Thread: What's legal in NSW?

Originally Posted by colinpr

I'd be grateful if anyone can direct me to the on-road specs that apply to small trailers in NSW. Have tried the RTA website, but there is little mention except for overhang of loads out the back of the box.

The reason is that my wooden boat will come out at about only 80 kg, so I'm thinking of just adding a rack over my box 6x4 trailer. That way I could carry the boat and other 'stuff' on long trips with the tribe.

Problem is the boat is 15 ft long, so longer drawbars have to go on ... etc. But don't know if there are specs will they have to meet.

Would it be more practical to just get a 'Trailer Man' to make the changes and update the compliance plate and rego?

Grateful for any thoughts and experiences.

Thanks,
Colin

Hey Colin. Welcome aboard.

I can't speak specifically for the NSW RTA, but the National regs say that a box trailer is a box trailer, and not a boat trailer. Also, down here, Vicroads have records of the dimensions of most registered trailers, and updating their records is like pulling teeth. It's easier to de-register the trailer, make the changes you want, and re-register the trailer complete with new VIN number.
I did exactly that with a customer's trailer I added a heavier axle and brakes to, but Vicroads would not just update the carrying capacity on their records, saying that they required an engineers certificate for the modification. So it was registered as a new trailer with the heavier capacity. No certificate. No worries. I did however do a thorough inspection of the trailer, and my professional opinion was that it would handle the extra capacity, and had no issue with putting my name to the VIN as the manufacturer.

It can be a bit of a grey area if you just went ahead and did it anyway, depends on the Police officer on the day as to whether you even get pulled over, and your insurance company should the worst happen.

Colin once you put a boat on your trailer it becomes a boat trailer dose not matter how heavy it is

Thanks.
I guess that the local trailer builder where I got the 6x4 box will know the rules if his business depends on it and he is prepared to put his name on the plate.
Dropping the rego and starting again seems logical. When the longer drawbars and a rack go on, it will essentially be a 'new' trailer with some re-used bits.
Colin

PS: Yonnee. Make another post quick! Noticed that you are on 666.

Originally Posted by colinpr

PS: Yonnee. Make another post quick! Noticed that you are on 666.

Sorry, I haven't got the time to do a search but there is a post in this forum(?) about a guy who is worried about the overhang of lengths of steel on his trailer and that there are posters/diagrams around that show what overhang is allowed and not allowed. I know they have diagrams on the wall outside Metaland outlets. I didn't quite work out from your post if you are going to have any overhang or not but thought it worth mentioning in case it applied to you and you wanted to go looking.

Originally Posted by colinpr

Thanks.
I guess that the local trailer builder where I got the 6x4 box will know the rules if his business depends on it and he is prepared to put his name on the plate.

Be careful . . . Just because someone is a professional and makes a living from something (trailers in this instance), doesn't necessarily mean that they are experts and know everything about what they are doing.

Cheers

Originally Posted by Bazzmate

Be careful . . . Just because someone is a professional and makes a living from something (trailers in this instance), doesn't necessarily mean that they are experts and know everything about what they are doing.

Cheers

Ain't that the truth!

And just because someone has an input on an internet forum on just about every topic, doesn't mean it's sound advice either.

Talk to the 6x4 guy. Ask some questions you know the answer to, and you'll get a feeling for whether he's genuine or not.

And another thing regarding overhang. Once a boat is sitting on a trailer, the trailer becomes a boat trailer, and subsequently, the boat becomes part of the trailer for the purposes of mounting lights and measuring dimensions. Under no circumstances can the distance from the axle to rear of trailer be greater than from the axle to the start of the drawbar. So what it means is, if a 6X4 trailer were to have a boat mounted on it, and assuming the axle was in the standard location, the boat could not overhang the back by more than 6" (150mm).

Originally Posted by Yonnee

. . . Under no circumstances can the distance from the axle to rear of trailer be greater than from the axle to the start of the drawbar. So what it means is, if a 6X4 trailer were to have a boat mounted on it, and assuming the axle was in the standard location, the boat could not overhang the back by more than 6" (150mm).

