Horsebox Conversions- advice & recommendations needed

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millitiger

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So... as it looks like my monster 18hh 5yro is not being sold anymore, I need to buy him a horsebox as he doesn't fit in a trailer.

Looking into possibly getting a lorry and getting the conversion done myself as I need a box with specific dimensions in the horse area (extra head height and no tack lockers otherwise he can't fit in).

Firstly, is this a good idea?? It sounds like a big task to manage and get right and make sure the money is well spent.

Secondly, does anyone know any good horsebox builders/converters in or around the West Midlands?
Not looking for the uber expensive £20k converters thank you, as it will just cause me to turn green with envy; my budget doesn't stretch that far!

Thirdly, any tips or advise very welcome :) :)

Anything you have in your lorry which is really useful, or more importantly, anything you would change if you could??

Planning to get the living left unfurnished to start with as otherwise I don't think my cashflow will hold up so need the box actually building, the horse area to be finished totally and the paint job done.

I have already done a little bit of research and decided a Leyland is a good bet for reliability and that it must be kept as a tilt cab during the conversion so we can get to the engine in the future.

Any info gratefully received, I would offer Minstrels but have eaten them all during this post!
 
We did 3 years ago what you are thinking of doing. We found a company called Beston fabrications who found us a suitable lorry (an old TNT truck) this cost £2500 then the horse area cost about £4000. Our living is still empty, like you our budget doesn't stretch that far. The only thing is Beston Fabrications is near Hull and I expect that is too far for you. However I hope this gives you an idea of price.
One piece of advice I would give that we were told is that not all lorries can be converted so it's best to get an expert to find one for you.
Hope this helps
Good luck. :D
 
Its worth spending a bit extra to get a good chassis - at the end of the day this can save you a lot of money in repairs
 
we have just had one done. my horse is 17.1hh so wanted it spacious and light and airy. As you said we have no tack locker in horse area (built into living). also had as many windows put in horse area as possibly to make it light and also let more air in. I would recommend plenty of skirt lockers so you dnt have to have your dirty stuff in the living. We have had it built on a MAN (as recommend by many knowledgable people)
 
emski- £4k sounds very good for the conversion. I was going to budget about £6k so sounds like I should be ok.
I have just looked at Beston's website and they look really good so even more promising if they can do it for that price.

What age lorry did you get for £2.5k?

My friend's boyfriend is a horsebox mechanic so I was going to get him to vet the lorry for me (after getting the spec we need from the box builder).

Vrin- I was planning to get a 51/52 plate I think. I have been told mileage is less important than getting the service history and maintenance slips etc and to expect the lorries to have quite high mileage.

Charlotte- thank you. I hadn't even thought of skirt lockers, I was just going to put everything in the living.
I want to have windows all the way along the horse area- do you have lights in the horse area too?
 
Don't know if its any help but a friend of mine did her living by buying a very new caravan that had been written off in an accident (outside damage) & putting the living into her box - it was stunning & very cheap to do xx
 
tinap555 said:
Don't know if its any help but a friend of mine did her living by buying a very new caravan that had been written off in an accident (outside damage) & putting the living into her box - it was stunning & very cheap to do xx
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thanks for this.

I am going to look into this when I have enough money to do the living as have heard of a few people doing this as it is cheap and lightweight- good to hear from another person that it is a success! :)
 
She had actually bought a tatty lorry, did the living & resprayed the outside - when the daughter packed in riding they sold the lorry for almost twice as much as they had paid! Made a very tidy profit!! xx
 
we converted one wagon on a DAF --left the living for a while as of budget and got horse area to how we wanted it no internal lockers so horses had more room had skirts instead

eventually did up living from a caravan bought cheaply off ebay

if i was to be totally honest by the time we had finished everything (fitting out,electrics,gas,spray,lockers,gates,windows,ramp,grooms door and labour etc,etc..) it cost more than it would of to buy one already kitted out for the job---but on the other hand we got a wagon done to how we wanted
 
horsedreams said:
we converted one wagon on a DAF --left the living for a while as of budget and got horse area to how we wanted it no internal lockers so horses had more room had skirts instead

eventually did up living from a caravan bought cheaply off ebay

if i was to be totally honest by the time we had finished everything (fitting out,electrics,gas,spray,lockers,gates,windows,ramp,grooms door and labour etc,etc..) it cost more than it would of to buy one already kitted out for the job---but on the other hand we got a wagon done to how we wanted
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Thank you for that :)

I have looked at a lot of lorries and to get a horsebox already done, on a 51/52 plate, done nicely but with no frills is £12-15k.

