Trailers

[Barney12]

I could really do with a trailer. But I know nothing about them, have never had one and in fact have never towed anything in my life.   

My requirements are (I think): 

1. Capable of taking a bulk bag of sand/aggregate etc (normally 850kg). 
2. Capable of carrying 8x4 sheets (plasterboard, OSB etc) 
3. Tipping would seem useful (which would enable to buy bulk aggregates direct from the quarry) 

But that's about as far as I get. Derek (my Defender 90) has a factory fit tow bar. 

I've been googling and spotted this but it doesn't show a price.  http://www.boultermead.co.uk/p/45/tt2515 

I've been looking at eBay but I don't really know what I'm buying so could end up getting royally shafted   

Any pointers, tips, advice?

[Crofter]

A good trailer will hold its value well. You're looking for Ifor Williams or similar. 8x4 is a pretty standard size. Tipping can add significantly to the cost, and will be a bit harder to find. Your tow vehicle is spot on, by the way!

If you passed your test after 1997 you'll be restricted to 750kg laden trailer weight, to go above that you'd need to do a test.

Driving with a trailer is easy enough with a bit of practise. Ideally, find a big empty space with nobody watching and drive round and round in reverse until you feel you're getting the hang of it.

[Barney12]

Thanks. Yes passed my test before 97.

im wondering if I do need a tipper, for the occasional bulk loads I guess I have a spade

EDIT:

I do rather love my Defender. Although it's more Chelsea Tractor than Panel Van. Despite that it still gets plenty of abuse. It's designed to be used

Edited June 8, 2016 by Barney12

[ToughButterCup]

Well, Barney, if you don't get a tipper - or have a digger-  (and up til recently I didn't) I found myself choosing easier-to-shovel stuff if I had the choice.  

In terms of reversing, I have a Defender. The standard mirrors are poor. A wide-angle view mirror will help I'm sure. Twisting round in the seat is OK, but reversing while scanning both wing mirrors is much easier. So,  wide-angle mirrors for me if I can source them.

Just a quick note on straps and chains. 5000Kg straps are excellent - nobody taught me to use them, until the other day at the wood yard. The hooks seem to be the sensible way to attach the strap to the hook on the trailer bed. But if , on the strap, you use the loop of metal from which the hooks are formed, there is no chance whatsoever of it slipping. Strapping in a zig zag fashion (cross and re-cross) the bed is a nightmare. Because the strap loses it's tension in the first section of the strapping. So, where 1 strap will do (with a zig zag hookup) I use 2 straps instead. 

Chains are much stronger. I use them for the trees I buy (2 tonnes each). But it's hard to tension them evenly. But by the ends of the build I'll have got it right - I hope.

[Ferdinand]

Trailer without tipper plus small minidigger for unloading?

Edited June 8, 2016 by Ferdinand

[Vijay]

Just wait until you try reversing a trailer around a corner lol

[PeterW]

18 minutes ago, Vijay said:

Just wait until you try reversing a trailer around a corner lol

It amuses me no end that my 17 year old son has passed his driving test and can't put anything bigger than a shopping trolley on a car, yet can comfortably handle upwards of 15 tonnes and 35 feet of tractor and trailer around some of the tightest bends - a lot of it in reverse !

[Crofter]

Similarly, it's frustrating for me as a relative young 'un that I have to ask a 'grown up' to tow anything over 750kg for me- even though I have a fair bit of towing experience and get asked by friends to launch boats for them etc.

[Ferdinand]

2 hours ago, Crofter said:

Similarly, it's frustrating for me as a relative young 'un that I have to ask a 'grown up' to tow anything over 750kg for me- even though I have a fair bit of towing experience and get asked by friends to launch boats for them etc.

Young people these days don't know they are born...

I wonder if we will get regulations that can be understood without spending £500 on a specialist solicitor after BREXIT?

Quote

The rules on towing for business are so complex we suspect the Police and VOSA do not really understand them fully.

 

But because this law is so complex, with no joined-up thinking between licensing, towing capacity and tachographs, the chances are a roadside tug might lead to the authorities finding something wrong. (*)

 

Our advice is to try avoid problems by seeking specialist legal advice, keeping an information pack in every vehicle equipped with a towbar, and brief every driver on what to do and say if they are stopped.

 

https://www.fginsight.com/vip/vip/negotiating-the-load-towing-legislative-minefield070111-960

Ferdinand

(*) Have to admit that made me think of a certain incident allegedly involving Gillian Taylforth, her alleged fiance, and an alleged Range Rover.

Edited June 8, 2016 by Ferdinand

[Jeremy Harris]

37 minutes ago, Ferdinand said:

Young people these days don't know they are born...

I wonder if we will get regulations that can be understood without spending £500 on a specialist solicitor after BREXIT?

https://www.fginsight.com/vip/vip/negotiating-the-load-towing-legislative-minefield070111-960

Ferdinand

We should have.

 

Before the bloody EU made all this unbelievably complex regulations we had a perfectly good set of road traffic laws that ensured that vehicles on our roads were amongst the safest in the world (more than can be said for some EU states).  Now we have such a minefield of beaurocracy that no one seems to be able to grasp all the implications, as as above there is a good chance that you could get pulled over evern if you're perfectly legal, just because no one, least of all the police, see to know what is legal and what isn't.

I think a part of this is the massive cultural difference between law in the UK and law elsewhere in the EU.  In the UK we have always adopted the principle that if something isn't specifically unlawful then it is, by definition, lawful. 

An example: When I was about 14 I and two friends bought an old stripped down BSA Bantam motorcycle, to ride around a local field (where we had permission from the farmer as long as we only rode around the edge).  We were stopped by the police whilst pushing it along the lane to get to the field.  The policeman pointed out that we weren't legally allowed to even push it on the road.  He thought for a moment and then asked if we had any roller skates.  One of us said yes and the policeman suggested we run back and get them, together with some cord, and lift the bike up on to them so we could push it along, rolling on the skates.  Apparently we were then within the law (not sure a police officer would behave like this today, mind).

Some other EU states have the opposite principle.  Everything is potentially unlawful unless there is a specific law that makes it lawful.  There's no way that these two, fundamentally different, approaches to lawmaking are ever going to be reconciled, and the UK will never get a useful say as we are one voice out of twenty eight.