Buying A 30 Year Old Bedford 3.5 ton?

acorn92x

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OH and me are looking at a 32 year old 3.5 ton Bedford horse box tomorrow and people at my yard think I'm bonkers. Has no power steering and a heavy rear ramp but has done hardly any miless (<50k), has had numerous new mechanical parts including timing belt and exhaust system and is very reasonably priced. Are we mad? Does anyone have a box of this age/know anyone with a box of this age? My Dad has been a mechanic for about 35 years and reckons that aside from them being prone to oil leaks and rust around the front bumpers, they are generally pretty good. The bodywork looks in good condition from the photos and it passed it's MOT with only 3, relatively minor advisories. Thoughts? It will be our first box (Horse is a 14.3hh coloured cob weighing in at about 440kg so don't need a huge payload).
 

LeannePip

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My friend bought one a couple of years ago, it was a nice box and drove well although very heavy to manoeuvre, the floor and ramp were shot so she had that replaced at great expense, then the horse wouldn't travel in it so she had to sell it. but otherwise it was a nice little lorry!

I'd always heard that something that's so old with such little mileage was as bad with something with high mileage?
 

Crackerz

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My friend had her 3.5t Bedford weighed and it only had a 600kg payload! Which is not enough for a pony, haynet, a driver and passenger and tack.
So aside from the mechanic's, i wouldn't buy it without a weight cert...
 

acorn92x

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My Dad won't be able to inspect it as lives about 250 miles away from where the box itself is whereas we live much closer. Has 9 months MOT but buyer has receipts for all work which has been done recently. Have asked about the payload but she thinks it is on the documents. Unless she can tell me, I won't be buying it but as we don't live far away, thought it might be worth a look and was interested to see anyone elses experiences.
 

Deltic Blue

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If your dad is a mechanic I'd get him to give it a thorough inspection.
I personally wouldn't buy something that old.
I've got a 2007 reg Renault Master, which I love as it's so easy to drive and very light, you feel like you're driving a car most of the time.
 

ihatework

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If it was very cheap, you have had a full safety check, and are prepared to move at snails pace up a hill and to scrap it as needed then fine.

Personally I think it sounds like potential trouble!
 

Crackerz

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If it was very cheap, you have had a full safety check, and are prepared to move at snails pace up a hill and to scrap it as needed then fine.

Personally I think it sounds like potential trouble!

This, you might be frustrated as how incredibly slow it would be up hills you didn't even know were hills

The payload probably won't be in the documents unless it's been done since it's been changed to a horsebox, I would want a recent certificate.
 

PaddyMonty

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Make sure you get it to a weighbridge before buying it. At the time it was built no one really cared about being overweight and as a result tended to be on the heavy side to say the least
 

Pie's mum

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How easily available are parts for a lorry of this age? My friend ended up having to scrap an ancient lorry that was mostly good due to not being able to source a couple of components.
 

acorn92x

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I'm starting to think this wasn't a good idea haha!

Mike007, it's petrol lol...have enquired about a 1997 diesel box (With power steering). Only thing is it's not compliant with the London emission zone which I unfortunately live in (Luckily my yard isn't within this zone). Starting to think this may be a better option.
 

ester

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How cheap is it?:p You can get much newer for 3.5k, I would keep looking, some of the older conversions are just starting to come on line from early mid 90s now which means there are a few about that are safe but not with a 10k price tag. Are you on the 3.5T group on facebook? it gets quite a lot of traffic although still people don't mention payloads. Someone on there recently bought one and found it had 400kg payload!

I've acquired a 1994 renault master, 147k, converted by 3 counties for a similar budget.
 

MyBoyChe

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Ditto Pies Mum, someone at our yard has a 30 yr old Dodge and cant get replacement parts for love nor money. Box not in too bad a condition for age, was in fairly regular use but been off the road for 2 years now as cant get parts.
 

acorn92x

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How cheap is it?:p You can get much newer for 3.5k, I would keep looking, some of the older conversions are just starting to come on line from early mid 90s now which means there are a few about that are safe but not with a 10k price tag. Are you on the 3.5T group on facebook? it gets quite a lot of traffic although still people don't mention payloads. Someone on there recently bought one and found it had 400kg payload!

I've acquired a 1994 renault master, 147k, converted by 3 counties for a similar budget.

Thanks Ester :) It's up for £2k so it's VERY cheap! Yep, I'm in the 3.5 ton FB group, seems to be the best place to find boxes at a reasonable price although have looked on Preloved too. 400kg payload?! What was it made with, lead?! Yeah, I won't be buying anything without getting it weighed first don't worry. That's fab! Where did you find a deal like that?! The other one I'm hoping to look at, although it needs an MOT and possibly a little bit of work, is starting to sound like a better option.
 

ester

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No I wouldn't say so too. Especially if you can't repair it.

I have seen a few about similar to mine for similar prices so keep looking. It was important to me knowing who did the conversion as many of them you wouldn't otherwise know about bulkheads etc. It is working going through the comments when people say what they are looking for too. Plenty of LDVs and transit+ifors for that sort of price.

