I know that if your towing a broken down car with a car the striken vehicle needs to be taxed, MOT’d and insured. If you were using one of those one-man A-frame jobs obviously the same rules apply, but since noone would be in the car being towed who is liable for prosecution… the towing car driver?
Just a guess but you the driver of the towing vehicle. Also if the car is unmanned then you will need lights on the back of it so following drivers know when you’re braking, using your indicator, reversing (if you’re brave enough 
)
I stand to be corrected, but if the car is being towed using an A frame, isn’t it just like towing a trailer only bigger? As long as the driver passed their test before 1997 or has taken the appropriate test for towing, I can’t see there being a problem. Shrek should be able to answer this one if he’s still around. 
chuck a bit of crockery in the car, an old kettle and some clothes and tell them it is a caravan 
It is a serious point, why the zb should anyone be allowed on the road with an overloaded cobbled together piece of alloy sheet and timber which has never been tested or serviced
Wheel Nut:
chuck a bit of crockery in the car, an old kettle and some clothes and tell them it is a caravanIt is a serious point, why the zb should anyone be allowed on the road with an overloaded cobbled together piece of alloy sheet and timber which has never been tested or serviced
Good point…i work on a caravan park and some of the tourers that turn up are only fit for the tip!..the majority are pretty good though,which is more than can be said for there reversing…they often ask us to reverse them on to the pitches 
Al
Funny this subject has been brought up, as only last week i was reading up on it, did you know that A frames are illegal on the continent and technically they are illegal here too, because once a car is hooked up to an A frame it become a trailer, over 750 kg it must be braked, there’s not many cars under 750kg.
OK, the facts are thus;
If you’re towing an unmaned car behind another one, then it becomes a “trailer” in it’s own right.
You need to have a working lightboard with the tow vehicles VRM showing, fastened to rear of the “trailing” vehicle.
Technically, the brakes on the “trailered” car should also work when the whole unit needs to slow/stop. (##See additional note)
You also need to be aware of the towing vehicle Gross train weight (in other word, add the weight of both cars together)
If the weight of the broken down car is greater than the weight of the towing vehicle (but still doesn’t screw up the gross train weight) then you are severely restricted to what speed you can travel at (much lower than normal trailer speed) this 85% of the towing vehicle, figure that’s banded about, is only a recommendation, you can actually tow something that weighs more than the towing vehicle, providing you don’t go over the GTW.
you can tow a trailer under 750k that doesn’t have brakes, over 750k they have to have working brakes. BUT if you trailer is under 750k, and has brakes fitted, they have to work!
Now most police officers are not up to speed on these trailer laws, but beware! VOSA certainly are! and they can stop you, check your vehicle & trailer etc, then issue fixed penalty fines.
The real Biffo:
OK, the facts are thus;
If you’re towing an unmaned car behind another one, then it becomes a “trailer” in it’s own right.
You need to have a working lightboard with the tow vehicles VRM showing, fastened to rear of the “trailing” vehicle.
Technically, the brakes on the “trailered” car should also work when the whole unit needs to slow/stop. (##See additional note)
You also need to be aware of the towing vehicle Gross train weight (in other word, add the weight of both cars together)
If the weight of the broken down car is greater than the weight of the towing vehicle (but still doesn’t screw up the gross train weight) then you are severely restricted to what speed you can travel at (much lower than normal trailer speed) this 85% of the towing vehicle, figure that’s banded about, is only a recommendation, you can actually tow something that weighs more than the towing vehicle, providing you don’t go over the GTW.you can tow a trailer under 750k that doesn’t have brakes, over 750k they have to have working brakes. BUT if you trailer is under 750k, and has brakes fitted, they have to work!
Now most police officers are not up to speed on these trailer laws, but beware! VOSA certainly are! and they can stop you, check your vehicle & trailer etc, then issue fixed penalty fines.
I’d have never of thought there was so much involved!
