Has anyone been pulled over in a 3.5t Or 7.5t horse box and been overweight?

Magicmillbrook said:
Thanks for your useful information. Can you explain why when I have my Ministry test for my 5.5t lorry there is a front and rear axle weight test, but when added together they dont seem to make any sense. I was told a year ago that my front axle is close to its limit - but no one seemed to be able to tell me what the front axle limit was. Have gone all jittery and stripped out some of the living just in case! And only carying one horse.
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The brake rollers just give the operator a rough guide of the weights so brake efficency can be calculated and the angle of the lorry isnt level like on a weighbridge so its only a guide a proper weighbridge is acurate and calibrated on a regular basis. There should be a litle paper card( ministy plate) in your cab which will say weights for= axle 1 (front)
axle2 (rear)
Gross weight The weight of the vehicle and its load
and train weight (The total with a trailer)
these are the maximum legal weights you are alowed, this may be different to manufactures design weights that maybe on a chassis plate ..
 
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perfect11s said:
The brake rollers just give the operator a rough guide of the weights so brake efficency can be calculated and the angle of the lorry isnt level like on a weighbridge so its only a guide a proper weighbridge is acurate and calibrated on a regular basis there should be a litle paper card( ministy plate) in your cab which will say weights for axle 1 (front)
axle2 (rear)
Gross weight The weight of the vehicle and its load
and train weight (The total with a trailer)
these are the maximum legal weights you are alowed, this may be different to manufactures design weights that maybe on a chassis plate ...
Click to expand...

Ahhh this makes more sense - thankyou
 
Weight limits on LGVs can be like this -

I've made this up for a 7.5 tonner

Design/Manufacturer weights -
GVW = 9750
Axle 1 = 4500
Axle 2 = 5250

VOSA plated weights - the ones that drivers go by
GVW 7500
Axle 1 = 3800
Axle 2 = 4500

OK, I know the next question ....
Why do axles 1+2 add up to more than 7500?
Answer - to allow for flexibility as to where the centre of the load is placed

dunno if that actually helps anyone but I though it might be interesting to a few
 
GeeBee's advice is great - really helpful. So I think we can gather that one horse in a 3.5t vehicle is fine - any more - unless ponies, is going to be over the limit. And as for 7.5t - don't get me started on those....Some of them have the same payload as a 3.5t but because they're bigger, people think they're ok loading them with two or more horses!
 
This is why I did my own conversion on a 5.2 ton Iveco daily 49-10, which when I put the alloy box off my old 3.5 ton LDV400 onto it, gave me a horsebox which weighs 2.9 tons empty, with a max payload of 2.1 tons, and can legally take both of my two horses, it also has disc brakes all round so it can stop very quickly. (its for sale if anyone is interested)
 
even if you aren't overweight overall, it is still possible to be overweight on a particular axle. This is why you are given the max axle weights and why they don't add up to the total max permitted to carry.

Some vehicles have been made/converted with an extra long body and no thought has been given regarding the rear axle. Even though you are carrying under the maximum, if a horse only sits over a particular axle, you could still be overweight.
 
irishdraught said:
even if you aren't overweight overall, it is still possible to be overweight on a particular axle. This is why you are given the max axle weights and why they don't add up to the total max permitted to carry.

Some vehicles have been made/converted with an extra long body and no thought has been given regarding the rear axle. Even though you are carrying under the maximum, if a horse only sits over a particular axle, you could still be overweight.
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Yes good point... and yes its worth weighing both axles as well as a total before buying a lorry
or if you already have one doing it so you know how to load it or need to alter things like where a water tank is located some older lorrys with non tilting lutons are very heavy at the front
so putting a horse in the rear stall instead of the front may be a way of balancing the load, know your weights ......
 
Fab advice on this thread. Just to add any farm store selling bulk feed or fertiliser should have a weighbridge you can use for very little cost
 
perfect11s said:
Yes good point... and yes its worth weighing both axles as well as a total before buying a lorry
or if you already have one doing it so you know how to load it or need to alter things like where a water tank is located some older lorrys with non tilting lutons are very heavy at the front
so putting a horse in the rear stall instead of the front may be a way of balancing the load, know your weights ......
Click to expand...

So if you're travelling one horse in a 7.5t that's stalled for 3 there is not necessarily a best place but it depends on your lorry.
I've been thinking about this recently as when I travel two I use the rear 2 partitions and my horse prefers the rear partition.

I wasnt sure when I travelled him alone which one was best.

From the plating certificate axle 1 has 3800 and axle 2 5250
nb It was downplated from 10t to 7.5t and in the original certificate axle 1 was the same but axle 2 was 7100
 
criso said:
So if you're travelling one horse in a 7.5t that's stalled for 3 there is not necessarily a best place but it depends on your lorry.
I've been thinking about this recently as when I travel two I use the rear 2 partitions and my horse prefers the rear partition.

I wasnt sure when I travelled him alone which one was best.

From the plating certificate axle 1 has 3800 and axle 2 5250
nb It was downplated from 10t to 7.5t and in the original certificate axle 1 was the same but axle 2 was 7100
Click to expand...
Yes depends on the lorry and its actual axle weights,
 
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