Can someone tell me what to do with my lorry???

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YummyHorses

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So I have a 24 year Oakley, 3 horse, living but no loo - horsebox bit is in fairly good shape but the cab is tired with the engine, gearbox, suspension etc really starting to show its age. At best I am gunna get 5k for it, probably a little more if the going is good.

So, what I want is a 2/3 horse, full living (so including a loo/shower) with an external tack locker and easy to drive - I dont travel really long distances but 2/3 hours is becoming normal.

What I want will cost me 25k plus on a cab less than 10 years old. And they seem to be conversions so maybe arguably not as good as an Oakley.

So have been thinking that if I were to renovate my Oakley, say spend 15k on it I would be quids in and get what I want. Is this a good plan, is 15K a reasonable sum for renovating the lorry and putting it onto a newer cab? Has anyone done this and did it go well or not so well? And who did you use or who can you recommend/not recommend, I am based in Hampshire/Surrey.

Thanks all. XX
 
Also,Do you know for certain the unladen weight. There are a lot of very heavy older bxes out there and if it cant legaly carry the weight you require ,there is no point in renovating it.
 
I think i am about 5.5tons unladen. I tend to carry only one at a time, occasionally 2. My horses are 16.2hh so I guess about half a ton each.
 
FWIW for Oakley to do a similar job on mine (but I want to go up to 12 tonnes) a figure of around £7.5K plus the cost of the chassis cab was mentioned. To update my shower room which is looking a bit tired and change to big tank loo to a cassette type one a figure of £1.5K was suggested. This was last year.

When I worked out the figures it seemed to me to be roughly cost effective to change the chassis, looking at the potential resale value and cost against the cost of buying a similar quality and spec of lorry, however as my chassis is currently performing OK and I am currently mainly carrying one I haven't gone looking for an appropriate chassis cab yet.
 
I would suggest that you are spending good money on bad. Taking in to account the distances you are travelling you would be far better off getting a new vehicle which will prove far more efficient on fuel, be easier to drive, and if built correctly with more modern materials and techniques you will have a better payload.
 
Do you have any pictures? Realistically, you would spend about 6k on a 2003/4 Daf. How much to swap the body? im not sure, but i wouldnt expect to pay more than a couple of thousand. But that depends on how it is attached to the cab.
 
My boss has just got a new lorry that her husband has build for her, they bought the chasis 5 years ago and only now has he had the time to do it. They own a horsebox business doing all this kind of work, i had a tour around it today and i was gob smacked!! It is imaculate. It looks like a box that you would go out and spend 30 odd grand on! or the ones you see at HOYS and all it was was a chasis and a flat bed type thing on the back. It certainly made me think about getting an older box and get it done how i want it!
 
jenima - thanks for that and just to check that was quoted by oakley direct?

Peter - thanks but just to be clear if I bought a newer cab would I not be getting a better fuel cost and hopefully an easier to drive lorry? I was thinking of something like a 2005 chassis.

xx
 
personally i wouldnt spend that amount on a 24 year old lorry to update. you might not get an oakley but there are some nice lorries around done, complete for 20 k on a much newer chassis. clean and tart the old one up and sell for best price, then start again would be my advice.
 
PeterNatt said:
I would suggest that you are spending good money on bad. Taking in to account the distances you are travelling you would be far better off getting a new vehicle which will prove far more efficient on fuel, be easier to drive, and if built correctly with more modern materials and techniques you will have a better payload.
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I think that the OP actualy means putting the body on a newer chassis as opposed to doing up the old one.If the body is in good condition and light enough ,I dont see a problem.
 
Sprite - Yep i think thats about correct for the chassis. I was planning on having the living upgraded, loo put in, external tack locker put in, paint job, general tidying up and sorting out. I think this will all cost a bit. Not sure on the costs on taking off and putting it on another chassis.

China - thats fab, whats the name of the company? Are they in the South?

I appreciate all the comments about old and spending money but finding what I would like with a reputable manufacturer is about 30K and renovating would be cheaper. I dont know though.....very confused......need to win the lottery then I will be okay!

xx
 
George Smith swapped a body for us and he charged £2k -but that was a few years ago and it did include making extra lockers.

You might get a 2005 chasis cheap as from Jan 2012 you have to have a 2006 lorry onwards to get into london.
 
I dont know of any local companies ,but it isnt a particularly difficult thing to do. Incidentaly as a general word of warning ,the most modern engines do not take kindly to the infrequent use that a lot of horseboxes get. Recently diesel has been changed. It all,including agricultural red diesel, now has a proportion of biodiesel added.This stuff is ++++ it is hygroscopic and absorbs water. Fuel left in a tank for a while will absorb water and the injectors on these new engines stick and fail.Its not a particular problem for a commercial lorry where the addition of fresh fuel in large quantities on a daily basis reduces the effect. I am expecting to see a lot of the newer trucks giving a lot of very expensive problems as horseboxes.So much for progress!
 
Interesting point about the newer cabs - i spose i go out every week but not every day. My oakley is a good old sort - i can leave it for weeks and it still starts no problem. Some cold winter mornings I need a bit of cold start but not all the time.

With the LEZ thing - how far does it extend to? I will need to go up to vicarage farm which is in middlesex - will that be a problem with a 2005 cab?

x
 
YummyHorses said:
Interesting point about the newer cabs - i spose i go out every week but not every day. My oakley is a good old sort - i can leave it for weeks and it still starts no problem. Some cold winter mornings I need a bit of cold start but not all the time.

With the LEZ thing - how far does it extend to? I will need to go up to vicarage farm which is in middlesex - will that be a problem with a 2005 cab?

x
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http://www.tfl.gov.uk/roadusers/lez/17678.aspx#tkt-tab-panel-2
 
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