Towing small boat trailer behind camper trailer?

Submitted: Thursday, May 01, 2008 at 21:57
ThreadID: 57188 Views:29934 Replies:17 FollowUps:10
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What is the legalities of towing a second trailer in Queensland?

Do you need a MC Licence?
Is there length restrictions?
Has anyone done this, how did the combination handle?

Just putting the thought out there...
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Reply By: Member - Barnesy - Thursday, May 01, 2008 at 22:03

Thursday, May 01, 2008 at 22:03
I don't know exactly but I don't think it's legal in any state in Australia to tow 2 trailers behind a passenger vehicle.
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Follow Up By: RosscoH - Thursday, May 01, 2008 at 22:13

Thursday, May 01, 2008 at 22:13
Hi Ken ,
Can't be done legally in Queenslamd, looked into it myself about 2 years ago, did end up getting a copy of the legislation but since lost it. Boils down to the fact that you can't tow 2 trailers if they carry less load than can be legally carried on 1 semi trailer.Sucks when you have a Licence that lets you drive a vehicle three trailers long in excess of 120 tonne but can't pull a tinny behind the camper.

RosscoH
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Follow Up By: Member - Mark G (NSW) - Friday, May 02, 2008 at 16:39

Friday, May 02, 2008 at 16:39
hi ken maybe your option could is to look at those folding trailers.you can put your boat on top of your camper and the trailer goes on your camper tail gate.a guy not far from me makes these and they look very good.he makes them up from his work shop.let me know if you are interested and i will put you in touch with him. cheers.
BOAT stands for; Bring On Another Thousand.
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Reply By: Notso - Thursday, May 01, 2008 at 22:11

Thursday, May 01, 2008 at 22:11
Illegal all states.

I have seen it done once though,

A drover had his caravan and a Horse float hooked up behind his truck.

AnswerID: 301579

Reply By: Skippy In The GU - Thursday, May 01, 2008 at 22:33

Thursday, May 01, 2008 at 22:33
In the old rule you had to have dual wheels on the back and also be over 4 tons empty

Can't be longer than a normal prime mover and brakes and towbar and ball and few other things in which i have forgotten, council truck do it and they aren't any special than you or me, as long as you have everything legal.

BUT, some states might be different and rules can change at any time
AnswerID: 301584

Reply By: David A A - Thursday, May 01, 2008 at 22:51

Thursday, May 01, 2008 at 22:51
Hi Ken

There is at least 1 combination of similar in West Aussie, was even featured in newspaper.
I think it included a boat trailer but unsure of the details.

I used to (10 year ago) be a line Manager /driver licence examiner for licensing authority and was surprised it had been allowed.

It is not totally impossible as we live in a changing society so what's next?

David
AnswerID: 301588

Reply By: Member - John - Thursday, May 01, 2008 at 23:07

Thursday, May 01, 2008 at 23:07
Ken, not sure about Qld, but have seen in Vic, two trailers, the type with the portable traffic lights on them, being towed behind a ute, so it must be legal in atleast one state? Check with the local hire companies, they may know something about it, may not too............
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Follow Up By: Nomadic Navara - Thursday, May 01, 2008 at 23:22

Thursday, May 01, 2008 at 23:22
They are made up into one trailer - there is no articulation between them. The towing pole (draw bar) on one is fed up a tube in the other and the two are locked together with no space between their bodies so they become one trailer.

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Follow Up By: Member - John - Thursday, May 01, 2008 at 23:29

Thursday, May 01, 2008 at 23:29
Peter, the ones I saw had a tow ball on the back and a tow bar at the front.
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Follow Up By: Member - kevin Y (SA) - Friday, May 02, 2008 at 10:09

Friday, May 02, 2008 at 10:09
Peter that's a good idea, would certainly be legal, i should think it would be classified as a dual axle trailer and there are plenty of long ones around
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Reply By: Member - Andrew (QLD) - Friday, May 02, 2008 at 00:39

Friday, May 02, 2008 at 00:39
Simple answer No....

For light reading, check out the following brochures/pdfs:

- Safe_towing_information_V2

- Transport Operations (Road Use ManagementRoad Rules) Regulation 1999 section 294 (4)
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Follow Up By: Member - colin M (NSW) - Friday, May 02, 2008 at 18:20

Friday, May 02, 2008 at 18:20
Well done, that sure makes it clear. NO
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Reply By: Member - AJB (VIC) - Friday, May 02, 2008 at 06:05

Friday, May 02, 2008 at 06:05
Most people cant tow properly with one trailer let alone letting them loose with multi combinations!
AnswerID: 301605

Follow Up By: Member -Walkabout(NSW) - Friday, May 02, 2008 at 07:25

Friday, May 02, 2008 at 07:25
10-4
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Reply By: Cruiserman1961 (QLD) - Friday, May 02, 2008 at 06:49

Friday, May 02, 2008 at 06:49
Please tell me you are kidding mate...............
AnswerID: 301608

Reply By: Wizard1 - Friday, May 02, 2008 at 08:02

Friday, May 02, 2008 at 08:02
This has to be a bleep take. No one could serouisly be asking such a question on this forum.

