M
ore Kiwis are 
stepping up to 
7m+ trailer boats 
and discovering 
that the trailer 
is where the 
real engineering 
happens.  Once 
a trailer’s gross vehicle mass (GVM) 
goes over 3,500kg, it’s legally a 
heavy vehicle in New Zealand.
That means a Certificate of 
Fitness (COF) instead of a WOF, 
road user charges, certified heavy-
vehicle braking, tow coupling, 
load anchorages, and in most 
cases a Class 2 licence to tow it.
As an example of this kind 
of build: a Balex Trailer 770, 
COF-rated to 4,500kg, paired 
with the client’s RAM 2500.
FEATURED BUILD: Balex Trailer 
770 - 4,500kg COF rated
Here is the interesting part: as 
standard, our client's 7.7m boat 
package actually came in under 
3,500kg. He could have run it on a 
WOF trailer, however until the first 
big trip. Full of fuel, dive bottles, 
camping gear and all the toys, 
which is how real boats get used, 
and it is how owners quietly end 
up towing overweight and illegal.
He wanted to load up for a week 
away without doing the maths at 
the boat ramp, so we built him a 
Balex 770 engineered, certified 
and COF rated to 4,500kg GVM, 
and towed by his RAM 2500 on 
a pintle hook, the coupling that 
unlocks the RAM's maximum tow 
bar rating of up to 6,942kg.
	• 4,500kg GVM rating - roughly 
1,000kg of legal headroom 
over a standard trailer.
	• Heavy vehicle braking system to 
NZ heavy vehicle brake standards.
	• Designed, built, and certified in NZ 
for COF compliance from day one.
	• Matched to the tow vehicle 
- couplings, ratings and 
weights all checked against 
the RAM 2500's specs.
WATCH IT IN ACTION 
Then read below for 
everything you need to 
know before ordering a COF 
trailer for your new boat.
View Video
 /FISHINGINGODZONE  57
Once a trailer’s gross vehicle mass 
(GVM) goes over 3,500kg, it’s legally 
a heavy vehicle in New Zealand.
Talk to Balex early to 
discuss designing the 
trailer to work with 
your boat and avoid 
additional costs.

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