Towing a Wood Chipper or Plant Trailer: UK Rules

The Short Answer

Check three things before you hitch up: your licence, your vehicle's plates, and whether the combination brings you into operator licensing. In Great Britain, since 16 December 2021, a car licence (category B) lets you tow a trailer of up to 3,500kg maximum authorised mass (MAM), as long as the combination stays within your vehicle's limits (DVLA: INF30). The trap for arb firms is different: a 3.5t van or tipper towing a chipper that weighs more than 1,020kg unladen needs a goods vehicle operator's licence, even for your own work (Goods Vehicles (Licensing of Operators) Act 1995, Schedule 1).

Key facts (checked 11 October 2026; these rules are for England, Scotland and Wales):

A category B vehicle can be up to 3,500kg MAM (4,250kg if electric or hydrogen). With a car licence you can tow a trailer up to 3,500kg MAM, and the vehicle and trailer together must not exceed 7,000kg (GOV.UK: driving licence categories).
The gross train weight on your vehicle's VIN plate must never be exceeded. If the plate shows no train weight, the vehicle shouldn't tow at all (GOV.UK: towing with a car).
A trailer over 750kg loaded must have working brakes, and every trailer needs a breakaway cable or secondary coupling (GOV.UK: towing with a car).
Northern Ireland is different. There, a car licence only lets you tow a trailer over 750kg if the vehicle and trailer together weigh no more than 3,500kg MAM, so a 3.5t tipper towing a heavier chipper needs B+E, unless you passed your car test before 1997 (nidirect). The rest of this guide is for Great Britain.

What Can My Licence Tow?

Licence	What you can tow
Car licence (B), passed on or after 1 January 1997	Since 16 December 2021, a trailer up to 3,500kg MAM, with the combination up to 7,000kg. You don't need a separate test; DVLA adds BE to your licence when you renew it
Car licence passed before 1 January 1997	Usually a vehicle and trailer up to 8,250kg combined, shown as C1E (107). It lasts until your licence runs out at 70. To keep it after 70 you need a medical (form D4) and must meet the lorry driver medical standards. View your licence record to check
C1E	A C1 vehicle (3,500–7,500kg) with a trailer over 750kg, up to 12,000kg combined

Sources: GOV.UK: towing with a car, DVLA: INF30, driving licence categories.

If you passed before 1997 and want to tow up to 12,000kg, you can apply for provisional C1+E and take the test without getting C1 first, but you must meet the higher medical standards (INF30).

The licence is only the first limit. Your vehicle's own towing limit and plates come next.

Train Weight, Towing Limit and Size

Towing limit. Most vehicles have a maximum weight they can tow, usually in the handbook or specification sheet.
Gross train weight. This is the weight of the fully loaded vehicle plus the fully loaded trailer, often on the VIN plate. It must not be exceeded. With a braked trailer, the vehicle and loaded trailer must not weigh more than the second weight on the manufacturer's plate (GOV.UK: trailer safety checks).
Width. A trailer can be no wider than 2.55m.
Length. Behind a vehicle of 3,500kg MAM or less, a trailer can be no longer than 7m, not counting the A-frame. GOV.UK allows 12m behind heavier vehicles, but the law allows 12m only for trailers with at least 4 wheels; a single-axle chipper is held to 7m (Construction and Use Regulations 1986, regulation 7).

What this means for a chipper. Read the chipper's own plate (its maximum and unladen weights), not a brochure figure, and allow for what's in the tipper. Check the plates on both the vehicle and the chipper before you buy either. Our used wood chipper buying guide covers the other checks.

Do I Need an Operator's Licence?

This rule is easy to miss. You usually need a goods vehicle operator's licence ("O licence") to use a goods vehicle over 3.5 tonnes gross plated weight for hire or reward, or in connection with a trade or business. For a vehicle and trailer, the weights of both count (Traffic Commissioners: operator licensing guide).

Own work (your own goods and kit).

A van or tipper plated at 3.5t or less, towing a trailer of 1,020kg unladen or less, needs no operator's licence: a "small trailer" doesn't count towards the 3.5t.
If the trailer weighs more than 1,020kg unladen, its plated weight is added to the vehicle's. A 3.5t vehicle is then over 3.5t, and you need a licence (Goods Vehicles (Licensing of Operators) Act 1995, Schedule 1, paragraph 3).
For own-account work the licence is usually a restricted licence.

