Towing.

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Nick bw

Nick bw

Member
Posts
65
Location
London
Hi all
I have a BE licence which means I can tow anything under 3.5ton

I have a 110 and before I lose my mind can someone confirm or help correct me.

The 110 is be roughly 2ton
I have a trailer 600kg
I have a car on it 615kg
Total weight of car and load will be 3.25ton roughly

Since I do not have a towing license, but have the BE mark on my driving licence (I passed my test in 2005) am I leagally safe to tow my trailer and car?

Thanks
Nick
 
Hi

see https://www.gov.uk/driving-licence-categories

Category BE
You can drive a vehicle with a MAM of 3,500kg with a trailer.

The size of the trailer depends on the BE ‘valid from’ date shown on your licence. If the date is:

before 19 January 2013, you can tow any size trailer
on or after 19 January 2013, you can tow a trailer with a MAM of up to 3,500kg
 
Nick bw said:
Hi all
I have a BE licence which means I can tow anything under 3.5ton

I have a 110 and before I lose my mind can someone confirm or help correct me.

The 110 is be roughly 2ton
I have a trailer 600kg
I have a car on it 615kg
Total weight of car and load will be 3.25ton roughly

Since I do not have a towing license, but have the BE mark on my driving licence (I passed my test in 2005) am I leagally safe to tow my trailer and car?

Thanks
Nick
Click to expand...

Do you have the actual B+E category, with an issue and run out date on the rear of the licence? Your post is a bit confusing, saying you do have it at the top, but don’t have it at the bottom??
 
kermit_rr said:
Hi

see https://www.gov.uk/driving-licence-categories

Category BE
You can drive a vehicle with a MAM of 3,500kg with a trailer.

The size of the trailer depends on the BE ‘valid from’ date shown on your licence. If the date is:

before 19 January 2013, you can tow any size trailer
on or after 19 January 2013, you can tow a trailer with a MAM of up to 3,500kg
Click to expand...

Be careful with them weights. Prior to January 13 and post January 97, the vehicle and trailer must have a COMBINED MAM of less than 3.5T.
 
upload_2019-1-2_15-19-40.png
 
kermit_rr said:
Good point.

Combined MAM, also known as GrossTrain Weight?
Click to expand...

Yeah that’s what I prefer to call it, but the Gov website insists on EU wording.

I think we need to know the trailers plated weight, as that is what will determine if it can be towed. I towed a 3.5T trailer down to Manchester and back for my chassis. several police cars passed us, and none bothered, but you never know.
 
Its the weight the trailer can carry. If your trailer is plated 3500kg gross weight and its empty you are over the limit....you have nothing left for the tow car....get caught and the whole outfit will be uplifted and taken away :)

If you have no plate on the trailer and the whole lot looks less than 3500kg you might be fine....if it looks dodgy you can be taken to a weigh bridge.
 
I think the answer is in the link posted ^^^^
These new regs are sh*t for new peeps wanting to tow.
Maybe a quick trip to plod station and ask as an honest citizen may help you never know.But as said becarful here.
We are lucky to be old farts in this case, but also some European countries state if trailer is capable of 3500kg then your tow car needs to be too:eek: (don’t think that’s an issue for your 110)
You say your trailer only weighs xxx but what can it carry is light. Our 3.5 trailer only weigh a bit more than yours.
This MAM bit is confusing:oops: it’s the “allowable “ bit that might makes a diff.

J
 
Its not that complicated though probably very annoying.

If you passed your test after 97 you can only drive a vehicle up to a MAM of 3.5t and a trailer with a MAM of 750kg....or.....any vehicle + trailer with a combined MAM of up to 3.5t.

MAM is the mass of the vehicle/trailer plus its maximum load NOT how heavy it actually is.
 
Nick bw said:
Hi all
I have a BE licence which means I can tow anything under 3.5ton

I have a 110 and before I lose my mind can someone confirm or help correct me.

The 110 is be roughly 2ton
I have a trailer 600kg
I have a car on it 615kg
Total weight of car and load will be 3.25ton roughly

Since I do not have a towing license, but have the BE mark on my driving licence (I passed my test in 2005) am I leagally safe to tow my trailer and car?

Thanks
Nick
Click to expand...

If you passed your test after 1997, then unless you took a separate trailer test, you won't have BE on your license. It might be on your list of "provisional" entitlements, but you wont have it as a full entitlement.

If you do have BE listed on your full entitlements, then you can tow pretty much anything

If you don't have BE listed, then it comes down to what the plated MAMs of the vehicles are. So its not what the 110 and trailer actually weigh, its what the plates say they can weigh.

Im assuming that if you're putting a car on it, its a car transporter trailer, so probably plated with a MAM of at least 2 tonnes. I can't remember off hand what the plated weight of a 110 is but pretty sure its more than 2 tonnes.
 
mick 1986 said:
That puts almost every trailer, and driver, over the towing limit without a B+E licence.
Click to expand...

Not quite

It's EITHER any vehicle up to 3.5 tonnes towing a trailer up to 750kg
OR
any combination of vehicle and trailer with a combined MAM (gross train weight) of up to 3500kg

So if you're in a defender, you can tow a 750kg trailer (taking you up to 3800kg) because the trailer is only 750kg.

If you're in a 3.5 tonne transit van you can tow a 750kg trailer taking you up to 4250kg. Unless its a minibus in which case you can't tow a trailer at all unless you have D1+E

If you're in a freelander, plated around 2 tonnes, you can tow a 1.5 tonne trailer.

The irony of course is that you're probably safer towing the heavy trailer with a heavier car. But hey.
 
From seeing the same question posted on a couple of occasions (including today) on another website the OP only has provisional BE on his licence - pic of licence shown with their provisional entitlement for BE.
And I believe passed after 1.1.1997.
So the answer is for the combination above they can't - other than with 'L' plates, supervision etc.
Bit of confusion over entitlements etc which seeing the various dates,weights etc that towing now has to put up with doesn't surprise me in the slightest.
 
Last edited:
private penguin said:
Not quite

It's EITHER any vehicle up to 3.5 tonnes towing a trailer up to 750kg
OR
any combination of vehicle and trailer with a combined MAM (gross train weight) of up to 3500kg

So if you're in a defender, you can tow a 750kg trailer (taking you up to 3800kg) because the trailer is only 750kg.

If you're in a 3.5 tonne transit van you can tow a 750kg trailer taking you up to 4250kg. Unless its a minibus in which case you can't tow a trailer at all unless you have D1+E

If you're in a freelander, plated around 2 tonnes, you can tow a 1.5 tonne trailer.

The irony of course is that you're probably safer towing the heavy trailer with a heavier car. But hey.
Click to expand...

I did say “almost every”, not “every”.

If you think about it logically, now many defender owners drive round with tiny little trailers in tow? Most of us who get them to tow, get them because we tow larger capacity trailers.
 
Nick bw said:
Hi all
I have a BE licence which means I can tow anything under 3.5ton

I have a 110 and before I lose my mind can someone confirm or help correct me.

The 110 is be roughly 2ton
I have a trailer 600kg
I have a car on it 615kg
Total weight of car and load will be 3.25ton roughly

Since I do not have a towing license, but have the BE mark on my driving licence (I passed my test in 2005) am I leagally safe to tow my trailer and car?

Thanks
Nick
Click to expand...
A "towing licence" is B+E. Do you have that?
 
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