Good 3.5 ton lorries. 2 horses & sleep 2.

[perfect11s]

perfect11s - i dont really appreciate your sarcasm. you have obviously not looked at the newer build 3.5's so shouldnt really comment or pass judgement.

and by the way, its salmon, not sammon.........!

thanks I'm sure you're right but isnt salmom that pompus piggy eyed scot ???!"!!! yes I have looked at the newer build 3.5 t someone I know parted with nealy 40k for one!!!! christ what could you ever do to make a crappy renault van chassis worth that !! like I said not value for money but I can see the point if you are moving horses for a living and dont want to get involved with operators licences etc and can write the value off against tax otherwise ouch...

 

[almorton]

ok roughly. cant remember exact figures but ive weighed it all.

2 tack saddles bridle boots jacket = 20kg
2 x rugs 10kg
water 20kg
4 x haynets 10kg
tank of fuel well depends how full tank is. say 80kg plenty to get me about locally.
2 x people 120 kgs ish?
so 260.
plus horses. 1x 17hand 1x 16hand 1110kg
so 1370? im under, as i said.
and i can always run on lower fuel if i need! and im often on my own to be fair.

im not saying ALL 3.5s are under. just it can be done if your careful!

 

[almorton]

40k??! jesus! was it gold plated!

 

[Mike007]

ok roughly. cant remember exact figures but ive weighed it all.

2 tack saddles bridle boots jacket = 20kg
2 x rugs 10kg
water 20kg
4 x haynets 10kg
tank of fuel well depends how full tank is. say 80kg plenty to get me about locally.
2 x people 120 kgs ish?
so 260.
plus horses. 1x 17hand 1x 16hand 1110kg
so 1370? im under, as i said.
and i can always run on lower fuel if i need! and im often on my own to be fair.

im not saying ALL 3.5s are under. just it can be done if your careful!

You said initialy that your van had ALMOST 1.4 tonnes payload. How much more almost than the 1.370 you have rather optimisticly calculated.Your figures suggest that you are driving around with an anorexic midget and two very thin horses.

 

[perfect11s]

40k??! jesus! was it gold plated!

Not that I could see.. it was made by some firm called Theault it is nicely made and the lady seems very happy with it.. but I would wonder what its going to be worth in a year or two esp now there is a new model movarno/master van out now and you're well into used top brand 7.5 ton lorry terrtory with 40k and low depriciation too!!! ..

 

[spookypony]

I think you'd have to do very careful math to get one to carry 2 horse + living. 1 horse + living, fine; 2 horses and no living, also do-able (unless both horses are enormous!). My 3.5t is partitioned for 2, easily enough headroom for 17hh, and has no constructed living to take up more weight. It couldn't really be any plainer! There is plenty of room in either the tack compartment or in the luton to set up an air-bed, but that's roughing it! By my calculations, I could carry 2x medium-sized horses (or slender TBs) or my pony + one bigger horse, but probably not 2 really big horses. I got it for 3 reasons: it's easier and more economical to drive than a 4x4 + trailer, the pony prefers it to trailers, and I can use it to move large musical instruments etc. for concerts.

 

[popsdosh]

ok roughly. cant remember exact figures but ive weighed it all.

2 tack saddles bridle boots jacket = 20kg
2 x rugs 10kg
water 20kg
4 x haynets 10kg
tank of fuel well depends how full tank is. say 80kg plenty to get me about locally.
2 x people 120 kgs ish?
so 260.
plus horses. 1x 17hand 1x 16hand 1110kg
so 1370? im under, as i said.
and i can always run on lower fuel if i need! and im often on my own to be fair.

im not saying ALL 3.5s are under. just it can be done if your careful!

You are still relying on the bodybuilder giving you an accurate unladen weight which from experience very few do.It would be a lot more convincing if all this was put into the vehicle and then put on a weighbridge.

