Designing the perfect 3.5 ton Horsebox!

Thorpe_HB said:
Given the 1 horse idea, we currently look after a 3.5 ton box which has a ramp at the rear, stalled for 1 in the centre and then second ramp on the side. For 1 horse it seems a good system, its centrally loaded, forward facing and easy to remove horse in emergency. Drawbacks are very minimal and disjointed storage due to the layout but it does travel her horse exactly as she wishes which I guess is paramount.
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This would be fab for me - don't mind a bit of disjointed storage etc. If it could be configured with flexibility for 1 horse or 2x ponies- I'll order one now please :D

The 2 ramp idea would be fab for my boy as will add load of light and we can walk him straight through...
 
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im looking intoa 3.5 box and too prefer the master types...the monavo???(?) ones seem ok but my horse slightly freaks as its quite small

however budget is 5-6k so slightly limited as to what we can get! :(
 
noodle_ said:
im looking intoa 3.5 box and too prefer the master types...the monavo???(?) ones seem ok but my horse slightly freaks as its quite small

however budget is 5-6k so slightly limited as to what we can get! :(
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You need to look into them further as the R.Master & V.Movano are identical vehicles - they all come short, medium or long wheelbase & you only want a long wheelbase for horses.
Most of the bigger companies chop the whole of the rear off (and front luton too) & then fabricate the horsebox onto the cab/chassis unit.
Are you thinking of the 'van' shape rather than a box shape?
If going to the auctions, you can currently get (on average) a 57 - 08 Master or Movano for around 3 to 3.5k with under 100thou miles on them & if part of a fleet sale they have (usually) full service history too. The expense is then getting the body made.

Happyhacking - over the years I've travelled horses forwards, sideways, herringbone & rear facing & the ones that have travelled best have been rear facing - this is in purpose built horseboxes not conversions tho :)
 
I have a Theault box and the best things about it are:

Seating for 5 with space above in the luton where you can sleep if you have to. We hardly ever take 5 people but the extra space is great and you can sleep along the bench if needed.
If seating for 5 is not possible then defo seating for 3 in the front row.

The bulkhead is reinforced to meet Defra transport regs.

The partition is on a sliding system to I can move it all the way to one side if i need to, can alter the spacing depending on width of horses.

The rear bulkhead between horses and storage appears solid but has swivel doors built in so you can access the horses from the rear. The whole thing collapses if required in an emergency. It is also of sufficient height that getting over it would be quite a challenge. An option to change the height of the breastbars would be good.

We used to have a problem with hay just spilling out onto anything we had stored at the back, but now have a pull out cover which has solved this.
The rear door is wide enough for a horse to exit if needed in an emergency. The door has a good sized window in it, with a blind on it if you want to screen off the outside view from either a horse, or use the space for changing etc.

Oh yes, rear parking sensors would be great, much more appealing to me than a camera.

The side ramp has split doors above, which I much prefer to the type that flips up - some manufacturers hinge these so that the ramp is the last piece to close and first to open. That means that you are exposed to horse legs, not heads when opening and shutting them in. Not ideal.

If it was structurally viable I'd have an option to have a ramp on both sides as for hunting sometimes the left hand ramp is a real pain!

Although there is strap that goes across the horse area when the ramp is down, I'd much prefer loading / side gates.

On another note, I really require an automatic gearbox and these are hard to come by on this type of lorry.

When I win the pools I'm going to design a 3 horse lorry on a low chassis like the 3.5t ones, auto gearbox, with some sort of overnight living space. I know exactly what I want and nobody makes it!
 
i used to love my VW LT35, it was coachbuilt with a nice side ramp and loads of horse room. Big storage over luton and a bench seat, pleanty of room for tack and too get changed. I now have a bigger 7.5ton lorry and an ifor williams horse body on an old merc. the ifor williams is a very basic body and just like having a trailer. I like all 3.5toners to have a decent ammount of head room as can't stand anything low.
 
I've an old VW LT35 so cant comment on the mod cons...however I have noticed a lot of lorries, including new ones getting stuck at showgrounds...do the newer ones have 4WD? If not then if its possible to do then that'd be a massive deal breaker for me!
 
Currently looking for a 3.5t horsebox. The most important features to me are

a) Good payload minimum of 1200kg. Do not need sink etc.
b) Would like drivers side ramp with barn style top doors as it is awkward to load a horse that is difficult when having to lead it from the wrong side.
c) Vehicle with full service history
d) some form of side ramp doors that when closed provide adequate containment of horse nearest ramp

These are my essentials, my other preferences are a wide rear door to allow easier access when carrying tack, and possible emergency rear exit for horse.

A tack looker which can be acccesed from inside and outside.

Adequate outside tie rings.

Barn doors which fold back far enough for the horse nearest the ramp to get its head around easily to unload.
 
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