Howard Ostle does not mince his words. “We’re terrible at drawbar coupling maintenance in Britain,” he states; and as UK sales and marketing manager at VBG Group Sales, he has seen the consequences of a lax approach taken by too many operators. When you’re parking on a hill, you can use the wheels and the engine to make sure your HGV cannot roll away in case the parking brake fails. Other brands are heading down the cast steel route, too – but no matter whether cast steel or cast iron is involved, drawbar couplings have to be treated with consideration. If you’re parking at night on a road, you must use the parking lights on your vehicle. You do not need to use lights if you’re parked off-road, eg in a lorry park.

Just remember that when you are reversing up to a drawbar trailer, it’s gently does it,” says Walton. “Force is the enemy of drawbar couplings.” With the exception of the partners mentioned above, we will under no circumstances pass on your personal data to other companies or institutions, except if we are legally obliged to do so (for example, if the police requires it in the case of suspected crime). The drawbar should not be confused with the fifth wheel coupling. The drawbar requires a trailer which either loads the drawbar lightly (for example a small boat trailer, or caravan, or the load is the weight of the coupling components only (larger trailers, usually but not always with a steerable hauled axle, front or rear). By contrast, the fifth wheel is designed to transmit a proportion of the load's weight to the hauling vehicle. Drawbar configuration is mostly seen on hydraulic modular trailer and ballast tractor combination to haul oversize loads which require special trailer and tractor. Agricultural equipment is hauled by a tractor-mounted drawbar. Specialist agricultural tools such as ploughs are attached to specialist drawbars which have functions in addition to transmitting tractive force. This was partly made redundant with Ferguson's development of the three-point linkage in his famous TE20.If your vehicle has air suspension, remember that it may move when you park it or when you start it: make sure you’re not parked too close to other vehicles, buildings, street furniture, etc, which the vehicle body could collide with if it moves. Although in a distant second place compared to fifth wheels, drawbar couplings are used in the UK and must be properly cared for to continue to serve in the long term, finds Steve Banner It uses a crosshair which enables the driver to aim for the towing eye when reversing (pictured). Green guiding lines indicate the optimum height range of the vehicle in relation to the eye. Bear in mind that if a drawbar combination is involved in an accident, and the cause appears to be a fault in the link between the prime mover and the trailer, then the enforcement authorities will want to see evidence that inspection and maintenance procedures were adhered to. The operator will be in hot water if no such evidence can be produced.

In foggy weather you should avoid parking on the road; if you must park on the road, leave your parking lights on. Parking on a hill Our web shop displays general advertisements. We do not keep any personal data, so we do not know if you like them.convenient – you’re more likely to cause damage, either to your vehicle or another vehicle, if it’s an awkward spot On light vehicles, the most common coupling is an A-frame drawbar coupled to a 1 7/8 inch or 50mm tow ball. These drawbars transmit around 10% of the gross trailer weight through the coupling. The coupling is far closer to the road surface than a fifth wheel is, he points out, and that means it is closer to all the dirt and grit that highway surfaces generate. Combine all this detritus with grease, and you have a recipe for trouble.