B + E Trailer test, anyone done it?

[McSam]

Super Slo Mo said:

You'd be lucky to find a trailer that weighs less than the unladen weight of the towing vehicle, and has an MAM of 4.75 tonnes. And you'd be lucky to find a towing vehicle that can legally pull a trailer that heavy.

For a start, you require powered (air) brakes on a trailer that weights more than 3.5 tonnes (for road use), and even the 4x4 vehicles only have a max trailer weight of 3.5 tonnes. As you can't drive a vehicle that weighs more than 3.5 tonnes on a 'B' licence, the max all up train weight you're likely to see is about 6.5 tonnes behind one of the bigger 4x4's.

Oh yeah, it seems a pretty unlikely combination with a towing vehicle under 3500kg, but I was just saying what the licence allows

[4mo]

R0G said:

You struck lucky - I am good on B and B+E towing issues

Maximum Trailer Dimensions
Length (excluding the coupling and drawbar): 7.0m
Width Maximum: 2.55m (was 2.3m up to 2010)
It must not be more than 30.5 centimetres wider than each side of the towing vehicle

B+E test is the same as the B test regarding driving faults
there will be the reverse and the un/couple test at the paractical test centre
there is no theory to be done for B+E - just the practical test

what else would anyone like to know ?

Which bit of legislation are the trailer dimensions specified in? I've only ever seen references to the mass before.

Also am I correct in thinking it's not the MAM of the towing vehicle that matters but the unladen weight of the towing vehicle which must be higher than the MAM of the trailer. With the total weight of both being below 3500kg?

[McSam]

All the following only applies to B without E:

4mo said:

Also am I correct in thinking it's not the MAM of the towing vehicle that matters but the unladen weight of the towing vehicle which must be higher than the MAM of the trailer. With the total weight of both being below 3500kg?

Not quite. It's the MAM of the towing vehicle that matters for the total weight being under 3500kg - for trailers over 750kg, MAM towing vehicle plus MAM trailer must be under 3500kg.

However, as an additional rule, the MAM of the trailer can't be more than the unladen weight of the vehicle.

[R0G]

McSam said:

However, as an additional rule, the MAM of the trailer can't be more than the unladen weight of the vehicle.

For B that is correct

For BE then the MAM of the trailer can be more than the actual weight or towing capacity or MAM weight of the towing vehicle

[EDLT]

McSam said:

EDLT said:

Yes, I am thick.

If you look closer, it splits those two paragraphs into slightly different sections. The rules for "small" trailers (under 750kg) and "large" trailers (over 750kg) are seperate. Basically, for small trailers, the mass of the vehicle doesn't matter, you can tow a small trailer behind any vehicle up to 3500kg MAM (the limit of the B licence anyway). However, for larger trailers over 750kg MAM, you're only allowed to go up to a maximum combined MAM of 3500kg between the trailer and the vehicle. Also, the trailer's MAM can't be more than the vehicle's unladen weight.

Egs:
I can have a 3500kg MAM Rangie, and tow anything under 750kg with it (for small trailers, the limit is effectively 4250kg total)
If I have something with a 3000kg MAM, I can't tow anything over 750kg because the combined weight is over 3500kg
If I have a car with a 2000kg MAM, I can tow up to 1500kg (so long as the car's unladen weight is at least that), because the total weight is under 3500kg.

Make sense?

Yes, thanks.

[McSam]

R0G said:

McSam said:

However, as an additional rule, the MAM of the trailer can't be more than the unladen weight of the vehicle.

For B that is correct

For BE then the MAM of the trailer can be more than the actual weight or towing capacity or MAM weight of the towing vehicle

Yep. At the top of my post I did say that all of the following only applies to B, without E

EDLT said:

Yes, thanks.

Cool, no worries