 

[popsdosh]

nope. its additional, so i can tow an extra 3 ton. although im gonna stick with a braked 750, i think thats quite enough lol!

mad isnt it, i could legally tow another 2 horses in an ifor behind, so transport more legally than a 7.5tonner not that id fancy that!

The interesting thing here is you are in muddy waters as few people realise that as long as you have done your towing test you can do exactly the same with a 7.5t lorry ,I believe you can go up to 11.25 GTW and more safely.

 

[Booboos]

ok roughly. cant remember exact figures but ive weighed it all.

2 tack saddles bridle boots jacket = 20kg
2 x rugs 10kg
water 20kg
4 x haynets 10kg
tank of fuel well depends how full tank is. say 80kg plenty to get me about locally.
2 x people 120 kgs ish?
so 260.
plus horses. 1x 17hand 1x 16hand 1110kg
so 1370? im under, as i said.
and i can always run on lower fuel if i need! and im often on my own to be fair.

im not saying ALL 3.5s are under. just it can be done if your careful!

While all this may well be true for you, I think you might be the exception rather than the rule for a lot of these weights, so it's not unreasonable for people to warn the OP to be very careful!

For example, my 16hh cob weighs 760kilos, my 16.2hh WB weighs 700kilos, my OH weighs 110kilos, my Kieffer saddle weighs 10kilos all by itself. If any of your horses put on 50 kilos in the summer you'd be in trouble!

 

[Ranyhyn]

Well it can be done, but for my own personal (and that of my horse) I wouldn't want to be sailing so close to the wind.

I'd rather spend more money and do my HGV test or only carry one horse but that's just me!!

 

[Ludi-doodi]

QR

Ive found quite a few which say they carry 2 horses and day living....

Lots advertise like this giving the impression that it can take 2 X 16.2hh for example. At the end of the day it's your legal responsibility, not theirs, to ensure that you meet the conditions of your license and the chances are that with two horses in a 3.5 you'll be over the weight limit. The penalties could potentially be quite severe for driving without the appropriate license not to mentioned your insurance would be void too!

As others have said, spend a small % of your budget on taking the HGV and get something else to do the job.

Good luck

 

[Picaso]

We have a mercedes 3.5ton box able of taking two 17.2hh's and it has a living of sink, hob, fridge, seat and mattess over the luton, just recently been weighed fully loaded at 3.4ton so it is possible

 

[cptrayes]

nope, cptrayes, i see where you are coing from but its not cat b, its b + e, allowing a 3.5 to tow more than 750kg, as long as you have the appopriate license. i have!

Apologies, the poster does not have the appropriate licence, and therefore is limited to a trailer of 750kg, but you and I are not. It is quite crazy what we are legally entitled to drive with grandfather's rights, isn't it ? I do agree with a test for driving the bigger lorry though, it is nothing like driving a car. Still that's easy for me to say when I didn't have to take it!

 

[cptrayes]

We have a mercedes 3.5ton box able of taking two 17.2hh's and it has a living of sink, hob, fridge, seat and mattess over the luton, just recently been weighed fully loaded at 3.4ton so it is possible

Is your living in the back or the front? (I know your mattress is in the luton, but where are the horses - on the back or in the middle?)

I have seen a couple of 3.5s lately with the horses on the back and that has to be a dangerous weight distribution, making the steering far too light for safety and the whole box unstable if push came to shove. And there is one hell of a shove when a 48 tonner passes you on a motorway.

 

[Booboos]

Is your living in the back or the front? (I know your mattress is in the luton, but where are the horses - on the back or in the middle?)

I have seen a couple of 3.5s lately with the horses on the back and that has to be a dangerous weight distribution, making the steering far too light for safety and the whole box unstable if push came to shove. And there is one hell of a shove when a 48 tonner passes you on a motorway.

And one may still be illegal with this configuration because the weight of the horses exceeds what is allowed for the rear axel.

