3.5t vs trailer

[teach]

Currently have a Nissan Navara and IW 511, but am missing having somewhere to sit/do stuff when we are out and about. Weights not an issue, as only travel one at a time.
Unsure as to whether to get a 3.5tn or not..given you don’t have any sleeping/cooking area, are they really worth it? Don’t want to get an older 7.5tn, as don’t really want to be walking into big mechanic bills!
The ones I have been looking at are around 100k/58 plate, how many miles does a vehicle of this type typically do before the engine starts to give up?

 

[HeyMich]

I've just bought an Equitrek trailer and it has a tack room/living area! It's a really lovely trailer, well balanced and tows nicely. The larger models have even bigger living space, with bunk beds, cookers etc. Cheaper than a 3.5t. Worth a look?

 

[teach]

If I’m going to spend any money, it won’t be on another trailer I’m afraid..I support another reason is that I hate towing!

 

[PetalPower]

I love my 3.5t - easy to manoeuvre and lots of space carrying only one horse. Sold the Discovery and bought a little runaround for work, so much more economical. Would not go back to trailer or 7.5 ton and it's whopping bills!

 

[claracanter]

I'm interested in this thread as I currently have a 511 that I tow with a Discovery. Husband and I keep weighing up the advantages/ disadvantages of switching me into a 3.5t. I would only be carrying one horse but he is 16.3 and a bit of living would be nice.

HeyMich - Is the Equitrek easy to park being that much bigger than a 511?

 

[Northern Hare]

I had a wonderful 3.5t lorry - only carried one horse in it. It was a new container on a used chassis. It was fantastic, BUT only when it was used regularly - i.e. once a week. As soon as I stopped using it so much it started to let me down - not starting, bits seizing etc - so it started to need a lot more attention at the garage - and all the associated extra costs. So I bought a trailer and sold the lorry - which was definitely the right choice at the time.

If I ever got back into a situation of being out and about competing regularly then I'd love another 3.5t lorry, but next time when I was looking to buy, I would pay just as much attention to the state / age of the chassis and engine than I did to the horse living - and if possible I'd buy one with a new or nearly new chassis. from my experience, it's very easy to get side-tracked and focus only on getting the horsey-bit right!

Btw, I didn't totally ignore the chassis and engine and paid for an engineer to do a full check at the horsebox manufacturer but when I went to collect the lorry I noticed that it was a different reg no and they'd forgotten to tell me that after the inspection that they'd found a problem with the chassis and had swapped it for a newer one - so I'd paid for an engineer to check the wrong chassis. By that point it had been sprayed etc so I couldn't very well reject it but in hindsight I maybe should have done....lesson learnt!

 

[HeyMich]

HeyMich - Is the Equitrek easy to park being that much bigger than a 511?

Hi claracanter - yes, I'm finding it really nice to tow, maneuver and park. I've only had it a wee while though, so I'm sure I'll find my limits soon!

 

[supsup]

I love the ease of my 3.5t van conversion (and have camped in it quite a few times - camp bed in horse area, camping stove in the back for cup of tea), but I think you'd be mistaken to assume that a 3.5t horsebox is necessarily going to be less of a potential money pit than a 7.5t, even after taking the greatest of precautions when purchasing it (unless you can afford a conversion on a new chassis).
You are always taking a punt on the vehicle, and things can break. More so the less you use the box regularly, and if you can't store it out of the weather/on a dry surface.
I've spent right around £1000 every single year on unexpected repairs on my box since I've owned it. Mine is high mileage, was bought used from a good and trusted friend (full history and disclosure). A friend of mine bought a low mileage chassis (inspected) and had the conversion done herself, only to have to buy a replacement engine within a year.

I guess what I'm trying to get at is that any horsebox is a gamble, and if you want more predictability of cost/lower risk of expenditure, I don't think you can beat a trailer for that.

I think the one area where you can't beat the 3.5t is the convenience of being able to leave everything essential loaded it. If you can keep it at the yard, all you need to do is load the horse and tack and go, and to me that was a real advantage for a couple of years when I drove to regular lessons in the evening after work. It was a tight squeeze time-wise anyway, and not having to hitch up etc. was really convenient.