Towing Help

[Too Late]

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

[N Dentressangle]

Yes, you should be fine.

Official site said:

Licences issued from 1 January 1997
If you passed your car driving test on or after 1 January 1997 you can:

drive a car or van up to 3,500kg maximum authorised mass (MAM) towing a trailer of up to 750kg MAM
tow a trailer over 750kg MAM as long as the combined MAM of the trailer and towing vehicle is no more than 3,500kg

https://www.gov.uk/towing-with-car

[youngricharduk]

Too Late 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

To clarify did you take the B+E trailer test? As if you passed in '05 you wouldn't have the B+E entitlement.

[youngricharduk]

youngricharduk said:

To clarify did you take the B+E trailer test? As if you passed in '05 you wouldn't have the B+E entitlement.

It shows on your Licence but only for provisional entitlement if with someone with B+E entitlement on theirs.

[gazzarose]

Have you done your towing test to get the 'E' bit or have you just got B.

If totals are less than 3.5t then you should be fine, however if you've only got B then the actual weights dont matter. It's the MAM (max authorised mass) that matters, so for example if the LR has a MAM of 3t then you couldn't tow an empty 2t rated trailer even if it only actually weighs 400kg.

If you have BE then it's actual weights that matters, so you could tow an empty 3.5t rated trailer behind a fiesta.

[dhutch]

Too Late said:

I have a BE licence ...

....Since I do not have a towing license....

I am confused by this I passed in 2005 (well after the 1997 deadline) and have not taken the test, and do no have BE on my licence.

The new style has a full table, including BE, C1, CE etc. but has a line through those you do not have, rather than the dates seen in AM, A, B1, B. etc.

Photos as per here:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/changes-to-the-driving...


Without a BE you can tow a trailer up to 750 kilograms, or a combined car+trailer weight of up to 3,500 kilograms, weight are the plated MAM rather than the actual weight on the scales which I think will bring you over because the 110 is around 3000kg MAM alone, so you are limited to 750kg trailer till you take your trailer test.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/governmen...


Daniel

[Too Late]

Quick check on DVLA with my license. I can see this
|https://thumbsnap.com/G0n6Ag6A[/url]

youngricharduk said:

To clarify did you take the B+E trailer test? As if you passed in '05 you wouldn't have the B+E entitlement.

[url]

[Too Late]

Ah. This is making more sense. Ok. So I can tow the Westfield. I need to take the test. Thanks all. Thought I was ok for a second.

Thanks
Nick

[gazzarose]

Just had a quick look, the Mam of a 110 is 2950kg, so that only leaves 505kg left. So if no BE then you basically can't tow anything meaningful with the defender. It's a bit daft, cos it means you could tow much more with a focus!

[paintman]

OP. Looks like nothing has changed since you asked ROG the question in the towing thread stickied at the top of S,P&L. His reply was that you could do it on L-plates as you have provisional BE but would need Dad or another suitable B+E full licence holder to be with you.
(Friday June 18th last year to help you find it.)

R0G said:

Too Late said:

Quick question.

I would like to collect a car and tow it home on a trailer
I do not have a B+E on my licence.

My dad on the other hand has a B+E on his licence.

If I wanted to drive up there. Tow the car back on the trailer. Can I take my dad with me and put l plates on for it to be legal?

Got a 110 defender and looking to rent a large trailer for the day motorway and a roads mainly)

Thanks
Nick

Yes you can do that and DAD does not have to be insured unless he actually drives it

Make sure you inform your insurer that you are doing that = usually no extra cost

ETA. I suspect you are confusing what's on your licence. The categories shown below the words 'Can provisionally drive' are those categories which your licence entitles you to drive as a provisional licence holder (i.e a 'learner driver') subject to complying with the conditions of a provisional licence incl 'L'-plates, supervision etc.

Edited by paintman on Wednesday 2nd January 16:37

[dhutch]

gazzarose said:

Just had a quick look, the Mam of a 110 is 2950kg, so that only leaves 505kg left. So if no BE then you basically can't tow anything meaningful with the defender. It's a bit daft, cos it means you could tow much more with a focus!

Yeah, 750kg trailer.

Yes you can tow more with a smaller/lighter car, but the reason for this is limit the amount of damage you can do pilling into something or someone.



Daniel

[Too Late]

paintman said:

ETA. I suspect you are confusing what's on your licence. The categories shown below the words 'Can provisionally drive' are those categories which your licence entitles you to drive as a provisional licence holder (i.e a 'learner driver') subject to complying with the conditions of a provisional licence incl 'L'-plates, supervision etc.

Edited by paintman on Wednesday 2nd January 16:37

Yeah, I just had a quick check and assumed I would be ok.
Thanks all for the replies.
Nick.

[R0G]

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Hope that helps

[R0G]

gazzarose said:

Just had a quick look, the Mam of a 110 is 2950kg, so that only leaves 505kg left. So if no BE then you basically can't tow anything meaningful with the defender. It's a bit daft, cos it means you could tow much more with a focus!

Can tow a 750kg MAM trailer with a def 110 on a B licence legally

The 3500 max rule comes into play when the trailer is over 750kg MAM for B towing

B licence can be a 3500 GVW van towing a 750 MAM trailer

[Too Late]

Oh bks
So I have a provisional B+E it seems. It confused me into thinking I was ok to tow with the 110. Especially since it's kerb weight is 2ton. I thought I will be well under the 3.5 limit. But it's not it's kerb weight on the license. It's the MAM, which is 3ton for a 110

So if I want to tow a 600kg kit car, how can I achieve that? This is bonkers. That means without a trailer, I am at 3.6ton, already over the limit.
I passed my test in 2005

[Mr MXT]

Lighter tow car and a downplated trailer (Mine is downplated to 1300kg)

[dhutch]

Yeah, I've got a Westfield and have towed that in a light weight (second DIY built) box trailer behind a range normal everyday cars. Pug 306, 3 series BMW.


Daniel

[paintman]

If you intend to take the car to various track days etc then unless you have another suitable vehicle I would suggest passing your B+E test & then towing it with the 110 may be the simplest route.

If it's just a one-off journey then you'd probably be best going with ROG's suggestion of either your father doing the driving or your father supervising you on 'L' plates.

[R0G]

paintman said:

If you intend to take the car to various track days etc then unless you have another suitable vehicle I would suggest passing your B+E test & then towing it with the 110 may be the simplest route.

If it's just a one-off journey then you'd probably be best going with ROG's suggestion of either your father doing the driving or your father supervising you on 'L' plates.

If you have 100 year old great great granny who still has a licence then they can supervise you without the need to be insured on it unless they drive it

[Camaro]

Just take the test, it's really really not as bad as it would seem. Take away all the uncertainty of knowing what you can and can't legally do.

If you're looking at towing this Westfield a lot then it makes sense to just get a proper licence in place. I did mine in November last year and it wasn't anywhere near as bad as I was expecting it to be.