Does anyobody here know to any heavy recovery outfits in the Southamton area? A HGV garage with a decent wrecker would be ideal.
Someone I know needs a 1973 Beford Plaxton with no tax or test moving from West Wellow to Southampton, a distance of approx 8 miles.
It should run and drive fine but has been sat since 2003ish. Prior to that it was driven to India and back.
Here she is…
Aint she cute…
Any advice or opinions welcome, although the phone number of someone who can move it on the cheap would be more welcome.
I’d check yellow pages and call a few local heavy recovery operators, if its suitable for you ask if they could arrange to do it when it suits them [bit like a return load] may work out cheaper.
Make sure the brakes or free or even better it drives and let them know.
Best bet would be someone with a sliding axle recovery low loader as bus just goes on top, rather than a suspend tow where they’d need to take halfshaft out, run air to brakes and fit a light board.
Ive seen plenty of scrap buses on a suspended tow on the motorway, no engine, no front wheels, panels, seats and windows missing. Only the rear wheels in place to allow towing. Obviously off to the bus terminal in the sky. They could have had an MOT I suppose…
Lankytim:
Ive seen plenty of scrap buses on a suspended tow on the motorway, no engine, no front wheels, panels, seats and windows missing. Only the rear wheels in place to allow towing. Obviously off to the bus terminal in the sky. They could have had an MOT I suppose…
I could be wrong after all I’m a truck driver not a traffic copper, but I’ve always been lead to believe that no part of a vehicle can be on the road unless it is legal. I’ve tried to find a defintive answer, but get either my thing of all wheels have to be off the road or it’s allowed on a lift tow. So whatever way you go good luck.
I’d try to avoid the cost of a specialist heavy recovery operator. Look for someone with a low loader (swan neck?) that it will go on. As has been said try yellow pages, or Yell.com or Google.
Mechanic77, at the risk of showing my ignorance here, what’s a sliding axle low loader? pic please
Muckles, i think re where the road legal thing is concerned, the difference is between the full tow (i.e on bar or rope) or the semi suspended… when it becomes a trailer and therefor subject to trailer law re legal tyres, brakes, lights, etc.
I’m fairly sure there was a change in the law re fully on the road tows quite some years back. I remember me & my Dad towing cars to the scrap yard with no MOT & i was steering them at age 15. As my Dad at the time was a Dept. of Transport employee, i doubt he would have done anything not legal.
I have seen this argument about towing somewhere before. It seems that, even with a towboy (the two-wheeled lifting thingies) a car has to be legal before you can tow it. The AA/RAC won’t tow an unlicensed car for that reason.
When you take bits off, like the engine etc I suppose there is a point at which it stops being a vehicle, but as far as the OP is concerned then the bus will have to be off the ground.
tom andrews , shootash garage romsey , or ray avery in new road landford is pretty close , ray likes the old stuff , f88 , aec , f10/12 ,but dont mean to say that any of the rates are cheap ! .
I’m sure someone on here posted that VOSA pulled them over because they had a car on tow with only back wheels on the road and it did not have an MOT, i think it was a car transporter driver who was towing a car behind him as well as having cars on trailer… i think.
Santa:
I have seen this argument about towing somewhere before. It seems that, even with a towboy (the two-wheeled lifting thingies) a car has to be legal before you can tow it. The AA/RAC won’t tow an unlicensed car for that reason.
When you take bits off, like the engine etc I suppose there is a point at which it stops being a vehicle, but as far as the OP is concerned then the bus will have to be off the ground.
How can they tow a caravan then or a trailer,if a garage is towing it they will put a light board on it and trade plates if need be…
More info on the trailers, they can make some recoveries much easier. A bit like picking a car on a slidebed rather than towing on a spec lift. trans.landoll.com/litpdf/435_410 … g_axle.pdf
Snow Associates:
Give Boarhunt a call. Splashed all over last week’s Commerical Motor. Gotta be worth a try.
i was going to say try boarhunts. i saw them today picking up a bin wagon just off the motorway and it was on a sliding axle low loader (first of all i wondered why the unit had 5 axles at the rear )
Fareham
Unit A, Fort Wallington Ind Est
Military Road, Fareham, Hants PO16 8TT
but I’ve always been lead to believe that no part of a vehicle can be on the road unless it is legal. I’ve tried to find a defintive answer, but get either my thing of all wheels have to be off the road or it’s allowed on a lift tow. So whatever way you go good luck. 
or a trailer,if a garage is towing it they will put a light board on it and trade plates if need be…
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