Be licence

mengele · 22-04-2019 6:17pm #1

Did anyone do this lately. Thinking of using my own jeep and 12ft ifor Williams cow box. Its only a few years old so its in fine nick. Do I need to out concrete blocks into it for weight or is that gone? If I had to go away and buy 39 concrete blocks it would be cheaper to nearly rent a testers car and trailer and be less hassle.

mayota · 22-04-2019 6:35pm

mengele wrote: »

Did anyone do this lately. Thinking of using my own jeep and 12ft ifor Williams cow box. Its only a few years old so its in fine nick. Do I need to out concrete blocks into it for weight or is that gone? If I had to go away and buy 39 concrete blocks it would be cheaper to nearly rent a testers car and trailer and be less hassle.

Sure how much is a block now, 50 or 60c? Use them up after.

Albert Johnson · 22-04-2019 6:48pm

mengele wrote: »

Did anyone do this lately. Thinking of using my own jeep and 12ft ifor Williams cow box. Its only a few years old so its in fine nick. Do I need to out concrete blocks into it for weight or is that gone? If I had to go away and buy 39 concrete blocks it would be cheaper to nearly rent a testers car and trailer and be less hassle.

It's about 2 years since I did it but I'm fairly sure the weight requirement is still enforced. I opted to rent the instructors Jeep and trailer for the actual test. It saved having to load up my own trailer and I was sure that the vehicle and trailer would be 100% roadworthy on the day. My advice would be to rent the vehicle off the instructor for the day, hopefully it's only a one off event and it will save you unnecessary hassle imo.

Grueller · 22-04-2019 8:31pm

Albert Johnson wrote: »

It's about 2 years since I did it but I'm fairly sure the weight requirement is still enforced. I opted to rent the instructors Jeep and trailer for the actual test. It saved having to load up my own trailer and I was sure that the vehicle and trailer would be 100% roadworthy on the day. My advice would be to rent the vehicle off the instructor for the day, hopefully it's only a one off event and it will save you unnecessary hassle imo.

What hassle is it? Sure do it after the cvrt test and everything will be ok.

Albert Johnson · 22-04-2019 8:52pm

Grueller wrote: »

What hassle is it? Sure do it after the cvrt test and everything will be ok.

Depends on your definition of hassle I suppose. If your happy using your own outfit and it's up to scratch then work away but I rented the vehicle for the hour or so and got the same result. I wasn't that interested in lifting 40 or so blocks in and out of the trailer twice (1 lesson then another the morning of the test) and wondering would a bulb be blow or similar when the tester done some pretest inspection's. If I had a front loader and could have built the blocks on a pallet then it would have been easier. My own Jeep wasn't due a test for 6 months when I done the BE test and it probably needed a few bulbs, it's due another test now and it's certainly missing a few. I think it was €60 to rent the Jeep and trailer for the test, it probably burned near a tenner of diesel so he had €50 "profit" on me. I don't ever intend to do said test again so I thought it wasn't bad value all in too become fully legal regards towing.

mengele · 22-04-2019 9:21pm

The concrete blocks are just annoying when I don't have them. Would waste a bit of a day going to get them and trying to secure them. What about a half tonne of tractor weights. They would hardly do?

Albert Johnson · 22-04-2019 9:27pm

mengele wrote: »

The concrete blocks are just annoying when I don't have them. Would waste a bit of a day going to get them and trying to secure them. What about a half tonne of tractor weights. They would hardly do?

Welcome to my way of thinking and I'm almost certain they only accept concrete blocks.

Dunedin · 22-04-2019 9:46pm

mengele wrote: »

Did anyone do this lately. Thinking of using my own jeep and 12ft ifor Williams cow box. Its only a few years old so its in fine nick. Do I need to out concrete blocks into it for weight or is that gone? If I had to go away and buy 39 concrete blocks it would be cheaper to nearly rent a testers car and trailer and be less hassle.

