First time buyer, 3.5 horsebox!

[Eventing1998]

Hi all,

I am after some advice/ recommendations for buying a 3.5 horsebox please. I have always towed but I sold my car and trailer when taking a short break from horses (my mare died that I had 10 years, took me a year to buy another horse).

I don't have a big budget for what I'm after...15k. My current horse is young and sharp, very jumpy so nothing he can get under or over.

Would love to hear your recommendations and things to look out for!
1. Does anyone have any recommendations about what engines/ makes are best? E.g, Fiat, Citroen, Renault.
2. Recommendations of where to buy used 3.5 horseboxes from, recommended dealers/ sellers please (no new builds - cannot afford!). I am open to private buyers, but with a dealership I can offer my car in as part exchange.. although not sure if many would be interested. I'm in Lincolnshire so the closer the better.

Preferably a coach built (no vans), must have a full wall into grooms area, no breast bars or 1/2 walls, must be a stallion or one of the half slopping walls upto a full. I've seen a couple come up recently within budget but they sell within hours from private sellers with low prices.

If I can't find the above with the full wall, might consider getting one installed, any recommendations about where to go for horsebox work with changing the horse area/ partitions?

 

[rextherobber]

It's quite useful, if you can get the reg number from the photos, to do the DVLA MOT check/history - this also, in my experience, seems to show a lot of vehicles which are a different colour to that on their log book! I was speaking to a horse box/trailer mechanic recently who said unless you're going to be out and about weekly, to stick to a trailer and tow car - the trailer won't suffer much just being stood there, in the way a lorry would, and there's no road tax, MOT or insurance to pay. He reckons it would be cheaper for most of his lorry clients to just hire one when they needed to, as most people don't seem to use them often enough, which was a bit of a surprise! Sorry, that's not very helpful, I expect someone will be along in a minute to answer you properly!

 

[Eventing1998]

It's quite useful, if you can get the reg number from the photos, to do the DVLA MOT check/history - this also, in my experience, seems to show a lot of vehicles which are a different colour to that on their log book! I was speaking to a horse box/trailer mechanic recently who said unless you're going to be out and about weekly, to stick to a trailer and tow car - the trailer won't suffer much just being stood there, in the way a lorry would, and there's no road tax, MOT or insurance to pay. He reckons it would be cheaper for most of his lorry clients to just hire one when they needed to, as most people don't seem to use them often enough, which was a bit of a surprise! Sorry, that's not very helpful, I expect someone will be along in a minute to answer you properly!

Ahh yes I have noticed the colour difference when running the checks, thank you for the advice, I was spending about £400 a month on 3.5 lorry hires when my horse was in work (he's currently turned away for winter) so trying to get one sorted ready for spring and summer as I will be out weekly. I sold my towing car and trailer last year so would need to go out and buy those again anyway My current car is free road tax which is good, but it defiantly won't pull a trailer haha, it's a little Audi a1!

 

[sport horse]

I would get one with stallion partitions ie no breast bar for them to jump/climb over. I am very happy wit my Renault chassis. Keep an eye on Andrew Saywell/First Horseboxes in Newark as he is always getting them in.

 

[Abacus]

I've said this on other threads but I am very anti the stallion full wall type boxes. I had one for a few weeks, only travelled a horse once, and he sustained a horrid injury to the front of his face, I think he tipped forwards as there was nothing to lean on with no breast bar. If you must separate the grooms area entirely with a door I would still want a bar to lean on and prevent falling forwards. (Obvs this means the horse falling towards the back of the lorry, taking into account the direction of travel) - but the length of most of these boxes might not allow for this.

As for good makes try searching previous threads here but names that often come up are Boss, Bloomfields, Chaigley, Ascot. You may not get one of these in budget so it's worth searching more widely and getting a mechanic to check any unknown brands. Most are built on renault / vauxhall / peugeot / citroen vans which are all very similar, obvs the lower mileage the better. Equitrek seem to have bad reviews for quality.

On payload: insist on a certificate - if they have extras like sinks, cookers it will add weight. The max they tend to have is about 1.1 tonnes but some are far less.

 

[Squeak]

When I was looking 3 years ago - the best engine (only marginally) was the fiat, then the citreon, renault and vauxhall are actually all the same and should be a decent engine. Volkswagen and Mercedes have their centre of gravities too high to be good for the 3.5t horseboxes which is why you very rarely see them.

