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| arran jones Member Since: 21 Nov 2016 Location: south west Posts: 726  
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Thanks miker,
I have booked an assesment drive which they reccomend..for them to see how well i do...then the will tell me how many lessons i need...and the actual Test is on the last lesson...so if i only need 1 lesson i should be able to get it done in 2 days 
I reckon ive got the confidence and experince to pass 1st time....otherwise it gets a bit expensive.....there again its better than being pulled of by PC Plod and havinga couple grand fine  |
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17th Feb 2019 6:43am |
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| hank Member Since: 12 Sep 2016 Location: South Wales Posts: 2304  
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Don't make any dangerous or serious faults  > 110 XS Double Cab |
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17th Feb 2019 7:35am |
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| arran jones Member Since: 21 Nov 2016 Location: south west Posts: 726
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Hahah i guessed that
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17th Feb 2019 9:13am |
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| hank Member Since: 12 Sep 2016 Location: South Wales Posts: 2304
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Haha!! Best of luck with it, this is something I really need to pull my finger out with too > 110 XS Double Cab
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17th Feb 2019 9:30am |
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| Sulisuli Member Since: 30 Oct 2016 Location: South west Posts: 4795 
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Arran for once I’m happy to be older and not have to do this test
I tow boats and horse trailers regularly, my advice would be allow plenty of time when approaching junctions, us your mirrors a lot and make sure you can see behind the trailer with them, remember when turning left to go a little wider than normal so you don’t cut the corner with the trailer. Probably my biggest dislike is large roundabouts, trailers and trying to get into the correct lane whilst it feels like your an extra in a Ben Hur chariot race. Good luck with the test. 2015 HT XS 90 2008 SVX 90 2000 XS TD5 90 |
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17th Feb 2019 9:47am |
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| ARC99 Member Since: 19 Feb 2013 Location: North Yorkshire Posts: 1831 
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I'm another that has granny rights, I didn't have to take a trailer test. I started towing on private roads when I was sent to start and recover a Volvo tractor unit to an onsite garage on a large chemical site, it had been left with the trailer attached. Not knowing how to drop the trailer I drove the whole thing half a mile back to the garage and getting a
 on my arrival. That was nearly 50 years ago.
My advice having learnt over the fifty years, leave plenty of room to the vehicle in front to allow for the impatient driver, behind to over take and pull in and the ones that think "slow vehicle" and pull out in front of you from a side road, give early signals of your intentions even if its to move out in the lane for a pedal cycle or a pot hole, don't rush your manoeuvres and constantly check your mirrors for the odd idiot. Oh nearly for got get the examiner to assist by checking the lights on the trailer are working correct having first checked that the trailer is attached correctly and the electric cables are plugged in. Don't make old people mad. We don't like being old in the first place, so it doesn't take much to us off.
Richard |
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17th Feb 2019 10:18am |
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| leeds Member Since: 28 Dec 2009 Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 8582
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As someone else with grand dads rights where it comes to towing.
Advice above is sound. Now as someone with old towing rights I can tow up to 3.5 tonne. What I can not do is supervise a ‘learner’ driver towing as I have not actually past the towing test Now towing for hire and reward is another can of worms. What does hire and reward actually mean. Now a company using a trailer to move goods for commercial purposes a Tacho may well be required. Moving your own plant between sites a Tacho may not be required. Now what constitutes reward? Again this can be a grey area. Towing a horse in a horse box to the local show where the reward could be a rosette or £10 prize money. Tacho needed? Also check your motor insurance policy that you are actually covered to tow. Also the trailer may need to be separately covered especially for theft as some trailers are scumbag magnets. If using non Defender vehicles to tow check what that vehicle is actually allowed to tow. Not all 4 x 4s are allowed to tow 3.5 tonne plated trailer. Once saw a typical euro box towing the larges Ifor box trailer which will be plated at 3.5 tonne but the unladen weight would be about a tonne so I have my doubts that it was legal. Brendan |
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17th Feb 2019 11:19am |
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| arran jones Member Since: 21 Nov 2016 Location: south west Posts: 726
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Thanks for the advice all
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17th Feb 2019 4:04pm |
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| Romadog Member Since: 07 Jul 2011 Location: Powys Posts: 1749 |
A vehicle with less than 3500kg towing capacity can tow a trailer plated to 3500kg GVW, just as long as the trailer and its load does not exceed the vehicles towing capacity . Eg a Ford Transit with 2500kg towing limit, can tow a trailer carrying a 1500kg digger, trailer weighs approx 600kg , but is rated to 3500kg GVW. This means that the towed weight is within limits and the trailer is also more durable for the job. |
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17th Feb 2019 4:24pm |
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| Oldyellar Member Since: 04 Sep 2015 Location: Central Posts: 400  
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I took the crash course, it cost £350 in total.
I'd done a bit of illegal towing but not much also I couldn't reverse very good The instructor was brilliant and got me reversing good within ten minutes. Irrc I was out from around 8am till the test at 2pm or there about. The test took an hour irrc, I past first time. After chatting with the instructor all day he told me that most people pass first time with little or no experience towing before hand and although be he taught them to pass the test some additional lessons may still be needed. |
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19th Feb 2019 9:44am |
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| Cupboard Member Since: 21 Mar 2014 Location: Suffolk Posts: 2971 
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It's not as grey an area as you might think. If you're a courier driver, i.e. using the trailer to deliver stuff then you need a tacho. So if you're a plant hire company delivering a digger to be used by someone else, that needs a tacho. Your primary job is delivery. If you're using the thing in the trailer for your own work, there's a small exemption of 100km. It used to be 50 for most people, 100 for farmers but I think that's now 100 for everyone. That is if you're delivering your cows to market, or you're taking a digger to use yourself and you're within the exemption radius you don't need a tacho. Your primary job is digging. As for the horse example, if it's your horse then you don't need a tacho. If it's someone else's horse, then it depends. If your job is to deliver the horse, then you need a tacho. If your job is to look after the horse and the horse happens to need looking after somewhere different, then the horse is an item needed for your work so 100km applies. It depends whether the horse is your primary activity or the driving is your primary activity. Irritatingly, I passed my B+E relatively recently and that means I'm limited to a 3.5t trailer. Old B+Es are not limited to a 3.5t trailer, they're just limited to a 3.5t tow vehicle so artics based on a Transit or Land Rovers with coupled brakes towing heavier trailers are possible. Finally, all the pickups on the market that can tow 3.5t... can't. At least, they can't if you've got anything in the back of them. Take a Ford Ranger double cab, kerb weight 2.2t, maximum train weight 6t. You put a 3.5t plant trailer on the back, a mate in the front seat, a fuel bowser and some digger buckets in the bed and you're overloaded. It can cope with the trailer, or the load, but not both. Defender, whilst less powerful, older, etc etc can do both. Then you come to want to reverse your heavy trailer up a hill on tarmac and you can't use low range on the pickup either so lots of clutch smoke. |
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20th Feb 2019 1:37pm |
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