Buying our first 3.5 T horsebox - with more than 3 seats?? CW ?

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PONYPC

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Hi we have a 15h horse and 12 3 pony and two children whom enjoy pony club activities and local competitions. We are looking for a 3.5 T horsebox and are completely confused! With two children we would like at least four seats and there are several companies that supply Renault Master/Movano Vans and coach built Luton types that carry two horses, with three front seats and a rear seat too with the bulkhead reinforced and moved behind the rear seats, Does this compromise the strength of the cab? One company say the box itself is Aluminium skin, with a steel frame, insulated with high density boards, others just say the box section is just high density board to keep the weight down without any major reinforcement. So there seems to be no standard and prices range from 12,000 to 44,000? We do not want anything as big as a 7.5 t. CW Horseboxes in Wales seem to incorporate all the safety measures, has anyone any experience of this company please, as we are based in London and would rather see one more before travelling to Wales. There are other coach builders more locally, but we have not been that impressed with their build quality. Any ideas or recommendations please for reasonably priced horseboxes up to 20k please?
 
Is there a reason you've ruled out towing a trailer?
Do you only have a 3.5T license? I ask as there as some boxes of the 4/5T variety that might better meet your needs for compact size with seating that would be available at a better price with all the license hoohah.... unless you really want a new one. For example my little one is uprated to 5T which gives me loads of breathing room for loads etc. Someone can sit in the not huge but not cell-like living too, with a lap belt, which offers flexible seating/ additional passengers. Just some other thoughts, sorry if irrelevant.
 
bakewell said:
Is there a reason you've ruled out towing a trailer?
Do you only have a 3.5T license? I ask as there as some boxes of the 4/5T variety that might better meet your needs for compact size with seating that would be available at a better price with all the license hoohah.... unless you really want a new one. For example my little one is uprated to 5T which gives me loads of breathing room for loads etc. Someone can sit in the not huge but not cell-like living too, with a lap belt, which offers flexible seating/ additional passengers. Just some other thoughts, sorry if irrelevant.
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Yes we would consider a 4/5T, but there seems to be less coach builders/ choice for that size hence we were looking for the most common. How safe is the seating in the living area, does it sit behind the bulkhead, a worry in case of an accident? We have seen a few advertised but they tend to be a lot older (from our experience so far) Trailers just scare us and we feel van/lorry would be more appropriate to our needs, :-) We did see one coach builder advertised, Bournemouth Horseboxes.
 
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Boss make one with a bench seat behind the front seats, it converts in to a bed. As a seat its very basic but it does have proper seatbelts. This makes it possible to carry 5 people - their boxes are lovely. No idea on price though!!
 
George Smith make a range of sizes, but the 4.5/5 would still have the dimensions you were after without compromising on loads. Plus they'll still have a tight turning circle. 7.5T can be awkward to park/ move around at home.
I wouldn't buy a new box... they're built on second hand chassis anyway. Unless you're writing it off against tax there's no reason to go new!
I would make friends with a local diesel mechanic and ask how much he'd charge to inspect.
I would also recommend any potential drivers spend a day at the local HGV centre driving a 7.5 lorry.... they'll teach you so many little tips and tricks plus your box will feel like a corsa afterwards! TBH if at all possible your primary driver should consider doing class 1 HGV training, all the things they teach you can have a positive effect on transporting a precious cargo.
 
I have a Renault Master crew cab. If you can find one it would be perfect for you.
Two front seats and a bench with 3 proper seatbelts.
It takes room from the rear tack/storage area but that's not a huge problem.
Mines older 1998 and cost £9000 but my work has a brand new one so I assume they were made Inbetween and you might find one to suit?
Payload is 1200 in my particular lorry.
 
Make that +2 on the overweight comment. We took our 3.5 renault master to the weighbridge the other week to make sure we had the spare payload to do the alteration we wanted. With me, oh, 14.2 highland, half a tank of diesel and all our basic stuff there was just under 300kg left. With the passengers you want to carry, plus stuff for 2 ponies, you just wont have the capacity. IMO these type of vans are only suitable for 1 horse or 2 small ponies, Sec a/b type.
 
Many thanks for the advice i guess we're looking for a 5-6.5t then, most of them seem to be Iveco types, so we'll start looking, many thanks again.
 
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