pyrie Posted August 15, 2015 Share Posted August 15, 2015 Two questions in one... I realise I can ask the local council for the whereabouts of weighbridges, but is there a "master list" that has been compiled by motorhomers of the locations of licensed public weighbridges throughout the country? Secondly, when is the most appropriate time to go and have your van weighed...when your van is unladen, totally bare of any gear - and then you have to weigh eveything individually as it goes in... or laden with most of your travel gear almost ready to go? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EJB Posted August 15, 2015 Share Posted August 15, 2015 The only critical weight is when the vehicle is fully loaded with fuel, water and everything for a holiday....including bodies of course! If you Google 'weighbridges' it will give you a good indication.....and the Council will know....or is that too easy? Good luck :-D https://www.gov.uk/find-weighbridge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peter James Posted August 15, 2015 Share Posted August 15, 2015 If you can find any old scrap to take to the local scrapyard you get a free weigh ticket when they weigh you in and out :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted August 15, 2015 Share Posted August 15, 2015 pyrie - 2015-08-15 8:52 AM....................Secondly, when is the most appropriate time to go and have your van weighed...when your van is unladen, totally bare of any gear - and then you have to weigh eveything individually as it goes in... or laden with most of your travel gear almost ready to go? As EJB says, the critical weight is when it is laden to the maximum with absolutely everything and every one on board, including even your pet stick insect! Full water, full fuel, full gas cylinders. If you have one gas cylinder that has been started, leave it at home, weigh the full one, and then add its weight to that on the weighbridge ticket. Don't forget to get the weights on the individual axles as well, as each also has its own legal limit. When weighing, don't get out of the van yourself! Weighing with most gear on board and almost ready to leave would, IMO, be a complete waste of money, as you'd then have to guess what the rest would weigh, or weigh it as you add it, but could not know in either case how it affects the axle loads. What you are trying to establish is that your van is laden within its legal limits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rowan Lee Posted August 15, 2015 Share Posted August 15, 2015 Finding one can be a nightmare. My council publishes a list of "public" weighbridges but one had long since closed, another stopped allowing the public in because it was a health and safety risk and the security man at Boston Docks was extremely nasty when he said it wasn't open to the public. We did find one at a gravel works but that has since closed, so I don't know where we could go now. Fortunately we have a certificate and now know pretty much where we stand. However, if we ever get a new van, we are a bit stuck. There is a VOSA test station not far away, I don't know if they would let us in there. So good luck in your quest, let us know if you find one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted August 15, 2015 Share Posted August 15, 2015 There is another limit which you should be aware of 3050kg unladen, this determines the max speed limits on single and dual carriageways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyg3nwl Posted August 15, 2015 Share Posted August 15, 2015 Hi, look up your nearest licensed scrap metal merchant, he must have a weighbridge to weigh the scrap as it comes in and out. as others have said, load your van as full as it will be on holiday, includin gas , water, andfuel and passenger/s. ask specifically for axel weights as well as gross weight. tonyg3nwl. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brock Posted August 15, 2015 Share Posted August 15, 2015 I found mine by doing an internet search, "Weighbridges within 25 miles of Wirral". You may have to travel. I decided not to use the local scrap metal weighbridge when I looked at the state of his yard despite his team regularly sweeping up bits of metal dropped by visitors. I used a bulk feed mill. When you find one, ring them first and tell them what you want. Also ask when is the best time to come. You don't want to be in the way of any lorries being loaded for the day. I only have 20l of water on board when I get my van weighed as that is all I carry. SV Tech have a useful little programme on their website which you can use to keep your weight up to date after you've got a weighbridge ticket. Just key in details of anything you have added since weighing and it will give you an indication of what your weight will now be. It is not a replacement for a weighbridge certificate. If you haven't weighed a motorhome before, drive onto the weighbridge so it can be weighed. Once you are satisfied it has [we have the weigher wave at us], drive off. Then, get the rear axle weighed by reversing so only the rear wheels are on the platform. This records the rear axle load. Calculate front axle load by subtracting rear load from GVW. I get one ticket for £10 which shows the total and rear axle weight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tugga Posted August 15, 2015 Share Posted August 15, 2015 Our Council told us that there were no weigh bridges we could use so we got in touch with our local Independent Councillor and he pointed us to a local distribution centre who were happy to help us free of charge, but without a certificate. We