# Tow Bar Weight/load on Fiat Ducato Argos 747?



## Snunkie

Can anyone help me please?

We have a '58 plate Argos Burstner 747 with a fitted towbar on an ALKO chassis. We are looking at putting a scooter rack on the back as it is a bit of a faff getting it in the garage and would like the extra space on the garage. Not for anything heavy, just for example to chuck the kids inflatables in between stops so we don't have to keep deflating/inflating etc. 

How would I find out what weight we can put on the towbar? We have a honda vision 110 scooter and I can find the weight of that, no idea what weight the towbar puts on the back though. I do know that the garage has a 200kgs weight limit but is that just inside the garage or does that refer to the back end as a whole, eg loading the scooter and rack on the towbar?

Sorry if that all sounds a bit confusing!

Cheers

Lucy


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## kinell

Having recently bought a Vision 110 I can help with that bit. The kerb weight is 102kg.


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## Snunkie

Sorry, I know the weight of the Honda Vision 110, I just need to know how to find out what weight I can carry on the Towbar. What do I need to look for in the book?


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## Enock

You need to check out the nose weight.....

My Swift has a max recommended nose weight on the tow ball of 80kgs.


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## rayc

Enock said:


> You need to check out the nose weight.....
> 
> My Swift has a max recommended nose weight on the tow ball of 80kgs.


My Rapido has an Armitage towbar also with an 'S' value of 80kgs.
I think that will be a common value and suspect that a scooter weighing 102kg plus the carrier will need careful consideration.

Note: The maximum permitted noseweight in kg is usually described as the 'S' value.

I do know people who carry motorcycles on a rear rack but this bespoke design and not a towbar fitting.


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## teensvan

Hi.

Most towbars have a max download weight of 75Kg. If you are putting 102Kg on the long overhang of the 747 it will put about 400Kg load on the tag axles. The chassis on the overhang will not take this weight for long. You must remember the load will be bouncing up and down making it even heavier.

steve & ann. teensvan


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## Imbiber

Hi Lucy

I've just called into Armitage's today who informed me that fitting a towbar to our van on the extended Alko chassis (similar to your Argos) would allow for downward load of 200 Kg. Minus 30 Kg for their Scooter Rack would in effect allow for 170 Kg of load.

My previous van was the old shape Argos 747-2 which had a TowTal towbar and from memory I am sure allowed for 150 Kg . So consider the weight of a scooter rack being circa 30 Kg , then that would still leave 120 Kg, more than enough for your Honda Vision at 102 Kg.

I'd check your towbar as that should have a plate notifying you of your weight allowance, or there should be paperwork to the effect?

I've just checked my Omnister 4 bike-rack, hung off the back wall of our van and even that permits a maximum weight of 60 Kg...and its only held in with a few screws!! 

So I am sure any decent fabricated tow bar should certainly give you at least 150 Kg to start with.

Hope this helps

Regards

Andy


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## rayc

Imbiber said:


> Hi Lucy
> 
> I've just called into Armitage's today who informed me that fitting a towbar to our van on the extended Alko chassis (similar to your Argos) would allow for downward load of 200 Kg. Minus 30 Kg for their Scooter Rack would in effect allow for 170 Kg of load.
> 
> My previous van was the old shape Argos 747-2 which had a TowTal towbar and from memory I am sure allowed for 150 Kg . So consider the weight of a scooter rack being circa 30 Kg , then that would still leave 120 Kg, more than enough for your Honda Vision at 102 Kg.
> 
> I'd check your towbar as that should have a plate notifying you of your weight allowance, or there should be paperwork to the effect?
> 
> I've just checked my Omnister 4 bike-rack, hung off the back wall of our van and even that permits a maximum weight of 60 Kg...and its only held in with a few screws!!
> 
> So I am sure any decent fabricated tow bar should certainly give you at least 150 Kg to start with.
> 
> Hope this helps
> 
> Regards
> 
> Andy


Andy, I have a decently fabricated Armitage tow bar on my 4250 Alko chassis Rapido. It is plated with an Armitage plate at a towing weight of 2000 kg and 80 kg S force. I shall ask Armitage why it is only 80kg. Perhaps it is because the alko chassis does not extend all the way under the garage area and so the towbar side arms projest back some way.
Ray


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## Imbiber

rayc said:


> Andy, I have a decently fabricated Armitage tow bar on my 4250 Alko chassis Rapido. It is plated with an Armitage plate at a towing weight of 2000 kg and 80 kg S force. would you have any idea why it is only 80kg and not the 200kg that armitage told you could be expected?
> Ray


Sorry Ray I cannot help you on that front?

All I can say is that they asked me what model year my van was (2009 on the new Fiat X250 extended Alko chassis), it is a tag axle so there is an extra 750 kg of payload to factor in perhaps.

I've just taken a look at their website and they make reference to the weights you can carry here depending on your own motorhome: Armitage Scooter Racks

I only live down the road from them and called in today having had a quote from Alko regarding a new Sawiko load carrier that would be more than twice the price of an Armitage job!

Alko incidentally confirmed that our chassis would handsomely accommodate a Sawiko rack with a maximum load of 150 Kg. This would be fitted directly into the Alko chassis and not onto a pre-fabricated towbar.

Regards

Andy


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## Snunkie

Thank you so much for your help Andy. I will look into that.

The towbar that is fitted is on a pretty substantial frame which is then bolted to the chassis. It looks like it would hold a fair weight or the frame would.

Lucy


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## Snunkie

Just wanted to update this thread in case it helps anyone else

I've spoken to PWS in Poole as the tow bar system fitted to our Argos Burstner 747 (Al-Ko Chassis) was done by them, and we now have a PWS scooter rack which we bought of a couple we met in Spain at a bargain price as they were overweight, anyway..... I just wanted to confirm that with a PWS tow system fitted, and a PWS scooter rack whereby you remove the tow ball and bolt it straight to the tow bar chassis thingy, you can put a max bike weight on there of 125kgs. 

We have a Honda Vision 110 which weighs 102kgs and will be having air suspension fitted this year. We've managed to jetson some unwanted equipment which has freed up a fair amount of weight for us

Anyway, hope that helps someone with the same/similar question

Lucy


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