Question about license to pull a trailer

asingrang

I have a full driving license since 1998.
Can anyone tell me if i am licensed to pull a trailer or do i have to do some sort of test to allow me to do that?

highlandseoghan

Once you have a full b licence and the weight is 750kg or less for the trailer then you can tow a trailer. If you have never towed a trailer tho I would suggest either taking 1 or 2 lessons or else go to a large open area with the trailer where you can get used to and comfortable towing and driving with a trailer.

asingrang

highlandseoghan wrote: »

Once you have a full b licence and the weight is 750kg or less for the trailer then you can tow a trailer. If you have never towed a trailer tho I would suggest either taking 1 or 2 lessons or else go to a large open area with the trailer where you can get used to and comfortable towing and driving with a trailer.

Thats great. People have been telling me i need a test.
You are so right about practising first. Ive never hauled a trailer ever.
I have a nice big empty car park in mind to practice.

highlandseoghan

If the weight of the trailer goes over 750KG then you need the next licence but once its under your grand. Ah if you have a large space to practice in then your sorted. I just found it took an hour or so just to get comfortable and used to how to handle pulling a trailer and after that your grand.

Chimaera

You can tow a trailer over 750 kg on a B licence provided the total weight of car and trailer does not exceed 3500 kg. You also need to be mindful of the car's towing limits. A trailer weighing more than 750 kg must also have its own braking system.

Markcheese

Have a look at your driving licence, a B licence will allow you tow up to 750 kg (load and trailer) as long as your car is rated to pull that much ....
If the E+ B section is marked on yr licence you're good to tow up to your vehicles max (3.5 ton on a landrover or pajero ) ...
I never took a trailer test and am rubbish at reversing trailers but have a trailer licence cos I passed my test in uk..

CiniO

Chimaera wrote: »

You can tow a trailer over 750 kg on a B licence provided the total design grossweight of car and trailer does not exceed 3500 kg. You also need to be mindful of the car's towing limits. A trailer weighing more than 750 kg must also have its own braking system.

What's in red is also important.
Weight limit of 3500kg applies to design gross weights of both car and trailer.

So f.e. car with DGVW of 2000kg and trailer of DGVW of 1500kg are just on the limit, and nothing heavier can be towed on B licence, even though that f.e. that car weights only 1300kg, and trailer weights only 400kg when empty (total: 1700kg).
Fact if they are empty or fully loaded is irrelevant. What matter is DGVW.

monkeysnapper

I defiantly feel you should have some kind of training to pull trailers, I know I would do one .

About 2 months ago I was doing the ground work for laying my patio paving and friend who was laying the slabs told me he couldnt get sand because he was picking up child, he said " ohh you have a hitch on your car" im 38 and never towed a trailer in my life.

Anyway I was sent to quarry to pick up sand, I towed trailer ok but after I had picked up sand I proceeded to drive out of quarry the way I had entered, big mistake, it was slightly down hill coming in and when I went to drive out my car couldn't make the climb, I had to reverse down a narrow road with a ton and half of sand with a dip on each side and things wernt going very well . I was scared stiff. I could hardly drive forward to straighten up trailer, and I could see seasoned professionals watching which didn't help.

" who's the prat making a balls of that reversing down the entrance road I could hear in my mind"

Anyway I kept a cool head and eventually did it, but man it was dodgy.

My advice is def get some training or practise.

mullingar

Just to mention it, the towing car must be also be approved to tow the weight of the trailer+load.

If you look at the weight/chassis plate on the car their should be four weights. Subtract the two top numbers and this will give you your max towing weight ie weight of trailer+load.

Most medium cars will have a limit of < 1500kg. (Eg: A diesel focus is 1300kg).

CiniO

monkeysnapper wrote: »

I defiantly feel you should have some kind of training to pull trailers, I know I would do one .

About 2 months ago I was doing the ground work for laying my patio paving and friend who was laying the slabs told me he couldnt get sand because he was picking up child, he said " ohh you have a hitch on your car" im 38 and never towed a trailer in my life.

Anyway I was sent to quarry to pick up sand, I towed trailer ok but after I had picked up sand I proceeded to drive out of quarry the way I had entered, big mistake, it was slightly down hill coming in and when I went to drive out my car couldn't make the climb, I had to reverse down a narrow road with a ton and half of sand with a dip on each side and things wernt going very well . I was scared stiff. I could hardly drive forward to straighten up trailer, and I could see seasoned professionals watching which didn't help.

" who's the prat making a balls of that reversing down the entrance road I could hear in my mind"

Anyway I kept a cool head and eventually did it, but man it was dodgy.

My advice is def get some training or practise.

You couldn't possibly legally tow 1500kg of sand on a trailer without having BE licence.
And to have BE licence you'd need to pass driving test for it, which would be impossible to pass without some training.

monkeysnapper

CiniO wrote: »

You couldn't possibly legally tow 1500kg of sand on a trailer without having BE licence.
And to have BE licence you'd need to pass driving test for it, which would be impossible to pass without some training.

Your probably right.. To be totally honest , I was very lucky to get away with that , that was one of the most stupid things I've ever done behind the wheel, I usually make really good decisions but this day I totally got it wrong, and it was probably closer to 2 tons of sand,

I was so lucky I didn't damage my car reversing down the road, and myself and I couldnt get higher than 3rd driving back to my house, the car just wasn't capable and nether was I really.

The friend told me that probably did car a load of good the engine got a real clear out. I don't believe that. The ars of my jeans nearly got a clear out that's all I know

Satanta

CiniO wrote: »

What's in red is also important.
Weight limit of 3500kg applies to design gross weights of both car and trailer.

So f.e. car with DGVW of 2000kg and trailer of DGVW of 1500kg are just on the limit, and nothing heavier can be towed on B licence, even though that f.e. that car weights only 1300kg, and trailer weights only 400kg when empty (total: 1700kg).
Fact if they are empty or fully loaded is irrelevant. What matter is DGVW.

Correct. Example: I have a s80. It's kerb weight is approx 1600kg but the vin plate states it's MAM is 2200. Therefore I can legally tow a trailer that has a MAM of 1300. For example a smallish caravan which may only weigh 900kg, but it's MAM will be more.

Here's what the NDLI definition of the b category states

The vehicle may tow a trailer (a) where the MAM of the trailer is not greater than 750 kg or (b) where the MAM of the trailer exceeds 750kg the combined MAM of the towing vehicle and the trailer is not greater than 3,500 kg.

Markcheese

CiniO wrote: »

You couldn't possibly legally tow 1500kg of sand on a trailer without having BE licence.
And to have BE licence you'd need to pass driving test for it, which would be impossible to pass without some training.

I have a B+E licence, and never took or passed a test on a trailer, but exchanged my uk licence for an Irish one... Have heard of people who passed their car test here just " having " the E+B (trailer) licence cos a box was ticked years ago..

guil

Lots of people here have every licence category even though they have probably only ever driven a car.