anyone have experiance with 3.5 ton lorries??

[kellie1189]

HI there

About a month ago my pony went down in the trailer, luckily no harm done to him.
However i cannot get him to load into a trailer, although i dont blame him!
We loaded him in to my friends 3.5 tonn wagon which he was much more at ease with and settled straight away.
I am now looking at purchasing one of these as they will only ever be him and at 14.2hh think we will be ok on the weight side? And i am reluctant to put him back in the trailwr ans he certainly wont go in.

Does anyone have any experiance with them and could tell me what there like to drive and how stable they are?
Many thanks
kellie

 

[kerrieberry2]

well thats annoying, I just wrote a really long reply and my internet went down and I lost it!

Basically, I have driven 3 different types of 3.5 tonners in the past few months and would say out of all of them the Peugeot one was the nicest! very comfy to drive, unlike the other 2 which hurt my back as the seats were so up right!

the horses were rear facing but they loaded on the drivers side, which i found easier as it meant leading the horses on and off from their left hand side, unlike all the others which load from the other side, and it just feels awkward, esp with a horse that doesnt want to load!

it was also a lot lower to the ground than the other boxes and the ramp was the full height of the lorry, which meant that the ramp was long and less steep, so easier to get a horse onto it!

i loved this lorry and if i won the lottery this would defo be the one that I would buy! I drove it down to Walse on a horrible day in December, really windy etc and went over the massive bridge and it did blow a bit, but it was a very windy day!

now that I can compare it to a Merc that I drove the other day, I felt much safer in the Peugeot! The Merc felt a lot higher off the ground and made me feel uneasy on narrow country roads, when i had to pull over to give way, I wasn't convinced about getting moving again in that, where as I didnt have those issues with the Peugeot!

I know a lot of people don't like the peugeot because they say you have to unload into the road if you were to have an accident or break down etc, but I personally prefer that comfort wise, ease of loading wise and travelling wise!

 

[Holly Hocks]

I have a 3.5t vauxhall movano van conversion - fully steel strengthened bulkhead and well done. I've only ever taken one horse at a time in it and I was curious to know the payload. So yesterday I got my OH to fill it to the brim with fuel and take to to the public weighbridge. I left everything that I would use to take to a show in it, so everything was in it apart from horse, tack and haynet. So with driver in, full of fuel, spare wheel, bundles of rugs, buckets and other show stuff we were left with a payload of 960kg. This was actually better than I expected - I was expecting about 800kg-850kg. Beware of the ones which say you have a payload of 1200kg or more - they are usually weighed with no fuel in, no spare wheel and no driver.
Stability wise it's great, although I agree with the post above - the seats are not good on the bad back!

 

[lachlanandmarcus]

If theres only ever one pony of 14.2 in it, you should be fine with any 3.5T, it's when you add a second horse that it gets a lot iffier since most cant take 2 horses plus 2 horses people plus 2 horses equipment and remain under the weight limit.

To be sure, get anything you want to buy taken to the weighbridge (there are public ones) and see what it weighs with everything like the lady above except the horse, including the amount of fuel you would be carrying. subtract the weighbridge weight from the 3.5T and whats left will be what your pony needs to come under in terms of weight.

 

[Misog2000]

My concern with a drivers side ramp would be if you had to unload for any reason you would be getting the horses off into the road, at least with the ramp on the passenger side (think most master's / movanos are like that) you would offload onto the pavement. I also find with my master that you have to teach the 2nd horse how to maneuver themselves into place off the ramp, with a passenger side load it is the smaller horse that has to do this - if loading the other side the bigger horse goes on 2nd and might find this tricky. Just a couple of things I took into account when buying mine.

 

[sidewaysonacob]

I'd advise you to be very specific about what you need in terms of extras, as its basically a metal box so you need as many windows and roof vents as poss.

Also check storage - some of the 3.5s made for the racing industry have next to no storage built in, whereas mine was converted (on a 3yo van) to my spec so I have loads of places to stash all my gear. The leisure rider focused ones like equitreks come with loads of storage too.

You also need to decide whether you want a van conversion (e.g. it still looks like a van) or a 3.5 coachbuilt onto a van chassis (looks like a little lorry).

I've also got a little sink and hob in the back of mine which is great for staying away and the cab converts into a single bunk.

Mine is a Renault Master quickshift. Very easy to drive, feels very solid but I do love (and need) my reversing camera. My van came with an immobiliser, alarm etc and I've found that these eat away at the battery when its sat between trips so had to get an isolator fitted in the end.

 

[derynw]

we have peugeot and it loads from the passenger side like most of others. We love it and it drives really well. Have carried our own horse and other peoples and they all travel well though some are a bit wobbly at first until they get used to going backwards. Agree with comments over weight though - one horse is max for most of these especially if you have any 'living' fittings like hobs and sinks. Ours has minimum fixtures and fittings but still would not travel far with two horses.
Reversing camera brilliant and also use it as rear mirror replacement.

 

[Batgirl]

A second recommendation for the Peugot, ramp is very good, storage good on the one I have been in with a hanging cupboard for clothes, 2x saddle racks & bridle racks and space for loadsa other stuff. Easy to handle on your own, drives nicely. Twas a passenger side ramp but as someone else said I prefer it because it is not on the road side.

 

[amandaco2]

I have a coachbuilt 3.5t, vauxhall.its fab.
Am actually selling as now need 3 horse lorry