Renting of beavertail car transporters <3500 kg

BrianD3

I'm referring to lightweight van based car transporters, Ford Transit etc. that can be driven with a car licence. Max payload for the best of them would be about 1500-1700 kg.

I don't have any immediate need for one but have been looking online anyway. I found only one commercial rental company that seems to offer them but there were very few details given.

Is there some reason why they are seemingly so uncommon for rent - no demand, insurance issues? A reasonable level of competence is needed to put a car on a transporter without overloading it or causing some other road safety issue. Still preferable to some of the trailer transporter contraptions that I see being towed on our roads.

alias no.9

BrianD3 wrote: »

I'm referring to lightweight van based car transporters, Ford Transit etc. that can be driven with a car licence. Max payload for the best of them would be about 1500-1700 kg.

I don't have any immediate need for one but have been looking online anyway. I found only one commercial rental company that seems to offer them but there were very few details given.

Is there some reason why they are seemingly so uncommon for rent - no demand, insurance issues? A reasonable level of competence is needed to put a car on a transporter without overloading it or causing some other road safety issue. Still preferable to some of the trailer transporter contraptions that I see being towed on our roads.

If the details are sketchy, it's most likely that that they would show the vehicle as being unfit for most purposes.

The chassis cab is going to weigh in at about 1700kg, allow for a driver, passenger and a full tank of diesel and you're not far shy of 2000kg and you still don't have a load platform, ramps or winch. If you managed to eek out a a payload of 1200kgs by staying barebones on everything, Id be surprised, 1000kgs would be closer to the mark and that's without giving any thought to weight distribution over the axels.

A vehicle like this is so limited in its usefulness that they'll never be common, never mind as rentals.

BrianD3

alias no.9 wrote: »

If the details are sketchy, it's most likely that that they would show the vehicle as being unfit for most purposes.

The chassis cab is going to weigh in at about 1700kg, allow for a driver, passenger and a full tank of diesel and you're not far shy of 2000kg and you still don't have a load platform, ramps or winch. If you managed to eek out a a payload of 1200kgs by staying barebones on everything, Id be surprised, 1000kgs would be closer to the mark and that's without giving any thought to weight distribution over the axels.

A vehicle like this is so limited in its usefulness that they'll never be common, never mind as rentals.

According to the below link kerb weight is 1875 kg which you'd have to presume includes the load platform and is not just a bare chassis cab.
https://www.advanced-kfs.co.uk/news/can-i-drive-a-recovery-truck-on-a-car-licence/

Yeah my original figure of 1700 kg payload was off the mark - but 1000 kg is also off the mark. There is no way that ramps, fuel, a winch and two people (unless morbidly obese) would bring a kerb weight of 1875 kg up to 2500 kg before payload.

colm_mcm

A bare Ducato chassis is 1650kg, so that adds up. I’d say it wouldn’t be up to much abuse though.
Note as well that they’re FWD.

pinktoe

BrianD3 wrote: »

I'm referring to lightweight van based car transporters, Ford Transit etc. that can be driven with a car licence. Max payload for the best of them would be about 1500-1700 kg.


Is there some reason why they are seemingly so uncommon for rent - no demand, insurance issues? A reasonable level of competence is needed to put a car on a transporter without overloading it or causing some other road safety issue. Still preferable to some of the trailer transporter contraptions that I see being towed on our roads.

Car transporters are available for rent so there might not be a need for recovery trucks. Recovery trucks aren't as steady to drive as a van with the same weight inside it so possibly insurance is an issue as they handle like crap on turns etc.

Dad had a 2005 RWD transit 350 recovery years ago, pretty sure it could only legally carry under 1300kg, which is useless.

alias no.9

Say you have a practical limit of 1300kgs or even 1400kgs at a major push for the vehicle, it's still addressing a very narrow market segment.

A professional recovery driver will never run one of these, they'll most likely be running something somewhere between 5000 and 7500kgs MAM letting them pick up any car they might need to and which they can drive on a a C1 license. The one you linked is really a thing for someone into motorsport or a classic sports car.

The point remains, any recovery truck that can be driven on a b license will be very limited in its usefulness so won't be common anywhere and even less so as a rental. If the one rental company who appears to have one on their books is a little sketchy about the information, it'll be because the payload is on the light side, they'll happily rent it to you in the knowledge that you carry any risk if it's overloaded. Eyes wide open and all that.

challengemaster

pinktoe wrote: »

Car transporters are available for rent so there might not be a need for recovery trucks. Recovery trucks aren't as steady to drive as a van with the same weight inside it so possibly insurance is an issue as they handle like crap on turns etc.