The 400kg one was a VW LT35, with living, full ramps, big partitions etc. I wondered if it had been downrated to a 3.5 for some reason as I don't believe anyone would have built it to be a 3.5T box.
 

WelshD

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I have a 30 year old transit horsebox. When I bought it for £1500 in 2014 I fully expected to be its final owner so had to weigh up costs v the number of years life it had in it and decide whether I would take the risk of having to scrap it soon

I'm not going to lie the lack of power steering is significant, the whole thing is huge, boxy and cumbersome and its heavy to manoeuvre but once on the road is ok to drive but as said above even the slightest slope will have you changing down the gears till there are none left! Its cost me a fair bit in repairs - more than it actually cost. The payload is around 900kg so not toooo bad

I would actually be more wary of one with small mileage, these things are designed to be in regular use and parts may be little used but degraded from being little used for example you may need to replace all the tyres. I'm afraid I wouldn't even consider a petrol engine that old.

There are still companies that deal in Bedford classic parts, when I worked for a classic car parts manufacturer we were always being offered copy parts for old Bedfords and Dodges.

I do love having a horsebox but have to say I don't use it as much as I could do - its a palaver trying to get it off the drive and I always worry I will get trapped down a dead end road somewhere, I use it when I have to as opposed to just nipping out in it. If I had a van type box I would be zipping around all over the place

having said all of that the box is quite endearing and always attracts attention when it appears clattering and banging at local shows. I write a monthly column in a horse magazine about the ups and downs of local showing in an ancient horsebox - we all have to start somewhere!
 

Toby_Zaphod

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Sometimes you find a vehicle that has done little miles, is in reasonable condition & is at the right price (i.e. cheap) but that isn't everything. It may have a current MOT but that is only a check that is done on the day, it's a few months older now.

You need to find out how easily available are parts? How heavy is the steering without any power assist. If it's heavy then there will be nothing pleasurable in driving it, specially when slowly manoeuvring. If it's petrol you need to find out if the valves have been hardened because if they haven't you will need to constantly put a lead additive in your fuel as current fuel is lead free & your engine was never designed for current day fuel. In fact could cause permanent damage.

You may find that this lorry will have significantly less power than you would want & you will find hills which you never knew existed when you drive it.

In short a Bedford of that age is 'an enthusiasts vehicle' & may well cause you more problems than it solves. As has been mentioned you can buy newer vehicles for your budget. Your budget will always present a challenge but to buy this Bedford without your father checking it over may be a poor decision. Good Luck with whatever you decide.
 

MissTyc

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I recently sold a Bedford 3.5t for a decent sum (more than what you cited). Same age as yours.

It is an "enthusiast's vehicle" as someone else said, but I became that enthusiast. It was easy to maintain (by good mechanic + I also learnt a lot), it was fun to maintain in many ways and I really enjoyed it for many years. Horses travelled great in it and had a decent payload + was a safe build. Wasn't a beauty but kept clean and fresh lick of paint it was OK and did its job like a trooper. Did over 10,000 miles in it and never let me down, even on coldest winter mornings to go hunting! Sold it with 12 months MOT, no advisories! I sold because I needed something more powerful for longer journeys as we started qualifying for things around the country. But we did fly up and down the country a few times in it & other than being a bit slow and feeling a bit juddery it was all good.

If you have someone who knows what they are looking at there is no harm in looking. Keep an open mind, also be prepared to walk away ...

(mind you I bought mine a total wreck, knowing nothing, and put it back on the road .... it was fun. It depends on type of person you are I think - I sold it to a like-minded person and still see it at all local shows).
 

Pie's mum

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Are you on fb group 'the nutty nags'? Someone advertising an old Renault master for under £3k.... Don't know the seller but might be worth a look!
 

Mike007

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I am trying to remember if I ever had any problems with my old bedford cf van . Apart from the fact that it had a terrrrrrible thirst,there weren't many problems ,the odd balljoint, but that was about it ................Unless you count THE INCIDENT!!!!. As a good law abiding citizen ,I parked my somewhat scruffy Bedford round the back of the RCJ (Thats ,Royal courts of Justice ,to you !).No meters ,no time limit,great!. My regular parking spot in fact ,as nobody else seems to believe you can park there. I went about my nefarious business of causing unbelievable problems for county planners and councilors. When I came back out someone had festooned the area around my old Bedford ,with blue and white tape!I spotted a copper hiding behind a stone pillar (point of information , a stone pillar is about as much use as a chocolate teaspoon ,in the presence of a car bomb.) The constable explained to me as I joined him behind said pillar ,that they suspected that this was a "device". I asked him why? He admitted that on the face of it,it was a scruffy old bedford van ,perfectly legally parked ,BUT ,there was an army helmet under the passenger seat. I asked him if the IRA(only game in town in those days) were in the habit of wearing helmets. He admitted that they weren't. I said that this was interesting and promptly marched out to said vehicle ,and gave it a good shake. Then to the sound of a muffled Nooooo! as if from behind a stone pillar, I broke the tape and drove off.
 
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