In a separate thread I have, with your help, narrowed down the 2 or 3 glider models I might seriously consider for purchase (for my personal enjoyment, nothing commercial or funky). Now I am putting some numbers together and checking all the needed paperwork for when I am going to pull the trigger and buy one of these 3 ships, with a trailer.

So, sooner or later I will be taking possession of a used glider and trailer with a plate and registration issued either in New Hampshire, or Massachusetts, or Pennsylvania.... then I will be registering it in New York State. Each trailer is custom made, or could be treated as such, weights less than 1,000 lb and can carry a 15m glider. Apparently the current owners don't hold much paperwork about their trailers.

What do I need to know about New York State rules in that matter before I go down to the DMV?

Thanks for all your precious help.

On Tuesday, November 3, 2015 at 7:41:49 PM UTC-5, PAGA wrote:
> In a separate thread I have, with your help, narrowed down the 2 or 3 glider models I might seriously consider for purchase (for my personal enjoyment, nothing commercial or funky). Now I am putting some numbers together and checking all the needed paperwork for when I am going to pull the trigger and buy one of these 3 ships, with a trailer.
>
> So, sooner or later I will be taking possession of a used glider and trailer with a plate and registration issued either in New Hampshire, or Massachusetts, or Pennsylvania.... then I will be registering it in New York State. Each trailer is custom made, or could be treated as such, weights less than 1,000 lb and can carry a 15m glider. Apparently the current owners don't hold much paperwork about their trailers.
>
> What do I need to know about New York State rules in that matter before I go down to the DMV?
>
> Thanks for all your precious help.

The owner of a glider trailer in Pennsylvania should care about paperwork. Pennsylvania requires a trailer to have a title. Make sure you get a title if the state you register it in requires one.

On Tuesday, November 3, 2015 at 5:41:49 PM UTC-7, PAGA wrote:
> In a separate thread I have, with your help, narrowed down the 2 or 3 glider models I might seriously consider for purchase (for my personal enjoyment, nothing commercial or funky). Now I am putting some numbers together and checking all the needed paperwork for when I am going to pull the trigger and buy one of these 3 ships, with a trailer.
>
> So, sooner or later I will be taking possession of a used glider and trailer with a plate and registration issued either in New Hampshire, or Massachusetts, or Pennsylvania.... then I will be registering it in New York State. Each trailer is custom made, or could be treated as such, weights less than 1,000 lb and can carry a 15m glider. Apparently the current owners don't hold much paperwork about their trailers.
>
> What do I need to know about New York State rules in that matter before I go down to the DMV?
>
> Thanks for all your precious help.

The NY State DMV website has a lot of info on trailer registration. Here is the URL:

http://dmv.ny.gov/registration/register-trailer

As Ken said, the seller needs to make their trailer paperwork correct so you can buy it.
Why do so many glider pilots not care about trailer paperwork?
Jim

Thanks for these initial replies. While I agree people should keep proper paperwork, it seems that the rules and said paperwork varies from state to state, especially when it comes to trailer weight/size vs registration and insurance requirements. Are there any New York State owners here in this forum would could share more specific experience and details? Cheers

On Friday, November 6, 2015 at 11:09:06 AM UTC-5, PAGA wrote:
> Thanks for these initial replies. While I agree people should keep proper paperwork, it seems that the rules and said paperwork varies from state to state, especially when it comes to trailer weight/size vs registration and insurance requirements. Are there any New York State owners here in this forum would could share more specific experience and details? Cheers

What else do you need to know? As Renny said, the website has pretty much everything you need to know. My trailer weighs 1600 lbs empty, so I had to get the inspection (somewhere in Queens I think), and they gave me a VIN sticker and registration. The biggest hassle was driving the trailer into the City. They gave me no trouble whatsoever during the inspection, but you don't need to go through all that as you're <1000. http://dmv.ny.gov/forms/vs105.pdf

On Friday, November 6, 2015 at 12:15:20 PM UTC-5, Clay wrote:
> What else do you need to know? As Renny said, the website has pretty much everything you need to know. My trailer weighs 1600 lbs empty, so I had to get the inspection (somewhere in Queens I think), and they gave me a VIN sticker and registration. The biggest hassle was driving the trailer into the City. They gave me no trouble whatsoever during the inspection, but you don't need to go through all that as you're <1000. http://dmv.ny.gov/forms/vs105.pdf

Thank you, I wanted to confirm I understood these DMV online docs correctly..

> Thank you, I wanted to confirm I understood these DMV online docs correctly.

Though they never asked to see receipts for materials used to build the trailer, or even a bill of sale (I bought it already built as you are, presumably), you might want to make sure you at least have something that says custom or homebuilt trailer (whether it is or not). I also brought various other receipts just in case (I'd bought new wheels/tires, LEDs for it. Also any Home Depot receipt I could find for wood, metal, wire, etc.). But that was overkill.

OK, that's dully noted, thanks again.

States differ greatly in hassle factor. I've had major problems in PA with registering and licensing both of my glider trailers, mainly because of what state they'd come from before I'd bought them.

