need help with trailer knowledge

hello to all,
need your advise, after reading countless number of pages on towing trailers, ive now become confused,
i only have a b licence allowing me to tow 750kg unbraked and up to a maximum gross train weight of 4.25 tonnes braked,
i want to tow a non mot'd sorn uninsured 4x4 to and from pay and plays, my towing vehicle is a disco td5 auto, (which i also use for light off roading),
now my dilemma is this, i do not really want to pay how many hundreds of ££££ for a b+e licence if i can help it,
so firstly does anybody know of a trailer thats light enough to carry a 4x4 within my current license limits,
and secondly is there a 4x4 light enough, or if i strip it and deregister it can i just use it actual real weight rather than plated weight,

i hope i havent confused you all, any advise will be great thank you

You've certainly confused me! I was under the impression that you can only tow a trailer up to 750kg (gross) with your licence entitlement. I'm no legal-eagle but I'm assuming that the train weight allowance is to enable you to drive a vehicle up to 3.5 tonnes whilst towing said trailer.

chewy1986 said:

hello to all,

i only have a b licence allowing me to tow 750kg unbraked and up to a maximum gross train weight of 4.25 tonnes braked,

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Not quite correct.

3.5tonne braked combination, or an unbraked trailer up to 750kg Which means perversely you can possibly tow a heavier unbraked trailer than braked with a D2.

i want to tow a non mot'd sorn uninsured 4x4 to and from pay and plays, my towing vehicle is a disco td5 auto, (which i also use for light off roading),

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Not going to happen I'm afraid. Even the most stripped out SJ (870kg Kerb Weight) is going to be over 750kg that by the time its loaded onto a trailer.

The only way to shift a very light 4x4 on a B only licence is on a 3.5tonne beavertail transit or similar, then you can possibly even get a 90, or SWB jap thing on the back and be under weight limits.

Never going to happen in a million years.

Stop being a tight git and pay £400 for your B&E training and test. It is a very straight forward and easy test, If you can afford a D2, off road toy and a trailer you can afford £400 for the licence to allow you to persue your hobby legally.

Bump said:

Never going to happen in a million years.

Stop being a tight git and pay £400 for your B&E training and test. It is a very straight forward and easy test, If you can afford a D2, off road toy and a trailer you can afford £400 for the licence to allow you to persue your hobby legally.

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£400 to get a towing licence What a fecking rip off.

Bump said:

Never going to happen in a million years.

Stop being a tight git and pay £400 for your B&E training and test. It is a very straight forward and easy test, If you can afford a D2, off road toy and a trailer you can afford £400 for the licence to allow you to persue your hobby legally.

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im as tight as a ducks arse ound:
so basically im going to have to stump up the ££££'s for a b+e i hate the driving law lol,

chewy1986 said:

im as tight as a ducks arse ound:
so basically im going to have to stump up the ££££'s for a b+e i hate the driving law lol,

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As they say, no way in the world you are going to be legal to tow that. You might be a ble to save a bit on the training, if you can borrow a trailer and tow vehicle, and find somewhere safe to practice the various reversing manoeuvres and so on. Doubt if just entering the test will cost you 400 quid, pleased to say I never had to worry about it, we got the full shilling when we did our tests back when dinosaurs roamed!

The test fee is £115, shouldn't cost any more than that. Or so the theory goes.... You can use your own motor, but a flat bed car transporter trailer is not suitable for the test, so you may well need to rent a trailer at least.

Of course you can just stick the big red Ls back on the disco and trailer, and adhere to the restrictions regarding supervision etc.

Seffy said:

The test fee is £115, shouldn't cost any more than that. Or so the theory goes.... You can use your own motor, but a flat bed car transporter trailer is not suitable for the test, so you may well need to rent a trailer at least.

Of course you can just stick the big red Ls back on the disco and trailer, and adhere to the restrictions regarding supervision etc.

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Interesting, thanks! And I would guess that the required manoeuvres are accessible on the net also.

I suggested to a friend that wants to do it that he should use my cattle box, lovely to reverse,twinaxle, big and square in the mirrors. I should think L plates, suitable borrowed trailer and your own vehicle would be the cheapest possible option.

