Two vehicles, two slips
Tamworth is recognised as the National Equine Capital of Australia, and as far as rego goes, a horse float is a trailer. A registered float more than 5 years old, counted from its compliance plate, gets its own renewal notice and may need its own pink slip.
Goods vehicles of 4.5 tonnes GVM or less, with no power-operated brakes, are light vehicles too, which covers utes of that size. So a household with a ute and a float can be looking at two slips a year, on two different dates.
Before the float goes in
- Hook it up and check every light with a helper: tail, brake and indicators.
- Look at every tyre, the spare too, for tread, sun cracking and bulges.
- Check the coupling, safety chains and jockey wheel for wear.
- If the float has brakes, make sure they work.
- Look at the floor and frame for rust, especially where water and manure sit.
What Tamworth drivers run into
Frosty mornings, hot afternoons
Frosts in Tamworth are frequent and often severe, and the temperature passes 35 degrees on around 20 to 25 days a year. Tyres left in the sun crack as they age, and weak batteries get found out at both ends of the year.
Highway and back roads
Tamworth is about 420 km north of Sydney on the New England Highway, and 280 km inland from Port Macquarie on the Oxley. Mix those runs with farm roads and you get steady tyre and suspension wear, both on the inspector's list.
Farm vehicles back on rego
Beef, sheep, grain, dairy, poultry and lucerne all come off the land around Tamworth. A ute that's worked a property off rego for more than 3 months needs a blue slip, valid for 42 days, before it goes back on the road.
What we'd do
We'd put the ute and the float through on the same day at a station that does both, after the light and tyre checks at home. If either fails, getting it back to that station inside 14 days means the recheck has no extra inspection fee.