Agree with RR, have a look at the MOT history of the vehicle, you can rule out a lot that way. Avoid anything that has mention of rust and no evidence of it being fixed, or with the same faults coming up again and again, such as brakes. Ideally you want one with a pretty much clean MOT every time as it shows that it was likely serviced annually before it was MOT'd and so you know that the services weren't skipped.

 

[Afon_34]

I had similar budget to you and couldnt find one with a stallion box inside & under 100k mileage so ended up buying one that only had a half wall and have had the inside redone to be a stallion box. Trouble is its generally only the newer boxes which have the full wall inside and then you're looking at 20/30 k. Older models seem to generally have half walls/ breastbars etc.
So no real help you OP other than to say maybe you could consider doing what I have done if you want in under 15k? Tax & insurance wasnt as bad as I thought and I got fed up in the end having to book the hire lorry so far in advance and having to collect/ drop it off by certain times on day of hire so has definetly been worth the purchase for me

 

[sport horse]

I've said this on other threads but I am very anti the stallion full wall type boxes. I had one for a few weeks, only travelled a horse once, and he sustained a horrid injury to the front of his face, I think he tipped forwards as there was nothing to lean on with no breast bar. If you must separate the grooms area entirely with a door I would still want a bar to lean on and prevent falling forwards. (Obvs this means the horse falling towards the back of the lorry, taking into account the direction of travel) - but the length of most of these boxes might not allow for this.

As for good makes try searching previous threads here but names that often come up are Boss, Bloomfields, Chaigley, Ascot. You may not get one of these in budget so it's worth searching more widely and getting a mechanic to check any unknown brands. Most are built on renault / vauxhall / peugeot / citroen vans which are all very similar, obvs the lower mileage the better. Equitrek seem to have bad reviews for quality.

On payload: insist on a certificate - if they have extras like sinks, cookers it will add weight. The max they tend to have is about 1.1 tonnes but some are far less.

The whole idea of the stallion partition is to not have a bar. There have been innumerable accidents with horses trying to get over the bars and getting stuck. I have friends with a show centre and they say there is hardly a show when this does not happen - they have even had to call the fire brigade on several occasions. Do you think that only one trip is enough to form an accurate judgment? I am sorry your horse got hurt but sadly with horses these things happen and it is a question of assessing the risk. I have a small stud/competition yard and I regularly travel everything from mares/ foals, youngstock through to OAP's in my stallion partitions without an issue. Obviously I try to drive defensively to avoid sudden braking/turns but that is also not always possible.

 

[Squeak]

I've said this on other threads but I am very anti the stallion full wall type boxes. I had one for a few weeks, only travelled a horse once, and he sustained a horrid injury to the front of his face, I think he tipped forwards as there was nothing to lean on with no breast bar. If you must separate the grooms area entirely with a door I would still want a bar to lean on and prevent falling forwards. (Obvs this means the horse falling towards the back of the lorry, taking into account the direction of travel) - but the length of most of these boxes might not allow for this.

As for good makes try searching previous threads here but names that often come up are Boss, Bloomfields, Chaigley, Ascot. You may not get one of these in budget so it's worth searching more widely and getting a mechanic to check any unknown brands. Most are built on renault / vauxhall / peugeot / citroen vans which are all very similar, obvs the lower mileage the better. Equitrek seem to have bad reviews for quality.

On payload: insist on a certificate - if they have extras like sinks, cookers it will add weight. The max they tend to have is about 1.1 tonnes but some are far less.

Have to disagree with you re the stallion partitions, that sounds like a very unlucky accident, I've known a lot of horses travel safely in a stallion partition and if there's a bar or lockers etc you'd have issues with them climbing on it.

I do agree re the payload make sure you see a certificate and ideally go yourself so that you know what was on the lorry when it was weighed.

 

[Eventing1998]

I would get one with stallion partitions ie no breast bar for them to jump/climb over. I am very happy wit my Renault chassis. Keep an eye on Andrew Saywell/First Horseboxes in Newark as he is always getting them in.

Great thank you, I will get in contact as they are only 20mins down the road from me. Yes defiantly can't have anything he can get stuck under/over!

 

[Eventing1998]

When I was looking 3 years ago - the best engine (only marginally) was the fiat, then the citreon, renault and vauxhall are actually all the same and should be a decent engine. Volkswagen and Mercedes have their centre of gravities too high to be good for the 3.5t horseboxes which is why you very rarely see them.