Recovery outfits like the AA use them (not just on motorways) but mabye its allowed with all those beacons?
pete904ni:
The real Biffo:
OK, the facts are thus;
If you’re towing an unmaned car behind another one, then it becomes a “trailer” in it’s own right.
You need to have a working lightboard with the tow vehicles VRM showing, fastened to rear of the “trailing” vehicle.
Technically, the brakes on the “trailered” car should also work when the whole unit needs to slow/stop. (##See additional note)
You also need to be aware of the towing vehicle Gross train weight (in other word, add the weight of both cars together)
If the weight of the broken down car is greater than the weight of the towing vehicle (but still doesn’t screw up the gross train weight) then you are severely restricted to what speed you can travel at (much lower than normal trailer speed) this 85% of the towing vehicle, figure that’s banded about, is only a recommendation, you can actually tow something that weighs more than the towing vehicle, providing you don’t go over the GTW.you can tow a trailer under 750k that doesn’t have brakes, over 750k they have to have working brakes. BUT if you trailer is under 750k, and has brakes fitted, they have to work!
Now most police officers are not up to speed on these trailer laws, but beware! VOSA certainly are! and they can stop you, check your vehicle & trailer etc, then issue fixed penalty fines.
I’d have never of thought there was so much involved!
Recovery outfits like the AA use them (not just on motorways) but mabye its allowed with all those beacons?
I have only seen the AA use a normal bar where the punter stays in the motor or the dolly thing where the front is lifted up
many years ago in my army days I did a course in Germany which involved using an A frame to tow a 24 tonne truck for about 30 miles, then it was all change and the other truck towed me back to where we started, all was well until we came to the camp gate which was fairly tight, the towing vehicle took the turn far to sharply and I was dragged into the rather large brick gate post causing no end of damage to the truck and bringing the post down.
The towing driver jumped out and started shouting at me about my not steering around the post, he hadn’t realized that the A frame was steering my truck, how we never hit anything else on the way back taking this into account is beyond me 
I wonder if he was trying to steer his truck while I was towing him? 
dieseldog6:
Funny this subject has been brought up, as only last week i was reading up on it, did you know that A frames are illegal on the continent and technically they are illegal here too, because once a car is hooked up to an A frame it become a trailer, over 750 kg it must be braked, there’s not many cars under 750kg.
I read that too, and these hells grandads with the motorhome and a smart cart now need to buy a trailer to carry said cart. An old friend of mine in the motor trade decided he needed an “ambulance” (A Frame). So as we are from Yorkshire it was decided that if we put some bigger wheels on his old trolley jack and used a couple of straps it would work, it did and was still in use 5 years ago
i pull a car on an a frame behind my motorhome and its a braked system.
a lot are not though because most people think its anything under 750kgs but dont realise that its 750kg gvw and theres probably 1 or 2 cars that fall into that category.
they also dont realise if it has brakes then they have to work.
Does this help -
INFO SOURCE
Category B: Vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes MAM and with up to eight passenger seats
Category B vehicles may be coupled with a trailer up to 750kgs MAM (allowing a combined weight up to 4.25 tonnes MAM) or a trailer over 750kgs MAM provided the MAM of the trailer does not exceed the unladen weight of the towing vehicle, and the combination does not exceed 3.5 tonnes MAM.For example:
a vehicle with an unladen weight of 1.25 tonnes and a MAM of 2 tonnes coupled with a trailer with a MAM of 1.25 tonnes could be driven by the holder of a category B entitlement. This is because the MAM of the combination does not exceed 3.5 tonnes and also the MAM of the trailer does not exceed the unladen weight of the drawing vehicle
Whereasthe same vehicle with an unladen weight of 1.25 tonnes and a MAM of 2 tonnes when coupled with a trailer with a MAM of 1.5 tonnes would fall within category B+E. This is because although the combined weight of the vehicle and trailer is within the 3.5 tonnes MAM limit, the MAM of the trailer is more than the unladen weight of the drawing vehicle
Vehicle manufacturers normally recommend a maximum weight of trailer appropriate to their vehicle. Details can usually be found in the vehicle’s handbook or obtained from car dealerships. The size of the trailer recommended for an average family car with an unladen weight of around 1 tonne would be well within the new category B threshold.
dave:
i pull a car on an a frame behind my motorhome and its a braked system.[/img]
Always knew truckers were loaded ,especially dave, think i’ll pack up the day job and get another truck 
It all went pear shaped after that guy put a Landrover & towed vehicle onto that railway track in Yorkshire a few years ago. I believe the towed vehicle was on a Dolly (put I’ll stand corrected if wrong)
The government did their usuall knee-jerk reaction with the law etc.
