Do I need a a B+E to tow a speedboat?

[rottie102]

Just checking before I'll do something silly and put a bid on.
Direct.gov says:
If you passed a car test on or after 1 January 1997 you're limited to vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes maximum authorised mass towing a trailer up to 750kgs, or a vehicle and trailer combination up to 3.5 tonnes MAM providing the MAM of the trailer doesn't exceed the unladen mass of the towing vehicle. You will need to pass an additional driving test in B+E if you wish to tow a caravan or trailer combination which exceeds these weight limits.

According to the manual, my 4.4 BMW X5's permitted gross weight while towing a trailer is 2770kg and unladen is 2170kg

I'm getting confused with all different weights.

Would I be able to legally tow something like : THIS? How heavy on average a speedboat with a biggish engine and a trailer is?

[danyeates]

rottie102 said:

Just checking before I'll do something silly and put a bid on.
Direct.gov says:
If you passed a car test on or after 1 January 1997 you're limited to vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes maximum authorised mass towing a trailer up to 750kgs, or a vehicle and trailer combination up to 3.5 tonnes MAM providing the MAM of the trailer doesn't exceed the unladen mass of the towing vehicle. You will need to pass an additional driving test in B+E if you wish to tow a caravan or trailer combination which exceeds these weight limits.

According to the manual, my 4.4 BMW X5's permitted gross weight while towing a trailer is 2770kg and unladen is 2170kg

I'm getting confused with all different weights.

Would I be able to legally tow something like : THIS? How heavy on average a speedboat with a biggish engine and a trailer is?

The laws are ridiculous TBH.

I had a RIB which weighed 1300kg on it's trailer. The law said I could tow it behind my Audi S4 or my Skoda Octavia as they had max gross weights of about 2,000kg I think (from memory!). The cars could tow 1500kg and the maximum gross train weight of the car (2000kg) and trailer (1300kg) together was less than 3500kg.

However, if I then wanted to tow the same boat behind the Shogun, it was illegal because the vehicle was too heavy and the maximum gross weight of the Shogun and trailer were over 3500kg!! Despite it probably not actually weighing 3500kg in reality as it would have only been me in the truck anyway. So in fact it was legal for me to tow my boat behind a car which was on the limit of what it could tow, but illegal for me to tow it behind a big heavy truck which was much more stable.

The maximum gross weight (or MAM) of the car is the key point here. This is basically the theoretical maximum weight the car could weigh if it had 5 people onboard, a full boot and a full roof rack. The law doesn't care what your car weighs at the actual time of towing, they only care about the maximum gross weight. The law says you can't tow if the whole train (car the trailer) could weigh over 3500kg when fully laden.

To be honest with you, I probably wouldn't really worry about it, but that's up to you! We'll need to know the maximum gross weight (or MAM) of your X5, but I expect it would be pretty close to 3000kg, meaning you wouldn't have much left for the trailer. Another strange part of the law says you can tow a trailer with any vehicle (even if the vehicle MAM is 3500kg) as long as the trailer is less than 750kg.

Or you may end up having to get a smaller car so you can tow the Fletcher legally!! What a joke! Or do your B+E test. That's a joke too. 1 hour of driving around a town with a box trailer on the back, learning nothing about slowing the train down down a hill, how to avoid snaking etc... and then having to reverse back and hitch it on yourself first time, without moving the trailer and without crashing into it. How many times have you reversed back and got the ball under the hitch perfectly, first time, without someone guiding you?!??!?! Ridiculous.

I failed my B+E test on hesitating at a mega busy roundabout and doing 40mph in a 50mph zone!!!! Nothing to do with my capability of towing. I've been towing for years at work, sometimes some big 9m boats on very long trailers (on private land of course), so I'm very competant at towing. Just not very good at roundabouts! Never bothered to retake it as I've jus towed my boat with the Audi and stayed within the weight limit.

Best get the Fletcher weighed and see if it comes under. It might well do, it would be close.

Ps. Nice boat, and cool name! Engine's a bit old, she'll be loud and thirsty, but it will be fun! I've had lots of Fletchers in the past with the older Mercs on.

Edited by danyeates on Saturday 11th June 14:36

Edited by danyeates on Saturday 11th June 14:37

Edited by danyeates on Saturday 11th June 16:37

[mph1977]

for those saying the law is ridiculous , perhaps you'd have preferred it if the UK had fought for the derogations over none B+E holders and cat B drivers being able to drive D1 vehicles in limited circumstances ...

alternatively

want to tow anything heavier than a little box trailer, crosser trailer or a sailing dinghy - kerching ! because the EU directive as written says any braked trailer = +E...

want to drive a minibus for a charity or not for profit organisation - kerching ... the UK went further than it could have to silence critics in allowing any not for hire and reward use and the stuff about 'incidental' driving in the line of work they could have just limited it to small bus permit scheme vehicles.