Agree with RR, have a look at the MOT history of the vehicle, you can rule out a lot that way. Avoid anything that has mention of rust and no evidence of it being fixed, or with the same faults coming up again and again, such as brakes. Ideally you want one with a pretty much clean MOT every time as it shows that it was likely serviced annually before it was MOT'd and so you know that the services weren't skipped.

That's interesting with the engines, thank you!

 

[Fieldlife]

One option is to work out who is going to be your lorry mechanic, and ask them what they know on the market coming up for sale. If they have looked after lorry for last few years, they will know what is good or not.

Works best for older vehicles. Not sure what age you will need to go to get get coach built, stallion wall in your budget.

 

[Eventing1998]

I had similar budget to you and couldnt find one with a stallion box inside & under 100k mileage so ended up buying one that only had a half wall and have had the inside redone to be a stallion box. Trouble is its generally only the newer boxes which have the full wall inside and then you're looking at 20/30 k. Older models seem to generally have half walls/ breastbars etc.
So no real help you OP other than to say maybe you could consider doing what I have done if you want in under 15k? Tax & insurance wasnt as bad as I thought and I got fed up in the end having to book the hire lorry so far in advance and having to collect/ drop it off by certain times on day of hire so has definetly been worth the purchase for me

Yes I think I'm going to have the same problem as you with the horse area for my budget, so defiantly open to having work done on one! Yes this is the issue with me, one he's back in from been turned away I'll be out every week again and I was spending about £400 a month on hires so need to get my own sorted, will make it a lot easier not having the drop off and limited timings, plus my car is free road tax and £300 to insure for the year, so having a lorry on the road won't be that bad for me.

 

[Fieldlife]

Have to disagree with you re the stallion partitions, that sounds like a very unlucky accident, I've known a lot of horses travel safely in a stallion partition and if there's a bar or lockers etc you'd have issues with them climbing on it.

I think it depends, I'd prefer a stallion wall over something the horse might climb over. But I agree being tied to just a wall does not provide any neck / head support if there is a need to stop suddenly. I have know a horse get whiplash from an emergency stop (idiot driver pulled out ahead).

I have a solid wall with a breast bar behind it. Facing forwards. This for me is best of both worlds. I think more prone to injury without bar. Bar can be removed if needed. There is no where to go to jump bar, and it isnt really the right height, and I think it would collapse.

 

[Identityincrisis]

But generally speaking, in 3.5 t boxes the horse is facing backwards so sudden braking will send them onto their hindquarters rather than their face

 

[Abacus]

The whole idea of the stallion partition is to not have a bar. There have been innumerable accidents with horses trying to get over the bars and getting stuck. I have friends with a show centre and they say there is hardly a show when this does not happen - they have even had to call the fire brigade on several occasions. Do you think that only one trip is enough to form an accurate judgment? I am sorry your horse got hurt but sadly with horses these things happen and it is a question of assessing the risk. I have a small stud/competition yard and I regularly travel everything from mares/ foals, youngstock through to OAP's in my stallion partitions without an issue. Obviously I try to drive defensively to avoid sudden braking/turns but that is also not always possible.

Absolutely it’s just one example but contrasted with many years and journeys in 3.5 tonne boxes with a breast bar and no problems. My current box has V grills which are set quite high and are probably a good discouragement to climbing over - although horses will sometimes hurt themselves any way they can. My personal assessment of the risk is that the long stall format doesn’t give enough support.

Yes, braking shouldn’t cause a frontal head injury and I certainly didn’t accelerate hard, so he must unluckily have lost balance and tipped forward for some reason.

 

[tda]

I personally would buy the newest vehicle you can afford, regardless of the horsebox setup. I noticed a lot of the adverts did not state the age of the vehicle and most did not mention payload at all ?

 

[Fieldlife]

I personally would buy the newest vehicle you can afford, regardless of the horsebox setup. I noticed a lot of the adverts did not state the age of the vehicle and most did not mention payload at all ?

Very much not my view. Build quality, mechanical reliability and durability at least as important as age!

 

[Squeak]

Very much not my view. Build quality, mechanical reliability and durability at least as important as age!

Completely agree, there are some terrible new builds that I wouldn't travel a hamster in let alone a horse. There are also some complete duds mechanically.

 

[Eventing1998]

Completely agree, there are some terrible new builds that I wouldn't travel a hamster in let alone a horse. There are also some complete duds mechanically.

yes I agree, I’ve seen some awful new ones advertised, in budget but they are conversations and just look like a box has been chucked on the back of the cab! Not bothered about age as long as it’s safe, fully reinforced and drives!