Do i need to upgrade my driving licence?

loopyloulilly

Hi Guys,

Need some information, I'm looking to buy a horsebox. Would i need to upgrade my current full driving Licence?

Thanks in advance

CiniO

loopyloulilly wrote: »

Hi Guys,

Need some information, I'm looking to buy a horsebox. Would i need to upgrade my current full driving Licence?

Thanks in advance

You have to give us more detail.
1. What licence do you have?
2. What car are you going to use for towing, what's it's unladen weight and what's it GVW (gross vehicle weight).
3. What will be the GVW of the horsebox?

I you answer these question, we can give you straight forward answer.

coylemj

Will you also tell us which race the horse is running in and what are his chances?

peasant

With an ordinary category B licence, a person can

tow a trailer of up to 0.75 tonnes DGVW, with a vehicle with a DGVW of up to 3.5 tonnes and seating for up to eight passengers (apart from the driver). The combination weight cannot exceed 4.25 tonnes.
tow a trailer exceeding 0.75 tonnes DGVW, provided that the DGVW of the trailer does not exceed the un-laden weight of the towing vehicle, and the maximum combination weight does not exceed a total of 3.5 tonnes.


With an EB licence, a person can

tow a trailer exceeding 0.75 tonnes DGVW, with a vehicle with a DGVW of up to 3.5 tonnes and seating for up to eight passengers (apart from the driver) provided that the manufacturer’s rated towing capacity for the towing vehicle is not exceeded.

http://www.rsa.ie/RSA/Vehicles-and-Legislation/Vehicle-Standards/Trailers/

Now get your weighing scales and pocket calculator

snowman707

do you mean a box

http://www.horseboxireland.com/

or a trailer,


in either case you will need to update your license

loopyloulilly

CiniO wrote: »

You have to give us more detail.
1. What licence do you have?
2. What car are you going to use for towing, what's it's unladen weight and what's it GVW (gross vehicle weight).
3. What will be the GVW of the horsebox?

I you answer these question, we can give you straight forward answer.

Full irish car licence
Im currently looking for a stronger car or jeep to pull a trailer.
unsure as i havent bought it yet.

loopyloulilly

snowman707 wrote: »

do you mean a box

http://www.horseboxireland.com/

or a trailer,


in either case you will need to update your license

A horse trailer.

saltandpepper10

peasant wrote: »

http://www.rsa.ie/RSA/Vehicles-and-Legislation/Vehicle-Standards/Trailers/

Now get your weighing scales and pocket calculator

as far as i can make out i can legally tow my ifor williams with my volkswagen transporter under that above legislation,i had thought i couldnt so its great news cheers peasant

I know a lot of people with horse box's and cattle trailers being pulled with 4x4's or cars (myself included) and I never heard of someone actually getting the EB license so I think you are safe enough op.

loopyloulilly

Cory Better Barium wrote: »

I know a lot of people with horse box's and cattle trailers being pulled with 4x4's or cars (myself included) and I never heard of someone actually getting the EB license so I think you are safe enough op.

True that! Known me I'll be caught around the corner.

CiniO

saltandpepper10 wrote: »

as far as i can make out i can legally tow my ifor williams with my volkswagen transporter under that above legislation,i had thought i couldnt so its great news cheers peasant

What is the gross weight of you ifor williams trailer?
I actually really doubt you can tow it legally with transporter, if the trailer is heavier that 750kg.

saltandpepper10

CiniO wrote: »

What is the gross weight of you ifor williams trailer?
I actually really doubt you can tow it legally with transporter, if the trailer is heavier that 750kg.

its a ivor williams lt 85 and its unladen weight is only 450kgs.i would have thought it was more myself but its very safe fully braked etc,its very easy to tow and its laden weight is 2000kgs

BrianD3

saltandpepper10 wrote: »

its a ivor williams lt 85 and its unladen weight is only 450kgs.i would have thought it was more myself but its very safe fully braked etc,its very easy to tow and its laden weight is 2000kgs

You'll need an EB licence in that case. If you don't have an EB it may be possible to get the trailer downplated to a much lower max laden weight and tow it on a B licence.

Eric Cartman

BrianD3 wrote: »

You'll need an EB licence in that case. If you don't have an EB it may be possible to get the trailer downplated to a much lower max laden weight and tow it on a B licence.

would you be in more trouble without an EB licence or if you downplated a trailer and it was caught 'overweight' at a weigh bridge ?

BrianD3

Eric Cartman wrote: »

would you be in more trouble without an EB licence or if you downplated a trailer and it was caught 'overweight' at a weigh bridge ?

I don't know which is a bigger offence but I'd say it'd be easier to catch someone with the wrong licence than to catch someone with an overloaded trailer. The overloaded trailer offence would require use of weighbridge whereas the wrong licence offence might just need a Garda to have a look at your licence and the trailer/car VIN plates.

saltandpepper10

lwb transporter ULW is 1820 kg and my trailer has special lighter running gear wheels etc so i think im in business.just have to confirm this tomorrow with ivor williams dealer,i think this reduces the trailers DGVW now that i think of it,so all is good

CiniO

saltandpepper10 wrote: »

lwb transporter ULW is 1820 kg and my trailer has special lighter running gear wheels etc so i think im in business.just have to confirm this tomorrow with ivor williams dealer,i think this reduces the trailers DGVW now that i think of it,so all is good

1. Your transporter unladen weight is 1820kg and you said GVW of the trailer is 2000kg. As 2000 is more then 1820 you can't use your B licence.

