3.5t or 7.5t

I don't know about the big horse issue, my horse is only just a horse, but I much prefer the van. I used to love driving the Dafs but everything takes so much longer. Opening, loading, getting there and getting the kit and horse off is miles swifter with the van. It doesn't need the plating and the sometimes expensive repairs. Little van + little horse = easy life. :cool:

ETA just seen the budget. No chance of getting a 3.5t with a fully converted body for that price, they're super expensive, even if they're old. I sold my x-reg Daf for £4,000 about 3 years ago when it was still a belting, reliable vehicle, that was by no means a rust bucket. If that's all you've got to spend, go with the 7.5t.
 
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Don't trust weight certificates, sellers have been known to remove partitions, floomats, spare wheel, even passenger seats and weigh it with just a gallon of diesel in it. If you find a 3.5/4.5 have them take it with you there to a weighbridge, there are loads of them easily found on Google, it doesn't have to be a council/government one, lots of scrap yards and haulage companies etc. have them and will allow you on for a small payment.
 
My 17.2hh fitted in my LWB stallion stall no problems at all but I’ve since upgraded to a 6.5t and absolutely love it, he also travels better in it. If I were you I’d go with a solid built 7.5t if you don’t want to consider 6.5t
 
Flame_ said:
I don't know about the big horse issue, my horse is only just a horse, but I much prefer the van. I used to love driving the Dafs but everything takes so much longer. Opening, loading, getting there and getting the kit and horse off is miles swifter with the van. It doesn't need the plating and the sometimes expensive repairs. Little van + little horse = easy life. :cool:

ETA just seen the budget. No chance of getting a 3.5t with a fully converted body for that price, they're super expensive, even if they're old. I sold my x-reg Daf for £4,000 about 3 years ago when it was still a belting, reliable vehicle, that was by no means a rust bucket. If that's all you've got to spend, go with the 7.5t.
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Its not all ive got but its all id prefer to spend. We are no world beaters. Just happy hackers 🤣
 
For me a 3.5 does the job with a 17.2 horse (quite finely built so probably 650kg, which is also what a weight tape says). Space wise he has plenty of length and head height and in every way it’s easier than a 7.5 - to park, drive and maintain. That said I don’t think you’ll get a good one for 8k. Mine was 19k, it would probably be worth at least 15 now, and is very well built with solid big partitions - payload approx 1100 kg. There’s a nice 6.5 on horsequest for about £9k which I’ve been rather desiring so that I can take two…

www.horsequest.co.uk

2002 6.5T Renault

2 stall forward facing horse area with 6ft 10 bum to breast bar and 7ft 7 headroom, side ramp, over 2 tonnes of payload (certified) living area to sleep 2 with hob, grill, seating, cut through, digital tv, 6 speed manual Renault with 114,265 Km, battery isolator, large saddle locker, mot to Mar...
www.horsequest.co.uk www.horsequest.co.uk
 
Abacus said:
For me a 3.5 does the job with a 17.2 horse (quite finely built so probably 650kg, which is also what a weight tape says). Space wise he has plenty of length and head height and in every way it’s easier than a 7.5 - to park, drive and maintain. That said I don’t think you’ll get a good one for 8k. Mine was 19k, it would probably be worth at least 15 now, and is very well built with solid big partitions - payload approx 1100 kg. There’s a nice 6.5 on horsequest for about £9k which I’ve been rather desiring so that I can take two…

www.horsequest.co.uk

2002 6.5T Renault

2 stall forward facing horse area with 6ft 10 bum to breast bar and 7ft 7 headroom, side ramp, over 2 tonnes of payload (certified) living area to sleep 2 with hob, grill, seating, cut through, digital tv, 6 speed manual Renault with 114,265 Km, battery isolator, large saddle locker, mot to Mar...
www.horsequest.co.uk www.horsequest.co.uk
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I absolutely dont mind upping the budget for the right one in good condition, that one looks super
 
Barton Bounty said:
I absolutely dont mind upping the budget for the right one in good condition, that one looks super
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i paid 8.5k for my 3.5t, plus about 1.5k for it service and a new ramp, so 10k all in! they’re definitely out there on a smaller budget, i was “lucky” that the lady selling me just wanted it gone, as they’d lost the child’s pony and the children had lost interest so weren’t getting another.