Datatek said:

£400 to get a towing licence What a fecking rip off.

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Wonder how all the gypsies who took their test after 1997 manage to tow those 2t caravans about

wack61 said:

Wonder how all the gypsies who took their test after 1997 manage to tow those 2t caravans about

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As with most travelers (doasulikies) they have different laws

Tis all here:

https://www.gov.uk/towing-with-car

What ever you put on a trailer is load, even if the load has weights showing on it they are irrelevant,

Starting with the mam of your vehicle what do you have to play with?

ive been looking all day for companys around birmingham, there bloody expensive, but has some have stated if i do the test it opens muuch more options to me

The towing laws are daft.

I can jump on my tractor and tow a loaded bogey trailer up to 18 ton perfectly legally but i can't tow 3.5 ton behind the defender without another test.

Big Mat said:

The towing laws are daft.

I can jump on my tractor and tow a loaded bogey trailer up to 18 ton perfectly legally but i can't tow 3.5 ton behind the defender without another test.

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A tractor is designed to tow and perform farm tasks, it is much better at moving heavy trailer than a landie, which is compromised by its need to do a bit of everything. Also the tractor is limited to fairly low speeds, and a certain radius of operation from the farm, not like a powerful 4wd that can propel the rig up the motorway at 90 mph

Most of us that learned from experience have had some fairly terror inducing moments along the learning curve, and if the trailer tests avoid these experiences for some, I think on balance they are a good idea

Turboman said:

A tractor is designed to tow and perform farm tasks, it is much better at moving heavy trailer than a landie, which is compromised by its need to do a bit of everything. Also the tractor is limited to fairly low speeds, and a certain radius of operation from the farm, not like a powerful 4wd that can propel the rig up the motorway at 90 mph

Most of us that learned from experience have had some fairly terror inducing moments along the learning curve, and if the trailer tests avoid these experiences for some, I think on balance they are a good idea

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Agree +1 with this -
" Most of us that learned from experience have had some fairly terror inducing moments along the learning curve, and if the trailer tests avoid these experiences for some, I think on balance they are a good idea"

a huge 2 wheeled car carrying trailor with a race prepared morris A60, numerous wheels & tyres, spares, cans of petrol, ramps, jacks, sledge hammers,scaffold poles - all behind a 1600 vauxhall victor FD estate going over the river medway at silly speeds while trying to outrun the tail wagging the dog....must have hit the uphill bit doing 80mph, and ****ting myself...

correct loading of trailors is very important as is the act of driver handling when driving forewards or reverse.....

in the course of 14 years of racing and towing with various vehicles, you get to know if it feels right very quickly, if its not...ffs stop and redistribute the carried weight......

I have just passed my b+e test at boston lgv training (can find them on google) the invoice that I saw from my boss was £561 for 2 days training one on one with hire of the vivaro and trailer combination and the third day of a pre run then the test again with the vehicle hire. first 2 days were 12:30 till 5:00 today was 11:30 till about 2:00. must say I can't fault the instructor or examiner real friendly but still there to do their job correctly

Animal88 said:

I have just passed my b+e test at boston lgv training (can find them on google) the invoice that I saw from my boss was £561 for 2 days training one on one with hire of the vivaro and trailer combination and the third day of a pre run then the test again with the vehicle hire. first 2 days were 12:30 till 5:00 today was 11:30 till about 2:00. must say I can't fault the instructor or examiner real friendly but still there to do their job correctly

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My £400 was using my D3 and their trailer, so £561 seems ok for their vehicle and fuel on top.

I think it is a worth while test to do, far too many people towing who haven't got a clue, they can't retrospectively bring laws in, but, i think it was the right decision.

it has opened my eyes to a few things. like checking that I haven't collected a pedestrian from the path or checking no-one has had the brains to cross the road over my drawbar. 2 things I wouldn't have been looking for without doing the test.
there are still odd bits that seem a little excessive like being able to palm the wheel during the reversing yet on the road it's both hands feeding the wheel.