Horsebox build.....our story!

[WelshD]

Yes exactly where do you stop, you could go on spending money on things forever when it comes to horses

Thankfully for my husband I stopped at a 1986 ford transit van with attached wooden shed !

 

[Farmer Chalk]

He's a lucky lucky man....
. Hopefully we meet in our next life!

 

[Landcruiser]

I have a narrow swb 7.5 leyland daf, which has a vast living and a small horse area - only big enough for 2 ponies stalled across the width. I didn't realise how narrow it was when I bought it, my 14.3 was rather restricted! I had it reconfigured so that the horse area is basically diagonal (as I only ever travel 1 horse). I end up with 2 triangular storage areas. The one on the bulkhead takes a couple of hay bales, some water containers, and my muck out gear. Next comes the diagonal horse , in what is now a wide, long, salubrious stall. Lastly I get a smaller triangular space which takes...you guessed it, a wheelbarrow, which is held in place when I shut the ramp side doors. I'm not sure I've described that clearly, wish I could draw a plan. Anyway, it works very well and can easily be changed as all partitions are moveable and ajustable length.

 

[Pen]

Absolutely love this thread. I know nothing about boxes but all this fascinating info explains to me why the luxury ones advertised in H&H cost the same as a small house plus an arm and a leg. What a worthwhile investment this venture is

 

[Farmer Chalk]

I have a narrow swb 7.5 leyland daf, which has a vast living and a small horse area - only big enough for 2 ponies stalled across the width. I didn't realise how narrow it was when I bought it, my 14.3 was rather restricted! I had it reconfigured so that the horse area is basically diagonal (as I only ever travel 1 horse). I end up with 2 triangular storage areas. The one on the bulkhead takes a couple of hay bales, some water containers, and my muck out gear. Next comes the diagonal horse , in what is now a wide, long, salubrious stall. Lastly I get a smaller triangular space which takes...you guessed it, a wheelbarrow, which is held in place when I shut the ramp side doors. I'm not sure I've described that clearly, wish I could draw a plan. Anyway, it works very well and can easily be changed as all partitions are moveable and ajustable length.

It is always a compromise but it sounds yours has worked out ideally..ours should be wider as we've gone the widest we can and not having a tack locker on the left hand side means we have don't suffer the ingress on the horse area.... Our horse is also slightly turbo mental and I didn't want him have the ability to climb up on it in his efforts to escape via the Windows....
That has left us with a problem with the tack locker, and instead we've now placed it under the RHS living area....effectively under the sink.....

We can't go full depth either because of the problems with all of the emission gubbins mounted on the lorry chassis.... Hence we are probably going to do exactly what you have done and offset the horse areas to diagonals and build a storage locker in the top right hand triangle against the separating wall...

In the perfect world we would have another 20 ft added but as you know it's never long enough!!

 

[Farmer Chalk]

Absolutely love this thread. I know nothing about boxes but all this fascinating info explains to me why the luxury ones advertised in H&H cost the same as a small house plus an arm and a leg. What a worthwhile investment this venture is

I hope so.... We have been looking for some time and looked at the major brands....some were simply stunning...and some were simply sh:te... The quality on the top ones was amazing and some were frankly appalling which is why we decided to try and source our own lorry and use professional help where necessary... It will hopefully end with us having a great box with good fittings but at a considerable saving against buying a top end box....

If anyone's thinking of doing it it's great fun and we can build absolutely everything to our specification...within reason...

Where the top end ones now score is where they build things at multi levels...I.e living is raised, the shower/bathroom is a lower level and they can then add further bedroom accommodation actually above the shower rooms... Stunning but simply stunning prices which we could never afford...

What has surprised me the most is the actual amount of work required on the chassis to get everything to fit....this is where you need to spend your planning time....it really isn't as simple as plonking a box on top.... Thankfully that's where we have been utilising the skills of professional Coachbuilders and I take my hat off to the boys at Courcheval.... It has been excellent working alongside them coming up with ideas and using their experience to know whether it would work or not!

