A lorry question....ramp on drivers side...

Tr0uble

Tr0uble

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Am drawing a lot of blanks in my lorry search, but I'm viewing one today that is in spec, in budget...lovely new conversion, can be finished to my spec.

The ramp is on tne drivers side...which I know is not the norm. Apart from unloading on roads in an emergency being a bit sticky, are there any other major issues with the ramp on this side?

I always travel the horse on the drivers side, would the ramp counter balance enough travel on the passenger side, or will I need to load into the outside stall?

It's not going to put me off, box is lovely, I want it, but I don't want to go loading him into the passenger side stall, then tip us up round a corner if the camber is a bit steep! But then if the weight ofnthenramp would counter that a bit it might bot be a problem....or it might be even easier just to use the driver side stall, and have the passenger side stall kitted out with hanging space (will only ever be carrying one gorse...3.5t box, large horse)
 
Corner cambers are raised from the wide outer (right bend) towards a lower tighter (left bend) which is why all the drains are on the left bend (to force the vehicle out from the edge) and none on the right bend (to keep the vehicle into the edge) so I would say that having more weight on the right is safer

As you pointed out there is a big safety concern if the horse can only be released on the offside especially into traffic in an emergency situation

Is there any way that a horse can be unloaded from the opposite side to which it is loaded?
 
Personally I would avoid.....there are plenty of conversions out there with the ramp on what I would say is the 'correct' side - why cause yourself a potential problem before you start. Also if you are carrying a large horse you might also find it tricky to manoeuvre them round into the ramp side space as there isn't much space to get a good angle for the 2nd (or in this case due to the ramp) 1st horse. Only my opinion though of course - good luck with whatever you decide x
 
The problem is, my budget is a bit of a black hole, and there really aren't that many. If I spend a couple of K less, I could get a banger that I'd lose money on...or for 4.5k more I could get any conversion I want...but I'm right in the middle and there's just nothing out there!
 
We had a transit lorry that had a driver's side ramp. The ponies all travelled in it fine (we used to go out twice a week every week without fail)

We never had a horse in it but the 14.2hh arab never had a problem coming out from the drivers side down the ramp although we were always careful with it.
 
Weigh up the chances of ever having to unload your horse on the road ? In 20+ years I've never been in that situation......
 
Tr0uble said:
The ramp is on tne drivers side...which I know is not the norm. Apart from unloading on roads in an emergency being a bit sticky, are there any other major issues with the ramp on this side?
Click to expand...

There are no issues with unboxing in an emergency-the police will always close the road! J
 
Fab, useful feedback guys!

I think it has pros and cons looking at feedback on Google....unloading into traffic is a worry...butnthen there are reports of people getting horses stuck with passenger side ramps because of motorway barriers in the way!

Horse is a good loader but DOES prefer tne leader to be on his left, so driver side ramp would make this easier...horse area is a good, big size so no worry about lacking turning space as I can offset the partition to male the driver side stall larger...horse prefers room to balance rather than using the partitions.

If all else is good, think I'll go for it!
 
The question this raises for me ,is what else didnt the builder understand. If someone has constructed / built this box in such an unusual way, what else have they done.!
 
I have a ford transit conversion and I travel my 15.3 on it I do as you said and push the middle partition back and he has more than enough room to swing him around. Unloading on a road isn't nice in any sutuation as its happened to me in a trailer. So the side ramp on a trailer is only the same as a side unloading lorry in my view
 
I've seen this box being built, and it's been done well...have seen the floor reinforcements and bulkhead....all very well built by a reputable company.

It was built with the ramp on this side by request...customer spec by a customer who then didn't have the funds after all.
 
Hi trouble yes it is and iv never had any trouble at all hd travels great on it and unloads brill. What conversion are you looking at?
 
photo_jo said:
There are no issues with unboxing in an emergency-the police will always close the road! J
Click to expand...


So if your horsebox is on fire you'll sit and wait for police?
A few years ago the rear brakes on my friends truck caught fire under the horses, right on the roundabout on jct 14 of the M1, on a bank holiday friday in the afternoon (REALLY busy!), theres no way we could have sefely unloaded into traffic so I don't think I'd risk it with a drivers side unload mainly because alot of road users lack common sense.
 
I think it's irrelevant which side the ramp is so long as you have a properly collapsing/removeable breast bar and a wide access door in the rear of the vehicle so that in an emergency you can lead the horse out of the back.

Suggestion though: practice and train the horse to use the emergency exit before you actually need to use it! ;)
 
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