Iveco 6 1/2 ton lorry.

[Ashgrove]

In here because hopefully I'll get more responses

At the moment I have a 7 1/2 ton DAF, I think he's great .

But he's a bit big and bulky for what I need, I only transport 1 horse, occasionally a Shetland sized pony also.

So I'm thinking of getting a 6 1/2 ton Iveco. It will hopefully be a lot easier to turn round when I've gone the wrong way , won't be as tall, so won't catch the wind as much, and could be used as a camper van for a weekend away every now and then

What should I ask or be aware of with these vehicles?

Anyone got one, what do you think of them?

 

[Mike007]

My experience is that parts are a lot more expensive.

 

[Ashgrove]

My experience is that parts are a lot more expensive.

Thanks for that , anyone else?

 

[FlyingCoo]

To be fair I swapped from a DAF to an Iveco and I find parts way cheaper!!must be a regional thing!!

I prefer mine than my DAF easier to drive etc.Like any lorry always check for the rusty bits and get a pre purchase check first.

To me the iveco is a better lorry but all lorries are personal preference at the end of the day as they all cost money!!

 

[Escada2004]

Good luck in finding one, ive been looking for sooooo long im in the same situation, only competing one horse now and have a 7.5t - ive spent so much money on it mechanically that half of me thinks i should keep it but the running cost i.e. fuel is a lot highter than my friends who have smaller boxes. I have a Ford Cargo 7.5t at the moment and its good, but with all Fords you have to look for rust as if they havent been looked after they are prone to rusting.

 

[Santa_Claus]

I recently brought a ford iveco daily 5.5t. It's brilliant! Great 2 horse lorry not huge good on deisel etc etc. you have to be careful about rust as fords prone to it. Mine is a 93 reg though with only a small amount of superficial rust!

You will have to search for them though as like hens teeth especially forward facing ones!

 

[DorothyJ]

Hi,

I only transport one horse (but she is 17hh and about 17m long!) and she doesn't fit well in a trailer, so I have a Mercedes 709D 6.5T. I think its great -I travel my horse comfortably, can take 2 (legally, which you can't in a 3.5T)when I need to and don't have the expense and size of a full 7.5T. My lorry is quite old, so she's no stunner but she is reliable. My Husband knows a bit about engines and when we were horsebox shopping he was keen to get a Merc as "the engines are fantastic and go on forever". Good luck looking

 

[Ashgrove]

To be fair I swapped from a DAF to an Iveco and I find parts way cheaper!!must be a regional thing!!

I prefer mine than my DAF easier to drive etc.Like any lorry always check for the rusty bits and get a pre purchase check first.

To me the iveco is a better lorry but all lorries are personal preference at the end of the day as they all cost money!!

Thanks FlyingCoo , I love my DAF but he's a big lump to keep traipsing around the country I love the amount of living he has, but I'm sure I can get used to smaller. I'm hoping a 6 1/2 ton will be nippier and faster, I'm also hoping it will use a lot less diesel!

 

[Ashgrove]

Good luck in finding one, ive been looking for sooooo long im in the same situation, only competing one horse now and have a 7.5t - ive spent so much money on it mechanically that half of me thinks i should keep it but the running cost i.e. fuel is a lot highter than my friends who have smaller boxes. I have a Ford Cargo 7.5t at the moment and its good, but with all Fords you have to look for rust as if they havent been looked after they are prone to rusting.

Thank you Escada2004 I'd heard that about Fords , I'll check any I go to view, thanks for the tip.

 

[Ashgrove]

I recently brought a ford iveco daily 5.5t. It's brilliant! Great 2 horse lorry not huge good on deisel etc etc. you have to be careful about rust as fords prone to it. Mine is a 93 reg though with only a small amount of superficial rust!

You will have to search for them though as like hens teeth especially forward facing ones!