Carrying for hire or reward (other people's goods, for payment). There's no small-trailer allowance: a combination over 3.5t maximum laden weight needs a standard licence, whatever the trailer weighs (Schedule 1, paragraph 1B). On international journeys the limit is 2.5t.

Exemptions are narrow. The one most likely to matter is for a dual-purpose vehicle "and any trailer drawn by it": a vehicle built to carry both passengers and goods, with an unladen weight of no more than 2,040kg, that has four-wheel drive or meets set rules on rear seats and windows. Some 4x4 pickups qualify, so check yours before you rely on it (operator licensing guide). Vans and tippers don't. The forestry exemption is for tractors used within 15 miles of a farm, forestry or estate, and any use that relies on an exemption must fall wholly within it (operator licensing guide, Annex 3). If you aren't sure, ask the Traffic Commissioners or DVSA before you tow.

The same point is in our tree surgery start-up costs guide.

Brakes and Couplings

Over 750kg loaded: the trailer must have a working brake system. Smaller trailers may have brakes, but they're optional. Any brakes must be in good working order (GOV.UK: towing with a car).
Every trailer: use a breakaway cable or secondary coupling in case the trailer comes off. On a braked trailer it applies the brakes; on an unbraked one it stops the drawbar hitting the ground (GOV.UK; Construction and Use Regulations 1986, regulation 86A). The cable needs enough slack and mustn't drag on the ground.
Unbraked trailers: the loaded trailer must weigh no more than half the towing vehicle's kerbside weight (regulation 87).

Number Plate, Lights and Mirrors

Number plate. The trailer must show the same number plate as the towing vehicle (GOV.UK: towing with a car).
Lights. A trailer needs working rear position lamps, stop lamps and indicators, rear reflectors and a lit number plate. Larger trailers need more, such as a rear fog lamp on trailers wider than 1,300mm (Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 1989, Schedule 1). Check them every time you couple up.
Mirrors. Fit towing mirrors if the trailer is wider than the back of your vehicle. Towing without them can mean a fine of up to £1,000 and 3 penalty points (GOV.UK: towing with a car).
Condition. Using a vehicle or trailer in a dangerous condition can mean a fine of up to £2,500, a ban and 3 points. Check tyres (at least 1.6mm of tread), wheel nuts, mudguards, the coupling height and the electrics (GOV.UK: trailer safety checks).

Speed Limits When Towing

For cars, car-derived vans and dual-purpose vehicles towing a trailer: 50mph on a single carriageway, 60mph on a dual carriageway or motorway. Most vans follow goods-vehicle limits, which come out the same when towing (GOV.UK: speed limits). On a motorway with three or more lanes you must not use the right-hand lane while towing (Highway Code, rule 265).

Tachographs and Drivers' Hours

A vehicle and trailer with a combined maximum mass over 3.5 tonnes falls under the drivers' hours and tachograph rules, even when the trailer is empty, unless an exemption applies (GOV.UK: drivers' hours, goods vehicles).

The exemption most arb firms will look at covers vehicles or combinations up to 7.5 tonnes carrying materials, equipment or machinery for the driver's own use at work. It applies only within 100km of base, when driving isn't the driver's main job, and not for hire or reward (Regulation (EC) 561/2006, Article 3). It covers what you need to do the job, such as the chipper and your tools. GOV.UK doesn't say whether chip or logs you take away from a job count, so don't rely on it for those loads without advice.

There is also a separate exemption for agricultural, horticultural and forestry businesses carrying their own goods within 100km. GOV.UK doesn't say whether a tree surgery firm counts as one, so don't rely on it without advice.

When you're exempt from those rules, the GB domestic drivers' hours rules still apply (GOV.UK: drivers' hours).

Keeping a Towed Chipper Safe

Tow-behind chippers and grinders are easy to take from where they're parked. Practical steps:

a hitch lock or lunette-eye lock, and a wheel clamp when it's left overnight;
a hidden GPS tracker;
a written record of serial and engine numbers, with photos, kept off the machine;
if you're buying used, check the serial number and ask for proof of ownership. Our guide to selling used equipment safely covers paperwork from the seller's side.

Where to Next

Buying a towing vehicle: Vehicles & tractors on TreeBay, and our tree surgeon van and truck setup guide.
Buying the machine: Machinery on TreeBay, the stump grinder buying guide and the mini tracked loader guide (plant trailers).
Fuel for the machine: red diesel for tree surgeons.

Rules change. Check the GOV.UK pages linked here before you rely on this guide, and ask DVSA or the Traffic Commissioners if your setup is unusual.