a friend of mine has a 3.5 ton transit car transporter. we were discusing the possibility of him putting a hydraulic lift on the back so he can tow an extra car.
he recons it will then need to be fitted with a tacho, but i’m not convinced. he won’t be towing a trailer, he’ll be carrying one car, and lifting the front wheels of another.
he charges £1.00 per mile, so this way it’ll be £2.00 per mile, not bad considering what some charge for a 44 ton truck.
limeyphil:
a friend of mine has a 3.5 ton transit car transporter. we were discusing the possibility of him putting a hydraulic lift on the back so he can tow an extra car.
he recons it will then need to be fitted with a tacho, but i’m not convinced. he won’t be towing a trailer, he’ll be carrying one car, and lifting the front wheels of another.
he charges £1.00 per mile, so this way it’ll be £2.00 per mile, not bad considering what some charge for a 44 ton truck.
I think it would depend on the weight of the transit fully loaded and the weight of the additional speclift gear and on top of that the weight of the towed car.
Most 3.5 transporters tend to be overloaded with the average family car without a spec-lift.
Just sold my VW LT 35 transporter with 16ft 6ins bed and it could only carry 1400kgs.
As for tacho I would say yes as you are exceeding 3.5 tons.
limeyphil:
a friend of mine has a 3.5 ton transit car transporter. we were discusing the possibility of him putting a hydraulic lift on the back so he can tow an extra car.
he recons it will then need to be fitted with a tacho, but i’m not convinced. he won’t be towing a trailer, he’ll be carrying one car, and lifting the front wheels of another.
he charges £1.00 per mile, so this way it’ll be £2.00 per mile, not bad considering what some charge for a 44 ton truck.
Quite an interesting one here Phil, a couple of things come to mind, dual purpose vehicles and axle weights, let us suppose a family car weighs from 1750 to 2100kg, plus ramps and a winch, straps, tools and sleeping gear. Hanging a spectacle frame on the back with added leverage will certainly over load the rear axle.
As for a trailer, the Motorhome lads have come up against this since the DFT or VOSA have decided:
“When an A frame is attached to a vehicle (e.g. a motor car) and towed by a motor vehicle (e.g. a motorhome) we believe the A frame and car become a single unit and as such are classified in legislation as a trailer”
Another problem has appeared in that if a trailer weighs more than 750kg it needs brakes.
At Ontime Auto we had a couple of Ducato pickups for rush jobs, no tacho, but they were overloaded with much more than an Astra.
From my days in the garage, the plod are very hot on this, and they love to catch a car transporter, especially since the days of Ebay.
Just remember you only need to use a tachograph when you are pulling the trailer, if you piggyback it, there is no need for one 
i think you will have a serious problem trying to fit a spec frame to a transit chassis that is already a transporter, as it will sit too far back and if you put a car on it you will lift the front wheels off the ground at every bump, and it will be a ■■■■■ to stop as well. when i started on recovery work i had a mk2 ■■■■■■ but the chassis was strengthened and the front bumper replaced with one filled with concrete just to keep the front wheels on the ground and the chassis is cut back at the rear to get the frame as near as you can to the axel.
i don’t think i have ever seen a transit transporter fitted with a spec they are just not man enough,you would snap the chassis and you would be over weight on the rear all the time with the second car on, even 7.5 tonners struggle, alot of people removed them after they had them fitted because of weight problems and you couldn’t drive them with a normal C1 licence, so i think your mate is going to be out of luck 
The Gross Combination Weight/Maximum Allowed Mass won’t allow it, probably be able to tow a couple of pushbikes after everything has been put onto the Transit! Classic case of people not understanding the info on the Manufacturers Plate. Franky.
He must be joking. The clincher (as always) is in the C&U regs, I.E. A vehicle constructed or adapted for the sole purpose of recovering broken-down vehicles.
A spec or a Harvey Frost is the above. A beavertail is not. A beavertail with a spec is about as much use as ■■■■ on a bull.
limeyphil:
a friend of mine has a 3.5 ton transit car transporter. we were discusing the possibility of him putting a hydraulic lift on the back so he can tow an extra car.
he recons it will then need to be fitted with a tacho, but i’m not convinced. he won’t be towing a trailer, he’ll be carrying one car, and lifting the front wheels of another.
he charges £1.00 per mile, so this way it’ll be £2.00 per mile, not bad considering what some charge for a 44 ton truck.
No mate, it’ll need tacho. A car on a spec is a trailer. Semi-trailer to be precise.
VOSA go off gross weights, so the ■■■■■■ is 3.5 tons, wether loaded or not. A car on the spec is a trailer. So you got 3.5 tons + a trailer of whatever weight. In other words, ANY trailer (even them Halfords corned beef tin jobs) immediately puts a 3.5 ton gross vehicle over it’s 3.5 ton limit, irrespective of it being loaded or not.
In any event, a spec on a beavertail is never going to work.
Our ■■■■■■ has an ultralight body (actually the deck off a Brenderupp tilting car trailer, pressed steel), one person can pick the body up alone. With the winch, spare wheel, box of straps/chains, full tank of diesel and a driver, it weights off at 2150kgs, leaving 1350kgs payload. That’s about a petrol Focus or Astra at the very best.
