Diesel cost to tow horse 120miles

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zoon

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Trying to work out if it’s worth me towing my horse trailer or getting a transporter to take one of my horses on a 120mile trip.

So can anyone estimate the cost of the diesel to tow my trailer (will be 1500kg trailer, horse and gear) with vehicle that does 37mpg on average when not towing (I’m not sure how much that reduces by when towing). Will be coming back with trailer, but minus horse - 240 mile round trip

I’m not keen on doing the long journey with the trailer, so if it’s not much more I will get someone else to do it!
 
My car does approximately 2/3 of the normal mpg when towing so maybe you can get an idea from that.

Approx £55. At £1.40/litre.


You've posted twice.
 
My husband took two ponies (about 900kg total) in a lightweight trailer pulled by a Freelander for 100 miles a couple of weekends ago. Then came back empty. Cost was £75 in fuel. Ponies travelled fine, munching all the way, totally chilled. Took 2h40 each way mostly on the motorway.

Risk was we’d have had to cancel if high winds or basically any adverse weather.
 
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Just to add, if you need to take leave from work, factor that expense in, plus wear and tear on your vehicle and trailer.
In the winter months I've always suggested getting a transporter, saves a lot of time and effort, if its affordable.

£50 to £80 on diesel depending on your pump prices and on route taken and traffic conditions.
 
37mpg towing??? We don’t even get that driving normally!

I’d probably just pay a transporter as I wouldn’t want to tow that far.
 
never gone that far, but i paid about £160 when i bought lily for her to travel 40 ish miles, so whilst in your case id definitely pay the transporter to do it, fuel to do it yourself is definitely going to be cheaper!
 
Definitely get a transporter! Far less stress and hassle 😂 if you can get on a shared load it will be a bit cheaper too
 
100% a transporter. It's not just the cost of the fuel, it's the effort, the time, the stress, the what ifs (breakdown, horse unsettled, weather, traffic etc). I would definitely rather pay a transporter and know the horse was comfortable and safe.
 
I moved both my horses (on separate occasions) about 160 miles when relocating. Drove there with empty trailer and picked them up and returned home. I did the round trip on a tank of diesel so under £120, car averages 27mpg towing. Horses both travelled fine, I took the partitions out and gave them plenty of hay. Didn't stop as it was mostly motorway miles so a steady journey for them and took just over 3 hours. Horses fared better than me but I took a good friend, lots of snacks and stopped for lunch before picking horse up and doing the return leg!
 
I towed my horse 1,250 miles across the USA in a 20 year old trailer. Over three days though! He was absolutely fine.

Can’t comment on UK fuel prices now though.
 
My Freelander would just about do that on a tank heavy trailer with living, one horse, so £80. It's a distance I do regularly, takes about 3 hours each way.
 
The last time I had one transported it cost me £280 for 140 mile trip bearing in mind that the transporter had to go back again so 280 miles to him. Take into account his time which needs paying for +wear and tear on vehicle. Hope that helps That was about 7 years ago.
 
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