Dad had a 2005 RWD transit 350 recovery years ago, pretty sure it could only legally carry under 1300kg, which is useless.

I think the point he's getting at is these beavertails can be driven with a B licence, while a trailer >750kg is going to need a BE licence which most of the population don't even know, never mind have one.

1400kg might be limited on what you can get away with for a road car, but for a track or drift car - it's likely plenty of leeway. Wouldn't be too many stripped down cars weighing much over 1400kg.

mickdw

I have a serious need for one of those 3.5T transporters.
Ive a stripped out track car and im a long way from Mondello.
Trailering means buying a decent trailer and something that can tow as my main vehicle which is not something i want to do - plus doing trailer licence.
A 3.5t to hire would be excellent.

alias no.9

mickdw wrote: »

I have a serious need for one of those 3.5T transporters.
Ive a stripped out track car and im a long way from Mondello.
Trailering means buying a decent trailer and something that can tow as my main vehicle which is not something i want to do - plus doing trailer licence.
A 3.5t to hire would be excellent.

You need it on the weekend on an event, so would other competitors. It'll sit in the rental yard the rest of the time.

BrianD3

I do take some of those points but would have thought that there would still be a market for renting them by enthusiasts/recreational users. As you say, professionals will have a C1 licence or higher and probably won't be renting trucks on short term contracts anyway.

A 1300-1400 kg payload on a B licence would be useful. It would be difficult if not impossible to get that payload legally on a trailer with a B licence. E.g Woodford Trailers sell a lightweight car transporter range.
Trailer with a payload of 1500 kg has a MAM of 2000 kg
Trailer with a payload of 1200 kg has a MAM of 1600 kg

With a B licence and given the weight of the tow vehicle required, 1500 kg payload is going to be a no go and 1200 kg is going to be borderline. Also, I'd much rather have 1200 kg on the back of a chassis cab than on a trailer towed by a car.

BrianD3

challengemaster wrote: »

I think the point he's getting at is these beavertails can be driven with a B licence, while a trailer >750kg is going to need a BE licence which most of the population don't even know, never mind have one.

1400kg might be limited on what you can get away with for a road car, but for a track or drift car - it's likely plenty of leeway. Wouldn't be too many stripped down cars weighing much over 1400kg.

You can tow >750 kg on a B licence if the MAM of the combination is <3500 kg. One problem is this rule penalises heaver tow vehicles which are the very ones most suitable for towing.

See my other post about Woodford trailers. If you want to tow a 1200 kg car on a trailer you can just about do it legally with a VW Golf tow car. OTOH if you have a Toyota Landcruiser tow car, you can't. The opposite to how you would think things should be

mickdw

alias no.9 wrote: »

You need it on the weekend on an event, so would other competitors. It'll sit in the rental yard the rest of the time.

I dont disagree. That and insurance here being the reasons that you cannot get one i figured.
The OP says he has found one though?

alias no.9

mickdw wrote: »

I dont disagree. That and insurance here being the reasons that you cannot get one i figured.
The OP says he has found one though?

Found one and asked why they aren't more available. I don't know what the OP might need it for and just advised caution on payload which I think is a major factor in their scarcity.

BrianD3

mickdw wrote: »

I dont disagree. That and insurance here being the reasons that you cannot get one i figured.
The OP says he has found one though?

Here's where I saw mention of it:
https://www.pccommercials.ie/commercial-hire-dublin/

But when you click on the 3.5 tonne beavertail link for more details, it just goes back to a homepage.

mgbgt1978

challengemaster wrote: »

I think the point he's getting at is these beavertails can be driven with a B licence, while a trailer >750kg is going to need a BE licence which most of the population don't even know, never mind have one.

Total BS...which many do believe to be true, mainly due to people saying it's true :rolleyes:.
Even less of the population know the actual Law, which is stated below.

BrianD3 wrote: »

You can tow >750 kg on a B licence if the MAM of the combination is <3500 kg. One problem is this rule penalises heaver tow vehicles which are the very ones most suitable for towing.

See my other post about Woodford trailers. If you want to tow a 1200 kg car on a trailer you can just about do it legally with a VW Golf tow car. OTOH if you have a Toyota Landcruiser tow car, you can't. The opposite to how you would think things should be

Thank you BrianD3. I've said this here many, many times. Just to add to your post, the Tow Vehicle must have a Towing Capacity to match the Trailer's MAM (with a B licence).