Theoretically, they are supposed to be licensed, but mine was bought without an ownership (new), so never plated it. They are now required to have brakes as well. Even if brakes weren't required, I would still pay the extra for them - saved my ass more than once.
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If brains were wire, some couldn't short circuit a firefly.
I called MTO in Ottawa and was told tow dollies do not require brakes.
After doing a mind sucking search of the Ontario MTO sites here is what I have found
Brake Requirements Service brakes are required on house trailers if the trailer's axle(s) transmit more than 1,360 kgs (3,000 lbs) to the road when the trailer is attached to the towing vehicle. This applies to cases where the trailer is loaded or empty. If brakes are required, at least one axle of the trailer must be fitted with brakes. Brakes are not required on towed motor vehicles, whether towed with a tow bar or on a dolly. Tow dollies do not require brakes whether or not the dolly is carrying a motor vehicle. House trailers with electric or hydraulic brakes are not required to have trailer breakaway braking devices or parking brakes while being towed in Ontario. Breakaway devices may be required in other Canadian provinces, the US and Mexico. Please contact those jurisdictions for their requirements
The plates make it easy when you cross the border back into Canada and the customs guy wants to know who owns the dolly and where did you bought it. You can just show him the Ontario ownership.
TMJ
I was told that the only things being towed, that don't need a plate are things like a compressor, cuz they are not built to carry anything else. As said before, brakes are definitely a plus on a dolly. I actually locked up the surge brakes on one of mine, towing a SUV.
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If brains were wire, some couldn't short circuit a firefly.
If it carries a load , it needs plates. A piece of machinery that has an axle under it doesn't. Some US States require brakes on every axle . The USA requires a breakaway braking system on trailers with brakes so they may also want it on a Dolly . It depends on where you are going. As for me, I use a car trailer.
-- Edited by RWW on Thursday 4th of December 2014 11:05:29 AM
YUP Trailer is the way to go, especially if the vehicle being towed hasn't rolled in awhile, no worries about tires, wheel brgs. & pulling the D/shaft!!!!Also on a tight turn the "Dolly" set up may damage the vehicle if it's got a fixed axle & doesn't steer!! Have seen a few "crunched" fenders & 1/4 panels happen.
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I can only please one person a day, Today is not your day!!Tomorrow doesn't look good either !!!!
Agree that a trailer has advantages, as mentioned. One of the pros about a dolly is that it doesn't put the tongue weight on the towing vehicle. The vehicle being towed does not need the drive shaft removed if it's a stick shift, and if you start the car on the dolly, and leave it in "N", it can be towed. I have towed several vehicles as far as St.Louis MO without problems. I'm not pro or con with the trailer/dolly conversation, just saying................
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If brains were wire, some couldn't short circuit a firefly.
This is not what the merits of other towing devices are, just what the DOT require. I was given a tow dolly and wanted some info on it. I also have an open cartrailer, and 22 ft enclosed car trailer.
The dolly does not need to be registered or plated. Here's a quote of their response for future reference:
In the Highway Traffic Act (HTA), a tow dolly (i.e. trailer converter dolly) is defined as a device consisting of one or more axles, a fifth wheel lower-half and a tow bar. The device is used to convert a semi-trailer into a full trailer and it is exempt from registration in the Province of Ontario. Certain vehicles/devices are not required to be registered in Ontario when they are used specifically for the purpose for which they are manufactured. Below is a list of exempt vehicles/devices.
Notwithstanding the above, there are additional legislative requirements within the HTA that are applicable to the operational use of a trailer converter dolly. This includes Section 10. (2) (c) as well as Ontario Regulation 199/07 which pertains to Commercial Motor Vehicle Inspections.
While Ministry of Transportation staff may attempt to offer an interpretation to sections of the HTA in an effort to assist the public, such staff are not qualified legal experts and the real authority to provide legal interpretation remains with legal representatives of the court. All enquirers should search for/read the relevant sections of the HTA for themselves.
Exempt Vehicles and Devices
(a) Car Tow Device: A car tow device consists of 1 or more axles and is designed to support the front or rear axles of a vehicle.
