Has anyone converted a horse lorry?

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Jordyslyon

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Hi,

We're currently converting a lorry and I was hoping for some advice / opinions on a few things:

  • Rubber Matting in Horse area (floor)- is it best to go for heavy rubber mats on the floor (I was thinking about 12mm thick)?
  • Rubber Matting in Horse area (walls) - I've heard of people using 10mm EVA mats on the walls to keep the weight down. My horse does kick when travelling so I was worried that wouldnt be thick enough? We will have ply inbetween the rubber and the GRP. Any thoughts? What have other people used?
  • Can anyone recommend a good supplier?

Thanks x
 
Have done it - never again. Well not without my eyes more open :D

For the floor, the lorry I had bought has a fibreglass floor which while would've been fine, I got paranoid about so put down 12mm marine ply, then 12mm rubber on top. I did spend a fair amount of time looking at the different grips etc. as some would've been a nightmare to clean, or too slippery.

There is no point going down the EVA route if you are putting another layer of ply between the GRP and the EVA. I wish I had gone down the EVA route, but went with the cheaper stock board which is heavy and warps in the heat.

The biggest tips, for me personally, is to get a professional to put in the bulkhead for you and also to insulate the roof with 10mm polystyrene, then cover with white fibreboard (rivetted on with metal or uPVC strips) so it makes the box a bit cooler in summer. You will need to make sure there is adequate ventilation though.

I sourced most of the stuff from eBay to be honest, or local suppliers. I googled what everyone else used/avoided and went from there. Also think very carefully about storage - outside lockers are great, but the framework etc all adds weight, and depending on the size of the lorry you are converting and the amount of horses you are travelling you could get away with using storage within the living area. This is what I did, and also meant not having 5 keys and locks to match up and lock each time I moved the lorry or left it!
 
Just make quite sure that when you do your conversion you take in to account maximum axel weights and ensure that when loaded with horses etc. you do not exceed them.
 
Thanks!

Nugget, we did actually put it to a coach builder for the ramp, luton, cut through, installation of external lockers and living door etc, so that's the big bits taken care of! My OH is hoping to do most of the remainder himself.

They made partitions this week and hence, the next step would be putting in the flooring/rubber on walls. I know what you mean about being paranoid about things being strong enough etc.... easy to probably go a bit OTT!

We have 18mm ply to go on the walls and then was going to put 10mm EVA on top to protect against kicking.

For the floor, there's 12mm deck ply and was going to put 12mm heavy rubber on top.

Thanks for the advice re the insulation, will keep that in mind!
 
OWLIE185 said:
Just make quite sure that when you do your conversion you take in to account maximum axel weights and ensure that when loaded with horses etc. you do not exceed them.
Click to expand...

That's what we had in mind when we were thinking of using the EVA mats - I'm just not sure they'll be substantial enough!?
 
My first lorry was converted by a pro company for me, worse thing I did, ended up costing a fortune, I would have been much better buying one ready done but I did have the knowledge that the floor etc were new but that was about the only advantage. As for the EVA matting, they put that directly onto my walls, I said my horse could kick but he was adament it would be sufficient. Cue horse kicking leaving a perfect shoe print straight through the mat and I could see the GRP side spidered on the outside whoch kind off ruined the new paint job, so we took it to another horsebox builder who lined all the horse area with ply and put the mats on top of that just as you are planning too. I felt so much happier once that was done. My current wagon has stokboard and although it can warp, it doesnt always and luckily on mine it hasnt. I much prefer it.
 
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