We’ve got a spec off a ■■■■■■ we scrapped laid in the yard. It was just cut off the chassis so is complete with sub-frame, rams and pump. 2 of us couldn’t lift it, so I’d reckon it to weight well over 100kgs.
Nail that spec to t’arse end of your ■■■■■■ and you’d have knack all payload left.
Give your mate a slap and tell him to think things through before opening his trap 
so it looks like he might need a tacho. so can he use a log book instead.
i might put the A frame idea to him, due to the axle weight problem.
limeyphil:
so it looks like he might need a tacho. so can he use a log book instead.
i might put the A frame idea to him, due to the axle weight problem.
If he doesn’t work outside 100kms from base (and if i remember correct thats how the crow flys) and he only transports brokendown vehicles he might get away with the tacho, if he operates over that or carries vehicles that are not brokendown i.e. just moving them for someone thats bought the vehicle and say its got no tax or m.o.t then he will require a tacho, and possibley resticted o licence 
he does national car delivery, recovery/breakdowns are just a small percentage of his work.
i can’t see any reason for him to get a tacho fitted, but maybe carry a log book.
but i’m not entirely sure, so any input will be appreciated.
limeyphil:
he does national car delivery, recovery/breakdowns are just a small percentage of his work.
i can’t see any reason for him to get a tacho fitted, but maybe carry a log book.
but i’m not entirely sure, so any input will be appreciated.
The law changed last December, he’d need a tacho & standard ‘O’ licence.
As others have said the spec lift option is a non starter for many reasons, overloading the rear axle, overloading on gross weight, lifting the front wheels off the ground etc.
The only real option he has to transport 2 vehicles at once legally and safely is a proper car transporter trailer. The downside of this is he will require a tachograph and standard national o-licence.
Paul
yes he will needa tacho fitting ,cops around the m25 /m1 area are really hot on this (i speak from experience) as has been said he might aswell fit a proper trailer and piggy back it when empty,then ask vosa to prove when he was or wasnt towing a trailer
bluenose:
limeyphil:
he does national car delivery, recovery/breakdowns are just a small percentage of his work.
i can’t see any reason for him to get a tacho fitted, but maybe carry a log book.
but i’m not entirely sure, so any input will be appreciated.The law changed last December, he’d need a tacho & standard ‘O’ licence.
if he has to have a standard o licence then he might aswell sell the transit and get something man enough to carry 2 cars
wildfire:
if he has to have a standard o licence then he might aswell sell the transit and get something man enough to carry 2 cars
Not necessarily as with a transit and trailer if he leaves the trailer at home or if he is empty and loads the trailer onto the bed of the transit then he is not required to use a tacho and so the driving counts as other work instead of driving for the purposes of the tacho rules.
Paul
limeyphil:
so it looks like he might need a tacho. so can he use a log book instead.
i might put the A frame idea to him, due to the axle weight problem.
Towing a car on an A frame is illegal unless the towed car is properly converted so that it is fully braked.
You put a car on an A frame, it becomes a trailer. Any trailer over 750kgs must be fully braked (that means all wheels must be braked). The campervan brigade have their towed cars modified with brake connections, so they can tow them.
limeyphil:
a friend of mine has a 3.5 ton transit car transporter. we were discusing the possibility of him putting a hydraulic lift on the back so he can tow an extra car.
he recons it will then need to be fitted with a tacho, but i’m not convinced. he won’t be towing a trailer, he’ll be carrying one car, and lifting the front wheels of another.
he charges £1.00 per mile, so this way it’ll be £2.00 per mile, not bad considering what some charge for a 44 ton truck.
I know a few who have had trany car transportes and towing a trailer behind
They where stopped by VOSA and told they needed taco machines coz the train weight was over 3.5T
Dont know if they are supposed to have an opporators licence though
Boss & Driver:
limeyphil:
a friend of mine has a 3.5 ton transit car transporter. we were discusing the possibility of him putting a hydraulic lift on the back so he can tow an extra car.
he recons it will then need to be fitted with a tacho, but i’m not convinced. he won’t be towing a trailer, he’ll be carrying one car, and lifting the front wheels of another.
he charges £1.00 per mile, so this way it’ll be £2.00 per mile, not bad considering what some charge for a 44 ton truck.I know a few who have had trany car transportes and towing a trailer behind
They where stopped by VOSA and told they needed taco machines
Dont know if they are supposed to have an opporators licence though
Some transits are over 3.5 tonnes GVW hence will need tachos
hiya all this towing thing is just to hard to follow getting.i have a 3.5 ton plant trailer.i only carry 2 motorbikes
on it to shows.well used to, my motorhome is 3.5 ton and 5 ton train. because the trailer is capable of 3.5 ton gross
vosa now say you might load the trailer to max meaning 3.5 ton van + 3.5 ton trailer 7 ton. so now i can’t even pull
my empty trailer because i MIGHT put too much load on it. so i can have a flimsy tin can trailer from B&Q
with one motor bike on thats safer.
what crap
John