Nice People Thread Number 10 -the official residence of Nice People

lostinrates

PasturesNew wrote: »

Handy lookup http://www.uktow.com/towing%20capacity.asp

Three and a half!

Great site, thanks pastures!

Edit: its not actually that we tow that much, its that the meaty field work we ask the lighter four by four to do its too hard for it. A meatier four by four is called for sadly. The regret there is that it probably means we will end up with a trailer, not a horse box if we get ponies, and that means I'll have to do all the driving because DH is never going to get time to do a trailer test!

I really hate trailers. The ones that give a decent ride are more expensive than cheap lorries.

PasturesNew

It might make more economical sense to run two cars. Only you can work that out, from a spreadsheet. If you only want a "nice car" once a month, then even though the hiring cost seems a lot, when compared to the insurance/depreciation/MoT/fixing etc of one full-time it might seem cheap by comparison.

PasturesNew

lostinrates wrote: »

DH is never going to get time to do a trailer test!

Old people like me never had to do a trailer test; it's part of our regular driving license simply for passing the test before the laws changed.

LydiaJ

lostinrates wrote: »

Yes.

One of the things Lydia finds hard though, is planning ahead for meals, its just where her amazing ability to try and do everything for everyone comes to the end of its line.
And fair enough.

So long as she gets herself and the kids fed healthily. Normally I'm a huge fan of this sort of thing, but just like me trying to convince you cooking for one is fun, there is no point (and in probably damage) to be done if I push the meal planning line to Lydia

She's brilliant, and she and her brilliant son will get a handle on the 80 percent of it they need to to make a decent job of it I reckon:D

Awww. Thank you lir for understanding.

I have done meal planning in the past. I will do it again some time in the future. ATM there are other aspects of my life that are a higher priority to sort out.

Off now to deliver DD to watch Despicable Me 2 with the Brownies. She has already watched it with a church group (before Christmas) and had the DVD as a Christmas present and watched it several times, but is still keen to go.

PasturesNew

Source: http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/advice/owning/2013/may/guide-to-towing-capacity/

"If you are looking to tow anything heavier than 2,000kg, the list of suitable cars starts to get smaller, and moving up to the 3,500kg, the list shrinks even more. Below is a list of the cars that can tow 3,500kg.

• Land Rover Defender
• Mitsubishi Shogun
• Land Rover Discovery
• Jeep Grand Cherokee
• BMW X6
• Isuzu Trooper
• Kia Sorento
• Toyota Land Cruiser
• Range Rover
• Mercedes-Benz GL
• Mercedes-Benz M-Class
• Volkswagen Touareg"

neverdespairgirl

Are you sure you need one? Depending on when you passed your test, you can cheerfully drive practically anything, including a horsebox, without any further tests.

lostinrates

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

Are you sure you need one? Depending on when you passed your test, you can cheerfully drive practically anything, including a horsebox, without any further tests.

I can tow and drive 7..5 t with no problem, have done both on public e highways since seventeen, (and off them younger!)
(I'd still love to do my proper HGV test but I just cannot justify the money for a whim now it would be just that)

DH took his test in his twenties, so would need a trailer test, Andalusian lorry test to driver over 3.5 t. That's why small horse are so much more expensive than middle sized ones and people squeeze horses into those tiny Renault conversions.


I'm afraid I like a LORRY. I like to feel my load is balanced and stable, and that its movement is not going. To unbalance my vehicle.

Its illegal to travel in the rear with animals. Never the less there are plenty of studies on travelling stress, and many real life experiences will In form choice. But I'm not going to be competing again. I would like to get to the stage where we were clinicing, and perhaps potting to other parts of the country for holiday hacking breaks.

tomterm8

Some areas have conservation projects that will lend you a horse box or trailer for free, if it's only occasional use. We used to use that; nowadays we just pay a relatively small amount for a local lad to do it for us.

(the advantage is that if you are paying someone they come and do it at the time you want)

PasturesNew

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

Are you sure you need one? Depending on when you passed your test, you can cheerfully drive practically anything, including a horsebox, without any further tests.

There are 2-3 cut off points now; the law changed again in 2013. Again, from the parkers link:

January this year saw the laws on towing change, placing new restrictions on drivers dependant on when their licence was issued. If you want to tow more than the stated weights in this article, you'll have to take what's called a B+E test to get a towing licence. The test usually costs between £115 and £141 to complete but beware - you may need several lessons before being ready to take the test.


If you passed your driving licence after January 19, 2013, the maximum weight you will be able to tow with a category B licence is 750kg, provided the total weight of the car and what you want to tow does not exceed 3,500kg.


If you passed your test after January 1, 1997 and before the January 19, 2013 you are able to drive a vehicle that weighs up to 3,500kg towing a trailer of up to 750kg, bringing total weight allowed to 4,250kg. You may also tow a trailer over 750kg as long as the weight of the trailer is no more than the unladen weight of the towing vehicle, up to a combined weight of 3,500kg.


Any licences issued before January 1, 1997 enable the driver to drive a vehicle and tow with the combined maximum weight of 8,250kg. You can also drive a minibus towing a trailer of up to 750kg.

So the three bands appear at first to be:
• Pre 1997
• 1997-2013
• Since 2013

The 97-13 doesn't seem to allow a trailer more than 750Kg.

It's all complex ... and you need to know precisely: your vehicle towing weight, weight of the towing gear, weight of the trailer, weight of what you're towing. Weight of the people and luggage. Then jiggle it all about to see what's right.

lostinrates

PasturesNew wrote: »

It might make more economical sense to run two cars. Only you can work that out, from a spreadsheet. If you only want a "nice car" once a month, then even though the hiring cost seems a lot, when compared to the insurance/depreciation/MoT/fixing etc of one full-time it might seem cheap by comparison.

If both worked it would make sense il suppose and if I stay well. . It would be galling to have a lir car sitting on the drive unused because lir goes blind/cannot stay awake...taunting us.....depreciating :rotfl:

Yet, of the idea is to have a car I can whip up to cities in, in marred by dog hair and at a speed of seventy not groaning away at fifty and watching the rev counter waiver excitedly at the figure that should be labelled ' are you mad?, have you seen the price of petrol?'. Then a banger is not the appropriate vehicle.


I really, really I hate buying cars. I'd rather go and pull hair, including pubic hair, from every plug in the village up the road than buy a car. (And I wretch doing my own) than buy a car. I find it stressful in the extreme. If I knew I were going to make the most of two cars I think the decision would be much simpler, and straightforward.


I'd also quite like a motorbike, I mentioned this to simply said 'no'. I suppose it would be really cruddy for my hair its true.