Justme

IVA = Individual Vehicle Assesment IE a test that your self built trailer will need to pass before it is legal. This covers the things you need to condiser when designing & building it. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/iva-manual-for-categories-01-02-03-and-04-trailers

If its the engine/pump, hold the tracking levers fully open & winch / tow it out.

I have found another company that can alter the MAM & GTW of pickups. Some of the models covered for uprates to 3500kg include: Toyota Hilux, Isuzu D-Max, Nissan Navara, Land Rover Defender, VW Amarok, Ford Ranger. SvTech - Pickups

Just typical of office wallahs sticking there pencil (2HB) in places they know sweet FA about. This will pander to the fly (can I use fly when they dont leave the ground?) by nights (ah they might also trade by day too) & hamper (no food involved) the more legitimate.

Same here.

Not sure I get the idea of the pond to raise humidity then you have mesh sides & open ends to let it out. Our tunnel has a normal sized door at each end that are left open for most of the year & it is very humid.

I dont think I have made any mention of recent changes to the tacho laws? The recent changes to the O licence laws do encompass more people as the 3500kg weight now includes the trailer. There are however LOTS of exemptions re the O licence rules. Its your call if you want to look for the many post on this or not. Horse to water & all that. I read that to say once its prepared for sawmilling its a taxable activity. Just because its taxable does not make it non forestry. A timber harvester driver is forestry but his profits will be taxable. It just (in simple terms) ownership & profit from that re sale of the forest or unprocessed product of a forest that is non taxable. It is not saying what is or is not forestry. You would also have to look at the deminimis rules as a small amount of processing is still allowed if it is needed to make the product marketable.

Again not my area but I am sure that there are exemptions for private horse transporters. Read the attached doc to see if there is any exemptions for you. A_guide_for_horsebox_and_trailer_owners.pdf

When you cant see them out the back window or in the door mirrors its a pain. Yes short are a pain too. Most short ones are also narrow. My 750kg trailer was great behind the Rover 25 as it could be seen in both door mirrors. Behind the two Astras or the Renault RX4 it was terrible as it could not be seen at all unless the mesh sides were on or I fitted poles/flags to the rear corners. So the actual reversing was ok as the wheels & drawbar relationship was ok, you just could not see what it was doing till it had come round to far.

The legislation & guidance cover all of this. Links & docs have all been posted before. The exemption form like a lot of government paper work can be very badly worded. If you employ someone to do all your deliveries & no other work then they are a driver. If however they do a multitude of activities then they are not even if they do a few deliveries in a week. The main activity would be processing the raw materials in to fire wood. The deliver is a small part of the process. It is also worth noting that the driver would still be covered by the UK & possibly the EU working regulations & records will need to be kept of ALL work done in a week not just the driving parts. In the end it is up to you what you want to do & what you spend your money on. Those that have already invested in tachos ect will obviously defend that choice. As in most things take advice from as many sources as possible then do your own research, but do make sure that they dont have an axe to grind re selling you a course, equipment or service. It makes no difference to me if you fit a tacho or not. Yes I do sell trailer training courses but I doubt very much that there are many on here within my catchment area & even if they are having a tacho or not would not influence their choice in course supplier.

What sort of vehicle? IE 4x4, pickup, van ect.

Nope, The chipper is still yours, part of your job is hiring it out. You would still be "operating on your own accord". You can deliver goods on hire. Look at the examples. It even uses equipment hire in them.

Good question. Not my area of knowledge. I think it would depend on the 3500kg vehicles registered category. I would hope that it only applies to the base vehicle as some times it would be over 3500kg when it has the trailer & sometimes it would not be over as it did not. A quick google come up with this So in that case is over 3500kg inc the trailer or not? Will it have exemptions like the Tacho & O licence does? Again a quick gooogle says that lots of vehicles are exempt I guess there will be other exemptions too. I cant find the legislation re if the trailer weight is counted or not. I will look into this. I am at the inspection site in two weeks so can ask them if there is someone around. It would def have different speed limits as its towing, just like most non car based vans have lower limits not that you would think it when you see them being driven.