Not to mention that ALL over bridges on “fast” roads now need to have better/stronger/longer barrier protection to stop errant vehicles from going onto the railways.
As per ROG’s post , it’s there, but no-one understands it!
I actually have an A frame myself, I used it a few weeks ago to pull a car back behind a Discovery, I had a proper lightboard, beacons etc. (but the brakes on the towed car weren’t able to be connected) I passed over a dozen police patrols, none of which were remotely interested.
I have ordered the adaption for the A frame, this is similar to a caravan hitch, with a damper connected via a bowden cable affair that somehow presses the brake pedal in the towed vehicle (still not much good once the vacuum has gone!)
you will find that the 2 large recovery agents (RAC & AA) no longer use the A frame, they either use the dolly affair that comes down & out of the rear of the van, and has brakes, or they will tow the broken down driver on a straight bar for short distances (only if the recovery driver feels confident that the BDV driver is capeable of being towed.)
speedyguy:
dave:
i pull a car on an a frame behind my motorhome and its a braked system.[/img]
Always knew truckers were loaded
£600 for the car and frame dont make me loaded.lol
dave:
speedyguy:
dave:
i pull a car on an a frame behind my motorhome and its a braked system.[/img]
Always knew truckers were loaded
£600 for the car and frame dont make me loaded.lol
So this isn’t your’s
davesmotorhomes.co.uk/ ? You kept quiet about the motorhome there
You could have saved on the A frame with this 1 wikio.co.uk/video/1344273 Check out 1min 3o secs,
If you tow a car and any wheels are on the ground it must be taxed, insured and MOT’d just as if it was being driven. I believe that the RAC/AA patrols check before they will tow you anywhere. Obviously, if you put the car on a trailer it’s the trailer that has to be legal.
If you are sitting in a car being towed then you can work the brakes, so that is OK even when the PA has gone. It’s possible that the “driver” of a towed car doesnt actually need a licence though.
A frames are only meant to be use to move a car to a safe place to repair it…thats why AA or any other recovery agent dont use them no more…these are the ones that chain or ratchet strap round the front wisebones.
plus shouldnt be used on motorways as technicaly you shouldnt tow a vehicle on a motorway.
The real Biffo:
It all went pear shaped after that guy put a Landrover & towed vehicle onto that railway track in Yorkshire a few years ago. I believe the towed vehicle was on a Dolly (put I’ll stand corrected if wrong)
The government did their usuall knee-jerk reaction with the law etc.
Not to mention that ALL over bridges on “fast” roads now need to have better/stronger/longer barrier protection to stop errant vehicles from going onto the railways.As per ROG’s post , it’s there, but no-one understands it!
I actually have an A frame myself, I used it a few weeks ago to pull a car back behind a Discovery, I had a proper lightboard, beacons etc. (but the brakes on the towed car weren’t able to be connected) I passed over a dozen police patrols, none of which were remotely interested.
I have ordered the adaption for the A frame, this is similar to a caravan hitch, with a damper connected via a bowden cable affair that somehow presses the brake pedal in the towed vehicle (still not much good once the vacuum has gone!)you will find that the 2 large recovery agents (RAC & AA) no longer use the A frame, they either use the dolly affair that comes down & out of the rear of the van, and has brakes, or they will tow the broken down driver on a straight bar for short distances (only if the recovery driver feels confident that the BDV driver is capeable of being towed.)
Where’d you order that from?