3.5 ton lorry or car and trailer?

tobiano1984

tobiano1984

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I'm sure this has been asked before, but am having a dilemma and would love some input. I've been desperate to sort transport out for ages, but life keeps getting in the way! Now I'm trying to work out what the most sensible option is. I should have between £10-15k to spend, and do not yet have B&E licence.

1) Get a 3.5 ton lorry - this would be good in as much as I can drive without an extra test, straight away (and I'm an impatient person..!), plus from what I've seen they hold their value pretty well as so popular. A friend got a newly built one (older van, think '55 plate, new box) for around £12k. I've only got small horses so weight wouldn't be an issue, and any longer journeys, i.e. to go BE, would only be with one horse. Plus I am self employed and have my own yard, so always the potential to do some transport work/rent it out if viable.

2) Car and trailer - a better option is as much as we would only have two vehicles in the household rather than 2 cars and a lorry. However my experience of the used car market is that they don't hold their value well! If I was to spend £5-7k on a 4x4, it would quickly depreciate and be expensive to repair/fuel etc as it would also be a daily runaround car. Trailers hold their value better I think, so if I spent £2-2.5k on an IW or similar I probably wouldn't lose a huge amount of value off it. I'd also have to take my B&E test which I gather can be near to £1k including lessons etc.

Any advice/recommendations? Thanks!!
 
The other thing to consider is fuel consumption, the 3.5 ton boxes are far more economical than a thirsty 4x4 towing two horses, as well as the day to day costs. Insurance is not too bad on a 3.5 ton and they seem to hold value well, I would go for the box, so much nicer to drive in my experience.
 
3.5t

I have one and it makes everything sooo much easier!! I have a living area, so I can keep all of my stuff in there which saves the hassle of putting everything in a car on shows days and emptying it again. Its nice to drive and very good on fuel. Also, it is cheaper to insure that my car is (only a Fiesta) so god knows how much insurance would cost me on a 4x4!
 
We are currently in the same situation! We are going with a 3.5t as this works better for us, i am also going to take my HGV so we upgrade to a 7.5t.

our problems with the trailer are: towing makes me very nervous, i dont think i would ever pass a trailer test just cannot get the reversing thing so my mum would have to drive everywhere and as our horses are at seperate yards it makes the days very long! Our current tow vehicle only does about 17-19mpg with two horses on the back, hopefully a 3.5t does better than this! in the two years we have had our truck it has depriciated about £6k and trailering makes me nervous!

The 3.5t would mean i can drive it straight off, the back end is unlikely to unhitch itself and run off, no dodgey reversing and gives us flexibility whilst i take my HGV, should cost less to run than our truck and not depreciate as quickly!
 
Interesting on the fuel and insurance - I had assumed that a lorry would be more than a 4x4...my OH will not be impressed if I get a sparkly little lorry instead of a landrover! haha
 
LeannePip said:
We are currently in the same situation! We are going with a 3.5t as this works better for us, i am also going to take my HGV so we upgrade to a 7.5t.

our problems with the trailer are: towing makes me very nervous, i dont think i would ever pass a trailer test just cannot get the reversing thing so my mum would have to drive everywhere and as our horses are at seperate yards it makes the days very long! Our current tow vehicle only does about 17-19mpg with two horses on the back, hopefully a 3.5t does better than this! in the two years we have had our truck it has depriciated about £6k and trailering makes me nervous!

The 3.5t would mean i can drive it straight off, the back end is unlikely to unhitch itself and run off, no dodgey reversing and gives us flexibility whilst i take my HGV, should cost less to run than our truck and not depreciate as quickly!
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Yes I have to say trailers make me nervous even as a passenger, little lorries feel a lot more 'together'. I think I'd take a lot longer to get anywhere with a trailer..!
 
tobiano1984 said:
Interesting on the fuel and insurance - I had assumed that a lorry would be more than a 4x4...my OH will not be impressed if I get a sparkly little lorry instead of a landrover! haha
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I think the insurance will be around £250, fuel is pretty good and certainly significantly lower than a good 4x4, I recently did 2 similar journeys, 1 in a 3.5 ton used £26 diesel, the 4x4 was near £45 you could see the fuel gauge going down!!
 
Am just lurking on this thread, am having the same dilemma as the OP!!!!

Trailers terrify me: I've got a small 7X5 one for picking up feed etc, and reversing that one is bad enough, I'd have a nervous breakdown if I dared to take a trailer out! I used to tow a caravan, years ago, but seem to have lost my mojo somewhere along the line.

