cp1980
Well-Known Member
Having an interest in horses and a background in engineering I have a bit of a trainspotter obsession with horseboxes. Anyway, whilst doing a bit of "trainspotting" I have noticed that trailers on the continent are often lighter than the ones in the UK.
Indeed, if you go on the Ifor Williams french website (I am that sad), their French model versions are much lighter and have lower capacities than UK versions - although they do seem pretty much the same and, to be honest, are expected to do the same job. The old French IW website even had a photo of an old VW Beetle towing a horse trailer!
I had a chat once with a bloke from Ifor Williams and he said that towing rules are much stricter on the continent and that the weights you can tow tend to be quite low.
So, for single horse trailers there are several trailers on the market that are quite lightweight and some of them look quite smart:
This one has a monocoque body made out of a fibreglass composite and, even with four wheels, has an empty wight of about 500 kgs. With a 550 kg horse and 50 kg food and water, the loaded box could be towed by a medium sized family car, such as in this photo.
Given the liklihood that green taxes will be introduced by a Conservative government, reducing the economic viability of running 4x4s etc, could these lightweight trailers find a market here in the UK?
Personally, I think many would be worried about safety as they do look narrow and a family car won't offer the oomph of a 4x4. However, given that these seem to be accepted on the continent and that modern cars are much chunkier and stronger than those build ten years ago, these fears could be well mitigated.
Ultimately, economic and political factors will push people into abondoning large cars and 4x4s and many will have no alternative but to move their horses around in lightweight combinations such as this.
In a generation, heavy cars may not be availible.
Indeed, if you go on the Ifor Williams french website (I am that sad), their French model versions are much lighter and have lower capacities than UK versions - although they do seem pretty much the same and, to be honest, are expected to do the same job. The old French IW website even had a photo of an old VW Beetle towing a horse trailer!
I had a chat once with a bloke from Ifor Williams and he said that towing rules are much stricter on the continent and that the weights you can tow tend to be quite low.
So, for single horse trailers there are several trailers on the market that are quite lightweight and some of them look quite smart:
This one has a monocoque body made out of a fibreglass composite and, even with four wheels, has an empty wight of about 500 kgs. With a 550 kg horse and 50 kg food and water, the loaded box could be towed by a medium sized family car, such as in this photo.
Given the liklihood that green taxes will be introduced by a Conservative government, reducing the economic viability of running 4x4s etc, could these lightweight trailers find a market here in the UK?
Personally, I think many would be worried about safety as they do look narrow and a family car won't offer the oomph of a 4x4. However, given that these seem to be accepted on the continent and that modern cars are much chunkier and stronger than those build ten years ago, these fears could be well mitigated.
Ultimately, economic and political factors will push people into abondoning large cars and 4x4s and many will have no alternative but to move their horses around in lightweight combinations such as this.
In a generation, heavy cars may not be availible.