2. Now. Even if you downgraded trailer GVW to 1820kg, then go further.
Van's GVW is probably 3500kg. Trailers GVW is 1820kg. Sum is 5320kg.
That's way over the limit which is 3500kg.

So there's no chance you can tow this trailer with your transporter legally on B licence.

maglite

You'd need a new licence, Also do it very soon otherwise you will be caught for compulsory lessons.

tossy

maglite wrote: »

You'd need a new licence, Also do it very soon otherwise you will be caught for compulsory lessons.

edit when is this coming in to force? any links ?

CiniO

tossy wrote: »

edit when is this coming in to force? any links ?

It's coming in force on 4th April, but only applies to B licence.
If you have B and want to obtain EB then you don't need to take lessons.
As well anyone who obtained drivers permit for category B before 4th April won't need to take compulsory lessons.

BTW It's 12 lessons.

tossy

CiniO wrote: »

It's coming in force on 4th April, but only applies to B licence.
If you have B and want to obtain EB then you don't need to take lessons.
As well anyone who obtained drivers permit for category B before 4th April won't need to take compulsory lessons.

BTW It's 12 lessons.

So im safe basically.

Eric Cartman

CiniO wrote: »

1. Your transporter unladen weight is 1820kg and you said GVW of the trailer is 2000kg. As 2000 is more then 1820 you can't use your B licence.

2. Now. Even if you downgraded trailer GVW to 1820kg, then go further.
Van's GVW is probably 3500kg. Trailers GVW is 1820kg. Sum is 5320kg.
That's way over the limit which is 3500kg.

So there's no chance you can tow this trailer with your transporter legally on B licence.

edit : found the correct info : 4250KG is the absolute max train GVW on a B licence , you take (3500 - the GVW of your vehicle) and thats what your allowed tow , if that number is under 750kg then 750kg is the max GVW of the trailor so for people like me in a 3500kg gvw pickup - 750kg is the limit , for people in a 2600kg kia sorento or similar it would work out around 900kg (which doesnt really make sense but heh)

maglite

CiniO wrote: »

It's coming in force on 4th April, but only applies to B licence.

'm not saying your wrong, but I have heard that it will apply to EB also. OP Best to check it out with quick email to the rsa.

BrianD3

Eric Cartman wrote: »

only if the transporter is up to its max capacity , I always thought it was 3500 -( 1820 (the transporter) + the weight of the gear in the transporter) ) lets assume the transporter is empty then its 1680kg left over - so that could be the GVW of your trailor

Don't really understand what you're saying there but the actual laden weight of the vehicle at the time of towing is irrelevant from a licence point of view. What matters is the Design GVW i.e the weight the towcar and trailer could be

if im wrong then nobody can tow anything with a d-max / l200 bought here in the last 3 years as theyre GVW is 3500

If the Design GVW of the tow vehicle is 3500 kg then a trailer with Design GVW of up to 750 kg can be towed. You are allowed to go to a total DGVW of 4250 kg if the trailer is 750 kg DGVW. A pretty light trailer in other words, I don't think Ifor Williams would do anything that light. Halfords do light domestic trailers such as this.
http://www.halfords.ie/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_11101_catalogId_15551_productId_174718_langId_-1_categoryId_212363#dtab

CiniO

Eric Cartman wrote: »

edit : found the correct info : 4250KG is the absolute max train GVW on a B licence , you take (3500 - the GVW of your vehicle) and thats what your allowed tow , if that number is under 750kg then 750kg is the max GVW of the trailor so for people like me in a 3500kg gvw pickup - 750kg is the limit , for people in a 2600kg kia sorento or similar it would work out around 900kg (which doesnt really make sense but heh)

But if you have a car which f.e. unladen weight is 1500kg, GVW is 2000kg, so you can to a trailer with GVW of 1500kg because.
1. GVW of the trailer (1500kg) is not greater than unladen car weight (1500kg), and
2. Sum of GVW of car and trailer (2000kg + 1500kg) is not greater than 3500kg.

saltandpepper10

also own a fiat stilo multiwagon,by my calculations if i remove 2 wheels off trailer it downgrades it to a gvw of 1000kg this is factory stamped on the trailer,stilo weights 1450gvw so although this is way more dangerous i think its within the laws,im open to correction on this though

enfant terrible

The test is easy enough did it a couple of weeks ago, the reversing around the corner is the only tricky part and if you practice a few time you'll be grand.

They give you the option to reverse to the left or the right around the corner too.

CiniO

saltandpepper10 wrote: »

also own a fiat stilo multiwagon,by my calculations if i remove 2 wheels off trailer it downgrades it to a gvw of 1000kg this is factory stamped on the trailer,stilo weights 1450gvw so although this is way more dangerous i think its within the laws,im open to correction on this though

Your stilo is not 1450 GVW. 1450 most likely is the unladen weight.
In this cast GVW is probably about 1800kg.
If so, you can tow a trailer up to 1450kg GVW on your B licence, if the car is able to tow such a heavy trailer. Check car manufacturer spec.