Herringbone 3.5T's....do any decent ones exist..?

[Superstar]

Firstly, when you travel a horse/pony herringbone - do they have to travel completely horizontal or can they travel at an angle as long as the partitions will fit at an angle ...? I have one very short backed 14.2 to travel and am looking for a 3.5T that is herringbone - but can only seem to find forward or rear facing types. Im worried about him jumping into the living area as have heard some horror stories about horses getting into the living etc so thought herringbone would be safer as they are locked in and cant see a gap to get through etc....but cant seem to find any decent solid lorries set up this way. When I was a kid I remember them all being set up like this but now it all seems to be forward or backwards facing...? (admittedly also when I was a kid its quite possible that I was travelling on 7.5T boxes) but dont think it would be justified travelling the one pony on a 7.5T box, plus id have to take the licence for it...?

Anyone have any safety recommendations make/model for a 3.5T to look out for - ideally I wanted a solid old fashioned type built by a coach builder etc, not held together with bits of baler twine as some i have seen for sale..!!

dairy milk bar for those that have made it this far....

Thanks

 

[lachlanandmarcus]

the definition of herringbone IS at a diagonal angle, so you would think so. But I havent seen any, which might be because of it being too complicated to get the weight distribution right (tighter with 3.5T than 7.5) or it might just be manufacturers are unimaginative.

Would think you might need rear load forward unload to get them out, which might impact on weight as opposed to the single side ramp for forward/rear facing.

If you cant find herringbone, rear facing is supposed to be better for the horses but eitherway agree proper coachbuilt with decent bulkhead structure is better.

we went for a VW LT35 but we only had a small budget.But our one at least is forward facing with side ramp :-( Would have kept our lovely 7.5T herringbone solid girl but up in the middle of the Cairngorms we couldnt find anyone to do the servicing/MOTing for it that wasnt 40 miles away.

 

[Superstar]

yes the VWLT35's do seem to be very solid. Yes maybe you are right about the weight balance over the axels for herringbone as didn't think about that..?? or maybe its the length of horse... e.g you can fit a bigger horse on if you travel them forward or rear..?

 

[Newlands]

We have a foxy twin which I can highly recommend. I travel my horse without the partition in ours which is rear facing and he usually makes himself comfortable standing as if he was in a herringbone. You can always fit an anti weave grill to prevent him from jumping over if you were worried about that, someone posted pics not long ago of the ones they had fitted. I think most makes will now (if requested) make the breast bars collapsible and the rear door extra wide if needed as an exit.

 

[Superstar]

Maybe i worry too much...

Do insurances cover to travel them without being fixed in by partitions...?

and I always worry what would happen if they decided to go for the front, I know you can re-enforce the bulkhead etc but I would always prefer a 'living' in the way of the horse driving area just incase....

But like I say - perhaps I am worry far too much. He went over a trailer breast bar recently when wound up and panicked by a loose horse outside the box and I had great difficulty getting him out...not an experience id like to repeat and maybe totally a freak accident but it made me think what could have happened if he had done that when I was on a motorway.

 

[L&M]

I had a lovely Ford Transit conversion that was coachbuilt, rather than an Ifor Williams top.

It carried 2 ponies herringbone and the partitions were adjustable, so could adjust the angle to suit the horse. I travelled a 15hh cob in perfectly comfortably, and sometimes took my sons shetland too.

It was a fab little lorry and suited my cob perfectly. The only criticism I had was that the ramp was quite steep but as a good loader, not an issue.

I now have a rear facing renault master and love it equally. My horses have never even considered jumping into the grooms section, and many new conversions now have a collapsable front bar, so even if it did happen you can release the horse easily.

I take the view that any mode of horse transport has it issues/risks - I have seen horses tryng to come through the jockey door of trailers, and also seen a horse fall under a partition in a herringbone lorry.

A lot depends on the nature of the horse and finding the mode of transport that suits them the best!