* using the term “lucky” loosely as obviously it’s horrible for them!
 
I don't want to sound overly negative, but with his size and weight I would go for an uprated lorry - something like a 4.5t/4.9t and take it to get a weighbridge cert before you buy.

I don't think you get enough payload on a 3.5t for a big horse, not with the weight of fuel, passengers, water etc - most 3.5s are 1000kg max payload (and loads are less) so you could be right on the line.

I also don't believe weightapes - I've never seen one accurate to a weighbridge and even 10% out makes a significant difference. I'd get Orbi on one if only he once to be sure.

I wish you'd been looking a few months earlier - my friend was selling hers and it would have fit your budget and been a solid safe lorry.
 
Surbie said:
I don't want to sound overly negative, but with his size and weight I would go for an uprated lorry - something like a 4.5t/4.9t and take it to get a weighbridge cert before you buy.

I don't think you get enough payload on a 3.5t for a big horse, not with the weight of fuel, passengers, water etc - most 3.5s are 1000kg max payload (and loads are less) so you could be right on the line.

I also don't believe weightapes - I've never seen one accurate to a weighbridge and even 10% out makes a significant difference. I'd get Orbi on one if only he once to be sure.

I wish you'd been looking a few months earlier - my friend was selling hers and it would have fit your budget and been a solid safe lorry.
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Dammit, its always the way, 🤣
 
I have a 7.5t and feel safer than I did in a friend's 3.5t (she swapped back to a 7.5t for that reason). Plus it's nice to be able to fit in a friend.

However we have a couple of CAZ (Clean Air Zones) en route to some of rides I like to do so I have to be even more careful planning routes. I got caught in one the first time I'd driven that route since the CAZ was introduced. I saw the CAZ sign as I was entering it, but didn't know any other route, and tbh didn't know what the consequence of entering it would be. Turns out it's a massive fine. Expensive trip that one.
 
Hackback said:
I have a 7.5t and feel safer than I did in a friend's 3.5t (she swapped back to a 7.5t for that reason). Plus it's nice to be able to fit in a friend.

However we have a couple of CAZ (Clean Air Zones) en route to some of rides I like to do so I have to be even more careful planning routes. I got caught in one the first time I'd driven that route since the CAZ was introduced. I saw the CAZ sign as I was entering it, but didn't know any other route, and tbh didn't know what the consequence of entering it would be. Turns out it's a massive fine. Expensive trip that one.
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Aww gosh thats annoying!!!

I dont have any round here, thankfully
 
I think 680kg is probably a bit high, as Dex is built much stockier than Orbi and he is 644kg on a weighbridge, so you may have slightly more wiggle room than you think.

You could probably get more 3.5t for your money if you are willing to drive into the @rse end of Scotland to do it and most other people wouldn't, it sounds like it would be more convenient for you. He would probably travel better in a 7.5t as they're just that bit bigger but if you're not doing loads of long trips then it's not the end of the world. Plus with lorries being so much more expensive to repair, I'd not want it sat doing nothing for a load of time as they don't like that, neither do 3.5t but if it does it will cost you less to repair it, and it will be easier to take it to tesco and back to give it a run if you're not using it.
 
AShetlandBitMeOnce said:
I think 680kg is probably a bit high, as Dex is built much stockier than Orbi and he is 644kg on a weighbridge, so you may have slightly more wiggle room than you think.

You could probably get more 3.5t for your money if you are willing to drive into the @rse end of Scotland to do it and most other people wouldn't, it sounds like it would be more convenient for you. He would probably travel better in a 7.5t as they're just that bit bigger but if you're not doing loads of long trips then it's not the end of the world. Plus with lorries being so much more expensive to repair, I'd not want it sat doing nothing for a load of time as they don't like that, neither do 3.5t but if it does it will cost you less to repair it, and it will be easier to take it to tesco and back to give it a run if you're not using it.
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Yeah, Ive no problem travelling for It 🙂 I cant wait to take Orbi to a weighbridge to see what he weighs. He is very deceiving with 8.5/9 bone. So would be interesting.