Thank you Santa_Claus Plenty of 7 1/2 ton lorries and loads of over priced 3 1/2 tons, but not many 5 1/2 or 6 1/2 tons about. I'll keep a look out

 

[Ashgrove]

Hi,

I only transport one horse (but she is 17hh and about 17m long!) and she doesn't fit well in a trailer, so I have a Mercedes 709D 6.5T. I think its great -I travel my horse comfortably, can take 2 (legally, which you can't in a 3.5T)when I need to and don't have the expense and size of a full 7.5T. My lorry is quite old, so she's no stunner but she is reliable. My Husband knows a bit about engines and when we were horsebox shopping he was keen to get a Merc as "the engines are fantastic and go on forever". Good luck looking

Thank you DorothyJ, I'll keep an eye out for Mercedes too

 

[Mike007]

6.5 tonne iveco spares are expensive because there arnt that many. I was quoted (by a rather shocked man at the local ford dealers)£650 plus vat for a set of rear shoes for one. AND THAT WAS A TRADE PRICE!Needless to say I had the old ones relined elsewhere.

 

[Ashgrove]

6.5 tonne iveco spares are expensive because there arnt that many. I was quoted (by a rather shocked man at the local ford dealers)£650 plus vat for a set of rear shoes for one. AND THAT WAS A TRADE PRICE!Needless to say I had the old ones relined elsewhere.

*gulp*

 

[Ashgrove]

That is a really lovely lorry black_horse

Do you have any pictures of the living please, and how big is the living, what have you fitted in it?

Sorry for all the questions

 

[Santa_Claus]

ashgrove mine is the same size as BH's it has living which includes double mattress over luton, walk through to cab, bench seating, hob/grill/sink lots of cupboards and a removable table (which is easily stored above the luton). Also has a side tack locker on the drivers side which takes 2 saddles and 2 bridles. sorry but don't have any photos

actually scrap that seeing BH's mine is slightly longer as my living is far bigger!

 

[Quadro]

I have a 6.5 mercedes and we love it takes my 2 horses easily (16.2 and 17hh) and has decent living (much bigger than the one pictured above). Everyone says how the engines go on for ever and so far we have had no engine probs. Its more ecconomical than a 7.5 and its not slow either!
Q

 

[Santa_Claus]

Thats nice, where do you keep it? Is it secure? lol

Well hidden and locked

On the down points it's baby blue and may have had a close personal brief relationship with a wall about a month back so not exactly cosmetically perfect

 

[Santa_Claus]

haven't any pics (only had it couple months!) and can't find advert anymore!

Living is at least double size yours. Basically two decent kitchen cupboards at floor level and then small ones above window (ff top of my head!). Sink is on top of one floor cupboard with decent amount of spare worktop to side and then double hob above other one but all along the same piece of work top.

i would say this one would be about same size as mine

http://www.horsedeals.co.uk/horseboxes-for-sale/LOVELY-LADIES-LORRY__22-3-12-574388

 

[Ashgrove]

Thank you BH for the pictures, that is a VERY smart box.

 

[Santa_Claus]

without looking at paperwork can't remember if its 5.5 or 6.5t but the important bit is it has a safe 2.5t payload aka two horses legally AND more important Fleur happily travels in it!

 

[georgiegirl]

We went and saw a couple of iveco builds when we were looking but dismissed them - one was rusty and one smoked more than I do and had a rather damp body on the back!

In the end we went for an older P reg Peper Harow trophy twin mounted on a renault b120. Its very similar to BHs box but has a huge tack locker on the back of it and a bigger living. Carries two 17.2hh with 2.5t payload and the living has a luton, hob, sink, seats and wardrobe. It came with a huge stack of plating and service records and has been maintained with no expense spared. The peper harows are aluminium to so hardwearing. Mine is old but not a speck of rust to be seen anywhere and I really love how well thought out and safe thr design of the body is.

Might be worth having a search under the 2 stall bit on horsemart as I remember a while ago there was a peper harow on there? They are like rocking horse poop to find second hand!

That said santa clauses box would have been on my hitlist to go and view had it not been the other end of the country so sent the ad to her and very pleased she found one at last!

 

[perfect11s]

In here because hopefully I'll get more responses

At the moment I have a 7 1/2 ton DAF, I think he's great .

But he's a bit big and bulky for what I need, I only transport 1 horse, occasionally a Shetland sized pony also.

So I'm thinking of getting a 6 1/2 ton Iveco. It will hopefully be a lot easier to turn round when I've gone the wrong way , won't be as tall, so won't catch the wind as much, and could be used as a camper van for a weekend away every now and then

What should I ask or be aware of with these vehicles?

Anyone got one, what do you think of them?

