BEST HORSEBOX FOR MONEY!!

FREESTYLER

FREESTYLER

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So, carrying on from my trailer/hire/etc....!!!!!!!

What is the best engine/box for your money on a budget of about £5,000 - £8,000. Reliability, does not have to be "Posh" but has to house a 17.2 comftably, small bit of living if possible and access to get from cab to horse. LOW MAINTENANCE a must!!!! sorry to keep on asking questions!!
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Just trying to keep all my options open !
 
theres no such thing as low maintenance with a lorry........Servicing/plating isnt cheap. Our recent service cost over 3k as we had to have new break calipers. Theres always something that needs doing on our lorry, and its got quite a low mileage and is an R reg. I think probably last year alone we paid out over 6k on the lorry in repairs. Hopefully tho we wont need to do anything to it for a while now!!
 
I guess for reliability/parts you are looking at either Leyland Daf or Ford Cargos, the Mercs etc tend to be more expensive I believe. Mine is a Leylend and has been a good chassis on the whole, think it cost me £360 to get through the MOT last time and £50 to repair a diesel leak. Now I have an isolator fitted ( a must!) it always starts. Does that help at all?
 
Agree with above post- the Plating etc is definately not cheap!!- we have an Iveco Eurocargo and (touch wood!!) it's always been really reliable and my horses travel really well in it.

I have a large horse too, who is a big 17.2- my advice would be to measure the height and width of the inside of the lorry- esp if its Herringbone as the amount of room varies greatly from lorry to lorry! I look at some really posh lorries at shows sometimes and think to myself, nice lorry but theres no way my horse would fit in there!!...

Good luck though!
 
Ive got an Iveco R Reg, it was spaced for 4horses when we got it, but we put rug storage in the back so now its partitioned for 2. We can only take 2 and be within the weight limit anyways. The reason it cost so much was that everything seemed to go at once last year!! It should al be sorted now tho. But things do go on them, and they really arnt cheap!

Have you thought about a trailer?
 
Mine is a very old bedford TL - it is fantastically reliable so far (had it since September) even in cold weather.

The lorry was really really well looked after though - so I think that makes a big difference. I got it looked over by a mechanic before I bought it and he said it was in fantastic condition.
 
I must admit I can't remember exactly off of the top of my head but i will check it out tonight and let you know!- I know that our Lorry has more headroom than average- One of my horses is I.D X Clydesdale x TB so it has to be a big lorry for him!!

I think its at least 8ft high inside and at least 8ft6 wide- I will measre the horse area tonight though and let you know!
 
I have thought about a trailer, and hubby quite likes the idea (worries about the upkeep of a box!!) but I am scared!! I am going to hire one out for the day in a couple of weeks, to see if he gets in one and also just have a little drive to see how he settles, if he did then I would get a trailer definately!!

Widget, you were lucky then!! Was it a private sale?
 
Widget is that the one you bought from someone at our yard? Is it green with a green stripe? If so it always was reliable.
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I used to have to religiously start mine throughout the winter to keep it running and Linda used to just go and start her when she needed it and it always started.
 
Low maintenance is pot luck on the lorry you get really. I wouldn't say that one particular make is any better than another in that regard and everyone will have different ideas about the best make to get.

I've got a Mercedes 814 which is brilliant. The mechanic that works on my lorry for me said how good they were plus all the wagons where my OH works are Mercs and the mechanic there said to get one if we could.

I've had a Cargo in the past. Again that was very good and we had no trouble with it but the older ones do rot.

Be sure to take someone that knows where to check for rot in each particular make when you go out looking!

And remember that the dimensions will vary from lorry to lorry. I wouldn't put a 17.2 in my lorry but that's not to say other Merc 814s wouldn't have larger bodies on them.
 
How about a 3.5t box? You can get them quite tall to take a 17hh horse, and the upkeep is a fair bit cheaper than a big lorry. I'm sure you could get a decent second hand one for £8k. I paid less than that for mine, and it has been fantastic.
 
I have a leyland daf, it is 8ft high and 8ft wide and will fit 3 big ones easily. It has a small living which we fitted out ourselves. I only travel two and use the other partition area to carry tack and water etc.
I was dreading having it plated after everyone on here said it would cost at least £1000.
I had a new kingpin on mine which my husband changed and it needed a new light cover which was £18, the kingpin was £49. The cost of that and the plating was only just over £100 so you can imagine my relief!
I think it depends whether you know someone who can do the work on it. I am lucky having a useful OH and he has friends in the business if he gets stuck.
 
Yep, Cargos are good, i'm on my second one, and it's very reliable, but i agree with Tempi about the costs. annual service/plating is always 4 figures on mine, sometimes £2k plus (e.g. when it needed new power steering fluid pump etc)
it is a case of striking lucky too. Miller's got an old Bedford that apparently costs nothing to keep going, lucky thing.
mine's partitioned for 3, but i partition it for 2 when i travel my big lad (who is a proper 18h+) and he's fine as long as he gets enough angle for his length. some have lower headroom, that's worth checking too.
 
