this!! How would the DVLA know you have a tow bar, therefore know to tax you less?? Secondly I had a 4x4 which I fitted a tow bar and it never reduced my tax!! How does fitting a tow bar to your car make it a commercial vehicle? What car was it out of interest?
 
coen said:
Secondly is their any truth in the following? I viewed a car last night which didn't have a tow bar but the seller said that having a tow bar fitted can reduce your tax by half as it can then be classified as a commercial vehicle.
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Lol, new one on me, must ring Swansea and get a rebate!

Look for one with a aluminium floor, saves having to replace rotting timber! Have a Richardson two horse, will take 2 x 16.2 easily (Unladen weight 920kg, max weight 2tonne)towing them is a different matter and depends on the truck!
 
I'm looking for a 4x4 and a new (bigger) trailer at the moment too!

Trailer test costs £115. Prob best to have a few lessons first too.

I've never heard of the towbar reducing tax! It certainly made no difference when I had one put on my Mazda6!
Make sure the 4x4 is capable of towing your horsebox plus your horses. This website is useful for finding which vehicles are capable -
http://www.towinghorsetrailers.co.uk/towing_vehicles.htm

We've got an Ifor Williams 505 at the moment. Our 16.2hh goes in there quite happily. The 510 is bigger and thats what Im getting next (as we've now got a 17.2hh horse too).
The 505 is great. As VoR says make sure there a good sturdy floor in there!
 
The only way you can reduce tax on a 4 x 4 is if you convert it to LPG!.

No idea about the test... there are some advantages to being one of the older ones on the board!.

When I was trailer hunting I ended up choosing between a 510 and an Bateman Ascot. Went for the Ascot as at the time, it had better write ups on the suspencion and unloads on the right. Ifor unloads on the left. I also felt I got a little more for my money. Both trailers will sell on again all day as well. Oddly enough when Ifor brought out the 511 everyone I know who has one has had niggles with it. More odd because people with the older Ifors didn't!


Check the maximum towing capacity of the 4 x 4 carefully as well. There can be a massive difference. I bought a short wheel base Jeep cherokee but bought the 3.7l version which has a maximum tow of 3.3 tonnes. However if I had bought the same car but as a 2.8 diesel, it would have had less towing power.
 
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As other said, car with towbar is not classed as commercial.

I recently did my towing test. I had never ever towed before in my life. I did a 2hr assessment with instructor, then a 2 hour intensive reversing lesson, then a whole day driving and then had to pay for car/trailer hire for morning of exam. It cost me a total of £585.

For the test you drive for an hour out on the roads, including a bit where the examiner asks to to follow signs for so-and-so and then keeps quiet for about 10 mins, which can be quite unnerving! Then back at the test centre you do the reversing exercise and un-couple and couple up the trailer. There are also some theory/practical questions to answer too.

I found the driving bit fairly easy, as even if I may so myself, I am a fairly consciencious driver and find I do drive quite "properly" even thought it's 13 years since I did my original test. But it is all like proper driving test, you can easily fail on just the driving bit, forgetting mirror, signal etc, speeding, things like that. And it's not even speeding on purpose but not realising that the limits have changed etc.
The reversing went ok in practise but very nearly cocked it up on the day as was very nervous!:o
But passed so am now able to haul my beastie whereever I please!!
 
coen said:
Hello, I am going to get a 4x4 which will also allow me to get a trailer eventually, however I need a little more information on this.

Firstly how much is the towing test? How hard did you find this.

Secondly is their any truth in the following? I viewed a car last night which didn't have a tow bar but the seller said that having a tow bar fitted can reduce your tax by half as it can then be classified as a commercial vehicle.

Thirdly which trailers do you have, what do you recommend? Looking for a second hand that takes two 16.2 + horses
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Im old enough to not need to take the test so I can't help with that.

Tow bar = reduced tax? HA HA HA HA HA HA HA IF ONLY! is my reaction to that, Im afraid :D

I've always had Rice trailers, there's enough of them about that a second hand shouldn't be too hard to come by, nor spares for that matter. Im a bit of a fan, they always seem sturdy & well made to me.

whatever you get - CHECK THE FLOOR VERY VERY CAREFULLY!

Good luck :)
 
Also a fan of the Rice trailers, just make sure you get it checked/maintained regularly. I tow mine with an Isuzu Trooper which I also use for my every day car, it's not as economical as a smaller car obviously but I think it comes out ok against comperable vehicles.

Also, I think the person who told you having a tow bar fitted reduces the vehicle tax may be confused, I wish that it did! I think if you want to pay less tax you need to be looking at cars registered before 2001 or get an LPG conversion
 
skint1 said:
Also a fan of the Rice trailers, just make sure you get it checked/maintained regularly. I tow mine with an Isuzu Trooper which I also use for my every day car, it's not as economical as a smaller car obviously but I think it comes out ok against comperable vehicles.

Also, I think the person who told you having a tow bar fitted reduces the vehicle tax may be confused, I wish that it did! I think if you want to pay less tax you need to be looking at cars registered before 2001 or get an LPG conversion
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I have a 2003 isuzu trooper SWB commercial and tow a richardson (same as rice) and its fantastic :) tax is £180 as its a van :)
 
I did my trailer test last summer and it was £115. I had a half day course on towing with a local instructor and was meant to do the test the next day in his car and trailer but the DVLA cancelled my test on the morning once we had already arrived!! so a sleepless night for no reason :mad:

Decided that rather than pay to use the instructors car again I would do it with our own car and trailer. I was nervous about the test but it was absolutely fine. Definitely worth having a lesson or two though as they show you the 'correct' way to hitch and unhitch by yourself and the guy i used had the reversing exercise measured out on a concrete area so you can get a feel for that.

I have a defender and an HB510. Its been a great trailer and would definitely recommend IW. We use to have a HB505 and it was great so went for the bigger model when we had two big horses to take out.
 
I have an IWT 505, very nice for towing easy and light and I think it looks good, I use a Ford Maverick to tow it with. I didnt have to do the towing test as I passed my test some time ago, but am a driving instructor so teach people to tow - great fun and makes it so much easier having the correct car and trailer for the test - some instructors use a small box trailer.
 
I thought it sounded too good to be true but had hope there was a great loop hole that I could exploit. Obviously not.

I am considering a 3litre deisel VW touareg.
 
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