Horse Lorry Boxes.....

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Gucci_b

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side ramp or rear ramp!! your thoughts pls
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Personally prefer rear ramp, especially on an older lorry, as I was told once that having the ramp on the side can affect the weight distribution and over time affect the suspension? I was also told a horrible story about a lorry that had only a side ramp and jockey door on same side, and tipped over on the motorway in an accident, and they couldn't get into it.
Having said that I woudl imagine if we are talking fairly modern, well built lorries, it sholudn't make much difference in terms of weight distribution etc.
 
rear imho, the box is more stable (heavy ramp centred at the back, not to one side), and if the something awful happens and the box falls over sideways, you can still get the ramp down and the horses out...
only exception is small 2-horse lorries with very low centre of gravity, i think, but for 3-horse upwards, i would always go for rear ramp.
 
most of the new easy to drive up to 6 1/2 tonne lady boxes (i call them) are side loading ramp!! anyone got one!! I guess pro's & con's with all horse boxes. but any info on above would be gr8 . Also with a trailer and you only load one horse you pop the horse to the right hand side, so how come the side loading ramps on the lorry box are on the left?? or am i being a bit derrrrr :} Also with a side loader the ramp seems not so steep!!
 
If a lorry is built correctly the ramp on the one side will be heavier than the other side therefore effecting the handluing characteristics of the vehicle. To counteract this the other side of the vehicle has to be weighted thus loosing valuable payload. In the case of vehicles which are converted to horseboxes (using existing container) they will not even bother to counter weight the others side of the vehicle so one ends up with a vehicle that does not behave as it should especially in emergency situations.

Rear ramps are always better as with a correctly built side ramp they are counterweighed which ends up with loosing valuable pay load because of the counterweight.
 
I believe the reason ramps are to the left, is to allow you potentially unload onto a verge when hunting, it's an old fashioned idea I know. Ifor Williams now give you the option to have the front ramp to the right or left.
 
Another vote for rear - for above mentioned reasons, I know somone who went off the road into a ditc (lorry hit drivers side) in a 3.5t lorry and the horses were stuck for nearly 2 hrs before firebrigade could cut the back off - luckily no life threatening injuries but could have been alot worse - our main reason is OH's mare will only travel herringbone
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Now some good points for side ramps! Some horses travel better facing forward or backward, a long horse can feel quite cramped on the diaganal. You can position the horses nearer the front of the lorry, therefore getting the weight between the axles rather than over the back. I have a 13' ali body on my lorry, full width side and rear ramps. The right hand side (without the ramp) is steel uprights, ali plate, ply lined. The ramp is steel uprights, ali plate, carpety stuff, the only extra weight would be the springs and fasteners. Plus if only one horse travels its on the right, if two, the heavier on the right.
 
Personally I would never travel a horse herringbone. I don't care how many pro riders travel herrngbone so they can fit lots of horses in 1 box - I hate it.As cris points out above, big horses may not have enough room to stand with their neck and backs in a natural relaxed position - many have to stand all hunched in the back with a high head carriage. All the prof horse transporters I have used have travelled the horses front to back, or back to front. So either a 2 horse box with a side ramp for me, or if getting a professional transporter - one of the big boxes that have side ramps.

I have used a small 2 horse box for 1 large horse and I found it handled very well. When I buy a box it will be a 5/6.5 ton but designed for 2 big horses with minimal living.
 
I have a 6.5T lorry with a rear ramp.
The company usually build side ramps because their usual lorries have a low centre of graivity and research has shown that horses prefer to travel backwards. I specifically wanted a rear ramp in order to transport 3 ponies.
I'm not sure how to post a picture so I'm not sure if this will work.................
[image]http://www.charltonhorseboxes.co.uk/page7.htm[/image]
 
A rear ramp means that 3 stalls can be fitted in, however, this does not mean that 3 horses plus thier kit will be within the payload for a 7.5 tonner, esp if a full lviing is included.

We have a 7.5 tonne side loader as out largest horse was not comfortable herringbone, however we adjusted the partition, In our older lorry ( 4 horse hunting box) he was fine facing backwards, and ahd been fine facing forwards in the biggest Ifor Willliams trailer.
The weight of the ramp and springs is offset by the water tank and the underbody mounted spare wheel being on the off side. We also put the largest heaviest horse on the off side when taking two out.

Not popular with lorry parking stewards, but the layout is best for us. .
 
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