My ancient, ugly and boringly reliable 30 year old Leyland cost me just over a grand to buy two and a half years ago and so far has not cost me that to plate each year. She is out every week though, and sometimes three or four times a week.

I'd say go for soundness over looks everytime - which means you need to have someone check it over for you. I bought mine on gut feel and luck though and she is, apparently, sounder than many lorries less than half her age.
 
If I were you I would think about an Equi-trek if you have that amount to spend. My friend has the large Show-Treka and a 17.2 warmblood type and he has bags of room in there. Also then you get a little area to keep your bits and bobs and get changed etc.
All without the worry of will it/ won't it start!!
 
Leylands are fantastically reliable. 3.5tons are cheaper to run etc, but finding them for good money is near on impossible
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Am on the look out for bigger one as goddy is outgrowing mine.
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I'm 'stuck' with a trailer. Would have loved a wagon but husband has banned me on the basis that it would bankrupt me. The trailer cost me £300 to buy, though I already had a vehicle that would tow it, and about £400 since in bits and bobs. I have learned to love the trailer although changing in it in winter can be a bit nippy! There's also a certain satisfaction to be gained from pulling up besides a huge brand new HGV and competing against them on (nearly) level terms. The only disadvantage is that some events treat you as second class citizens and have a separate area for trailer parking. Oh, the plus is that if you have a good vehicle you hardly ever need towing out of anywhere which saves queuing and te odd fiver for the tractor man!
 
Have to say i was so naive when i bought my first lorry. I had it apparently "checked" by a mechanic before hand - it ended up costing me over 2k in the first 3 weeks (it passed its plating the day beofre i bought it!) The plating is no guarantee of anything really other than it goes and stops (doesn't necessarily start though
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!!!)

I have wised up considerably - I now drive it 150 miles each way to take it to a reliable coachbuilder/mechanic as the difference in price to the local ones here that have ripped me off and put me in dangerous situations more than compensates the diesel money! And thats the main dealers!

Your price range is unlikely to give you anything remotely "pretty" and probably quite old too. What i would say is buy something you know has been well and regularly used both me and my friend ended up with lorries that didn't move for months at a time but didn't know til it was too late....!

Remember to get anyhting you buy weighed - it should be on the plating sheet - mind you mine is 1500kgs difference between 2 paltings - someones bridge was out - funnily enough I am going with the lower one as there was nothing at all in it either time!

Finally for a big horse get at LEAST 130 bhp - otherwise you will curse up every vague incline!!

Oh yes - take out a recovery/breakdown policy - can highly recomend these guys - they have been brilliant throughout my teething troubles and means you are never stuck anywhere without help - its worth paying for the home start so you can always get help!!http://www.equestriansupport.co.uk/

I wish someone had told me all this beofre i got mine!!
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Cargo's are good, but look out for corrosion underneath. I had a great E reg one, but it needed welding every year
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My daf was a great chassis, crap box on it though so had to sell it
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My new one is a cargo, drives like a space hopper and not as fast as my old Daf or BB's.....but she said she liked driving mine, so cant be too bad!

On the whole i prefer DAF's to Cargos.

Best advice is to look at loads and get a mechanic to check it over before you buy.

I used Essex Horsebox Inspections for my new one and not had any prob. Apart from when i ran out of diesel
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http://www.essexvehicleinspections.co.uk/

They charge about £200 on average, but really is money well spent.
 
my cargo was rubbish!!

ive had my L reg MAN 8153 for 6yrs now.
i had an isolator put on within weeks and it has NEVER broken down / not started ect.

we have a few lorries down our yard 3 are MAN the others bedford and cargos. in the 2 yrs ive been there the MANs have never had any probs - the others have!!
 
Horseboxes - we've had Bedfords, Mercs and 2 Leylands - can be reliable for ages and then suddenly you wonder where £3,000 has gone, as we've done this year. Agree that you need to carefully measure the interior - our present coachbuilt lorry partitions move to vary the width of the space for each horse but they won't go on an increased angle and we'd never get a 17.2hh in...
 
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Apart from when i ran out of diesel
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You ran out of diesel?!
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*shuffles feet*

Shhh.

The fuel gauge doesn't work
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Got 50L of diesel for free when break down man came, though.
 
Oh wow, such a variety of comments........I think as Gamebird said, my hubby does not want me to have a box for the same reason.
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.....bankruptcy
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!!!!!!!! I now have digested most of your comments, thanks to everyone, and realise I must make my boy travel in a trailer!!!!!! I am going to try out an equitrek for the day.......Gulp........hubby will have to drive it first!! Just up the road and back......will let you know how I get on.
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.......unless of course I win the lottery this weekend.
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....!!!!!!! ps....in my next life i am going to be born with a "platinum" spoon in my mouth
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.......please???!!!!!
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