If it was me I would plate it and add brakes so you can go anywhere. I don't want to stand on the side of the road talking to the nice policeman, it's not worth the headaches .
-- Edited by RWW on Sunday 7th of December 2014 08:59:17 AM
we have been using an unplated dolly for years,,never have i been bothered by the law,,also know of others who use a dolly and they to have never been bothered...taking scrap vehicles to the scrap yard by use of a dolly while the mto is having a blitz checking trailers on the way in has never drawn attention either.
My understanding using a tow dolly in ON. now: - no plate needed on dolly, if the vehicle being towed is plated with insurance / fit - yes plate needed on dolly, if the vehicle being towed is unfit, unplated &/or therefore uninsured / as is - yes, brakes on axle
Since were talking tow dolly's - I sold a 1985 Chev. truck a few months ago, that was towed away with the following one.
- sweet unit w/hydraulic surge disk brakes...all welded construction...10 ply tires...made in USA
FYI - no connection to below company...just getting a used EZE tow dolly in the spring, when seller gets his tow truck on the road.
****************************** http://cartowdolly.com/ THE MODERN CAR TOW DOLLY HAS NOT BEEN CHANGED AT ALL IN OVER 35 YEARS. The modern auto tow dolly was created by Master Tow 35 years ago and was soon copied and followed by the Stehl tow dolly. Now every car tow dolly on the market is a copy of a copy of a copy with very few companies knowing why these dollies are made the way they are.
However, the Ultralight “EZE-TOW” car tow dolly has been built from the ground up. These new car tow dollies have been professionally engineered and designed to perform a specific task and do it well. You would think that there wouldn’t be much to it, but we took a simple idea and made more than 38 changes and improvements to make a good idea a great one.
First, we took out over 400 unnecessary pounds. This makes the Ultralight “EZE-TOW” the lightest dolly on the market today allowing for easy maneuverability. Be assured, we would never compromise function for form.
The Ultralight “EZE-TOW” is still the most durable non-commercial car towing dolly available anywhere at any price. Our 205-65-10 E-rated tires have an astonishing 1,650 lb. rating each for a total capacity of 3,300 lbs., which is significantly higher than most dollies on the market. Our dollies feature a full 3,500 lb. rated factory-built axle. This combination gives you the ability to tow a vehicle with a curb weight of up to 4,985 lbs.
How many things in life have not changed in 35 years?
When Design, Function and Form converge together, you end up with a simple and great design. Please go to our Features page for a complete listing of the features that make this car tow dolly so special.
Next, I want to inform you of the latent design flaws that exist in most car tow dollies today. Did you know that if you turn too sharp, their Car Tow Dolly fender will most likely make contact with the towed cars door? Some people know that now because of experience, not because they were cautioned about it. Thanks to our dolly’s unique wheel-to-axle geometry, it is "nearly" ( the lawyers words ) impossible to damage the towed car. We tried. We did things with an overloaded car tow dolly that no one in their right mind should ever try. Despite our efforts, we just could not make the fender of our Ultralight “EZE-TOW" hit the towed vehicle. ( Tested with a 15 passenger Chevy van with zero tolerance left between the fenders. ( However our dolly is not designed to tow vehicles this heavy or large. )
Did you know, that because of the obsolete and grossly inferior design of most car tow dollies on the market, it is impossible to adjust or bleed the brakes or service the brake backing plate from the inside at all. Trailer brakes are not self-adjusting and they require attention on a regular basis. Why don’t these other companies care about that? Why have they used this same, inefficient, unserviceable design for over 35 years? The Ultralight EZE-TOW” is easily serviceable. Our hydraulic surge disc brakes never need adjusting and can be changed Very easily. If that isn't enough, consider the fact that our dollies have the lowest platform height of all others on the market. Low platform height means trouble-free use.
We took it upon ourselves to solve these most common design flaws and provide the consumer with an efficient, reliable, lightweight, and durable car tow dolly, but we didn’t stop there. We made several improvements to the concept of the tow dolly.
Our car towing dolly sells for quite a bit less than our competitors and includes a 5-10 year warranty. Our car tow dollies arrive fully assembled. All you have to do is bolt on the fenders and the lights.