Next is generator and aircon install before setting about and designing the interior properly!

Thanks everyone for all your help and advice...it really does help us decide what to put where and moreover consider its importance relative to the build... Thanks again....

 

[LeannePip]

Any updates OP?

This is my favorite thread!

 

[Farmer Chalk]

Yes we're still about!

The build has got to almost halfway stage...for financial reasons we had originally budgeted to do the build in two halves..the original idea was to get the outer body of the lorry built and get it to a stage where we could use it as a horse transporter.....but leave the living area...and when we could afford the next phase get the living area sorted....

Slight fly in the ointment... And it's worth highlighting to those considering the same...when speaking to the builders they highlighted that they would not be able to finish off the horse area to a good standard in the original format...the reason being that between the walls of the two areas all of the wiring and plumbing is placed and effectively hidden....
By closing this area off now half of the lorry would have to be deconstructed later to allow access to do the plumbing and wiring...

So we were left with two choices...build the lorry drive it around half built and have to take it to pieces again to finish it off or alternatively sort out the finances and carry on!

Thus we robbed the piggy banks and went and got some funding! This was no mean feat either....
Most finance houses will lend money against a completed vehicle but very few would lend against an incomplete asset.... Most will lend to a business or horse box sales team but not many will lend to a private individual.....

That was until we spoke to the brilliant people at a company called Close Asset Finance from Wimbledon who were outstanding...they came and looked at the vehicle realised its potential worth and loaned us the funds to complete the build...

So it has now entered its second phase...which is good news for you as this thread will hopefully finish sooner!

Listening to everyone's thoughts we've been busy now sorting out ordering components ready for the next part of the build...

We've ordered the additional slimline floodlight LEDs to fit on the side of the truck...we've ordered the microwave...

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We've ordered the generator....

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We've ordered the fridge, the toilet, the cooker, the aircon unit...

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And all of the components are coming together nicely.....

Hence the slight delay in build purely where we were moving onto the next phase and awaiting the arrival of all the bits...

We've even sourced the materials for the interior.... I'll post a photo tomorrow of the colour swatches but from Poland I've sourced a number of leather hides for the seats...the best description I can give you is saddle leather colour which is a Dairy Milk or tobacco coloured leather....

The sleeping pod and upper front we wanted to be light and airy and so the walls will be finished in a beige Alcantara which is a faux suede....

And all the lower panels will be finished in a gloss wood finish....

So lots of further planning.... And therefore would be very grateful,for all ideas!

 

[tul214]

I love to see other people spending money! This will be a great 'box.

My only comment would be that the living area does get dusty/dirty and the alcantara on the walls may need stain treating.

What colour are you spraying it? Expect your pride and joy to attract 'bramble rash' so it may be worth looking at a colour that will not show the scratches. From my experience light colours are best.

Mark

 

[Farmer Chalk]

Thanks..... I'm thinking of setting up a self help group.... Unfortunately my EBay account has never been busier.... The loft has had numerous visits looking for treasure to sell...unfortunately didn't find any...but have sold some heirlooms but unless it's nailed down its been sold...
Now onto thoughts of selling myself on Hampstead Heath but unfortunately at my age would only attract sympathathic bids....

Re the living area you're totally right.... I will be standing at the door with a pressure washer before they are allowed to enter! I'm only doing the upper sleeping pod area and if she goes up there with her boots on then there will be trouble... I found the Alcantara on eBay from a specialist supplier in Poland who clearly has a big contract with a vehicle manufacturer and is selling off end of rolls....it's normally sold as a roll 1.26m wide and stupidly expensive... This is 0.49m wide as an offcut and literally a tenth of the price.....hence we are going for it.....

The external colour is currently undecided....I would love it as dark metallic grey but the bramble rash where we live would be horrific....
I think it's likely to be white!

 

[tul214]

Our lorry is dark metallic grey ..........it shows everything!

