3.5t horsebox

[kempah]

Hi, I'm in the process of buildind /designing a 3.5t horsebox. GRP..Box van style

Would like to know peoples thoughts on breast bars and bulkheads.

If the box has a solid full height centre bulkhead (separating horse and grooms area) with tack/storage between the breast bar and bulkhead (under the horses head when travelling)would you also want a collapsible breast bar with doors (centre bulkead and main rear door) wide enough to allow your horse to exit through the rear?

I've seen this feature on some boxes and wondered if this is a genuine concern?

Also what side of the vehicle do you prefer an outside tack locker to be on? Assuming side ramp on the nearside.

Any other thoughts more than welcome.

Thankyou

Ross

 

[Under-the-radar]

My 3.5t box has full height partitions - but they are all removeable. So it means you can open either side to go into the horses area from the tack area using them as a door, or they can be fully removed in the case of emergency. The door on the back is also sufficiently wide to allow a horse out through if needs be. The partitions in front of the horse (to the tack area) also have special My van doesn't have a breast bar - just the full height partitions.

The tack area in mine is simple - to allow for the partitions to open out if necessary. I don't have an external tack locker and quite happy with that. My van is also one of the exceptions that the ramp is on the drivers side, not passengers

 

[turnbuckle]

Not sure this is useful, but if you are doing it commercially and can weld (or use modern adhesive/rivet combos) a properly thought out spaceframe puts you at the front of the field for quality, all other things being equal....

 

[kempah]

My 3.5t box has full height partitions - but they are all removeable. So it means you can open either side to go into the horses area from the tack area using them as a door, or they can be fully removed in the case of emergency. The door on the back is also sufficiently wide to allow a horse out through if needs be. The partitions in front of the horse (to the tack area) also have special My van doesn't have a breast bar - just the full height partitions.

The tack area in mine is simple - to allow for the partitions to open out if necessary. I don't have an external tack locker and quite happy with that. My van is also one of the exceptions that the ramp is on the drivers side, not passengers

thanks for your reply, you sound happy with your van what was it that you liked about the rear opening partitions design?

Not sure this is useful, but if you are doing it commercially and can weld (or use modern adhesive/rivet combos) a properly thought out spaceframe puts you at the front of the field for quality, all other things being equal....

thankyou...do you mean a frame surrounding the horse area or the construction of the full box?

 

[kempah]

the no breast bar option is interesting, I can see the logic but it's very rare on all the boxes I've looked at to find one without a breast bar

there's always some amount of rearwards force (if anything is loose in car boot, trailer floor etc it always ends up at the back of the vehicle, assuming no harsh braking!) but really you'd think a breast bar was more needed in LGVs where the horse is standing Herringbone as any extra stability is surely needed more for side to side movement (corner...roundabouts etc) rather than any front to back force