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Birdy



Member Since: 07 Oct 2011
Location: CĂ´te d'Azur
Posts: 872
France 2011 Defender 110 Puma 2.4 XS CSW Santorini Black
Trailer/Load Width
Quick question, which hopefully can be answered with supporting documentation, not conjecture (cf. how fast can I drive my N1 homologated Station Wagon?).

As far as I can recall, a trailer’s maximum width was 2.3m, but its load was allowed to stick out each side by 305mm.

Superseded now by trailers now being allowed 2.55m width.

Under “normal” circumstances, i.e. Discovery/Defender towing a trailer, is this extra 305mm still allowed, i.e. the maximum width of a towed boat - o.k., beam for the nautical - could be as much as 3.16m (10’ 6” in old money)?

Doesn’t apply to me - my boat is 2.5m - but a friend is pretty much on the limit if he wants to start towing.

He maintained that some caravans are now wider than 2.55m, I would have thought a caravan WAS a trailer, i.e. not a load, and queried it. Again, “normal” tow-cars, not trucks or “travellers”.

Peter
Post #140515 20th Apr 2012 10:30am
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blackwolf



Member Since: 03 Nov 2009
Location: South West England
Posts: 17595
United Kingdom 2007 Defender 110 Puma 2.4 DCPU Stornoway Grey
Re: Trailer/Load Width
Birdy wrote:
Quick question, which hopefully can be answered with supporting documentation, not conjecture (cf. how fast can I drive my N1 homologated Station Wagon?).

As far as I can recall, a trailer’s maximum width was 2.3m, but its load was allowed to stick out each side by 305mm.


Correct.

Birdy wrote:
Superseded now by trailers now being allowed 2.55m width.


Also correct. Prior to the change this was only legal if the MAM of the towing vehicle exceeded 3500kg.

Birdy wrote:
Under “normal” circumstances, i.e. Discovery/Defender towing a trailer, is this extra 305mm still allowed, i.e. the maximum width of a towed boat - o.k., beam for the nautical - could be as much as 3.16m (10’ 6” in old money)?


Yes and no, you can tow a 2550mm wide trailer with a load that projects up to 305mm on either side but the overall width must not exceed 2900mm. Anything over 2.9m wide falls under Special Types regulations. This width limit applies to all trailers, not just light trailers towed by M1/N1 type vehicles, so it applies even to semi-trailers and HGVs.

Note: the Bateson Trailers website states that "the trailer must not extend more than 305mm (12”) outwards each side of the towing vehicle, irrespective of allowable width" but I cannot find any legal basis for this assertion.

Birdy wrote:
Doesn’t apply to me - my boat is 2.5m - but a friend is pretty much on the limit if he wants to start towing.

He maintained that some caravans are now wider than 2.55m, I would have thought a caravan WAS a trailer, i.e. not a load, and queried it. Again, “normal” tow-cars, not trucks or “travellers”.

Peter


A caravan is a trailer, and the 2550mm limit does apply to caravans, so a caravan wider than this is to all practical purposes illegal (the only way to operate a wider caravan would be to treat it as an Abnormal Indivisible Load and operate under a Special Types General Order).

If you want confirmation of this, google will throw up copious primary sources.


And, as a footnote, there is no doubt or ambiguity about the maximum permitted speed of N1 vehicles!
Post #140518 20th Apr 2012 11:03am
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Birdy



Member Since: 07 Oct 2011
Location: CĂ´te d'Azur
Posts: 872
France 2011 Defender 110 Puma 2.4 XS CSW Santorini Black
Cheers!

And as for speed limits, I only use the Defender when I'm towing so use those applicable. The missus drives it the rest of the time, used to pilot a Beetle in banger races and drives like she still does so doesn't care... when you roll a Land Rover, a Brownchurch HD roofrack is a lifesaver.

Peter
Post #140573 20th Apr 2012 5:24pm
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