23-04-2012, 10:09 PM
Niall Wrote:Do I need a special driving licence to tow?
You must hold a full driving licence to to drive vehicle and trailer combinations weighing up to 8.25 tonnes. However, if you passed your test after January 1, 1997 then these restrictions apply:
Vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes and no more than eight passenger seats (ie: officially dubbed Category B vehicles and are typical cars) with a 750kg trailer (4.25 tonnes total Maximum Authorised Mass or MAM).
Category B vehicles with larger trailers i.e. more than 750kg, provided that the combined Maximum Authorised Mass (MAM) does not exceed 3.5 tonnes and the gross MAM of the trailer does not exceed the unladen weight of the towing vehicle.
Vehicles over 3500kg MAM are classified as large goods vehicles.
To be able to tow combinations outside this ruling requires the passing of an additional test.
there is a bit where you can tow a little more than that but i forget the wording.
If you passed your driving test after 1 January 1997 and have an ordinary Category B licence, you can drive either of the following:
- a vehicle up to 3.5 tonnes (3,500 kilograms) maximum gross weight towing a trailer of up to 750 kilograms maximum gross weight (up to 4,250 kilograms in total)
- a trailer over 750 kilograms maximum gross weight as long as it is no more than the unladen or 'kerb' weight of the towing vehicle (up to 3,500 kilograms in total)
taken from http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/Dr ... /DG_192285
I assume that relates to the plated MGW of the trailer.
So if i was towing with the estate that weighed 1280kg I could tow a trailer up to 1280kg. If i was towing with an Audi A8 TTDiV8 that weighs in at 1900kg (ish) I could tow a trailer with a MGW of 1900kg (ish). BIM the audi has a payload of about 600kg that gives a GTW of almost 5 tonnes