A 'Hello' & an slightly excitable request for Horsebox information

J

Joss

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Hello, not been on here for quite a while as I dont have hours of time to waste now I am not working:D:o
Anyway all is well & I have a super oblidging baby who sleeps through the mucking out & has even managed some extra long snoozes whilst I school Boris at the arena up the road. Baby monitor can fit in my pocket or balance on the gate post! Have made my first competition entry for a bit of unaff dressage & got a show jumping lesson booked so hopefully we are back in action.

However, we have come to one conclusion. Eventing (often overnight trips) with 2 horses & a baby with a trailer just is not possible soooo the big purchase of 2011 is going to be a horsebox. Have been to look at a few, so please could I have some HHO words of wisdom..................

The type of thing I am after is Non HGV, prefer stalled for 3 so it takes 2 large horses comfortably. To sleep 3 with basic but comfortable living area. So please could those of you with this kind of lorry answer a few of the following questions:

1) Whats your prefered engine; Mercedes, DAF, Ford Iveco etc
2) Overall body length & how much of this is living & how much horsespace
3) What is your unladen weight & is this full of diesel or not. The last one I looked at was 5.8 tonne, I reckon that is ok for 2 horses plus equipment. Do you agree?
4) Any other top tips?

Muchly thanks x:)
 
I have a T reg (so not restricted and doesn't need extra mirrors) PRB built lorry, on a Iveco chassis.

had it 3 years now, great build quality, living sleeps 3/4, hob, fridge and microwave/grill (runs off genny) Wet room/toilet.

Tack locker under sink/hob so more room in horse area.

It's 2 horse/3 pony, i have it stalled for 2 but room for another partition for a pony/storage.

The bulkhead between the horses/living is at an angle, the horses are herringboned slightly backwards and travel well. Can't remember actual measurements but it's a bit shorter than most 7.5t but not as short as the 2 horse Ascot ones.

It's very light and airy. PRB are know for their good quality lightweight builds. I would def buy another one.

Are you down this way at Xmas, you are welcome to come and look at it.
 
having had my very nice Iveco rescued a few months ago, it's still at the garage after they managed to blow up the engine, I wouldn't touch one with a bargepole now, especially as the man driving the rescue truck said they're THE most unreliable lorries, he sees them broken down day in, day out. he swears by MAN lorries and that's what i'd get if i had the chance again. gutted & livid that mine, an 04 lorry, really well cared for, has blown up past repair.
 
We lost a lot of money (well, a good few thousand pounds) when we bought a lorry. It lasted just under twelve months :(

Whatever you do, get the last three or four MOTs sheets, including the advisories; and no matter what age it is, take an experienced mechanic!

Everything that could rust rusted and everything that could leak leaked.

Gutted. Loved that lorry.
 
Hey Joss!
IMO you can't beat a Merc, they are so reliable. Would not touch an Iveco with a barge pole, cheap and nasty and unreliable.
Man also good and Scania but they are only HGV.
 
I have an Iveco - unfortunately if it wasnt for the fact that we have spent nearly £8,000 on repairs on it (and had it resprayed and kitted out a bit more to our spec) I would have sold it ages ago. It permenantly seems to have something wrong with it and has spent more time in the garage than on the yard.....Its now going in again tomorrow as not enough power is getting to the engine, we have already spent £4,000 on repairs on it this year alone. We were also told at the plating this year that it will need £2,000 worth of work doing next plating due to some rust on the engine back plate (its only an R reg).
 
1) Whats your prefered engine; Mercedes, DAF, Ford Iveco etc

DAF - cheap parts reliable and the most girlie to drive. MAN would be second choice, but found clutch really heavy

2) Overall body length & how much of this is living & how much horsespace
More important to look where the horses are - if partitioning for 3 you want the middle horse over the rear axel

3) What is your unladen weight & is this full of diesel or not. The last one I looked at was 5.8 tonne, I reckon that is ok for 2 horses plus equipment. Do you agree?
Mine is 5.8 with full diesel and water tanks, and it has full living and hefty rubber parts. I was disappointed with the weight as cannot take 3 biggies. However for 2 and kit its perfect

4) Any other top tips?
Buy a tilt cab
 
I've had a Merc, Daf and Man and much prefer the MAN - it's like driving a big car. With the Merc you knew you were driving a truck and gears were a bit tricky.

I only bought the MAN this year and was pleasantly surprised when the garage told me the cost of getting it through it's plaiting and a full service was less than £400 :)

The MAN is only 5.8t unladen and it is fully kitted out in the living area and has a loo (which may be of use if you've got small kiddies). Tack locker into the living is a bonus as my chap has stood on a rear tack locker before and gives you room to tack up onboard. It's about 24' in total length and this gives me a decent amount of living and horse space - is stalled for 3 but only use the back area for storage of haylage etc if away overnight. My previous truck was only a 2 stall and it just didn't have the space for hay/shavings if going away with two overnight.
 
If you're looking under 7.5T for me it's another vote for a MAN, reliable and nice to drive, lighterweight and my mechanic seconds that they're mechanically sound
Have driven a Merc 814 which I found to really economical on fuel but a bit gutless and heavy up hills, not sure what the new ones are like though, but mechanically they're a reliable engine
Leyland Daf's are ok too, but it would be 3rd choice
Personally wouldn't touch a Renault or an old Ford Cargo

we found most body lengths tend to be about the 20/22ft for 7.5t

Depends on the size of your horse(s) but when we were looking there seemed to be a lot of v low ceilings and not very wide horse areas, so def make sure you get the measurements, we ended up with HGV, just because we couldn't find something that would fit 3 in legally and also comfortably. A lot were stalled for 3 but it would have been a really tight squeeze to get 3 horses in!!!!!!

Top tips are check the floor, crawl under the wagon and poke if necessary!
If you're going to use the living, get seller to show you how everything works and that it's all connected!!!!!!
Make sure all lockers, including belly lockers open and have keys!
If you can, take a mechanic with you and as Mrs Mozart says, look at all test certificates and advisories
Weigh it

Happy hunting :)
 
Our Merc has been THE most reliable vehicle (including cars) weve ever had! Its old, but still going strong and never lets us down :) now unfortunatley trying to sell it as only have 1 horse and its just too big!
Unladen its 5.2 tonnes and you wouldnt want any more than 2 horses in there tbh, but saying that we keep alot of our 'stuff' in the lorry, so could possibly take 3.
 
I also have a merc - M reg. So far so good - had it a year and done several long journeys and tens if not hundreds of shorter ones without a single blip. Its not the easiest to drive - used a friend's DAF and that was definately more 'car-like' to drive - but once you get used to the merc its fine. Its not the quickest up hills but cruises at 60 on the motorway, will do 65+ without anything on board.
Ours has a big horse area and small basic living - sink, hob, luton with a mattress and bench seats. Major plus is the space for three big horses and weight wise its only 5.2t.
Only thing I would change is maybe tart up the living and would like a cut through cab but prefer a tilt cab!
 
If you are looking at older vehicles I wouldn't totally write of Ford Cargos. I have a G reg one which I have owned for about 15years. The last three MOTs it has sailed through. Parts were quite tricky until recently but now they are fairly easy to come by..

It is sadly getting a bit long in the tooth but I have been looking to replace it for a couple of months and am still sticking with mine..because its in far better condition.

The number of boxes I have looked at that leak - a big NO NO!! - and have a poor level of construction, or an engine problem that even a non expert can spot! .... price is also NO indicator of quality or condition!
 
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