Boggles my mind…… Towing.

[grizz]

Not really sure if there is a thread like this or if this has any validity at all. 
 

In this country of yearly MOT’s and H&S till you puke 🤮 

Explain to me why you can run a trailer on wheelbarrow wheels down the road. 
 

 

[Saabnut]

They may look like wheelbarrow wheels, but they are very different. Every law that applies to a car applies to a trailer and faults are punished as if it were a car (in law, a trailer is a vehicle). Police are much keener on checking trailers these days, after all the motorist is an easy target.

[N Dentressangle]

23 minutes ago, grizz said:

Not really sure if there is a thread like this or if this has any validity at all. 
 

In this country of yearly MOT’s and H&S till you puke 🤮 

Explain to me why you can run a trailer on wheelbarrow wheels down the road. 
 

 

Compared to most European countries, we're very loosely regulated. Eg. the German MoT is much, much stricter than the UK one. Trailers & caravans there have to be separately registered, taxed and inspected.

I think we have the balance about right in that respect.

Stuff like trailer offences that can't be easily detected by cameras will get through though, especially with de-funded police and very few traffic cops with much bigger fish to fry. Luckily most people are pretty sensible.

[loserone]

I could see why trailer MOT testing would be beneficial, my approach so far has been to buy nearly new or from highly trustworthy persons but some of the camping trailers and farmers shite I've seen around here shouldn't be on the road.  Requiring a test would be a big step forward.

[sierraman]

I’d love to see that bouncing from wheel to wheel at 50mph. 

[Rust Collector]

I nearly sent one of those little trailers into space a few years back, it was unladen on the back of my 4x4 so couldn’t be seen or felt.

I momentarily forgot myself and went over one of those narrow speed bumps without slowing down as the 4x4 wheels could pass either side of it.

The trailer then immediately made itself seen and felt, as its wheels could not pass either side 😬 I thought it was coming through the back window and absolutely shit myself, I’ve not made that mistake again.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

Last year my Dad, who should know better as a former lorry driver, got home from a trip to Wickes in his Disco .  To discover his little trailer complete with bags of pea shingle wasn’t there !
He retraced his route and found it in a hedge completely undamaged except for the plug pulled out of the electrics. Luckily it came off on a quiet lane not the busy town or bit of dual carriageway he’d driven down, no idea how it stayed on going toWickes either as he obviously hadn’t put it on properly.

[Rust Collector]

1 minute ago, NorfolkNWeigh said:

Last year my Dad, who should know better as a former lorry driver, got home from a trip to Wickes in his Disco .  To discover his little trailer complete with bags of pea shingle wasn’t there !
He retraced his route and found it in a hedge completely undamaged except for the plug pulled out of the electrics. Luckily it came off on a quiet lane not the busy town or bit of dual carriageway he’d driven down, no idea how it stayed on going toWickes either as he obviously hadn’t put it on properly.

I use chains and shackles on un-braked trailers, crossed into an ‘X’ shape between the A frame and the tow bar so that if the trailer uncouples the chains will pull taught and the hitch will drop onto them and provide some level of control still whilst you stop. You’ll still potentially put the coupler through your back bumper whilst braking, but I live in fear of a trailer fucking off and hitting an oncoming car!

[cort1977]

That's the system they have in the US and Australia.  I don't like the UK system of the breakaway for the trailer brakes, like you I worry...

[Sham]

I use a far too stout chain from the tow bar to the trailer. I've never had one go missing yet, and I hope I never do.

I'm also fairly paranoid about the condition of the trailer.

[leafsprung]

https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/21096681.tributes-paid-coltishall-man-knocked-runaway-trailer/

The worst happened down the road a few years back. It clearly can happen. 

[bunglebus]

I see some right idiots towing stuff. Transits with a generator on the back doing 70+ in lane 3 is a fairly common sight, or no lights/number plate etc.

Worst one recently was a large knackered boat on a trailer with no mudguards, lights or plate, being towed on a wet dual carriageway on a heavily overcast day.

From behind you obviously couldn't see the car lights to know when this knucklehead was going to change lanes of course

[brownnova]

My worst one recently was two vans, both towing mini diggers from the same company racing up the dual carriageway trying to overtake one another at 70+
 

Mental

[leafsprung]

The old neighbour was still regularly using his home made trailer up until a few years ago till he sold it. Made by him in the 70's, with a single axle, it was still on its original cracked to feck Dunlop cross plies. The brakes had long since stopped working.  The hitch was so loose and worn and you could hear it banging away coming down the street. No break away cable/chain at all, not that anything would have stopped that when loaded anyway.

The last time he used it was to haul gravel for his yard behind his Freelander from a quarry 10 miles away. He reckoned 2.5tonnes as a level load. He literally did not give the tiniest shit about safety.   I don't think his freelander could get up to any sort of speed thank God but the stopping distance must have been ridiculous eben at 20mph.

 

[EyesWeldedShut]

Try this (talking about big, double axle jobs here)
On a level surface - park trailer with handbrake fully on - can you push pull it?
Yes - go to jail, do not pass go.

No - hitch it up to the towing vehicle. Stick the handbrake on. Can you pull it easily against the handbrake?
Yes - go to jail.

We did this a few years back at a horsey event - asked the punters to come over and try this in the car park. A lot failed at the first hurdle, several at the second. Of those that passed both, some had a breakaway cable that would be suitable for a Dinky car. Aged car tyres totally overloaded too. Boggling - 3.5 tonnes all up with £££££ of neddies in it and there's fuck all brakes? 
There were two trailers both shackled to the towbars by chain - those owned by two different farmers.

Alternatively - you go across to the EU for a meet and there's all their trailers with number plates and certificates. My view is that we should treat car trailers/caravans  like HGV trailers and MoT them after 12 months (anything over 750kg)

[worldofceri]

The rules surrounding towing are fine as they are. What’s needed, as with most things, is more consistent enforcement of the existing regulations, not more legislation.  If you follow any of the various police forces traffic depts’ pages on Facebook , they’re always posting about the shonky trailers they’ve pulled over. I suspect as most trailers are used only occasionally, relatively speaking, the chances of getting away with dodgy towing activities over a long period of time are high.

[83C]

22 hours ago, loserone said:

I could see why trailer MOT testing would be beneficial, my approach so far has been to buy nearly new or from highly trustworthy persons but some of the camping trailers and farmers shite I've seen around here shouldn't be on the road.  Requiring a test would be a big step forward.

Last year I was looking for a 750kg trailer for general usage, moving junk, tip runs, etc. 

I got so irritated looking for a good secondhand one that hadn’t been owned by a fuckwit that I splurged £850 on a brand new 7x4 including frame and canvas cover. At least I know the thing is all good and I can maintain it without wondering if the previous owners ever bothered to grease it or give it a check over every so often. Only thing I’ve bought since for it is a decent chain to have in addition to the securing wire.

[leafsprung]

Same (or worse) with boat trailers. I've had a few over the years and sadly there's exactly zero attention paid to hubs which get a far harder time that other trailers. A regular dunking in fresh or salt water means running gear is inevitably a service item.

On each and every one I've had to replace hubs, bearings and wheels. Perished tyres, rusted rims and shagged bearings running in a mix of brown mayonnaise and grit each and every time.