Peugeot 306 towing weight.

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Wed 17 Feb 2010 12:19
Peugeot 306 towing weight. - Bedhead
The missus is talking about buying a wee single axle caravan, it's around 700kg, which, I'm led to believe, is under the towing weight for our old 306 DT, I'm just not so sure, it's one thing towing something a couple of miles, but not up and down 200 miles of M6. Do you think we'd be better off getting something bigger?

TIA!
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Wed 17 Feb 2010 12:50
Peugeot 306 towing weight. - Chas{P}
Your kerb weight should be 1,100kg on your 306.

Applying the 85% of kerb weight rule you should be ok to tow a caravan up to a gross weight (including equipment) of 935kg.

Peugeot quote a maximum for a braked trailer at 1,200 kg which is over the kerb weight as this is not recommended by the Cartavan Club for a safe stable towing combination

HTH
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Wed 17 Feb 2010 13:40
Peugeot 306 towing weight. - oldnotbold
You will be fine - 700kg is really nothing in the world of caravan towing, and as Chas says, the car/caravan weight calcs are very much in your favour.

Usual rules apply if you've not done it before, and make sure that in loading the caravan you do not reduce/exceed the weight on the hitch by loading too much in the rear/front. 35-50kg should be about right, and you can check using bathroom scales.
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Wed 17 Feb 2010 13:47
Peugeot 306 towing weight. - b308
Yes, I was going to ask whether the 700kg was the all-up weight of the 'van, or the weight before loading... make sure that you find out what the maximum weight of the 'van is and don't exceed it... usually they only allow about a 200/250kg load allowance on older vans so you should be fine with that combination...

BTW if you can't find out the weight for the 'van take it to your nearest weighbridge and they will tell you how much it weighs!

Edited by b308 on 17/02/2010 at 13:47

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Wed 17 Feb 2010 13:49
Peugeot 306 towing weight. - oldnotbold
A quick google of the make and model will often give you the info you need, and on many it's on the data plate anyway.
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Wed 17 Feb 2010 14:04
Peugeot 306 towing weight. - Bedhead
Max weight is 770kg according to google, it's really a dinky little thing, to be honest, most of the stuff I've towed in a trailer has been self loading with 4 legs, so I'm by no means an expert in caravans!

Thanks for the advice lads!
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Wed 17 Feb 2010 14:10
Peugeot 306 towing weight. - b308
It'll be fine, you probably won't notice it (watch your speeds)! Just be carefull how much you load into it, though... new caravanners tend to stuff everything into the 'van when some can and should be carried in the car!

If you go onto the Caravan Club website you'll find plenty of useful advice...
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Wed 17 Feb 2010 14:16
Peugeot 306 towing weight. - oldnotbold
"most of the stuff I've towed in a trailer has been self loading with 4 legs"

Can get pretty boring shaking buckets of nuts/carrots/etc at them to encourage them to walk that last few yards though.
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Mon 22 Apr 2013 07:47
Peugeot 306 towing weight. - 602

Hi,

The caravan club RECOMENDS a 85% towing ratio for NOVICE towers pulling a caravan. This is because caravans handle differently from cargo trailers ... particularly on motorway when being passed by 'Yorkie' in his juggernaut. Nip down to WHS, buy a copy of Practical Caravan.

<<<"most of the stuff I've towed in a trailer has been self loading with 4 legs">>> I once had to flag down a passing car, ask the three strapping passengers to help me CARRY a reluctant donkey into the horsebox. I don't know who was most bemused.

602

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Mon 22 Apr 2013 17:10
Peugeot 306 towing weight. - Collos25

Depentant on when you passed your test you may not be able to tow anything.

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Mon 22 Apr 2013 17:24
Peugeot 306 towing weight. - FP

"Depentant on when you passed your test you may not be able to tow anything."

Not so, according to www.gov.uk:

"From 19 January 2013, drivers passing a category B (car and small vehicle) test can tow:
- small trailers weighing no more than 750kg
- trailers weighing more than 750kg, where the combined weight of the towing vehicle and the trailer isn’t more than 3,500kg..."

You will note that the OP proposes towing a caravan weighing around 700kg.

The further back you go historically, the greater the weight of trailer you can tow, but, it seems, everyone who passes a car test can tow something.

Edited by FP on 22/04/2013 at 17:25

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Mon 22 Apr 2013 17:39
Peugeot 306 towing weight. - RT

Dependent on when you passed your test you may not be able to tow anything.

Big time Urban myth.

On a B only licence a towed outfit up to 3500kg total gross weight is permitted - so even sticking to the NCC (not just Caravan Club) recommendation of 85% of kerbweight then a 1600kg kerbweight car with 2140kg Maximum Authorised Mass can tow a trailer of 1360kg Maximum Authorised Mass as the sum of the two MAMs doesn't exceed 3500kg.

From 1997 to early 2013 the trailer MAM couldn't exceed the car kerbweight for B-only drivers but that restriction was lifted in early 2013 - but the 3500kg total limit remains for B only drivers.

Edited by RT on 22/04/2013 at 17:42

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Thu 25 Apr 2013 09:09
Peugeot 306 towing weight. - 602

Hi,

It gets even more "brain hurting".

Even if you are driving a vehicle that has a MGW (or whatever they call it nowadays) you can tow a 750kg, taking the rig up to 4250kg train weight. But you cannot mix and match, if the COMBINATION exceeds 3500kg, the trailer must not exceed 750kg.

The tow cars weight is the MGW. But what about the trailer? is it the MGW shown on the chassis plate? Or the ALW (actual) weight thats counts? I used to have a boat trailer, ULW = 753kg, but MGW = 3500kg. The 753kg could be towed by an Austin Metro ... but would it be allowed? Fully laden, it would have needed a Land Rover, no argument about that.

Note ... if you drive/tow something that is heavier than your licence allows, you are driving without a licence, and therefore are not insured. I hear that the police are stopping young drivers pulling big trailers.

602

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Thu 25 Apr 2013 09:35
Peugeot 306 towing weight. - 602

<<<From 1997 to early 2013 the trailer MAM couldn't exceed the car kerbweight for B-only drivers but that restriction was lifted in early 2013 - but the 3500kg total limit remains for B only drivers.>>>

Hi,

I didn't know that. I Googled " WHAT CAN I TOW", checked out what DVLA have to say. You are correct ... but only if you passed your test after January 2013. Licemces previous to that still have the old restriction.

How much does it cost to retake your test, get the new entitlement?

602

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Thu 25 Apr 2013 10:15
Peugeot 306 towing weight. - RT

It's the gross plated weight of the trailer that gets added to the gross plated weight of the car - no weighing is necessary by plod/gendarme/polizei etc - just simple addition so most of them can do that !

So you might be illegal even with an empty trailer.

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