White is probably the easiest, lots are doing the BMW Mini old english white but gold and silver look good too.

 

[Farmer Chalk]

That's confirmed it then....
White it is then....cheers!

 

[Slightlyconfused]

Ours is green with gold block line in each side

 

[Beausmate]

Compromise? Grey cab, white body with maybe a coach stripe or two?

 

[Darbs]

Very interesting thread, a couple of thoughts from my experience with race transporters (some of these may have been mentioned already):

• I am not sure how you are handling internal living area 240v electrics, but take the number of sockets that you think you'll need and double it! Especially as so many sockets seem to get taken up with permanently charging phones/ipads etc.
• Have an outside weatherproof flush power socket near the side access door, even if you think you may never use it, its far easier to put one in now than later.
• Reversing camera is a must.
• Have a method of stopping everything sliding about, especially internally in the cupboards and lockers. I have lost count how many times I have opened lockers and cupboards, even after a short journey, and everything has jumped out at me!
• Internal smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors.
• A waste bin built into the internal living area, a loose one just gets in the way and slides around.
• Some deflection or weather strip above the side access door so water doesn't run off the roof and drip into the living area. (Have a look what is fitted to modern caravans)
• Sink waste that has easy access to dismantle and unblock when it gets blocked up.

I am sure I'll think of some others things that I recall used to be an issue in race transporters.

Its great seeing it coming together. (See you over on DISCO4.COM)

 

[Beausmate]

With regard to the wayward cupboard contents, what do they use on boats for content containment?

 

[Darbs]

With regard to the wayward cupboard contents, what do they use on boats for content containment?

Interestingly I used to work for Sealine who made very large powerboats (Google 'Sealine T60' to see what I mean). When out at sea, the principle was to make sure there was no space around anything to allow movement to start. When things start sliding, they collect other items, hence everything leaping out at you when cupboard doors are opened.

Many cupboards had internal frames so that items like glasses fitted precisely, another useful trick is to put rubber matting on the bottom of the cupboard or locker, this is quite effective.

Generally the less room that there is inside a locker or cupboard the better.

 

[Farmer Chalk]

Darbs.... Excellent ideas and thank you so much for taking the time out to highlight them....
Re the electrics i think I'm roughly there...got probably too many if anything and had already considered the external power points....for things like shears and pumps etc etc

The idea about the bin is so so true and not one I had even considered....(hence this brilliant forum) Normally my two use the worktop as the bin....failing that the sink....if it reaches the floor then I've had a result! I'm rapidly trying to reshuffle my design to try and incorporate a built in bin..... We would have definately gone for a external bin which as you say would be rattling around and emptying even more stuff on the floor at the first bend in the road....

Again the smoke alarm and carbon monoxide alarm are so so important and again one that I had overlooked...

The main door opening I had considered but not yet actioned and the cupboards another great idea!

Thanks again everyone and keep the ideas coming! So so helpful!
Regards and best wishes FC!

 

[Carefreegirl]

We've just had the lorry resprayed and he's done the skirts in Land Rover Grey, it's flippin lovely. We have him a vague idea of colour and the paint sprayer guy chose what he wanted. Leap of faith that could of gone horrible wrong but it looks fantastic.

Very exciting for you OP :biggrin3:

Edited to add: little lorry is mainly white, looks fab when cleaned but if kept near trees (like this is) it goes green overnight !

 

[michelledud]

Thoroughly enjoying this thread, I think your lorry will look amazing!!! Just a thought regarding finances...perhaps you could list the shows and dates you are attending next year and charge HHOers to look around the finished product (promise we'll keep our boots off the suede wallpaper&#128514 😄😄😄

 

[Farmer Chalk]

Sounds interesting but it depends which boots!!