The worst experience was with a 1983 Cobra bought from CT. The seller was the original buyer of the glider/trailer combination (and ironically he had bought them from a dealer in PA). However, PA would not accept the CT trailer registration! I wound up supplying copies of the bills of sale from Cobra to Schliecher, from Schliecher to the dealer, from the dealer to the buyer, and from the buyer to me. It took 4 months to get it done, with most of the time going into finding someone who knew how to deal with the PA DoT bureaucracy.

-John, Q3

Update: so, as expected, I recently purchased a Cobra trailer from a gentleman in New Jersey (to carry a LS-3a). In New Jersey this kind of trailer has no Title, there is a simple "trailer registration" without title, inspection sticker or other complications... the good news was that in New York State there is no need for a Title either, because, I heard from the lady at the DMV, it is a single axle under 2, 000 lb. trailer and it's not "homemade". I am not sure what would have been the requirements if it was "homemade" or over 2, 000 lb., I avoided making it complicated and did not ask. There was a small issue with the VIN on the NJ registration (the last digit was a 9 instead of an 8) causing the DMV system to refuse to take the wrong VIN. This was however easily resolved by bringing a photo of the VIN from the side of the trailer itself.

So now I have this trailer registered in NY, I need to get it inspected within 10 days (I guess they want to make sure you plug in the wires properly and that the break light work), but other than that it was easy.

Thank you all for your assistance on this thread.

PS: when I mention 2,000 lb just note that I am referring to the maximum Gross Weight.

On Saturday, November 7, 2015 at 1:44:50 PM UTC-5, John Carlyle wrote:
> States differ greatly in hassle factor. I've had major problems in PA with registering and licensing both of my glider trailers, mainly because of what state they'd come from before I'd bought them.
>
> The worst experience was with a 1983 Cobra bought from CT. The seller was the original buyer of the glider/trailer combination (and ironically he had bought them from a dealer in PA). However, PA would not accept the CT trailer registration! I wound up supplying copies of the bills of sale from Cobra to Schliecher, from Schliecher to the dealer, from the dealer to the buyer, and from the buyer to me. It took 4 months to get it done, with most of the time going into finding someone who knew how to deal with the PA DoT bureaucracy.
>
> -John, Q3

John,
that is very strange! I purchased my glider in a kit-built trailer from a gentlemen in CT. I took the CT paperwork to the PA DMV and received a title w/o problems. However, I have to admit that all this happened in 1986, so things may have changed since then.
Uli

On Thursday, December 24, 2015 at 7:33:34 PM UTC-5, AS wrote:
> On Saturday, November 7, 2015 at 1:44:50 PM UTC-5, John Carlyle wrote:
> > States differ greatly in hassle factor. I've had major problems in PA with registering and licensing both of my glider trailers, mainly because of what state they'd come from before I'd bought them.
> >
> > The worst experience was with a 1983 Cobra bought from CT. The seller was the original buyer of the glider/trailer combination (and ironically he had bought them from a dealer in PA). However, PA would not accept the CT trailer registration! I wound up supplying copies of the bills of sale from Cobra to Schliecher, from Schliecher to the dealer, from the dealer to the buyer, and from the buyer to me. It took 4 months to get it done, with most of the time going into finding someone who knew how to deal with the PA DoT bureaucracy.
> >
> > -John, Q3
>
> John,
> that is very strange! I purchased my glider in a kit-built trailer from a gentlemen in CT. I took the CT paperwork to the PA DMV and received a title w/o problems. However, I have to admit that all this happened in 1986, so things may have changed since then.
> Uli

....long time ago, and different states all together, so hard to compare! :-)

On Friday, December 25, 2015 at 10:53:02 AM UTC-5, PAGA wrote:
> On Thursday, December 24, 2015 at 7:33:34 PM UTC-5, AS wrote:
> > On Saturday, November 7, 2015 at 1:44:50 PM UTC-5, John Carlyle wrote:
> > > States differ greatly in hassle factor. I've had major problems in PA with registering and licensing both of my glider trailers, mainly because of what state they'd come from before I'd bought them.
> > >
> > > The worst experience was with a 1983 Cobra bought from CT. The seller was the original buyer of the glider/trailer combination (and ironically he had bought them from a dealer in PA). However, PA would not accept the CT trailer registration! I wound up supplying copies of the bills of sale from Cobra to Schliecher, from Schliecher to the dealer, from the dealer to the buyer, and from the buyer to me. It took 4 months to get it done, with most of the time going into finding someone who knew how to deal with the PA DoT bureaucracy.
> > >
> > > -John, Q3
> >
> > John,
> > that is very strange! I purchased my glider in a kit-built trailer from a gentlemen in CT. I took the CT paperwork to the PA DMV and received a title w/o problems. However, I have to admit that all this happened in 1986, so things may have changed since then.
> > Uli
>
> ...long time ago, and different states all together, so hard to compare! :-)

Uli, as PAGA said our experiences differed by about 30 years. Also, I note that you went to the DMV. I used (several) tag and title services, perhaps they just aren't as knowledgeable as the DMV. Anyway, glad you had no hassle...

-John, Q3