 

[onemoretime]

We have a mercedes 3.5ton box able of taking two 17.2hh's and it has a living of sink, hob, fridge, seat and mattess over the luton, just recently been weighed fully loaded at 3.4ton so it is possible

The only chassis that are able to stay under the required weight are Movano and Master. A Mercedes chassis is much heavier and with 2 horses on board would be way over the limit.

 

[perfect11s]

The only chassis that are able to stay under the required weight are Movano and Master. A Mercedes chassis is much heavier and with 2 horses on board would be way over the limit.

Not sure you are right,I doubt the iveco daily and mercedes sprinter chassis are heavier than the horrid renault/vauxhall or the equaly cheap and nasty peugeot /citreon offerings its more they are front wheel drive so the floor is flat and low, so easy to graft some sort of a box on the back is the reason they are made into horseboxes more than weight issues....

 

[onemoretime]

If you read the earlier post from people you will see that you cannot legally take 2 horses in a 3.5 ton box. We have a Renault Master and it is fantastic, we only carry one horse though and have 3 people up in the cab (all extra weight) as well as the water for the horse, hay tack etc. Admittedly we bought the chassis brand new and had a Tru Leisure box built onto it. We have had it 4 years now and it has been brilliant as has the after sales service when horse kicked the back and did some damage, they repaired it FOC.

When we stay away at shows we take a tent, we cook in the lorry on a camping stove and the lorry is equiped with a sink and cupboard underneath. Camping out providing the weather is good is great fun. There is plenty of storage room both in the tack section and under the bench seat and also in the luton which is large as it is a proper chassis and not a cut and shut van job.

The weight situation is getting very diffuclt and needs careful consideration. There are often posts on here regarding this situation and most people who know will tell you that you cannot carry 2 horses legally in the small 2 horse boxes.

You would need to get a bigger lorry say a 3 horse 6.5 ton if you want to carry 2 horses. Its just that you would need to get a bigger lorry plated and also if you licence restricts you then you would need to take a further test.

 

[tractor]

Just a word of warning - the police are well aware that there are a lot of young people driving these lorries - they see us as easy prey as many of us genuinely don't know we are doing anything wrong.

I was stopped when I had my little lorry, had my cob & a friends TB on board, three people, tack etc - weighed in at 15% overweight. Strictly speaking, that means a fine of up to £5k plus a court apperance. Thankfully the VOSA man understood that I was totally innocent and not deliberately breaking the law. He allowed me to take the horses home and return to be re weighed, as long as it was under I was OK. So...did what he said, returned and was re weighed OK, no fine or court

A very scary afternoon, and after I was given the all clear he told me that they pulled every 3.5ton lorry they saw, they are easy prey and let them reach their targets.

If you can find a lorry which you believe allows you to take two legally plus living, then great, but please get it properly checked so you don't end up being terrified like me!

 

[Mike007]

That has to be the strangest definition of "inocent" I have ever heard.

 

[tractor]

Ok, how about ignorant?! There was no intent, I was just too trusting of the lorry I was sold "to take 2x 16.2hh" - the point I was trying to make, beside that of me being a muppett, was that you will be caught if your lorry is overweight and the consequences are potentially not very nice.

Despite being a muppet, I learnt from my ignorance, didn't travel two again and sold the lorry with full disclosure that it was overweight.

 

[Mike007]

Well you certainly arent alone on this one. I took a whitaker 7.5 tonner in to be tested and it had a payload of 500kg

 

[cptrayes]

We have a mercedes 3.5ton box able of taking two 17.2hh's and it has a living of sink, hob, fridge, seat and mattess over the luton, just recently been weighed fully loaded at 3.4ton so it is possible

Obviously in spite of people saying it can't be done, if you took it to a proper weighbridge, it can be done. I am tempted buy a small box myself, can you tell us how many passengers of what sort of size were in it when it was weighed - people, not horses because if you put my OH in it as well, you'd go over unless you made him strip first . Also were you carrying water, and how much? 10 gallons of water weighs the best part of 50kg And did you manage a porta-potti, cos at my age I couldn't go anywhere without one

 

[tractor]

Meep!