I was thinking of doing the same guessing that ive got one horse and maybe give friends a lift I went out and bought a 52 reg 65c15 iveco yes it was handy sized and easy to manuver ,but then I drove my daf LF again I realised how much nicer , smoother and comfotable it was so guess what is in the yard and what is now sold !!!! I think they would be great if you live down narrow lanes
and dont go far , I drove the iveco from essex to cheshire not bad on fuel, about 5 mpg bettter at 25 mpg and it sat at a steady 56 on the limiter up and down hill, but not very nice in the cab more noise and no cruise control my advice id try before you buy !!!!!!!

 

[Santa_Claus]

That said santa clauses box would have been on my hitlist to go and view had it not been the other end of the country so sent the ad to her and very pleased she found one at last!

I was very thankful that several on here that were tempted were too far away as I did get myself a bargain I think it was destiny though as considering how rare they are in that price bracket/size/condition/forward facing etc there ended up with one 10 miles down the road from me!

 

[georgiegirl]

same here! I literally trawled the country and in the end mine turned up about 6 miles away from our yard! wierd how these things happen!

OP good luck on your search. they are out there they just take a bit of hunting for and being prepared to look at some complete sheds along your way too!

 

[3Beasties]

I'm hoping to get a 6.5ton too but they seem hard to find and I don't have a massive budget

It's my first lorry so don't want a massive one and would also rather it was cheaper to run!

Can most 6.5 ton lorries take 2 large horses legally?

 

[hollyandivy123]

black horse can i ask a couple of questions?
how big is your horse and how to do feel she rides in your lorry, OK balance round corners etc?

i have a large beast and i thought that the balance would not be to good with the center of gravity to weight with a smaller box rather than a 7.5 ton?

 

[Ashgrove]

I'm hoping to get a 6.5ton too but they seem hard to find and I don't have a massive budget

It's my first lorry so don't want a massive one and would also rather it was cheaper to run!

Can most 6.5 ton lorries take 2 large horses legally?

They will all be different, the best thing to do would be to ask the seller of any lorry you were interested in what the pay load is.

 

[strictlyhorsey]

We also have an Iveco 6 1/2 ton lorry and think it is brilliant. It carries two horses easily, has a small day living and is excellent on fuel. We keep it regularly serviced and have never been quoted unusually high prices for maintenance, and we have had the brakes done. Our mechanic is a Iveco specialist and only uses Iveco parts so you would think that his prices would be higher. We also were pulled in by VOSA when we had two horses on board, (one 17 hands) and all our gear and weighed in at 4300 so well under the 6500 available. Our mechanic also brought to our attention that most 7.5 ton lorries are overweight or right up to their weight and they only carry two horses, are more expensive on fuel and to maintain, just thought I would mention this as I found it interesting. They currently have a 7.5 at their garage that looks lovely and the lady loved it but when they took it over the weigh scales it was overweight and doesn't know what to do.

 

[perfect11s]

We also have an Iveco 6 1/2 ton lorry and think it is brilliant. It carries two horses easily, has a small day living and is excellent on fuel. We keep it regularly serviced and have never been quoted unusually high prices for maintenance, and we have had the brakes done. Our mechanic is a Iveco specialist and only uses Iveco parts so you would think that his prices would be higher. We also were pulled in by VOSA when we had two horses on board, (one 17 hands) and all our gear and weighed in at 4300 so well under the 6500 available. Our mechanic also brought to our attention that most 7.5 ton lorries are overweight or right up to their weight and they only carry two horses, are more expensive on fuel and to maintain, just thought I would mention this as I found it interesting. They currently have a 7.5 at their garage that looks lovely and the lady loved it but when they took it over the weigh scales it was overweight and doesn't know what to do.

Yes sadly there are still alot of older coach builts about from before weight was an issue, happly even the older 6.5 ton should be ok as the chassis have nearly the same payload as a 7.5 but wont take a big or wide body so its harder for someone to make them too heavy, things are changing, the better full living 7.5 ton boxes are around 5 tons unladen, the 6.5 ton have a place but will never compete on comfort and space for riders or horses and they are like 3.5 tons can be very expensive for what they are...

 

[DorothyJ]

I have a 6.5 mercedes and we love it takes my 2 horses easily (16.2 and 17hh) and has decent living (much bigger than the one pictured above). Everyone says how the engines go on for ever and so far we have had no engine probs. Its more ecconomical than a 7.5 and its not slow either!
Q

Ditto!