Tullester

New Member
I have a Freelander diesel 2.0 Td4 SE auto (2003-2005 model). Can anyone let me know if this would be legal and/or suitable to do a long tow - 500+ miles towing a boat weighing 1.95 tons on a good trailer?
 
max towing for freebie is 2000kg / 2 ton so unless your boat and trailer together weigh 1.95 ton then no you would not be legal, and you would run the risk of being pulled by police/vosa, not to mention that some may say that it would be unsafe.
 
I have a Freelander diesel 2.0 Td4 SE auto (2003-2005 model). Can anyone let me know if this would be legal and/or suitable to do a long tow - 500+ miles towing a boat weighing 1.95 tons on a good trailer?

Do you mean Ton or Tonne (imperial or metric) though there isn't much difference

The total weight you can tow with a TD4 is 2 Tonnes

So,

the answer is no,

because it would be the combined weight of the boat and trailer
and, a boat trailer is gonna b at lest 750kg (3/4 of a tonne)
 
Ashleywood - thank you. I very much appreciate your advice. I guess I now need to find out what the trailer weighs...
 
Plus if you passed your test on or after 1/1/1997 it gets a whole lot more complicated.

Though, I have seen a Freelander 1.8 towing a canal boat down the M6.

Looked a bit like this, except it was green and had rag dolls on it.

price_boat.jpg
 
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Hi Tullester, The advice given above is sound - the boat and trailer is way too heavy and I think you need to hire a good sized van or commercial vehicle. If you have any doubts about the advice go to What Tow Car . com who offer a free online "outfit matching" service which gives you instant results and you can adjust the parameters (eg engine size) and see how it affects the results. Although this is aimed at caravan owners you will find you can select "Boat Trailer" from the drop down menu and you can input the width, height and aerodynamics of the trailer. I havejust had a look at the combination you suggest above and I have to say its pretty dire and illegal. It says you would be a "chicane for other traffic" I don't think you would get much out of first gear. Cheers SW.
 
As said, not legal with Freelander because it would be overweight for the car.

Also you will need +E on your licence for this combination as there is no configuration in which you can be under a 3.5t train.

There are a great many vehicles which have a towing capacity in excess of 2t although it's generally accepted that in addition to this, the vehicle should also weigh more than the trailer does. Defacto caravan practice is that the trailer is 85% of the weight of the car although this is just advice - it has no grounding in law. With a +E entitlement there are no weight ratio limits and your capability is based upon the plating of the respective components of your train.
 
as rich said also if you passed after 1997 it is more complicated but i will explain as simple as i can:
max you can tow is 3500kg, the fully loaded weight of the trailer must be less than the unloaded weight of the vehicle, but the max load of vehicle and max loaded weight of car cannot exceed the 3500kg even if you dont fully load them.
e.g
unloaded weight of freelander is approx 1600kg, fully loaded weight of freelander is approx 2050kg therefore heaviest loaded trailer you could tow would be a trailer with a max load of 1450kg (thats max load not what it weighs) because 1450+2050 = 3500kg and 1600kg>1450kg.

hope this is clear enough :)
 
as rich said also if you passed after 1997 it is more complicated but i will explain as simple as i can:
max you can tow is 3500kg, the fully loaded weight of the trailer must be less than the unloaded weight of the vehicle, but the max load of vehicle and max loaded weight of car cannot exceed the 3500kg even if you dont fully load them.
e.g
unloaded weight of freelander is approx 1600kg, fully loaded weight of freelander is approx 2050kg therefore heaviest loaded trailer you could tow would be a trailer with a max load of 1450kg (thats max load not what it weighs) because 1450+2050 = 3500kg and 1600kg>1450kg.

hope this is clear enough :)

are you sayin this is relevant to peeps who passed there test after '97 or before????
 
are you sayin this is relevant to peeps who passed there test after '97 or before????

It only applies to people who passed there test after some point in 97, need to check exactly when, and if the category B+E isn't on your licence.
B+E can be achieved by one of two ways for Someone who passed there test after 97, 1; pass B+E test, 2; pass C+E test.
 
This is the current regulation

Car licences held before 1 January 1997

All drivers who passed a car test before 1 January 1997 retain their existing entitlement to tow trailers until their licence expires. This means they are generally entitled to drive a vehicle and trailer combination up to 8.25 tonnes MAM. They also have entitlement to drive a minibus with a trailer over 750kgs MAM.
Drivers who hold subcategory C1+E - limited to 8.25 tonnes MAM, may apply for provisional entitlement to the new subcategory C1+E, in order to take and pass the test which will increase their combined vehicle and trailer entitlement to 12 tonnes MAM. It is not necessary to gain subcategory C1 entitlement first but drivers have to meet higher medical standards, and pass both the category C theory test and the subcategory C1+E practical test.
 
Do you mean Ton or Tonne (imperial or metric) though there isn't much difference

The total weight you can tow with a TD4 is 2 Tonnes

So,

the answer is no,

because it would be the combined weight of the boat and trailer
and, a boat trailer is gonna b at lest 750kg (3/4 of a tonne)

Actually it's the MAM of the trailer which would have to be trailer weight + max load on trailer. and even if the trailer was empty it would still be the MAM that counted. you can't tow an empty 3.5toone trailer if you passed your test after 97. even if the empty weight was less than 750kg
 
Actually it's the MAM of the trailer which would have to be trailer weight + max load on trailer. and even if the trailer was empty it would still be the MAM that counted. you can't tow an empty 3.5toone trailer if you passed your test after 97. even if the empty weight was less than 750kg
Do you mean for the purposes of licensing, Redhand or for committing an offence for driving overladen?
 

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