Most of the stops will be by normal police officers. They dont have the in depth knowledge that a traffic cop or DVSA staff will have. Plus you do get the odd one of the other two who is not up to date (like its now a 100km radius not 50km) so if you have copies of the relevant docs it can soon sort the issue out on the road side. Its also worth knowing the O licence rules as they have recently been changed & now include any vehicle over 3500kg & in this case vehicle includes combinations IE vehicle & trailer. There are lots of exemptions but if you dont know they apply then you are likely to get pulled & a ticket issued.

Form attached. When I said pre filled in I meant that you fill it in prior to using the vehicle. Not waiting till you get stopped & then filling it in. Just fill it in & keep in the cab. VOSA tachograph_exemption_form.docx

Narrow trailers are a pain to reverse.

Thats not a certified volume measurement device with a paper trail of evidence re is suitability for the job its doing. They want scales or other devices that have a certification re there accuracy.

Its in their publicly available documentation. Actually from a VOSA branded document. Its re O licences but is about the same definition of what "Hire or Reward" is. They cant use different definitions of what "Hire or Reward" is for different regulations. This is what it says. Couriers, freight & removals do not carry goods they own. It then says It then goes on to give examples, in these examples it talks of a digger but goods would be treated the same:- As I always say, in the end its up to you to choose what you will do. Its better to keep this sort of stuff out of court if you can as there is only ever one winner in court & thats the legal teams. However with the right documentation in the cab (inc a pre filled in exemption form that VOSA / DVSA supply) & a good knowledge of the regulations it should not get further than a short road side stop. This is one area that has been very misunderstood in the past just like when the 97 licence changes came in & mostly farmers were getting stopped with a 3500kg trailer behind a pick up with a 2800kg (number out of the air) tow limit got done when in actual fact they are legal as long as the real weight was withing the 2800kg limit. Plated weights were only applicable for non +E licence holders. Its also like the current misunderstanding that a Cat B licence holder can only tow 750kg. Or that they can only drive a combination of up to 3500kg GTW even if the trailer is 750kg only & the trailer cant weigh more than the unladen car weight. When the truth is that a 3500kg car can still tow 750kg in addition to that making a 4250kg GTW or they can drive a combination of up to 3500kg GTW with a trailer that weighs more than 750kg & weighs more than the car as long as its withing the makers GTW limits.

Yes when using a trailer. VOSA do not exist any more, its the DVSA. There is clear guidance on what is & what is not "hire & reward". Just because you make money from it does not make it hire & reward. A hire company can deliver its own equipment & its still not hire or reward re the delivery. Think more like haulage & courier work delivering other peoples goods under contract not delivering your own goods once sold.

Just remember that the quoted weight if with the standard equipment so the extra rear gate/ramp, mesh sides, props, jockey wheel & spare all come out of the load capacity.

Very few log sellers will need a tacho. You would need to either be carrying them for another seller so you are just doing haulage or be delivering outside of a 100km radius of your base. Carrying your own product or product you have sold inc delivery is not hire & reward.

It was a consideration. I do lots of metal work so could sort it easily. The main reason for not doing it was noise. Empty trailers rattle like buggery. A metal floor would be loud when empty. Then when you drop stuff metal floors dont like that while a ply one just bounces. I guess noise wise if I welded it at every point it touched it would not be too bad. Would make it very solid.

It came with the standard Phenolic Resin Coated Ply floor. That lasted about 10 years. Replaced it with a thicker recycled plastic chipboard stuff. Not a good call. About half the price but wont last 20% of the time.

We bought our light trailer about 13 years ago. Over that time it has needed a few repairs, most of them in the last 3 years, like a new floor, new bearings, needs new tyres now, a few pop rivets have gone & been replaced by welding, new light units (not damaged just faded & starting to corrode). So not too bad considering it has been used nearly ever week of that time. It was a no name import I bought from a local dealer & cost about £550. Oh & the rear hinges need replacing too. Its the construction thats the issue its been designed so that the sides are very structural & the floor is all that holds the side in place laterally. But they are only held on by a few small welds at the rear & two bolts at the front. As show in the pics the red arrows are the bolts & the green points were held by a few rivets that have now been welded up. The extra metal is needed across the wheel area as only the floor holds them in position. When it next needs a strip down I am going to add a few strips of metal in a few place to improve things. Prob less than 10kg of steel in total but will make a huge different to it.

You wont get much of a trailer for 150kg. I have one with that spec & it has lasted me a long time. However its not heavy duty & would soon fail if treated that way.