were on the nose, so very happy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markh1 Posted August 15, 2015 Share Posted August 15, 2015 We have our own weigh bridge, just 10 metres from our garage, I'm afraid to weigh the Moho in case I end up discovering its overweight, happy to weigh in all the grain trailers and hauliers trucks in and out to check the tonnage from the harvest though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sakofox Posted August 16, 2015 Share Posted August 16, 2015 I used the council list for a start and there were three nearby, one was a builders merchant,Turnballs, one an agricultural seed merchant and the one we used was at a Haulage depot. £10 for a ticket. we took the van packed for travelling , so half tank of water, half tank diesel etc. Luckily we still have 360kg spare capacity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Millie68 Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 Hi Tony We live in Fareham and need to weigh our MH full laden. We have been quoted £40 each axel by a local scrap metal merchant. that seems a bit steep. Is this the going rate and do you know of one in the area we could use? Many thanks if you can help. Lizzie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 An internet search will throw up all your local weighbridges. I generally expect to pay a tenner - cash - maybe more if I want a certificate but as a certificate proves nothing except the weight on the day and has no future value as far as I can see I tend not to want one - unless it's free! I would visit them all by car first to get a general idea of their cost, accessibility and cleanliness and the attitudes of the operators before deciding which one to take my van to, and even then I might well get two separate weighins. I have found that grain and particularly scrap metal weighbridges are not always as accurate as they might be as some that I have used do not seem to be concerned about (to them) a relatively inconsequential error of up to 100 kg either way when they are weighing upwards of 20 tonnes at a time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laimeduck Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 Down here on't Marsh, I use a local gravel pit weighbridge, free...ish. I phoned the operator and he simply said come along when it's not busy & I'll weigh you. He wrote the weights on a slip of paper. I slipped him some beer tokens for his kindness. Make a few phone calls....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robinhood Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 ...my local council around 1/4 of that, and including a certificate. I usually look at the CC* website for details of public weighbridges, so: http://www3.hants.gov.uk/tradingstandards/tradingstandards-business/ts-weights/tsguide-public-weighbridges.htm ...though note the caveat on the page, and also my experience that such lists are not necessarily up to date. * County Council, not Caravan Club ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Collings Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 For Lancashire try https://www.mylocalservices.co.uk/l/Public_Weighbridges/Lancashire/ phone first and find (a) can they do axle weights. Some bridges are unsuitable. Your local HGV testing station may have one or know the ones that are suitable. (b) cost. Remember it the total weight transmitted to the road that counts so include driver and passenger. Personally I always have full fuel and fresh water load when I weigh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 This 2010 MHFacts thread was about weighbridges near Fareham in Hampshire http://forums.motorhomefacts.com/49-tech-mech-chat/67950-weighstations-near-fareham-hampshire.html and I notice that one participant mentioned a (2009) cost of £36-£70. It’s confidently claimed in the MHFacts discussion that ‘public weighbridges’ are free. This is not so, but the cost for using them need not to be extortionate. The Hampshire-related link provided by Robinhood does not specify charges, but these links may be helpful http://www.dorsetforyou.com/media/pdf/q/j/Public_Weighbridge_Sites.pdf http://www.devonsomersettradingstandards.gov.uk/businesses/weights-measures/weighbridges/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robinhood Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 ...my local council weighbridge is £6.24 per weighing (i.e. per axle) without documentation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will H Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 There used to be a DOT weighbridge at the top of Handcross Hill on the A23. It was operational all the time even if no one there with an illuminated read out. Its still there but not sure of the present rules. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ron. Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 Our local council weighbridge (Dartford, so no use to pyrie I'm afraid) has a slope both on and off from the plate. When weighing my rear axle I set the van up so that the front axle was only just off the edge of the plate, feeling that the further forward I went some of the weight would be transferred downhill and forward in error due to the slope. However, the operater said that for accuracy I should have the edge of the plate halfway between the two axles, and indeed that is how the police had 'suspects' weighed. Right or wrong I still did it my way but would be interested to hear from any brains which is correct - if either. Ron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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