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750kg unbraked towing limit


Fluid36

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42 minutes ago, Fluid36 said:

I would very surprised if my 5 meter fiberglass boat was not over 750kg.

Does that therefore make me illegal?

Cheers 

Nothing is "illegal" until you get caught.

Id be putting it over a weigh bridge to find out the actual weight then go from there.

Don't forget it's the combination weight of both the boat & the trailer not just the boat!

Edited by kingie chaser
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33 minutes ago, kingie chaser said:

Nothing is "illegal" until you get caught.

Id be putting it over a weigh bridge to find out the actual weight then go from there.

Don't forget it's the combination weight of both the boat & the trailer not just the boat!

Not to mention whatever gear you put in the boat.     I remember as a kid our 5m pride and Haines half cabins never had brakes and were usually towed behind a falcon or fairlaine.   I'm not sure what the rules where then but I'm pretty certain they wouldn't comply now. 

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Hi I had to get a new trailer a few years  ago and wasn't  sure about weight so got a braked one.now I wish I had of done weighbridge to see if I needed brakes as cost of reform has doubled  + need inspection  every year .I put a post up recently about pads falling apart even though trailer only about 3 years old worth checking anyway

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Most old glass boats around or over the 5 meter mark would be over the 750 mark and legally need to have a braked trailer. On the occasion the authorities set up a weigh station at certain boat ramps and weigh boats as they enter the ramp zone, IF over they then call a flat bed tow truck to take the boat and trailer back to your place which YOU pay for and they don't come cheap. Not only do you not get to go fishing you cop a heavy towing fee.

Frank

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I’ve a 2000 model Seafarer V-Sea (5 metre) that I carry on a single axle braked trailer. 

My boat weighs (as per manufacturer) 650 kgs. 

So I would suggest any 5 metre glass boat + motor + trailer will definitely be over 750 kgs. 

To answer your question ‘Does that therefore make it illegal’

Answer = Yes (and as already stated, not covered by insurance if an accident were to occur). 

If your trailer is in okay condition you should be able to buy the parts and convert your trailer to a braked trailer. 
 

Good Luck

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3 hours ago, Fun2fish said:

Hi I had to get a new trailer a few years  ago and wasn't  sure about weight so got a braked one.now I wish I had of done weighbridge to see if I needed brakes as cost of reform has doubled  + need inspection  every year .I put a post up recently about pads falling apart even though trailer only about 3 years old worth checking anyway

Have a look at Kodak brake components. They cost me a small fortune but the pads are 3 years old and going strong

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44 minutes ago, Fluid36 said:

Yeah thanks for the replies guys, I'd suggest there must be thousands of boats out there on unbraked trailers over the combined 750kg limit.

Then I'd suggest there are thousands of people out there knowingly or even unknowingly flouting the law.

As they say, ignorance is no excuse in the eye's of the law!

People try to run the gauntlet are doing so at their own peril.

 

Some aspects that some people dont think about for example is if your in an accident & they find you should have a braked trailer & you dont then you wont be covered by insurance! 

Another possibility is that a police car could be travelling next to you & think there is no way that boat should be on an unbraked trailer & fine you OR they also have compliance blitz's now & then on towed vehicles so another way of getting found out.

 

In the end its just not worth running the risk & getting on the wrong side of the law! 

 

 

 

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A little off topic, but after posting earlier about the weight of my 2000 model V-Sea (650 kgs), I was wondering what the weight of a new Seafarer V-Sea is. 

To my astonishment, the new ones (from their website) is only 600 kgs. 
 

I wonder where they trimmed the 50 kgs. Interesting way to save money I suppose. 

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Being lighter is not always weaker, better manufacturing methods, better materials, how much "stuff" was fitted to the hull when originally weighed, all sorts of variables come into play on new specs.

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I retro fitted brakes to my last boat/trailer.  It wasnt hard, just slow.  Being a bit of a DIY'er hand having a mate who can weld (better then me) helped.

I took the opportunity to do some other trailer maintenance at the same time.

 

Cable operated are the simplest.  If you have to fit electric brakes with a break-away unit its even slower and more expensive (fitting the controller to the car is tedious...)

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21 hours ago, Fluid36 said:

Hi All,

The 750kg unbraked towing limit seems to be a bit of an issue as my trailer does not have brakes.  I would very surprised if my 5 meter fiberglass boat was not over 750kg.

Does that therefore make me illegal?

Cheers 

It is illegal and not just because you don't have brakes , it is because you are overloaded just like a big percentage of boat trailers are. If you fit brakes to the trailer it is not going to make it legal because you still have a plate on it that says max 750 kgs. Just because you don't have to have brakes it doesn't mean you can have them. Don't forget everything on a 750 kg is made to have that much weight . Axles, tyres, bearings trailer frame etc..

