3.5 ton horseboxes

[eventer131]

Hi all,
I know this has been done to death recently, so i do apologise!
Right now we have a 7.5 Oakley which is great and we only really ever take one horse to competitions(eventing) But my daughter has past her driving test for about a year now and is keen to start doing some of the driving herself but doesnt feel ready to use such a big truck (in her eyes). So i have some questions about 3.5 ton boxes:
With a payload of about 1100 how much does that allow you once you have your horse, the people, the equipment and water etc.???
Also say we were popping to gallops would be over if we had a 16hh and 15hh with very little else on board?
And then finally what brands do you recommend? I have been looking at Oakley, Alexanders and BOSS so far but am open to any as long as they have an emergency exit for horse at back! max budget of 40k (would trade in 7.5 ton) but prefer less!

Thanks, eventer131

 

[christine48]

Have a look at Bloomfields. We saw them at Osberton. Very solid build and will build to your requirements

 

[ROG]

If the empty box has been weigh-bridged when empty with a full tank of fuel and the ticket states 2400 then it has a payload of 1100

Lets say 600 for the horse and 100 for each person (well over the top) as well as say 200 for tack then that totals 1000 if 2 persons travelling leaving 100 spare

The only way to be certain its legal it to load it as you would normally then go directly to a weigh bridge and if overloaded directly back to where it was loaded to remove some weight - that is perfectly legal to do providing it is not deemed as unsafe = unlikely unless really over the top

 

[Oscar]

I would look into 6.5T lorries, they are built on a van but are just a bit longer usually, and you will get 2T+ payload.

Pepper Harrow have a very good reputation, and when we approached him he was very knowledgeable but no hard sell.

 

[popsdosh]

I would look into 6.5T lorries, they are built on a van but are just a bit longer usually, and you will get 2T+ payload.

Pepper Harrow have a very good reputation, and when we approached him he was very knowledgeable but no hard sell.

Not really an option in this situation !The whole idea is so daughter does not need another test as I am sure the OP would hang on to 7.5t if that was the case!

 

[miss_c]

With a payload of about 1100 how much does that allow you once you have your horse, the people, the equipment and water etc.???

From experience - not much!

Also say we were popping to gallops would be over if we had a 16hh and 15hh with very little else on board?

Almost certainly... Mine had a payload of 1.2t, and my 15hh Welsh D weighs about 540kg. Once I added tack, me & passenger another horse would put me over.

And then finally what brands do you recommend? I have been looking at Oakley, Alexanders and BOSS so far but am open to any as long as they have an emergency exit for horse at back! max budget of 40k

I had a Bonnington. Marlborough boxes are also nice. You will easily get one within your budget. From my remembrance Alexanders often have a pretty poor payload, but it does depend on what you have in it! If it's just the size and not doing an extra test that worries your daughter then a 5.5t or 6.5t would be worth considering. I did my C1 in a large van that was only about 1ft longer than my 3.5t box.

 

[bananas_22]

I would wholeheartedly recommend Bloomfields - incredibly well built boxes with excellent safety features and will tailor them to your needs as well. We chose Bloomfields to supply our hire boxes after trawling through most of the manufacturers, as they seemed the best for quality and ability to rely on them to build a lasting and safe box. You can also visit their factory to see them in build at every stage so you can see that the floor and bulkhead are really well re-inforced etc. They also tend to get very good payloads (dependent on which design you go for - ie how much living), but our two boxes have 1180 and 1160kg payloads. Will definitely be able to get a super nice new box from them in your budget.

 

[starryeyed]

Another recommendation for both Bloomfields and BOSS horseboxes - we went to visit both factories and were very impressed with both the horseboxes and the customer service. Both of them spent a lot of time with us talking through everything, Bloomfields especially were very honest when it came to the finer details (tricky traveller & payload queries) and also very clear about how much each particular feature/addition would cost. We were going to choose Bloomfields (slightly cheaper) but by chance a horsebox came up for sale just down the road from us so we bought that one as it was the style we were looking for - however would recommend either of those companies, both had a 'nothing is too much trouble' attitude and were so easy to talk to which was great.

 

[montanna]

You wouldn't necessarily be overweight with 2 horses. Mine has a payload of 1180kg (weightbridged). I could travel my previous horses - 16.1hh and 15.3hh warmbloods together (one weighed 485kg, one weighed 520kg) as long as I took the bare minimum of stuff with me (i.e. small flexi trug as water bucket but no water etc).

Now I only have the one, I have taken the partition out and she makes herself very comfortable!!!

 

[eventer131]

Thanks everyone for your posts.

You wouldn't necessarily be overweight with 2 horses. Mine has a payload of 1180kg (weightbridged). I could travel my previous horses - 16.1hh and 15.3hh warmbloods together (one weighed 485kg, one weighed 520kg) as long as I took the bare minimum of stuff with me (i.e. small flexi trug as water bucket but no water etc).

Now I only have the one, I have taken the partition out and she makes herself very comfortable!!!

Thanks, thats very interesting, it would be with my friend as i gallop my daughters horse with her... the water etc. is at the facility so we wouldn't need to bring that and i know our 16.1hh weights about 550 and the 15hh is quite fine so i think we would get away with it as my friend could follow behind with tack etc.

Does anyone have experience of Oakleys 3.5 specifically as ideally I would like another oakley? and does anyone have an idea of insurance of 3.5 with an 19 year old girl?

 

[gunnergundog]

Not answering your more recent questions, but just a thought to throw into the mix.......would you be happy loading the lorry to the max?

Personally, it's something I've always avoided..........be it a lorry or trailer and towing vehicle combo........I prefer to allow a bit of lee-way......just in case. Yes there are euro regs and standards, but horses are a moveable/shifting weight load and therefore different (IMO) to a static load.