Trust me.. I should be paying you lot for all the help in building it! I'll always have the kettle permanently on.....
I'm so grateful for the ideas and experiences that have helped so much...unfortunately it is always a massive compromise trying to balance the design of the physical build with the constraints of the truck chassis and then more importantly finances....
If I had the money we would have an Oakley or an STX on the drive...we haven't so we have tried to contract out the bits we can't do and source and supply all the bits we can do.... Hopefully at the end we will have a good box that will have cost us significantly less than going to a top end builder but also have had fun designing it along the way... Also having met some lovely people like yourselves!

Hopefully we can also show just how much goes into building a box which goes to understand why they are so ridiculously expensive when bought the conventional way!

 

[Annagain]

In terms of colour, I know when a friend has hers ( a converted Warburton's bread lorry) sprayed she was advised to go with a flat, non metallic colour as they're the easiest to touch up if necessary. She went for a baby blue which is much nicer than it sounds!

 

[Darbs]

For future planning it may be worth considering running a cable from the distribution board and vehicle fuse unit towards the rear or most difficult to access area of the vehicle, and capping it off. If in the future you think of something that would be useful that also requires power at least you have a cable there ready to use, it could also be converted to be 12v ignition switched if necessary (if its rated for 240v 13A+, it will handle almost anything that the ignition or batteries can throw out). It will be a 10 minute job to do this at this stage, but a major issue to run cable when the horesbox is complete.

I guess the clever trick with designing a vehicle like this is not only getting it right for today, but also 5 years time.

At the moment I seem to have this horsebox build in my head, thinking "What would I do, what would I need and what would I really miss if I didn't have it"!!

 

[Farmer Chalk]

Excellent.... Keep it in your head as all your thoughts are being received positively...I was already thinking of how I could run almost a power ring main around the lorry for future use and your thoughts have confirmed this as a necessity!
Many thanks!

 

[Farmer Chalk]

In terms of colour, I know when a friend has hers ( a converted Warburton's bread lorry) sprayed she was advised to go with a flat, non metallic colour as they're the easiest to touch up if necessary. She went for a baby blue which is much nicer than it sounds!

It's so difficult working through colour charts....I have a race car painted in duck egg blue which is perfect for the car but not for a 12 tonne lorry.... I think I may have seen your friends truck on the circuit and that colour looked fantastic...

We are seriously also looking at sponsorship and have a couple of irons in fires at present....so it may indeed be a totally different colour to one we first envisaged! Time will tell!

 

[Bosworth]

Just a thought but instead of standard double sockets add in the ones with usb ports. I am renovating my house and ive put in 2 of these double socket/usb sockets in every room. Its brilliant. I can get rid of the USB 3 pin plug adapters and plug directly into the usb ports and still be able to have 2 double 3 pin plugs.

 

[LeannePip]

Just a thought but instead of standard double sockets add in the ones with usb ports. I am renovating my house and ive put in 2 of these double socket/usb sockets in every room. Its brilliant. I can get rid of the USB 3 pin plug adapters and plug directly into the usb ports and still be able to have 2 double 3 pin plugs.

We have these at home too and they are brilliant - saves all the plugs being used up by chargers for various things!

 

[Darbs]

Just a thought but instead of standard double sockets add in the ones with usb ports. Its brilliant. I can get rid of the USB 3 pin plug adapters and plug directly into the usb ports and still be able to have 2 double 3 pin plugs.

That's a great idea, really useful advice, not just for horseboxes! Following a new kitchen and extension we have just changed all the sockets in our house for stainless steel, now I look around and all of the spare sockets are taken up with USB charging devices plugged in!

If you go this route of intgrated USB ports in 240v sockets, I did read somewhere about making sure you buy good quality items as the internal step-down transfomers in cheap versions can fail quickly.

 

[Beausmate]

Nice yacht, Darbs. Very posh!

 

[Darbs]

Nice yacht, Darbs. Very posh!

I would like to say I owned one, but I just worked for the manufacturer. Having said that, whilst horses may be expensive, try a large powerboat. The rough rule of thumb is 10% of the boats value per year to run and operate it, one of those costs about £600,000, so it will be about £60,000 a year to run it!