It is scary how low the payload on some lorries is.

 

[onemoretime]

Well you certainly arent alone on this one. I took a whitaker 7.5 tonner in to be tested and it had a payload of 500kg

That's one horses weight isn't it!!!

 

[perfect11s]

Well you certainly arent alone on this one. I took a whitaker 7.5 tonner in to be tested and it had a payload of 500kg

a motor trader friend had a one on a 2000 eurocargo yes I took it and some customers to the local webridge to see if it was going to take there two 16.2 eventers... um we were nearly over with 4 people on board !!! It ended up re chassised on a 10 toner ..... the previous owner had been carrying 2 regulaly!!!!

 

[Vicki1986]

3.5ton lorries are for 1 horse or ponies.

i have a chaigley weekender, i have just over 1 tonne payload, i do not have kitchen etc living as i didnt want the weight.

you are unlikely to find a 3.5ton to take two large horses, even with 1.4 payload, by the time you had full living in there, a driver, passengers, tack and gear (do not underestimate this weight) water and supplies, diesel, you'd be hard pushed to make the weight.

 

[kezimac]

some of you people need to do some research before making such assumptions! for you are, im afraid, incorrect.

ive just had a 3.5 purpose built to sleep 2 and carry 2 x 17handers, comfortably and spaciously. before anyone starts about weights or safety, its got almost 1.4 payload, plenty of height and its aluminium build with a reinforced bulkhead front and back and seperate (tiny) living.
ill be towing a lockable trailer for away shows when i need to carry more gear to ensure im not overweight.

ive had my horses weighed so i know exactly what they weigh. my biggest for example is a 17h KWPN med weight, shes 620kg. my 2 others are 500 and 510.

It CAN be done! BUT you need some one used to doing such conversions and have to accept a pretty spray job may not be possible due to the fact that the sides are ali plate not the standard stuff, which lessens weight considerably!

it is stable, tough, reinforced and virtually no sway / roll.
has fans, temp sensors and all the latest gizmos for horse comfort.
oh, and its defra approved!
speak to this guy. http://www.thoroughbredhorseboxes.co.uk/

so, anyone wana come for a look??!

and your 1.4t payload includes you, your tack, your fuel, any water....etc..etc... cant see how two 620kg horses (1.24 tonnes) can leave you with enough weight - only 160kg left for diesel, water and driver plus passenger and tack?

 

[*hic*]

a motor trader friend had a one on a 2000 eurocargo yes I took it and some customers to the local webridge to see if it was going to take there two 16.2 eventers... um we were nearly over with 4 people on board !!! It ended up re chassised on a 10 toner ..... the previous owner had been carrying 2 regulaly!!!!

I went to a weekend clinic recently. Also there was a young pro with her sponsor's 7.5 tonner and three horses - all with eventing kit for the weekend - a driver and a groom. On the way over, out of interest, they went on a weighbridge. The thing weighed in at just shy of 10.5 tonnes.

I'm on the lookout for a nice DAF 45 10 or 12 tonne chassis for mine so I don't have to worry about how kit I've got hoarded on board.

 

[lauraandjack]

Wow! This topic always seems to bring out people's teeth!

I think a lot of the 3.5t-horseboxes-are-the-spawn-of-the-devil evangelists might be shocked to find out how much a lot of bigger lorries weigh unladen, especially the older ones. Most horsebox chassis have had a past life as a delivery lorry or similar, basically a cab with a metal box on the back, and don't weigh a lot when unladen.

However, replace that with a horse container with reinforced floor, partitions etc (and especially in the older ones where nothing is lightweight.......you ever tried moving a partition?), living with mattress, cupboards etc, I think you will find that many don't have half as much payload as people expect.

I love my 3.5t, but I think if you are a serious competitor and want living etc, or to carry 2 horses and a lot of kit, you either need a bigger lorry or an Equi-Trek trailer (although they are in a whole new scary category with regard to towing vehicle - they look bloomin' heavy to me!)