Anyone hire out their horsebox commercially?

Ravenwood

Ravenwood

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I am so fed up with the constant problems I have with transport and today even my OH could see how time consuming and stressful it is that he nearly agreed to me buying a small horse box
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If I bought a 3.5t lorry, I thought I could hire it out on a self drive basis, perhaps even deliver and collect if its not too far.

I know I can't do transport as I haven't done the Livestock Transport/Handling course.

I will have to look into the insurance costs - but I can't think of any other obstacles.

Does anyone else hire out their box commercially?

Is there a 3.5t box that takes two horses or are they all legally only able to take ponies?

It would be a second hand box, but as long as its tidy, well serviced and in good nick - would you hire one for the day if the cost was reasonable?

All thoughts, experiences and ideas very welcome
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Can't help with the hire part but can help a bit with the 'load' part.

We've been looking for a small lorry that can take 2 horses and have had real weight issues/problems. Basically most (ALL?) 3.5t lorries have a payload which restricts you to 1 horse or 2 ponies (when you take into account water, kit, people etc). However, you can buy a Vauxhall Movano (or similar) conversion with an uprated suspension which means a greater payload - google Movano Horseboxes and you will get details of people that make them. Not cheap and I don't know if a 17yold can drive them on a car licence but would be worth investigating if you can afford one.

Fortunately we are both old and crusty and we passed our driving test so many years ago that we can drive a lorry bigger than 3.5tonnes.
 
Used to hire out my lorry, and had to have hire & reward insurance which was about double normal insurance costs - didn't bother in the end because we didn't get much work (we weren't doing it full time) and it wasn't really worth it. I have done the NPTC test (or whatever its called!) was fairly easy really - might be worth doing rather than letting other people drive your lorry, who might not be as careful
 
LOL - RRshoes - I am ancient too!!!

Thanks for that, very useful
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I think I favour a 3.5t because I believe you can MOT it rather than have to get it plated and the road tax is reasonably cheap too.

Off to Google Movanos!
 
Thanks Gan1, I guess if you are going to pay double for the insurance you would have to guarantee at least the number of hires to cover that extra cost.
 
Def 3.5 tonnes is an MOT and over that is a plate - again not sure about this uprated axle/suspension thing on the Movanos. Not sure about tax or insurance implications of exceeding 3.5t - we just needed to be legal!

ps - will be very jealous if you get one! We've been out shopping this weekend and have gone for 6t job.
 
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ps - will be very jealous if you get one! We've been out shopping this weekend and have gone for 6t job.

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Lol - just looked at the prices! I think they are saying the cost of conversation doesn't actually include the actual van in the first place!!

How exciting to get a new lorry - hope you have years of fun with it
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[ QUOTE ]
Used to hire out my lorry, and had to have hire & reward insurance which was about double normal insurance costs - didn't bother in the end because we didn't get much work (we weren't doing it full time) and it wasn't really worth it. I have done the NPTC test (or whatever its called!) was fairly easy really - might be worth doing rather than letting other people drive your lorry, who might not be as careful

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You've hit the nail on the head. Is it really worth it with the extra insurance and servicing? You need to be sure of getting enough work to offset the costs. Charges are around £1 -£1.50 per mile.Others don't look after it like you do yourself therfore it's better to drive rather than letting other people.
Make it clear beforehand who is responsible for damages incurred to the lorry or horse whist transporting or it can get very messy.
 
Yes, it seemed like a good idea at first and I was trying to encourage OH to agree to it - but actually when you start digging around it would have to be done properly if done at all and it seems quite involved.

Will have to have a good think about it!
 
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