Is it possible to buy a reliable 3.5 tonne lorry for £3000?

_MizElz_

_MizElz_

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I've been toying with the idea of selling my trailer (3 year old Ifor HB505) and getting a little lorry. Mum currently tows me everywhere, but she really hates towing on motorways, which will restrict us if we start wanting to compete further afield. I am also unable to tow myself, so am not able to join a riding club or anything as I have no transport when Mum is at work.

However, my OH is convinced that there is no way I could buy a reliable and sound lorry for the money I'd get for the trailer - he says I'd need to spend upwards of £6k to get something decent. Is this the case, do you think? A glance at some ads on H&H and Horsemart etc has shown that there are plenty of boxes around at that price, but would I be buying a pig in a poke? I'd want something that is mechanically sound and decently built - it would need to have some living space (at the front rather than the back of the lorry), and it would need to be able to be driven on a car licence. Am I deluding myself? I'd be really interested to hear from anyone who has bought a cheaper box, and/or changed from trailer to horsebox.

On the other hand, does anyone have any experience of renting a lorry for long journeys? Because I guess that would be the other option - if we had to go somewhere which did involve motorways/long journeys, we could just rent a lorry for the weekend...

All thoughts welcome! :)
 
Good luck. I tried this last year. I wanted a 3.5 ton lorry. I only want to move one horse, so I was not worried about the weight. I saw a lot of lorries and I have to say I came to the conclusion that I did not have enough money to spend. I was thinking of about £5k. I saw; scruffy, rusty, bad floors, heavy ramps. They drove really badly.

In the end I bought a newer trailer.
 
I bought a reliable sound lorry for under £2K. However it looked pretty awful and it was old, although had only 65K horsebox only mileage on it. It only had a rear load/unload, it had a space that could be used for living but was actually not separated from the horses. Most people wouldn't touch it with a bargepole because of the way it looked. I found it extremely useful and all the horses and ponies travelled well in it.

I have also hired a Theault on several occasions. Totally different kettle of fish, very like a car in the cab (my own was basic to say the least), no living but fairly sanitised storage area, side load / unload horses travelled rear facing. None of my horses ever travelled as well in it as they did in my ancient Tranny.

Provided you book well in advance and aren't out every weekend then I'd have thought hiring a decent modern one would be a good solution.
 
Flo_Bell said:
How about looking into doing your towing test?
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I'd not be confident enough to tow, and anyway, that would only solve part of the problem. The main issue is the travelling further afield - Ellie travels much better in a lorry than a trailer anyway, so even if we cant afford it now, we'd look to save up for a lorry in the future. Besides, I'm not a good enough driver to tow :o

tracey01 - thank you for your post; it is as I had feared then! :( Looks like I might be hanging on to my trailer for a couple of years yet then!
 
We brought an old one for 3.5k.

However it had a mouldy floor and we had to pay £800 to get a new one. Every one of the tyres needed replacing, it needed a new ramp. The speedo wouldn't work and the electrics were a bit dodgy to say the least. The exhaust fell off it along the motorway with 3 horses up. The gearbox had to be replaced..
Good points were that the chassis was not rusting underneath the box. Most older boxes especially ford transits rust right under the chassis and they fail the MOT or are just scraping through MOT hence being sold cheap. We saw several beautiful small horseboxes for under 5k but when the mechanic climbed under them... They were rusty underneath and would have only lasted a year.

Ours lasted 3 years so it did the job for a while but it wasn't terribly reliable and a lot was spent on it to keep it on the road. I wouldn't buy a cheap box again I'm afraid I agree with your bf.

Also I would be very wary of a 3.5 tonner with space for 2 16hh horses AND living coming under weight... Ours had no living or fancy stuff inside, it was a VWLT35 and it had a cut through cab and all the space in the back was just for the horses. With 2 horses up and tack it only very just came in under weight.
 
Agree with jemima. With the cost it took us to pay for the old lorry and keep it on the road it would have been cheaper to hire a nice new one twice a month. That's what we do now although we hire it off a friend. It works out much less and we have a nice new and safe box to drive around in and we don't have to worry about the maintenance :)
 
Thank you very much for the replies - much appreciated!

Looks like the hiring option would be a good one then! The trailer is fine for local stuff, but I've been looking at shows at Cricklands for example, which would be a 2hr journey on the motorway in a trailer....a no go, really. Hiring a box would be perfect, and I guess when you taking into account the £££s you'd pay for tax, insurance, servicing and maintenance, it makes the hiring option look very attractive just for the odd occasion!

Roughly how much notice do you tend to have to give hire companies prior to renting a box? :)
 
I have an old "E" reg LT35 with a G&C Smith coachbuilt body on and it is wonderful. Yes the ramp takes 2 people (or one strong man!) and its not the fastest thing in the world but is very solid and reliable. It had been barn stored and well maintained, the body is aluminium and there is a little rust on the cab over the wheel arch but nothing of concern. Everything travels really well in it and it is cheap to run and insure. I bought it four years ago for £4k so I would say yes, you can find something but be prepared to wait as it took me 4 months to find this one and I saw a lot of rubbish before and if you find a good one make a very quick decision or you will loose it. Good Luck
 
_MizElz_ said:
I'd not be confident enough to tow, and anyway, that would only solve part of the problem. The main issue is the travelling further afield - Ellie travels much better in a lorry than a trailer anyway, so even if we cant afford it now, we'd look to save up for a lorry in the future. Besides, I'm not a good enough driver to tow :o
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That's why you do the training bit first to learn how to do it!! :D

But fair dos if your girly travels better in a lorry x
 
We bought an A reg Bedford CF350 box for under £2.5k four, nearly five years ago. All I could afford at the time.
She's not the most glamorous box - has a few rusty bits, she only trundles along - top speed downhill with a following wind might push 50mph lol. She's heavy so is definitely a one small horse only box. No power steering and only four gears so not as easy as some to drive

But

She is amazingly reliable - only work we've had done in all that time was a clutch repair, some cables replaced and a weld to the exhaust, She's flown through the MOT every single year. I have a very small but well equipped living & changing area with hob, grill, sink and water heater, hanging rails, mirror, cupboard, luton to sit or kip on.
The horse area has four windows and vents so it's lovely and airy. The floor will need some attention reasonably soon as the granular stuff is crumbling in the spot my horse always stands on. Ramp I can do myself.

I looked at changing her last year and I couldn't find anything even close to being as good as she is, so she's staying until I need to but a 7.5 tonne box as the youngster grows up.

There are some bargains out there if you can look beyond cosmetics
 
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