-- Edited by Beaumont67SD on Wednesday 10th of December 2014 10:29:33 AM
The biggest problem I see with this tow dolly is that the area where the vehicles wheels sit, doesn't pivot. This puts a lot of stress on that vehicle. You are actually trying to pull the one wheel forward, and the other back on a turn. With the pivot, you don't have that problem. I have noticed this through the towing experience.
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If brains were wire, some couldn't short circuit a firefly.
"If it was me I would plate it and add brakes so you can go anywhere. I don't want to stand on the side of the road talking to the nice policeman, it's not worth the headaches ."
Brakes for safety, plates so you never have to argue about it.
The biggest problem I see with this tow dolly is that the area where the vehicles wheels sit, doesn't pivot.
That's the first thing I noticed too. I just assumed that the pivot/swivel/steering system just isn't visible in this pic as the only dollys I've ever seen without such a system were homemade units. It sure doesn't look like this one has anything of that nature though.
Ive been using my tow dollys for years. No plates or brakes. I just remove battery and turn key on so the steering is unlocked. Ive towed many cars with them and never been hassled.
Great discussion on dollies here....more food for thought:
- My buddy (garage owner) has used his fixed carriage tow dolly approx. 300 times, never a problem thus far.
- I have only used a fixed axle dolly once, towing a Jeep...made it home safely...and that's always the intent, load felt safe behind my truck.
While I liked it better than using my tow bar, which I've used countless times.
To swivel or not to swivel dollies?
http://www.irv2.com/forums/f85/to-swivel-or-not-to-swivel-dollies-56311.html - If you are using a tow dolly with any kind of steering system or a pivoting wheel pan (Roadmaster 2000 Tow Dolly) you would leave your column locked. - If you are using an Acme EZE-TOW Tow Dolly (non swivel-fixed axle) you will leave the column unlocked.
- I was the manager of a LARGE U-Haul center and any of my people that rented a Tow Dolly without instructing proper use would have been fired on the spot, and the ONLY way to use a non swivel dolly is with the front wheels of the vehicle being unlocked else expensive damage can be done.
Also with a fixed dolly, a car cannot be towed backwards because the rear wheels are fixed, but CAN be backwards with a swivel dolly.
In other words, either the dolly itself, or the wheels on the dolly must be free to turn in order for the car to track. The only exception being if you are only going to go in a straight line.
http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/27104823/srt/pa/pging/1/page/4.cfm - A steerable tow dolly has a pivotal platform (deck) that is turned by the load's drag, while the axle is connected direct to the tongue and follows the ball. With a swivel or steerable dolly, the toad may be left in (park for FWD models) and the steering wheel locked, parking brake off. The dolly turns with the ball along with it's axle while the deck pivots a few degrees left or right removing undue stress on the steering linkage of the toad.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/tow-dolly-and-an-automatic.151186/ - Uhh....if you tow something with the steering wheels on the ground you must secure them so they dont turn. Its best to wrap the seat belt around the wheel and also use a rope around the steering wheel that gets shut in the door and knotted so it cant slip back in the car. - I prefer the non-pivot. You can make tighter turns with the pivoting dolley but you have a chance of the dolley fenders hitting the towed car.
- Fixed carriage are for straight pull-on pull-off applications. Decent dollies, but a swivel carriage has a pivot point mounted dead center above the axle. It allows the front axle of your towed vehicle to follow the curves in the road. It will pull a pinch better and gentler on the steering components of your towed vehicle.
- In theory, if you get a fixed-carriage dolly, you should turn the ignition key to the first position to allow your front wheels to turn freely.
U-Haul Tow Dolly Loading Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekdlbeXwcu8#t=70
-- Edited by Beaumont67SD on Thursday 11th of December 2014 11:09:07 PM
Hate to disagree with you, BUT I'm gonna. When I was exporting vehicles down south, I always bought in multiples of 2. Always bought a new dolly with a pivot/brakes, and always left the steering wheel so it could turn. That way you could turn shorter without the fender hitting the side of the towed vehicle. Hauled from here to Missouri, Oklahoma & Texas without any issues Must have bought 40-50 dollies back in late 90s.
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If brains were wire, some couldn't short circuit a firefly.