So its a lorry for me.............. but price -v- what I actually WANT/need - is the dilemma. I've got two horses: one welsh D mare (not a heavy Welsh D, fairly light) and a 15hh traddie boy (quite heavy). So the dilemma is whether a 3.5 would be OK re. payload etc.

Oh help!!!
 
MiJodsR2BlinkinTite said:
Am just lurking on this thread, am having the same dilemma as the OP!!!!

Trailers terrify me: I've got a small 7X5 one for picking up feed etc, and reversing that one is bad enough, I'd have a nervous breakdown if I dared to take a trailer out! I used to tow a caravan, years ago, but seem to have lost my mojo somewhere along the line.

So its a lorry for me.............. but price -v- what I actually WANT/need - is the dilemma. I've got two horses: one welsh D mare (not a heavy Welsh D, fairly light) and a 15hh traddie boy (quite heavy). So the dilemma is whether a 3.5 would be OK re. payload etc.

Oh help!!!
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Some of the newer/lighter 3.5 ton lorries I've looked at have unladen weights of around 2300kg, so over 1 ton available for horse and driver. You can also get them uprated to carry more...
 
I still think a payload of 1200 kg is tight if you are going to carry two horses. Bearing in mind that you have to allow for weight of driver and fuel, even if you get a second person to carry tack, water & hay in a separate car.
 
I have a trailer as we need two cars and I don't fancy having to insure and keep on the road a third vehicle ( would have to be quite old due to prices of lorries). We often go away to weekend shows and at least with a trailer you can dump it and go off in the car if you want to go and buy some food or do something else.
 
Another thing to take into consideration is the size of horse you are carrying. In all honesty, I have a 16.3 mare who takes 7ft rugs, and is approx 650kg. She moves the entire 3.5t lorry when she gets on one and watching the lorry as I travel behind, it is not anywhere near as stable as the 510 IW trailer being towed (I now own a 510 since she developed loading issues in a 3.5t hire lorry). She never travelled comfortably in the 3.5t IMO, and I have since read reviews which make the blood curdle of bigger horses travelling in them. I also know someone who rides a horse for someone else, who has recently changed from a 510 to a 3.5t and the usually calm traveller and good loader has started developing issues with travelling and arriving in a bad state.
 
tobiano1984 said:
My horses are all around 500kg or less. Usually would only be one, but sometimes two.
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So 1000 if 2 = not going to work with a 3.5 tonner

If only 1 horse then could do it on a B only licence with either 3.5 tonner or car and trailer

Looks like you are going to need LGV C1 or B+E with B+E being the cheaper option
 
tobiano1984 said:
Some of the newer/lighter 3.5 ton lorries I've looked at have unladen weights of around 2300kg, so over 1 ton available for horse and driver. You can also get them uprated to carry more...
Click to expand...

If you get a 3.5T lorry uprated then you need to take your test to drive bigger lorries. If you take your test then you may as well get a bigger lorry, these days you get a far better lorry for your money if you can drive a larger one as there is less demand for them than there is for the 3.5T ones.
 
I've just started towing with my vans fautras trailer and mitsubishi warrior 56 plate. I thought i wanted a 3.5 lorry but im amazed how much stuff I need to take with me. My parents used to have a 7.5 tonne lorry which was brilliant. But my lovely dad kept it well serviced, took it out for a runs regularly and had it in the garage when needed. They need to be used. It depends what you are doing. Im not that brave to go far alone, hubby comes on longer distances with me. I do believe its quality rather than quantity if that makes sense. Better a really good truck and trailer fit for job than cheaper van, that's maybe not all its meant to be.
 
I have recently changed from an Ifor 510 and Discovery to a 3.5 lorry. The reason was mainly because the Landy is getting very old and costing more to run.
I am thrilled with my lorry! It's economical to run and insurance under £250 p a.

I wouldn't be that happy going near the 1.2 t payload though, I only take one 16.00hh Irish Draft plus kit and usually travel solo. My box is very airy and light, it has a high breast bar which is a solid partition so no chance of said beastie jumping over(my worry). He was a little nervous on our first trip but could hear me talking to him and now travels quite happily.

I think that you need to do your homework so that you choose what suits your own particular requirements.
 
I would say be very sure of what your horses weigh, both of mine were heavier on a weigh bridge by quite a bit than they were by weight tapes.

I hate driving the trailer, but when we were at Bramham we had a proper look at the Equitrek 3.5t boxes at Bramham, and worked out with two humans we could barely get one of our IDxTB horses in, and not even a section A with them, let alone anything else. Our 13.2 cob x Arab and our section A would have been fine. I think they're really for ponies, a sole lightweight horse perhaps, but not two. Shame, as I would love one!

The other expense to factor in is keeping it on the road, services and MOTs etc.
 
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