Marshall Trailers

What are the current regulations on agricultural trailer brakes?

The law currently states that trailers travelling below 25mph have to have a braking efficiency of at least 25% (UK Road Vehicle Construction & Use Regulations). Above this speed it is unclear exactly what requirements an agricultural trailer has to meet, whether it is commercial braking requirements or still simply a 25% braking efficiency.

There is currently EU legislation under discussion which would implement a 50% braking efficiency for agricultural trailers, but this has been already been debated for a number of years without it becoming law. It seems unlikely that it will be implemented within the next few years, if ever, since this would impose higher braking standards than required on commercial vehicles.

Marshall products are fitted with hydraulic brakes as standard and on average provide a braking efficiency of 35%, which exceeds the current legal requirements. This impressive baseline performance is achieved by fitting high quality axles supplied by the world’s leading axle manufacturer, combined with enlarged 25mm brake cylinders and durable 2 wire hoses.

Take time to examine the specifications of our models and take note of the brake sizes and axles sizes. In particular notice we fit commercial 420 x 180 10 stud axles as standard on our QM/14, QM/16, QM/1600 and QM1800 models; not 10 stud industrial axles, which provide significantly reduced performance. The way to tell the difference between these axles is a commercial axle uses an S-cam brake rode while an industrial axle uses a flat-cam brake rod.

If a customer requires enhanced braking performance we also offer air brakes with loading sensing, full ABS systems and a number of axle upgrades. This guarantees a Marshall trailer can meet current legal requirements now and any EU legislation that could potentially be introduced in the future.