Here's a tip ring the Queensland Department of Transport if your serious.
AnswerID: 301615

Follow Up By: andoland - Friday, May 02, 2008 at 08:28

Friday, May 02, 2008 at 08:28
You would think, but this is quite common in the US. While living in Colorado a couple of years ago we saw it often. Either a 4wd towing a caravan towing a boat/jet ski or a Winnebago/motor home towing a small car/4wd, towing a boat.
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Reply By: DIO - Friday, May 02, 2008 at 08:41

Friday, May 02, 2008 at 08:41
On the road - TOTALLY ILLEGAL.
AnswerID: 301623

Reply By: Honky - Friday, May 02, 2008 at 10:34

Friday, May 02, 2008 at 10:34
It is specifically written in your insurance policy as an exclusion.

Honky
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Reply By: Member - colin M (NSW) - Friday, May 02, 2008 at 10:46

Friday, May 02, 2008 at 10:46
Heaven help us it is bad enough having to navigate out of the way of the B Doubles driven by supposed expert "professional drivers" Travelling by road train ups north and watching from behind the rear trailer swaying either way across the road is scary enough - wonder how much sway would occur on a tinnie on the back of camper.
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Reply By: Member - Mal and Di (SA) - Friday, May 02, 2008 at 11:34

Friday, May 02, 2008 at 11:34
I did see it once at Point Turton on the YP in SA.
Bloke in a caravan with tinny behind, I always suspected he was a local. It was about 30 years ago and things where different then!
AnswerID: 301660

Reply By: Jimbo 2121 - Friday, May 02, 2008 at 12:32

Friday, May 02, 2008 at 12:32
If you have a Nissan Narvara you can tow a lot more than 2 trailers, well acording to the Tv ad anyway
AnswerID: 301668

Follow Up By: Kumunara (NT) - Friday, May 02, 2008 at 14:32

Friday, May 02, 2008 at 14:32
Jimbo


Good comment.

I hope there is no-one on this site stupid enough to believe TV ads.




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Follow Up By: Pajman Pete (SA) - Friday, May 02, 2008 at 17:07

Friday, May 02, 2008 at 17:07
I am

;o)

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Reply By: Member - Roachie (SA) - Friday, May 02, 2008 at 21:19

Friday, May 02, 2008 at 21:19
Here in country SA, we often see multiple trailers, but they are usually being hauled by a header or a grader.

Grader may have a large, old-style caravan (in the guise of a "dog" trailer), followed by a 4wd ute, towing a tandem trailer with a diesel tank etc etc

Header could be towing a large seeder, followed by a long trailer with the cutting head, followed by a 4wd ute etc etc....

We see lots of utes around here that have a permanently-mounted "A" frame so they can be attached to the back of a tractor etc.....no evidence of any type of brake controller or wiring loom to operate the brake lights etc either.

Country SA = rafferties rules.......
AnswerID: 301759

Reply By: Dion - Friday, May 02, 2008 at 21:49

Friday, May 02, 2008 at 21:49
I only wish I could post the photo's that I have of me and my utes doing this regularly, sometimes with 3 trailers in the outback of SA.
I have two 7x4' tandem trailers, both fitted with receiver hitch towbars and trailer lights socket on the rear of them. Normally these trailers just tow each other. I can with two vehicles, use each as a lead trailer and each tow a trailer, for a total of four trailers, or use each of the leads together with another trailer as a triple combination.
I did have several photo's on www.uteman.com.au, but the site appears down for maintenance at the moment. However the author of www.uteman.com.au did an article of me and my exploits towing two or three trailers behind my ute. The book is called Beut Utes #4.
Normally, I only regularly tow two trailers at highway speeds on the highway, and will rebuke the comment that multi combination trailers sway and are dangerous. At 110km/h, the rear trailer is remarkably straight, to the point you can quite easily forget that it is there. Even the one off time towing three at once (all empty) on the highway at 110km/h also proved to be quite stable. Deliberate flicks of the steering wheel resulted in a small movement of all trailers at less width than the total movement of the ute towing them. Even when deliberately trying to whip them, as soon as the ute is pointing right ahead with the wheels straight, so the trailers fall straight into line as well.
Whipping trailers is a bit of a myth these days. Whipping trailers is not caused by errant steering, but by looseness in couplings which amplify and lateral movement, pintle hook couplings are notorious for this. However with good fitting standard 50mm ball couplings, any sideways movement of the towing vehicle cannot be amplyfied, therefore the whole combination is only a repeat of what the towing vehicle is doing, if the towing vehicle is towing right ahead, then the trailers cannot do anything else other than follow in a straight line.
I also know I am not the only one where I live that uses a standard box trailer as a lead trailer, although the last I looked, neither of the other two guys had a trailer lights socket fitted for the towbars on each of the rears of their trailers.

I will still try and see if I can get my photo's up. And unlike the clever imagery (doctered) by Neesan and the work shirt company, my photo's will show the real deal.

Cheers,
Dion.
AnswerID: 301769

Reply By: Member - Brett C (WA) - Saturday, May 03, 2008 at 23:32

Saturday, May 03, 2008 at 23:32
The fellow from Esperance WA mentioned earlier, was a fifth wheel GQ Patrol with a 5th Wheel Caravan immediately behind the Patrol, and a Small Cabin Cruiser behind that on a regular tow bar.
Formerly a Truck Driver, this was his dream to make it happen.
All approved by Department of Planning and Infrastructure, his articulated license, according to the article, allowed him to travel anywhere in Australia.
But really...why bother....flick a dinghy on top of the Patrol or the Caravan would have to be much easier.

Brett....
AnswerID: 301919

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