Thanks.
That's exactly what I need to work out how long the drawbars will have to be so the men and women in blue will stay happy.
That's a lot less than the standard box trailer overhang allowance. Would be a pity to have done the mods, only to find that the new bars were about 800mm too short!

The overhang situation is interesting.

What happens with a Hobie Cat trailer?

Mine has around 3.5 metres behind the axle but the draw bar starts at the axle?

I would think the thousands of catamarans on trailers would be in the same situation.

Addtionally the trailer lights are at least 2 metres in front of the rear most part of the boat. There's cat trailer on eBay at the moment where the lights are mounted on the mudguards which are inside the hulls and perhaps 3.25 metres from the rear of the boat.

Are we all breaking the law? Not that I care too much.

Originally Posted by colinpr

That's a lot less than the standard box trailer overhang allowance. Would be a pity to have done the mods, only to find that the new bars were about 800mm too short!

Don't confuse the manufacturing regulations with the towing regulations. There's "rear overhang" that forms part of the measurements when constructing the trailer, and then there's the "overhang to the rear" that deals with the load on the trailer. This is part of the reason that boat trailers are built as such, and not just box trailers with tinnys on top. The whole reason for the "rear overhang" rules is for proper balance. Too much overhang in the trailers initial construction, then it will always want to swap ends with the towing vehicle.

Originally Posted by zuffen

The overhang situation is interesting.

What happens with a Hobie Cat trailer?
Mine has around 3.5 metres behind the axle but the draw bar starts at the axle?
I would think the thousands of catamarans on trailers would be in the same situation.
This is another thing with boat trailers. The reg's actually state "load space" rather than 'the start of the drawbar' as I put it. (I was trying to put it simply) So, the Hobie itself would be considered part of the load space, and as long as there was more of the boat in front of the axle than the rear, you're OK.

Addtionally the trailer lights are at least 2 metres in front of the rear most part of the boat. There's cat trailer on eBay at the moment where the lights are mounted on the mudguards which are inside the hulls and perhaps 3.25 metres from the rear of the boat.

Are we all breaking the law? Not that I care too much.

There are numerous variations with regard to the placement of lamps on a trailer, including increased variations where the normal position is "impractical". If the position of the lamps falls outside these parameters, then the trailer shouldn't have got registration in the first place (it's the manufacturers responsibility to ensure compliance). But if it did comply when first registered, then it's the owners responsibility to ensure continued compliance. It all comes down to the officer on the day. If all your lights actually work, then you'd be VERY unlucky to be pulled up on it.

A few years ago, I rebuilt a box trailer. Checked all the regs for the home state - Tasmania, and was allowed to include:
a. New extendable draw bar, pivoted at front of box and underslung to the original draw bar.
b. The original draw bar carried an adjustable and removable winch post and coupling removed. (On the new bar).
c. The spare wheel was mounted on the brace for the winch post.
d. Removable and adjustable rollers at: Just behind rear tail gate; At rear tail gate;
Middle of box area; front gate; mid way up to winch post.
e. Adjustable height side supports just in from trailer sides to support hull.
f. Two sets of removable gates. One set to suit the 12' ply dinghy sitting down between the guards. Other set same height as the sides.
g. Lights on brackets level with rear of box section.
h.Number plate at rear of LHS, near light.

Took it for examination set up as a standard box, wooden solid floor(except for the through holes for the extras), coupling at 5' in front of front gate. All "extras" on display in the box.
Plain obvious what alternate configuration would look like.
The boat stern would sit up just enough to allow unrestricted view of lighting.
The stern would be just 300mm behind tailgate. The bow would be 5' in front of the front gate. Coupling 2' in front of that.

Inspector saw the 'BOX', said the "boat bits" still allowed the 'BOX' to function. Registered it as a box trailer.

Here, there is a minimum draw bar lenght, the max has to suit the load.
I just had to be careful not to dunk the rear, relied on rollers and winch doing their work.

Sold it when I upgraded to a bigger boat. Still on road.

Tarwood.