3.5t boxes, in need of some knowledge

alsxx

alsxx

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I'm looking for some pointers re buying a 3.5t box. My nan has very sadly passed away, and I always said I would buy myself a little box with the money I am left, something I can really enjoy using month after month, year after year, and will always remind me of her everytime I go out and about.

Realistically the budget is going to be circa £6k (to be confirmed though, may be a bit more, however I do have some debt that needs to be paid off and a wedding to pay for so I can't go crazy and spend £15k on a lorry!!). I just want a nice little box to get myself about in, I want something thats a good runner and safe, over looks. I will mainly just be transporting one, a 15.3tb (weight circa 540kgs), but if transporting two the other one is a 14.2 mare, weight 450kgs) to give an idea of the payload needed.

I have hired a renault master, and although it was an older model with no power steering, I really enjoyed driving it and horse travelled very well in it. There doesn't seem to be much advertised at the moment (although I wont be looking to get one for a good few months yet), what sort of boxes can you get for my budget? Are there any good dealers/dealers to avoided? Any pointers would be gratefully received. Thanks guys
 
I HATE COMputers! Just typed a really long reply to u and the b***Y computer just wiped it. See my reply to a thread by user called "the carthorse" a couple of days ago-monday. I had a budget similar to yours, but found I really needed to increase it in order to buy a more reliable box- the ones I looked at in the 6k range all needed alot of work doing to them,and would cost me maybe 2k to keep roadworthy.
What I have learned along the way is that go for the most you can afford- I got a bank loan to increase my budget as my non horse loving husband refused to help.
Also, try and get an engine of 2.5 as mine is 2.2 and although it is fine with just my horse in it, I do feel it would struggle if I ever needed to carry 2.
The payload on most of these small boxes is about 1100kg- mine has a payload of just 900kg. Fine for me with one horse, but not if you needed to travel two,and factor in tack and passengers etc. I could ahve paid another £350 to uprate it, and then the payload would have been 1200kg, but I didn;t need to as just carry the one horse.
I used to hire a similar box,and my horse travelled fine in that, so hopefully yours will also be ok.

I started with a budget similar to yours, but with the loan increased it to nearer 10k, and had my box coachbuilt brand new, by Chris Williams in Wales.
Also, negociate prices, especially if you plump for having one built. I didn;t need metallic paint, it added almsot £1500 to the bill so wasn't neccessary.
I also didn;t need external tack lockers, or an extended length to the box, all of which added to the cost, so I cut back to the bare essentials, and had a very good deal!! If you would like to see a pic, pm me and I can text u one.
 
I'm reluctant to up the budget too much, obviously I dont know how much I will have yet but from what my dad has said, by the time I have paid off my credit card debt and put some money away for the wedding I am left with about 6/7k. Its hard to say at the moment, but i just want to get some ideas really.

How much did your coachbuild end up costing in the end? Things like paintwork are defiantely not an essential for me, as I said safe and sound over looks any day!
 
Mine came to £9800 with everything, but I also had to tax it on top as it didn't have any.
The insurance fully comp with breakdown cover was £320, but I also had to up the value of the box, as the builder has put his prices up now. it's an 05 plate citroen relay, so barely 4 years old, and i didn;t imagine in my wildest dreams I could afford one that new.
i did consider buying from this site;http://www.freewebs.com/traveltwo/currentstock.htm.
the owner was very helpful, but in the end I got a better deal going straight to a manufacturer.I had to shop around alot, and you could find someone would build it cheaper on an older chassis. if you know a mechanic, he could pick one up from auction maybe, that'd be in good condition.That I considered, but Chris said he wanted to get the chassis himself as it was his name going on the build.
 
Mine cost me a shade over £10,000, 04 reg Renault Master. It has a genuine payload of 1.25t (got the weighbridge cert) but I reckon you'd still be pushing it with the two in weight wise when you factor in tack, water, you, etc.

When I was looking to buy we looked at a box that they wanted £6,000 for, old type Renault Master. It was, to be perfectly honest, a rust bucket, annoying when we'd driven 3 1/2 hours to see a 'tidy little box'. It needed at LEAST £1,000 worth of work before it would get through it's MOT which was due fairly quickly. We upped our budget a considerable amount and bought the one we had (which cost more than we'd planned on spending once we'd upped the budget!) but haven't had to spend a fortune on it.

Whatever you do, get a professional conversion, not a DIY jobby, and make sure the bulkhead between you and the horse has been reinforced. My insurance wanted to know if it was a professional conversion or not.
 
Spottyappy thank you for that link, I think I might contact them.....they are considerably cheaper than where I was looking at getting one from
 
I had a look at 3counties and it looks like they do part conversions from 5k, will enquire as to what exactly a part conversion is!

If I were to look at any I would take someone with me who knows what they are looking at. I'm sure not all that are for sale for around 7k are completely useless...sadly I really don't think I will have 10k to spend on a lorry, I could do, but then I would still have my credit card debt (which is down to vets fees) and thus wouldn't be able to afford to use the blinking thing!!
 
Hi,
Have you tried 'traveltwo' in south wales? They specialise in the older Renault Masters and I sold my old lorry through them. They even do a home approval service wherby they bring the lorry to you to try. The lorry I sold to them made £6000,(I paid £6500 for it 2 yrs previously), and was a Mark 1 coach built L reg, and although no power steering or mod cons, it was a super reliable box.
I now have a Mark 2 y reg renault master van conversion which I paid £8,500 for and also love that. Slightly more sophisticated than the older model, with a turbo diesel engine which powers up our Shropshire hills. It can take 1200kg which comfortably carries my 2 14.2 cobs plus tack. However I doubt you would find a Mark 2 renault for £6000, as most of them retail between £9 and £12k.
Before I had the Renaults, I had a Ford transit with Ifor Williams conversion which was also very easy to drive. You may find you can get quite a decent one of those for around your budget but couldn't advise you on the payload. The only criticism I would have of the transits is that they rust easily and the ramps are quite high. You often see these on ebay.
Hope that helps
 
I have an old GC Smith Coachbuilt 2 forward facing on a VW LT35. Super condition, really well built solid lorry with a 1t payload, great runner, flies though its MOT with just a service every year and was purchased for 4k 2.5 years ago and yes it is old, it is an E reg. My mechanic loves it and says it is a super little box that will go on and on. It is not fast or fancy but it gets us around and about and works at least once a week sometimes more.
There are good cheaper lorries out there but it took me 4 months to find this one so be prepared to wait for the right one.
 
I've had a look on the travel two website and will certainly give them a try when I am ready to buy. Its also nice to hear that some people have managed to get something decent for my budget! I think it will definately be a case of hunting around for a while until the right one comes along.
 
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