lorry convertion.. advise please

[ticobay831]

As mentioned on another thread, we have had no luck selling our lorry so we are now looking at extending the horse area so it is roomy enough for my lad who is quite long and a bit sensative when it comes to travelling.
we want to extend into the living by moving the breast bar foreward to the wall and moving the wall further into the living, if this makes sence. :-/
just concerned about partiton as will have to extend it and probably have it folding in the middle so it can lay flat against the back of the lorry whilst loading then obviously must be secure enough when travelling. The ramp could do with being a bit wider but i think the horse can cope with this, just means they will have to turn round abit more before coming down ramp rather then just turning round... dont know how else to explain this.
really need to get somthing sorted want to get my lad out and about this year, getting realy fed up now :-(
Any opinions would be very welcoming
Heres a picture of the back as it is..

 

[mutley75]

If you only travel the one, why not just take out breast bar and partition? I travel most of the horses i move in loose boxes and a high percentage travel at about 45 degree angle with their bum parked in a back corner.

 

[ticobay831]

thanks but really need to travel 2 :-/

 

[maree t]

I would have thought that it would be awkward to change it as you say. What sort of box have you been looking for ? are you restricted to a 3.5 ton ? I have been looking for a box like yours for ages !!. Have you checked out how much it will cost to do all that work ? We have got an ldv with capacity for two horses but was trying to get it converted to travel sideways so we could put a bit of living in and a cut through but the costs were working out too expensive so box now on ebay .
Will it upset your boy more if he cant just turn and come out ? not sure how you would be able to secure a partition if it was jointed ?
Good luck

 

[Coop]

pm me your email address and I will send you the interior of mine to which should explain the way the partition goes with the telescopic bit x

 

[ticobay831]

just want one that will give him a bit more length really, thing is when we bought it we thought it would be big enough for him, hes only a yoinster and hasnt had much experiance with lorrys and the little he did have wasnt good, so i dont want to ask too much of him and frighten him, hes a good lad and trys really hard to please, my friends horse has pleanty of room but he is used to lorrys and is really easy going.

We have been trying to sell the lorry for about 6 months now but have only had one person look at it, which is abit disapointing really but apparantly allot of people seem to be in the same boat, then you get people think that its a rubbish lorry cause its still on the market and as i said this isnt the case, its a lovely lorry and i thought if it dosnt cost too much to change the horse area then we may as well keep it, at least we know its sound, safe and has been well looked after, there is so much crap out there, its frightening really :-/

Its actually 7.5 Ton the length is sligtly smaller than norm, so would be happy with another 7.5, would also like the horse to be travelling foreward facing, hence why we bought this one, but spose herrinbone would be ok, anything really that is comfy and safe for my boy

getting really frustrated now :-/

 

[HazyXmas]

Has it got living? How big is your youngster? I need to travel two at 15hh & 16hh.
Can you PM me some details & pictures pls

 

[ticobay831]

yes has got living and would tavel 16h and 15h no problem, will send you details

 

[ticobay831]

maree t have pmd you

 

[*hic*]

Is the length too short from from behind breast bar to wall (horse's body) or at the head end? It looks short at the head end to me in which case I'd be inclined to only move the top half of the wall and put cupboards under it in the living so that it appears as a sort of tack locker effect in the horse area. Has less effect on the structural side of things I suspect.

really your best bet is to take it to a specialist and find out from them as they will be able to see what's structural etc.

 

[ticobay831]

yes its the head bit although could do with a it of extra length in the body as well, my lads half luso and has a long high set neck on his shoulders and i dont want him travelling squished up we are taking ti to someone in the next few weeks so we will see what they say, as long as its not too expensive we may as well go ahead with it, at least we know the lorry is sound, fingers crossed x

 

[*hic*]

By creating the stepped wall you could increase the length for the body up to the current length of the entire horse area In fact depending on whether your living is gorgeous or basic you could just cut out the top of the wall, strengthen the mountings for the breast bar and have the heads sticking through into the living like the 3.5 tonners do! You could have a roller blind to put down when you were in living and horses weren't on lorry. . . I fear I may have gone too far with the inventiveness now

 

[ticobay831]

lol sounds like a plan.
the living is basic but nice and tidy and to be honest we havent really used it, just for the odd cuppa and a sit down and natter, thats about it, so loosing some of it wouldnt be a problem, like the idea of cutting top out of wall maybe moveing breast bar over almost to wall and probaly putting a couple of small jokey type doors to get through at the bottom of wall :-/ make sense...??
The other thing is the partition, we would have to get another made because cant put telescopic fittings on the one weve currantly got, its 7'10 over all length in horse area only 2' head room which isnt enough for my lad even if he stands diagnal, well it probably would be if he was a happy chappie travelling and hadnt had any bad experiances !!
anyway by cutting through wall and putting another up into livein it would give us an extra 18 inches or there abouts, so could move breastbar 18 inches foreward then that will give him the same amount of head room as he has now but more body space, god im confussed :-( must check my measurments :-/

 

[Gingerwitch]

Sorry but why on earth would you want a horse travelling forward in a box? its been scientifically proven the best ways of travelling a horse are:

1.Backward
2.Herringbone
3.Front facing

I hate trailers for that very reason

 

[HazyXmas]

I think it depends on your horse. I was keen to buy a 3.5 lorry at one stage, anyway, i hired a really nice new one for the weekend to try it out, boy, am i glad i did.

Put two horses that always travelled well together in it & headed off to Schools Competition. The 15.2 eventer that has travelled all over the country in every conceivable type of horse transportation, including 505 trailer, hated the fact that he was going backwards & almost fell over around every corner, took me twice as long to get there. I will not be buying one of those

 

[ticobay831]

because he's always travelled well in a trailer and wasnt happy travelling herrinbone, as for backward facing not sure really, he went in one we hired when he was younger and he was dripping with sweat when we checked him half way.. :-/, so i guess foreward facing suits him, what ever hes happy with really.