I would be looking to spend between £8-10k all in, and for the money I could buy something from an M reg to an R reg from what I have seen?

Am I looking in the wrong places??
 
millitiger said:
Thank you for that :)

I have looked at a lot of lorries and to get a horsebox already done, on a 51/52 plate, done nicely but with no frills is £12-15k.

I would be looking to spend between £8-10k all in, and for the money I could buy something from an M reg to an R reg from what I have seen?

Am I looking in the wrong places??
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i wouldn't say youre looking in the wrong places --its when i sat down and added everything up from buying the wagon to the finished product (which took me nearly 2years) it was way over that i would now spend to buy one already done but as i said before i got a wagon that was to how i wanted it

it was the labour cost that bumped things up

what i would do is ring around a few companies to get quotes for a conversion and seal a price youre happy with before work goes ahead as when we did ours there just seemed to be extra's needed (that was not discussed or thought of at the time) in the original price quoted --my own fault for not stressing out that ££££ was the budget and no extra
 
I have one with no tack lockers in the horse area, instead the living is lifted up and the entire area underneath is cut through = loads of storage. I also have skirt lockers too. One thing I would not be without is my horsewash. I think it would be worth talking to some smaller companies who do one box at a time as they're more likely to be able to work to your budget and be a bit more bespoke. I got mine done by Galaxy Horseboxes who were great. Other advantage of the lifted living is that I don't need a rug rack in the horse bit so it's much lighter and has better air flow.
 
horsedreams said:
i wouldn't say youre looking in the wrong places --its when i sat down and added everything up from buying the wagon to the finished product (which took me nearly 2years) it was way over that i would now spend to buy one already done but as i said before i got a wagon that was to how i wanted it

it was the labour cost that bumped things up

what i would do is ring around a few companies to get quotes for a conversion and seal a price youre happy with before work goes ahead as when we did ours there just seemed to be extra's needed (that was not discussed or thought of at the time) in the original price quoted --my own fault for not stressing out that ££££ was the budget and no extra
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Definitely planning to do lots of research and ringing around, visiting references to see past lorries they have done etc etc- I don't need the horsebox until next spring so planning to spend from now until Nov-Dec checking and rechecking lorries and builders :)

SpottedCat said:
I have one with no tack lockers in the horse area, instead the living is lifted up and the entire area underneath is cut through = loads of storage. I also have skirt lockers too. One thing I would not be without is my horsewash. I think it would be worth talking to some smaller companies who do one box at a time as they're more likely to be able to work to your budget and be a bit more bespoke. I got mine done by Galaxy Horseboxes who were great. Other advantage of the lifted living is that I don't need a rug rack in the horse bit so it's much lighter and has better air flow.
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Thank you SC- I have already looked at Galaxy and they look quite good so are on my list to call :)

Horsewash is a very good idea, particularly with an 18hh horse as I don't fancy having to wash his huge mass down with a bucket and sponge :)

Do you use the storage under the living for hay/water etc? And I suppose buckets and rugs etc as well (just thinking it may not be that easy to access all of the space under there?)

Do you have the tack locker in the living or were you able to get it to fit somewhere else?

Thanks all :)
 
The customer service from Galaxy was second to none - I had a text or email with pics every week showing me progress on the build. Don't put water under living as there is a tank which serves the horsewash and shower, and buckets go in the locker which houses the horsewash. There is space for horsehage under living but prob not normal bales of hay. I put rugs, grooming kit, mucking out stuff there and can access it all as there are doors on both sides, one of which doubles up as a tack locker.
 
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