A few years ago RMS set up near Nelsons Bay, they stopped every boat trailer and put it on the weighbridge, from memory more than half were overloaded and some over width too. Even if your brakes don't work and you are in a serious accident you could be prosecuted and insurance denied.

Welster, 

You maybe surprised but back then you didn't need brakes on most single axle trailers if hauling vehicle tare weight was  above a certain weight. I can't remember the actual number but around the 1200 kg .

Now you need brakes on anything above 750 kg on at least one axle, they can be cable, most don't work because they need adjustment all the time. Anything over 2000 kg brakes on all axles, you must be able to operate the trailer brakes (  independently  of the tow vehicle brakes) from the drivers seat and in the event that the trailer parts company from the car, the trailer brakes must be activated automatically and stay on for a minimum of 15 minutes. This is another issue with break-away systems most of them the batteries are not big enough to continue pumping for 15 minutes .

How many inspection stations check the battery on the trailer on the annual check up? I bet not many. How many check the age on the tyres? I bet almost none. How many check bearings? Very few. 

 

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3 hours ago, wrxhoon1 said:

It is illegal and not just because you don't have brakes , it is because you are overloaded just like a big percentage of boat trailers are. If you fit brakes to the trailer it is not going to make it legal because you still have a plate on it that says max 750 kgs. Just because you don't have to have brakes it doesn't mean you can have them. Don't forget everything on a 750 kg is made to have that much weight . Axles, tyres, bearings trailer frame etc..

A few years ago RMS set up near Nelsons Bay, they stopped every boat trailer and put it on the weighbridge, from memory more than half were overloaded and some over width too. Even if your brakes don't work and you are in a serious accident you could be prosecuted and insurance denied.

Welster, 

You maybe surprised but back then you didn't need brakes on most single axle trailers if hauling vehicle tare weight was  above a certain weight. I can't remember the actual number but around the 1200 kg .

Now you need brakes on anything above 750 kg on at least one axle, they can be cable, most don't work because they need adjustment all the time. Anything over 2000 kg brakes on all axles, you must be able to operate the trailer brakes (  independently  of the tow vehicle brakes) from the drivers seat and in the event that the trailer parts company from the car, the trailer brakes must be activated automatically and stay on for a minimum of 15 minutes. This is another issue with break-away systems most of them the batteries are not big enough to continue pumping for 15 minutes .

How many inspection stations check the battery on the trailer on the annual check up? I bet not many. How many check the age on the tyres? I bet almost none. How many check bearings? Very few. 


 

I'm not surprised, things were way different back then and I'm pretty sure max towing speed was 80ks as well. Dad had a company car that was constantly for sale.   Sometimes he had one car for 6 months sometimes he would have 3 or 4 new cars in a week.  It was so frustrating when they sold his car, dad would end up cruising the used car lot looking for anything with a tow bar, we had all the adaptors for the 6 and 7 round and rectangular connectors. 
 

Many manufacturers cut a pretty fine line with the load rating.   I know of a few guys that realised their boat was almost impossible to get under 2 tonnes.   Resulting in expensive upgrades to relatively new rigs.   

Edited by Welster
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My last 4.2m boat weighed in at just 315 kg but combine the trailer, 100lt fuel tank, f70 Yamaha, battery, spare wheel, anchor and water etc it came out at around 930kg on its trailer. In saying that the single axel trailer was heavy duty and had breaks which all greatly add to the weight. 

A little Formula 15 (4.5m ) I had a few years ago with a single axel trailer again and f70 pulled the scale down to 1120kg ahead of a big road trip weighed at our local weighbridge. The boat did have camping gear packed but the fuel tank onboard was kept low untill I reached my destination. Any spare fuel and drinking water was carried in the back of my 4x4 to reduce the load on the trailer bearings. 

Your trailer should have a weight on it, you can also easily add the weight of the engine, battery and fuel etc. I very much doubt your outfit would be under 750kg unless it was totally empty. Ive heard of some manufacturers getting their weights under 750kg by weighing them in basic layout, such as tiler steer, no fuel, no battery, no spare wheel etc to just scrape under the braked limit.

I dare say if you are over the limit and in any kind of accident you won't be insured, which could end up more costly than just loosing the value of your rig. I also believe the microscope is out on overloaded rigs these days more than past years, especially in the upper end of the scale.

My current boat which is 5.2m or 5.4 if you count the bowsprit weighs just under 2 tons loaded to fish, on a dual axel aluminium trailer.

The 17ft cootacraft I sometimes drive pulls the weighbridge scale down to 2.7tons ready to hit the water, loaded with abalone can be another 500kg.

Plenty of council weighbridges around, some don't charge to weigh and some charge around $30. Fitting a brake kit isn't to big a job.

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