Work bike

[Jase222]

Good morning,
I have a basic Raleigh array e-bike and use it to go to work , I am a carpenter and in a couple of weeks I need a ladder 4.5m long on a job
Does anyone know the law about towing a ladder ?
I will if need be take it to the job early in the morning so to avoid traffic and I have a bike trailer which I could adapt.

Cheers for any advice.

[Carlton green]

Good morning,
I have a basic Raleigh array e-bike and use it to go to work , I am a carpenter and in a couple of weeks I need a ladder 4.5m long on a job
Does anyone know the law about towing a ladder ?
I will if need be take it to the job early in the morning so to avoid traffic and I have a bike trailer which I could adapt.

Cheers for any advice.

I suggest that you add towing and ladder to the thread’s title.

4.5 meters (un-extended?) is a long ladder but folk have towed canoes so perhaps it can be done. How might you adapt the trailer?

[Paulatic]

Surely it’s a sectional ladder? It won’t be 4.5 metre long on the trailer. Buy a surveyors ladder they come in 1 metre sections.
Regardless of any law, if there is one, a balanced load is going to be restricted by the length of the tow hitch. If it is 4.5 m long then it’s going to need wheels fitted at the end of the ladder and keep away from chicanes on the cycle path.

[[XAP]Bob]

Bizarre though it seems there is very little legislation around what you can tow on a bike….

It should have triangular reflectors at night.
Your brakes need to be effective - even when towing (and that won’t be an issue with a lightweight load like a ladder).

I’d be more interested in making sure the whole thing was conspicuous - quite easy to look through a ladder.


Some potentially useful resources:

viewtopic.php?t=62127 (eleven years ago I looked at this... crikey)

https://www.eta.co.uk/cycling-and-the-law/ (second question from bottom)

https://www.atob.org.uk/bicycle-trailers/

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/198 ... rt/II/made

[Stradageek]

No one has objected to this:

It's one continuous articulating vehicle

I've also carried bicycles on the same trailer sitting upright strapped to a 6' length of angle iron bolted to the trailer bed

[skeltrike]

in my youth I used to tow a 4m kayak to train on the river. set of pram wheels at the back, front end tied to seat post. but these days to be legal i guess you just need reflectors or maybe a warning triangle for visibility?