Cars to tow with...or a small lorry

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Spendtoomuch

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I found out this week my lorry was set to fail its mot :(, not in a position to do anything about it so put on ebay (very honest advert) and sold it (was picked up last night).
I have also recently sold my car (many reasons, one being it was a sports car that was awful in bad weather)

So I need to be able to get to the yard (5 miles of main roads followed by 5 miles country roads) and to work, social outings, and I would like to get the horse out.

Is the best option a small car and a older 3.5t horsebox or an older 4x4 and trailer (have to do separate tests to drive trailer/larger lorry)? The budget is quite tight!

I have found an older fourtrak 2.8 tdx, thoughts on these please.

I think 4x4 but OH thinks cheaper car and horsebox! Help!
 
Spendtoomuch said:
I found out this week my lorry was set to fail its mot :(, not in a position to do anything about it so put on ebay (very honest advert) and sold it (was picked up last night).
I have also recently sold my car (many reasons, one being it was a sports car that was awful in bad weather)

So I need to be able to get to the yard (5 miles of main roads followed by 5 miles country roads) and to work, social outings, and I would like to get the horse out.

Is the best option a small car and a older 3.5t horsebox or an older 4x4 and trailer (have to do separate tests to drive trailer/larger lorry)? The budget is quite tight!

I have found an older fourtrak 2.8 tdx, thoughts on these please.

I think 4x4 but OH thinks cheaper car and horsebox! Help!
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about 30mpg for something that will tow safely and a small car say 60mpg I would work it out on how many miles a week you do I find a lorry and a diesel works best for me as a do quite a few miles weekly.... if you dont do many then a 4x4 could work for you as an all round vehicle but they can also cost alot for maintanace repairs and road tax as well as fuel ...
 
If your situation means you do need to get a different licence then consider this -

If you go for LGV (C not C1 as they both cost roughly the same) then that will involve getting a medical and paying through your driving career to keep it current
Theory tests will need to be passed

If you go for B+E then you already have the provisional for it so no theory tests or medicals required and when you pass the test it will remain valid for as long as you have a current B licence - basically for life
 
ROG said:
Lets start with the basics

From your post I gather you only have a B licence?

What weight do you need to carry?
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I only need to carry myself, one passenger, all my stuff and one 16.1hh tb, so we all fit in a 3.5ton without being over weight. (obv dependant on the lorry being a sensible payload)

Also, yes I only have a B licence, passed my test in 1999.
 
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In that case, and I stand to be corrected and abused for this answer, if you get your towing licence I would go for a single Ifor trailer and tow it with something like a Skoda Superb or other large diesel estate. The Skoda Superb 2 litre diesel will tow 2000Kg and can return over 50mpg (obv not when towing) for example.

You could downsize slightly and use a diesel Octavia perfectly legally and it's a combination I have use and seems to work well, and out here in the Fens it's a reasonable combination, I have little idea of how it would be on hills though.
 
Spendtoomuch said:
I only need to carry myself, one passenger, all my stuff and one 16.1hh tb, so we all fit in a 3.5ton without being over weight. (obv dependant on the lorry being a sensible payload)

Also, yes I only have a B licence, passed my test in 1999.
Click to expand...

Seems like you need a large VAN and not a lorry (LGV over 3.5 tonnes) if you want to go down that route which is ok on a B licence
That would mean you would have to do all the other driving stuff with it unless you bought a car as well

A 16.1HH is likely to be about 550 kgs so getting a trailer which will carry that as well as some water etc totalling about 700 kgs?? might work

So that leaves us looking for a trailer which will carry about 700 but will have as low a MAM as possible
A towing vehicle where the unladen weight is higher than the trailer MAM but where the GVW added to the trailer MAM does not exceed 3500

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So who is reading this and knows of a trailer which weighs about 500 unladen and is at least 1200 MAM (the trailer can be downplated if over 1200)
The trailer must also be able to fit a 16.1HH horse

We now need a towing vehicle which weighs at least 1200 unladen but is not more than 2300 GVW

It could be a trailer 600 unladen plated at 1300 with a towing vehicle of 1300+ unladen with a GVW of 2200
I think you get my drift .....
 
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