I think you can hire the trailer on its own which would eliminate the hassle and cost less.

My lad was charging something like €60 a lesson but then he charged €150 for the use of it for the test. Complete rip off as he had no driver for the test obviously and the test was less time than a lesson.

Nobbies · 22-04-2019 10:27pm

mengele wrote: »

Did anyone do this lately. Thinking of using my own jeep and 12ft ifor Williams cow box. Its only a few years old so its in fine nick. Do I need to out concrete blocks into it for weight or is that gone? If I had to go away and buy 39 concrete blocks it would be cheaper to nearly rent a testers car and trailer and be less hassle.

Don't forget the theory test if you have never done one before

Albert Johnson · 22-04-2019 10:46pm

As requirements go I don't think the BE test process is the most onerous tbh. Granted I'd already done the theory test when getting the car licence but the entire experience only cost me circa €450 from start to finish. This included the learner permit, booking the test, 2 lessons and renting the Jeep and trailer for the actual test.

I know it's all money but at least I'm covered now and don't have to be worrying about check points or insurance in the event of an accident. Having said that I can honestly say the test taught me little if anything about towing or driving in general that I wasn't already aware of. It's simply an ass covering exercise imo and I'd encourage anyone thinking about it to do it before the process becomes more complex.

duffysfarm · 12-05-2021 8:32pm

I have a theory test next week. I am looking to do the theory test to get the trailer licence eventually. I got an email reminder this evening to day that the theory test is in category BW. Does this seem correct? I have looked at the booking procedure and i dont see any option for booking between different categories of B vehicles. I might just call them in the morning to see what they say but if anyone has done it recently then please let me know

Charolois 19 · 12-05-2021 9:53pm

Ya that should be you, I did lorry license few years ago and the theory test was the same for c and c+e, when I passed rigid I swapped provo c for provo c+e no bother, don't think the category matters as long as you have the correct category booked, as in there's no +e theory test exclusively for your chosen category

nhg · 13-05-2021 6:23am

Son due to do theory test soon for 1st Learner Permit (W &

, when applying for 1st Learner Permit can he apply for BE then or is it more advisable to pass B test 1st & then apply for BE

_Brian · 13-05-2021 6:25am

nhg wrote: »

Son due to do theory test soon for 1st Learner Permit (W & , when applying for 1st Learner Permit can he apply for BE then or is it more advisable to pass B test 1st & then apply for BE

I think you have to pass the B before you can get BE provisional but if you can go straight to BE then yes, do that surely

Charolois 19 · 13-05-2021 6:30am

Brian's right I think, e is an add on to an existing category so you need full b to apply for b+e

kevthegaff · 13-05-2021 6:37pm

How do ye get a rigid license

wrangler · 13-05-2021 6:53pm

Inever heard of anyone being stopped due to their trailer , but I think my neighbour has lost his license due to it.
It started off as not indicating at a junction and then no trailer license, no plate on the trailer, and of course driving without insurance as lack of trailer license meant that he wasn't insured,
The story is that there were nine different summonses by the time the guard finished

farawaygrass · 13-05-2021 7:42pm

I did the be test a few years ago. I would definitely recommend using the instructors trailer. If it was anything like the one I used, you would hardly know you were pulling it. It was a 8x5 (or there abouts) box trailer and it was lovely and snug, especially when doing the test in a town or city

Charolois 19 · 13-05-2021 9:49pm

I know the provisional licence isn't expensive and you might know already, but if you pass your test and say you have a year left on your provisional, you can swap it for another one free of charge, and it keeps the push on to do the next licence, plus it saves putting it on long finger and having to resit the theroy test, so if you had b you can swap it for b+e, or c for c+e ect, was that way a few years ago anyway

_Brian · 13-05-2021 10:07pm

Charolois 19 wrote: »

I know the provisional licence isn't expensive and you might know already, but if you pass your test and say you have a year left on your provisional, you can swap it for another one free of charge, and it keeps the push on to do the next licence, plus it saves putting it on long finger and having to resit the theroy test, so if you had b you can swap it for b+e, or c for c+e ect, was that way a few years ago anyway

You don’t ever need to resist a theory test.

