pickup + trailer combo

[heklind]

Hi guys, I'd like to start working on my own soon and thinking about a combination above. That let me avoid having car and van, instead of that i can drive a pickup as a car and for light deliveries, and if need more space for longer bits (like gate) i could attach a trailer on the back. Anyone had that idea before and can share experiences? Is it good Idea at all?

 

[Arc Tourist]

What type of "pickup" truck are you considering ?

 

[Matchless]

problem with a pickup is everything is on show, and get wet, do you mean a double cab to use as a car, if so makes a bit more sense, maybe with a top or hard cover on the back? trailers are a fav of our non travelling light fingered non tax paying residents though, needs to be parked somewhere secure, locking it up in the road is unlawful and not secure enough, I have removed one wheel and the spare from my caravan after a recent visit offering me gravel for my drive......whilst standing next to my two ton pile of gravel....

 

[Ashley Burton]

Some pickups haven't got great towing capacity, So keep that in mind

I would go for something Japanese, Toyota or Mitsubishi

 

[carbon]

Depending on weights and if the goods you carry are not your own then you may have to have an operators licence https://www.gov.uk/being-a-goods-vehicle-operator

 

[winchman]

Would an estate car not be a better option?

 

[heklind]

Ford ranger 3.2 I'm thinking about, you can lock it up by key.
Mainly i need a trailer for long bits of wood i will buy, or steel etc. Sometimes to deliver something i made for someone if he's not able to pick it up. I'm not doing heavy metalwork

Thanks for link Carbon, I will read it

 

[Agrismith]

Depending on weights and if the goods you carry are not your own then you may have to have an operators licence https://www.gov.uk/being-a-goods-vehicle-operator

You won't need an o license for a pickup that's for over 3.5 tonnes you may need a tacho but if it's own materials and tools shouldn't be a problem

Pickups are very average at doing a lot of things
Either everything gets wet or you put a cabin on and have to crawl in the back to get stuff out
The backs really arnt that tall with a canopy on so restricts stuff

 

[stuvy]

Ford ranger 3.2 I'm thinking about, you can lock it up by key.
Mainly i need a trailer for long bits of wood i will buy, or steel etc. Sometimes to deliver something i made for someone if he's not able to pick it up. I'm not doing heavy metalwork

Thanks for link Carbon, I will read it

the 3.2’S are really thirsty my mate tows mini diggers and gets 200 to a tank of diesel

 

[Mick Annick]

I used to run 5 Ford Ranger & trailer combinations, wouldn’t buy them again - reliability and fuel consumption the main reasons.

 

[Ashley Burton]

Estate car with roof bars going by what your telling us then

 

[Migmac]

Ford ranger 3.2 I'm thinking about, you can lock it up by key.
Mainly i need a trailer for long bits of wood i will buy, or steel etc. Sometimes to deliver something i made for someone if he's not able to pick it up. I'm not doing heavy metalwork

Thanks for link Carbon, I will read it

I tow with a 2.2 Ranger. Tows well plenty power but fuel economy is terrible 19mpg ( that’s with or without a trailer) My L200 without a trailer is doing 40mpg, with a trailer 30ish mpg. The l200 has all day comfort, the Ranger hasn’t. The Rangers reliability is terrible, it’s not just the 2.2 that suffers, the 3.2 is the same

 

[carbon]

You won't need an o license for a pickup that's for over 3.5 tonnes you may need a tacho but if it's own materials and tools shouldn't be a problem

You don’t need it for the pickup on its own it’s when you add a trailer as it’s then likely to be over the 3500kg limit

From information about operator licensing

• the motor vehicle and the trailer(s) are plated and the total of their gross plated weights is more than 3,500 kg
• the total unladen weight of the vehicle and trailer combination is more than 1,525 kg

But @Justme may probably have the correct details about this

 

[stuvy]

I tow with a 2.2 Ranger. Tows well plenty power but fuel economy is terrible 19mpg ( that’s with or without a trailer) My L200 without a trailer is doing 40mpg, with a trailer 30ish mpg. The l200 has all day comfort, the Ranger hasn’t. The Rangers reliability is terrible, it’s not just the 2.2 that suffers, the 3.2 is the same

sorry to be thick but my maths is awful

I didn’t hang around in my disco 3.9 v8 auto and it returned 219 miles to a full tank £102 to fill it

what do yours get to a tank?

my old 2.0 biturbo tdi amarock did 400 miles to £90 and was a horrible under powered truck

 

[Justme]

You won't need an o license for a pickup that's for over 3.5 tonnes you may need a tacho but if it's own materials and tools shouldn't be a problem

Pickups are very average at doing a lot of things
Either everything gets wet or you put a cabin on and have to crawl in the back to get stuff out
The backs really arnt that tall with a canopy on so restricts stuff

The 3500kg includes the trailer. So you can need O licence for that sort of combo.
However its easy to avoid it using an exemption if the trailers unladen weight is low enough.

 

[Justme]

Depending on weights and if the goods you carry are not your own then you may have to have an operators licence https://www.gov.uk/being-a-goods-vehicle-operator

You can still need an O licence to carry your own goods.
Its just a restricted one.

 

[Ashley Burton]

@stuvy 600 miles in my transit on 80 litres of diesel

 

[stuvy]

@stuvy 600 miles in my transit on 80 litres of diesel

thats 100 more than my mk5 smiley

 

[Ashley Burton]

thats 100 more than my mk5 smiley

That's because I drive like a granny!

Its limited to 70

 

[stuvy]

That's because I drive like a granny!

Its limited to 70

96mph flat out on sat nav! Mine was non turbo banana and had a pump tweak