Is running a jeep and trailer cheaper than buying and running a horsebox?

A small horse box is loads cheaper.
Our car is £400 odd in road tax a year and its about £120 to fill up with diesel.

It will be loads cheaper to run a small lorry and a little car. We're looking into one of those van conversion ones so I can drive easily on my license.
 
I think it depends on the size of your horse(s) and how often you use for towing and everyday driving. I have ended up with a cheap runaround car for everyday and an old Discovery and trailer for competitions etc.

My horse is 16.3hh so wont fit in the small lorries comfortably - I have a IW510 which means that I can also take a friend and share deisel. I had teenage sons learning to drive so a Discovery is not practical for them!! Luckily my Discovery has been very reliable and essential for the last 2 winters in the snow and my runaround car is very economical. I don't think that there is an easy answer but your situation can guide you.
 
As long as the 4x4 isn't the usual runabout i think yes its alot cheaper - but then if you are going out nearly every weekend all season it prob works out ok to get a lorry as you are getting the use out of it after having to tax test and run (mpg better in lorry that some 4x4!)
 
cavalo branco said:
I think it depends on the size of your horse(s) and how often you use for towing and everyday driving. I have ended up with a cheap runaround car for everyday and an old Discovery and trailer for competitions etc.

My horse is 16.3hh so wont fit in the small lorries comfortably - I have a IW510 which means that I can also take a friend and share deisel. I had teenage sons learning to drive so a Discovery is not practical for them!! Luckily my Discovery has been very reliable and essential for the last 2 winters in the snow and my runaround car is very economical. I don't think that there is an easy answer but your situation can guide you.
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Hi,

You said you have a 4x4 and a runaround, do you not find your insurance really expensive on 2 cars? I did a few quotes today for a 4x4 stating that I own another car and they were coming out at £1600-3000!!

Thanks,

Carla
 
Really appreciate all the replies everyone, it has helped me enormously to figure out what to do.

I think having a runaround and a jeep is out of the question as insurance on the second vehicle is way too expensive for me.

I think my best option is to buy a decent used box lorry e.g TNT/HDNL on a 51 or 52 plate and then save up to convert it bit by bit and do some DIY to keep the costs down. That way even if it takes a couple of years to complete it will still be of a young age, have low mileage and I know it will have a decent chassis and be how I want it to be inside.

You can get lorries for £3000+ so I would prefer to spend money on an empty 52 plate than a D reg that costs loads in repairs and maintenance.

Does anyone know or have any advice on converting a box or know any good websites that do kits/conversions?

Thanks again for all the advice, it has helped me get to my decision (hopefully it will be the right one!!)
 
Corker said:
Really appreciate all the replies everyone, it has helped me enormously to figure out what to do.

I think having a runaround and a jeep is out of the question as insurance on the second vehicle is way too expensive for me.

I think my best option is to buy a decent used box lorry e.g TNT/HDNL on a 51 or 52 plate and then save up to convert it bit by bit and do some DIY to keep the costs down. That way even if it takes a couple of years to complete it will still be of a young age, have low mileage and I know it will have a decent chassis and be how I want it to be inside.

You can get lorries for £3000+ so I would prefer to spend money on an empty 52 plate than a D reg that costs loads in repairs and maintenance.

Does anyone know or have any advice on converting a box or know any good websites that do kits/conversions?

Thanks again for all the advice, it has helped me get to my decision (hopefully it will be the right one!!)
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www.hartwood-elite.co.uk for parts and be carefull with ex parcel vans!!! most are hammered, and not full 8ft width... I built mine on a ex sleepmaster beds Merc so its a quality make and not done heavy work ... make sure the box is good!! look for spiders web/ cracks in the gel coat caused by load shifting because once the gel coat is dammaged water gets in and rots the core... budget about £5k for the ramp, horse area,grooms doors and the windows.. hope that helps...
 
I too find it cheaper to run around in a small car and keep the Horsebox .... I don't do masses of miles but my car is so cheap and the the Horsebox does a lot of standing around!
 
Corker said:
Really appreciate all the replies everyone, it has helped me enormously to figure out what to do.

I think having a runaround and a jeep is out of the question as insurance on the second vehicle is way too expensive for me.

I think my best option is to buy a decent used box lorry e.g TNT/HDNL on a 51 or 52 plate and then save up to convert it bit by bit and do some DIY to keep the costs down. That way even if it takes a couple of years to complete it will still be of a young age, have low mileage and I know it will have a decent chassis and be how I want it to be inside.

You can get lorries for £3000+ so I would prefer to spend money on an empty 52 plate than a D reg that costs loads in repairs and maintenance.

Does anyone know or have any advice on converting a box or know any good websites that do kits/conversions?

Thanks again for all the advice, it has helped me get to my decision (hopefully it will be the right one!!)
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Just one thing to bare in mind..... the worst thing for any lorry is to be sat around for long periods of time doing nothing. If you do a conversion over a year or two you will still need to keep the thing running or run the risk of a big mechanics bill in order to get it up and running again. These things are designed to be used regularly. If you plan to do this then of course you will have to tax, insure and plate it ...........
 
Thanks everyone for the advice on conversions.

Perfect11s - Cheers for that, i'll make sure I have a good look round and avoid the delivery lorries such as HDNL etc. My friend got a Benson for beds one from a company in Oldham and it is in mint condition.

Looking forward to saving up and starting the project now!!

Thanks to everyone u have all helped me come to my decision, had some really good advice and really appreciate it!!
 
Corker said:
Thanks everyone for the advice on conversions.

Perfect11s - Cheers for that, i'll make sure I have a good look round and avoid the delivery lorries such as HDNL etc. My friend got a Benson for beds one from a company in Oldham and it is in mint condition.

Looking forward to saving up and starting the project now!!

Thanks to everyone u have all helped me come to my decision, had some really good advice and really appreciate it!!
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other very important thing is make sure the
chassis is a long enough wheel base, some box vans are built on a short chassis so they have quite an overhang behind the wheels which is bad for a horse box as alot of the weight is carryed right at the back, idealy the center line of the rear wheel should be under the 2nd stall on a 3 horse lorry for instance so it ballances out between the front and back axle ....
 
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