Once it’s done it’s done forever.

Charolois 19 · 13-05-2021 10:24pm

_Brian wrote: »

You don’t ever need to resist a theory test.

Once it’s done it’s done forever.

Never knew that, i always thought for some reason it only lasted 2 years, I have the provisional on the bike at the minute, and it's not high on the priority list to do, so if I let that lapse I can just reapply for the next provisional?

older by the day · 14-05-2021 12:07am

_Brian wrote: »

You don’t ever need to resist a theory test.

Once it’s done it’s done forever.

Lasts only two years, I left the last one out and have only six months Left in this. Must get my ass in gear and do the test

divillybit · 15-05-2021 8:37am

When I did my BE licence a few years ago I found the instructor to be great, he knew which two junctions the tester would get me to back the trailer around and I used his jeep and trailer for the test. You're paying for his knowledge and insight and sure he might make a few bob on renting the rig to ya for the test but I didn't begrudge him for it. You gotta drive like you are doing the car test, within the first few mins doing the test the tester himself was losing interest cos I was doing correctly, e.g.
indicating, observation, progress... Its a good refresher for drivers that may have picked up bad habits. I had the two junctions well practiced and passed it no bother. Just my 2 cents. If you were ever going for an outdoors job with a local authority they look for the BE licence

raypallas · 15-05-2021 9:23am

kevthegaff wrote: »

How do ye get a rigid license

Much the same as trailer license, apply and get your provisional. I assume you have to do 12 lessons like the car, pass the rigid then you can apply for artic. Been a while since I passed them tho, if you want to drive professionally you have to complete CPC driver training courses. If you pass an artic test you automatically get trailer license for car/jeep but a lot more expensive way about it.

Charolois 19 · 15-05-2021 9:57am

Theres no minimum amount of lessons for c, and if you pass your rigid in a manual box you can use an auto tractor unit for c+e, one less thing to worry about

_Brian · 15-05-2021 10:30am

Ok so new one on me.

When you pass the theory test you have two years to use it or it expires.

So you pass the theory test and must apply for a learner permit within 2 years.

But once you use it, it then never expires for that category. If you want to add BE on it doesn’t matter how long ago you did the theory test, it’s valid.

jd06 · 06-09-2023 1:23pm

Hi folks

I passed the b E test for trailer last month

I was thinking of going ahead a doing the rigid and possibly small bus.

Would I need to do a another theroy test for rigid also how much are lessons for rigid or do I have to do 12 or more

Thanks

Albert Johnson · 06-09-2023 2:28pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121076137#Comment_121076137

I did the Rigid license in the spring and yes you'll have to do another theory test for category C. You don't have to do a set number of lessons but obviously you'll need enough tuition to allow you to pass the test. My instructor recommended 8 hours and I'd never done much lorry driving previously. I passed the first time so it wasn't too bad but by the time you pay for the theory test, provisional license, lessons, hire of the truck for the test, test itself, medical to get full license, apply for full license ect and more I've probably forgotten it all adds up.

hopeso · 06-09-2023 7:25pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121076554#Comment_121076554

Is there not two theory tests? The general one, which consists of 100 questions, and then the case studies test. I'm not sure if you can sit both on the same day, but they'll charge you for both anyway.

Albert Johnson · 06-09-2023 10:51pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121077893#Comment_121077893

The case studies one is for the CPC element to the best of myknowledge. You can do the rigid test without doing the CPC depending on what you intend doing with the license.

Hard Knocks · 07-09-2023 7:49am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121078629#Comment_121078629

You are correct, it’s not hard to gain and maintain the CPC and it gives another option should the work be available

Be licence

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