7.5 would be wasted on me I think just for a fortnightly or so usage.

Maybe I will just suck it up and tow the trailer 🤣
 
Hire a coach built 3:5 with a payload of 1100 ish. See how he goes in it. Then hire a 7:5 , or see if a mate got one to go for a ride in. I had a BOSS coach built LVB. Renault master chassis, I loved it. And when I sold it , they had gone up so much in the 8 years since I bought it, I very near made a profit on its re sale. 😂 I did test a few 7:5, as I am old too, and could drive them but with my arthritis knees It felt like climbing a mountain to get in. And worse to get out. So I got a BOSS coach built
 
I’d go for a 7.5 tonne for a horse as big as yours. As others have said hire a 3.5 tonne first and see if he actually likes it as you will have your answer anyway - some don’t like travelling backwards, mine included and he is only 15 hands but he refuses to go in a 3.5 tonne but travels like a dream on a 7.5 tonne.
 
I don't think I've seen anyone mention this but you need to be really wary of internal dimensions of 7.5t. My horse is a touch over 17.2 and I have a friend with a similar size one and we both struggled with finding 7.5t lorries that actually give them enough length. The 3.5t lorries tend to have more length for them. My friend got round it by giving her horse a diagonal partition space to give him more room but it limited her travelling with others. Also, a lot of the older 7.5t lorries also have payloads under 1t because they're big heavy units!
 
LouisCat said:
I don't think I've seen anyone mention this but you need to be really wary of internal dimensions of 7.5t. My horse is a touch over 17.2 and I have a friend with a similar size one and we both struggled with finding 7.5t lorries that actually give them enough length. The 3.5t lorries tend to have more length for them. My friend got round it by giving her horse a diagonal partition space to give him more room but it limited her travelling with others. Also, a lot of the older 7.5t lorries also have payloads under 1t because they're big heavy units!
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Ohh thank you! I think it will be 3.5 or stick with my trailer 🤣
 
When I was looking for one I saw a smashing little 3.5 ton box. It was so smart, really well done up and would have been perfect...except that the payload was 700kg! That's a small horse, a driver and a full tank of fuel, if you're lucky, so I second the advice to get anything you look at on a weighbridge.

I got a 7.5 ton lorry in the end. It was perfect, the payload on that was 3 tons. But even that wouldn't have suited your horse, the headroom was 7 foot so not much use for a big horse.
 
Barton Bounty said:
Realistically I would prefer a lorry for Orbi, just to get us out and about. I get the fear that someone will block us in with the trailer if I go to the beach etc..

Orbi being 17.2/3, how comfortable will he be in a 3.5t? I know I definitely wont get a friend in with him.

It will need to be the coachbuilt type not the van type.

Or 7.5t ? Just lorry size difference really? I know he will fit in that easier.

Does anyone have any experience of similar?
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personally I prefer 7.5 which is what i have to transport one horse and a friend if needs. I like room around me to move and storage.

On the beach we park in the middle of 4 spaces, even though car par pretty empty, I paid for for so not blocked in. Also on windy days I find them sturdy on the road, and I prefer traveling horses herringbone.
 
With the budget you have, I'd do a 7.5 tonne, but expect to spend around £1,500 a year to keep it on the road. That plus diesel cost will be high.

Mine is 4T, uprated from 3.5. I had it designed as a 1 horse with a huge partition, the other side being a toilet and a huge tack locker, like you get in a big horsebox. It is ace, but, even though I've had it 11 years, I would expect 30K back on it.

The upsides are that diesel is not needed half as often, the drive is easier (especially as it is automatic), it is more comfortable, it takes half as long to get ready and clean at the end of the day, no lifting bags/saddles up high, much lower yearly costs.

I have travelled a huge 17.1 half shire in it with ease. Loads of space, loads of pulling power and the brakes still worked (helped by engine braking through the auto box).
 
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