Towing Q with a differance

xs1100, Nov 11, 6:30am
yesterday heading up to whitianga and came across a camper van that was towing a little Suzuki vitara behind it on a A frame and then the vitara was towing a jetski. didn't think this was legal in nz because you basically have a b train behind a vechile that only has a wof. I thought you had to be COF and properly licensed

tweake, Nov 11, 7:12am
its odd but its legal, provided the camper van is heavy enough to be classed as a heavy vehicle. ie over 3.5 tons.

i would have to go find it in the rules but it is online somewhere. i looked up years ago because a few people do that around here.

johotech, Nov 11, 7:17am
13C

a.woodrow, Nov 11, 7:24am
Must be only ok if its a heavy vehicle as above? I found:

When driving a light vehicle (for example, a car or light truck), you must not tow more than one trailer or vehicle at a time.

https://www.nzta.govt.nz/resources/roadcode/about-driving/towing/

johotech, Nov 11, 7:27am
It's not ok for light vehicles.

For heavy vehicles, it is either an A-train, a B-train, or a heavy rigid vehicle followed by any combination of two trailers (not an A-train or a B-train), provided the trailer at the rear of the combination has a gross vehicle mass that isn??

xs1100, Nov 11, 8:06am
oh well cheers first time ive seen it up north here and thought "it must be because im sure he passed a cop or 2" but yes unusual. learn something everyday

saxman99, Nov 11, 8:20am
There was a photo on here a while back showing a large motor home towing a 4x4 which was towing a decent sized boat. Looked like being a handful to reverse.

tweake, Nov 11, 9:05am
johotech is onto it.

yeah would be a bitch to back.
the one i used see was a yank tank towing two horse floats.
apparently some crowd makes them like that.

a little surprised they didn't make it that the first trailer had to be a heavy trailer. not sure if its a loophole to tow two light trailers.

brapbrap8, Nov 11, 12:35pm
We often tow 2 or 3 things behind our tractors on the roads.
Tonights combo was tractor, trailer, service truck, fuel tanker.

martin11, Dec 5, 2:29am
The tow vehicle has to be a heavy vehicle and if 2 trailers behind both must have brakes activated by the Tow vehicle .
Doubt if the jet ski had a braked trailer !

Two can be towed by a tractor , but no more .

tweake, Dec 5, 4:48am
are you sure on that ?
i was under the impression that it just states tow a trailer. i don't recall any mention of brakes as light trailer for a jet sky doesn't require to have brakes.

martin11, Dec 5, 9:16pm
Behind a Cof campervan you can tow a light trailer under 3500kg ,only one if it complies with the braking rating of the tow vehicles draw bar . When you put a second trailer on it basically becomes a small 'b" train and the tow vehicle must be classed as a heavy vehicle which campervans are not and both trailers must have operational braking systems .

tweake, Dec 5, 9:50pm
https://www.nzta.govt.nz/assets/resources/factsheets/13c/docs/13c-heavy-trailers.pdf
no mention of simple trailers requiring brakes.
any vehicle over 3500kg is classed as heavy vehicle hence the COF.

"A heavy rigid vehicle towing two trailers must be:.
.
a heavy rigid vehicle followed by any combination of two
trailers (not an A-train or a B-train), provided the trailer at
the rear of the combination has a gross vehicle mass that
isn??

martin11, Dec 5, 11:21pm
Suggest you contact NZTA like I did it is illegal to tow a small motor vehicle and a trailer behind a camper van .

tweake, Jul 25, 1:10am
the person you spoke to may not know the rules and simply assumed because its odd and silly sounding it must be illegal.

i've seen this done for a long time now and not heard that they have changed the rules. maybe they have and been quiet about it.