Horse Box Rookie

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myheartinahoofbeat

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I have recently bought a new horse and we have come to the decision that we now need to buy a lorry as our two horses will be rather a tight squeeze in the Equitrek. Never had a lorry before. I am on an old licence so can drive one upto 7.5 t. We will be buying second hand. Don't need much living as very unlikely to do a stay away show. Any tips, do's and don'ts? TIA
 
You might find a 4.5 or 5 ton lorry would be better as it is likely to be cheaper to run. Interestingly a lot of 7.5 ton lorries do not have much of a payload.

Second what nm above says but also check the floor is sound (get underneath the lorry or lift the floor mats if possible). Also check that you can lift the ramp on your own even if the lorry is on a slope. Get a potential purchase to a weighbridge to check that it has enough payload - even if the seller has a certificate as it could have been taken with pretty much everything striped out of the lorry (not unheard of). Remember that it is not just the weight of the horses but fuel, water, equipment, people, etc that you need to cater for.

Check the tyres and how old they are.

A high mileage on a well maintained lorry would not worry me.
 
From my experience, Horse boxes are great as long as they are used (very) regularly.

If you're not going to be using it at least weekly, would it be possible to upgrade to a larger towcar and trailer combination?
 
Work out the weights you are carrying well before you go buying. 2 horses + kit+passengers+ tanks + etc. You will be astonished by how many vendors have no idea of the payload of their truck and will happily tell you it will carry 3 horses simply because there are 3 stalls on it.

Utter nonsense. HGV check is well worth it, but in my case I still had a problem because although the chassis and engine was great the annoying article leaked like a sieve through the top and cost a lot of money to replace entire roof and the water had seeped into a corner of the floor.
 
All of the above plus a tilt cab.
Do you have somewhere to store it?
Pur wagon mechanic sees so many issues caused lorries being left parked on grass/soil over winter and moisture getting in from beneath.
 
BigRedDog said:
Make sure you know the payload you will need to transport your 2 horses and get evidence (weighbridge certificate) that demonstrates the payload of any lorry you look at.
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I wouldn't trust a payload cert from the seller - they may have taken it with fumes in the tank and stripped out partitions etc.

You need to take it yourself with 1/2 tank fuel minimum, preferably the water you would carry and gas tanks if you use them. Then you'll have an idea how much horse and human weight, and tack, you can carry.
 
Having had two nigh on 17hhers in an Equitrek I don't think you would necessarily get loads more room in a lorry unless you find the right one. I travelled my boy (he was the smaller of the two mentioned above, 16.3hh, 6'9"rugs 630kg - the other was 17hh, 7ft rugs, 660kg) on a friend's herringbone lorry and he seemed much more cramped on it than in my other friend's Equitrek. Both boys also fitted well on my 510 although getting the first one off could be tricky as he struggled to turn in time. He'd usually just walk off the side of the ramp.

If they're big enough to need bigger than an Equitrek, you definitely need at least a herringbone without tack lockers that encroach into the horse area but a front or rear facing lorry would probably give you the length needed for big horses rather than a herringbone. I agree with others that maybe a 4.5 or 5T would suit your needs better, especially if you don't need living. 4.5T might be push depending on their weight but if you just have a basic storage area rather than living you might get away with it.
 
Annagain said:
Having had two nigh on 17hhers in an Equitrek I don't think you would necessarily get loads more room in a lorry unless you find the right one. I travelled my boy (he was the smaller of the two mentioned above, 16.3hh, 6'9"rugs 630kg - the other was 17hh, 7ft rugs, 660kg) on a friend's herringbone lorry and he seemed much more cramped on it than in my other friend's Equitrek. Both boys also fitted well on my 510 although getting the first one off could be tricky as he struggled to turn in time. He'd usually just walk off the side of the ramp.

If they're big enough to need bigger than an Equitrek, you definitely need at least a herringbone without tack lockers that encroach into the horse area but a front or rear facing lorry would probably give you the length needed for big horses rather than a herringbone. I agree with others that maybe a 4.5 or 5T would suit your needs better, especially if you don't need living. 4.5T might be push depending on their weight but if you just have a basic storage area rather than living you might get away with it.
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Thanks thats really helpful. Maybe I should try them in the Equitrek a few more times. As you say, I don't want to get a lorry and then find I'm no better off! Perhaps I need a good ole old fashioned hunting lorry
 
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