Lorry builders/conversions recommendations in Wilts Hants Berks area pls :)

Chloe_GHE

Chloe_GHE

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My Dad has promised my mum that we can sell our trailer and get a 2 horse lorry, but like Dads do he's adding clauses along the way ;)

So his latest idea is that we should buy a truck and get it built rather than buy 2nd hand lorry.

So..do you know of any good coach-builders, conversion people who I could phone for a quote. I'm taking the matter into my own hands and getting some figures so I can give them to him (pushy? me?... ;) ) otherwise I know he will just spend hours on the internet looking and nothing will come of it! :)

So far I've been recommended Trojan Horseboxes and to call Russ @ Boomerang

quote from Trojan came back as 12-15k does that sound in the right ball park?.....
any storys of 'what not to do' would also be good and also any tips for how to lay out the lorry or what you find handy about yours would also be fab so if *ahem* I mean when we get one built we can make it to the best design

fruit salad on offer today (healthy tuesday) :)
 
Hi

If you are willing to travel to Worcester, then I can highly recommend ARW horseboxes. He coverted ours and did an excellent job. It was all finished really nicely, and he had a clever way of doing a luton with a tilt cab, something we found hard to find at a reasonable price, or others said they couldn't do it.

This is his website:
http://www.arwhorseboxes.co.uk/

I think ours cost around £10k for a 3 horse lorry, with a luton and tack locker. We just had the living panelled but not put in although he does this too. Although his website says a quote from £12,500 (we got ours done when he was just starting to do it!) It is well worth the money though as everything was done very well.

He was very helpful and kept us up to date with how it was going.
 
Deano at New Forest Horseboxes in Sway (New Forest near Lyndhurst) - used them loads of times for little and big jobs with our lorry and they also do coversions aswell.

Or Equicruiser who are near Basingstoke - they have also done work for us in the past.
 
Equicruiser are pricey but you will have a really well built wagon. Cliff will talk you through all your options: helping you with buying a chassis etc. He did my new build and was great, adding little touches for me that made life easier when travelling single handedly and being a short-arse.

Sovereign are further north, in the midlands, but also make sturdy, smart looking horseboxes. They were too far away for me though.

Whatever you do, steer clear of the horsebox builders who are based near Portsmouth. The wagon that came from them (new build) was falling to peices within a couple of months, and when it came to change it, about six months later, after one of the chassis lockers had come off whilst travelling at 60mph along the M3, it transpired that all the electrical wiring was done badly wrong and could have blown up at any time. They have gone bust a couple of times and change their trading name so could have been renamed to something else. You can PM me for more info, I don't want to get into trouble on a public forum.

The bloke who was in charge has set up independently after learning his trade at New Forest Horseboxes, who I felt were expensive when comparing them to Equicruiser in terms of quality. The wagon I was shown there just seemed flimsy and the new build looked really shabby and worn within under a year.

I have heard good things about George Smith, who is in Warminster and may be nearer for you to keep an eye on progress.

Don't go wild with living fittings (it is easy to do so) - the horse area is most important and has to be tough enough.
 
Sorry to hijack the thread. I was just wondering if these prices are just for the conversion? How do you go about getting the actual lorry?. Do you source one yourself or does the person who’s doing the work do it?

Sorry again for hijacking, it’s just were thinking of possibly doing the same within the next year.
 
I would be very carefull the chances of getting a good build cheaper than buying something done is slim, unless you want something unusall I would look at the 100s of boxes for sale there is lots of bargains about ebay or horse&hound if the budget is tight getting a part done or something needing work is good if you have a mecanic or keen diyer in the family......
 
When i had my Eurocargo we purchased it from Ian McNeill in Alton Hants (who also sells boxes) and it was apparently converted by Equicruiser in Hants and I believe they did the colour spraying on it too.

May be worth trawling through private ads as well as there are some bargains to be had at the mo- no doubt due to the credit crunch!

Hope you find a nice one!
 
thanks guys for all the advice and leads, i will follow up with calls for quotes, and scour the ads for 2nd hand ones so i can weigh up the pros and cons.

nikki-07766 my dad has his eye on an Iveco 6.5T van that is for sale (ex-post office van) but it all depends on what he can get it for....
 
Jen_Cots said:
Having had mine done in Coventry - I'd pay a bit more and have a local builder

Charlton have done loads of 6.5t conversions and will be handy if you need to pop back for snagging

http://www.charltonhorseboxes.co.uk/page10.htm
Click to expand...
Wow thats a lot of money and what a strange impractical design/ layout!!! oh well its got a shiny paint job so it will sell....
 
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