Lorry or Trailer - What do you have?

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laurajane

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I'm doing a bit of research really. At the moment we have a 4x4 and a single trailer as we only had the one horse.

Now I have 2 and would like to take them both somewhere, especially with my boyfriend now riding...yet our car won't tow the extra weight.


I had a discussion with my dad who does the towing, and he was planning on buying an older L200 (or something) and then swapping our trailer for a double. My horses a 17.2 and 16.2, so I need a big trailer and they're just so expensive!!

I noticed the prices of lorries have gone down loads, and wondered if one of them would be more practical or not. Dad would quite like to get rid of the 4x4 and buy something more luxurious and economical, as 30mph everyday is burning a lovely hole in our pockets, and as you can imagine with a horse on tow it's even worse...

I was just curious as to what everyone else has, could do with a few pros and cons on both. I can't afford the insurance on either so it doesn't really effect me :p
 
I've thought long and hard about this, and eventually settled with a trailer. I reckon a lorry would be steadier to drive, but a trailer is more versatile, and cheaper. I often go to events, stable my horse and stay at a B&B - much easier if you can just unhitch your car!
Also, you don't have to pay insurance for an extra vehicle, and the running costs, servicing etc are more expensive for a lorry.
I haven't done much with two horses in the trailer for a while, but when I did they were perfectly happy.
 
Ive got a lorry, dont warrant one and would much prefer a trailer, mainly as we have the 4x4 and costs, useage etc. BUT his lordship wont entertain one. Tried numerous times and hes dangerous so lorry it is. I think if you can afford to run one, will use it then a lorry is the safer option though.
Good luck if you decided to buy one, its a minefield. :)
 
I have a trailer and my OH has the 4x4 as his everyday car.
He is finding it too much to run and is thinking of selling, which means I'll have to sell trailer (boohoo).
Although I don't use it too often, I will certainly miss it :(.
 
I'm just about to sell my 3.5T lorry and go for a trailer and 4 x 4. Main reason is that I have a long commute in the Scottish Highlands and last two winters have been dreadful. Have to admit that job keeps horses so I really need to get here consistently. Have decided on X trail and Cheval Liberte. There are 4 show centres within 40 minutes of me and no motorways so think I'll be OK with that as pre 1997.
 
Hi, I keep having this conundrum and even though I,m not in a position to buy either at the moment or even riding. It still comes up. In an ideal lottery winner type world, I would have a small horse box.

But that's not gonna happen (don't do the lotto lol). I am now thinking a trailer, we have a 4x4 jeep that I,m planning on changing to a chunky older Volvo. I,ve been told these can often be better to tow than the smaller 4x4's. I,m hoping the mpg will be better because currently we get about 20 on a good day.

Our yo has lorry and always moaning about it, costs as much to keep on the road as their other vehicles and gets used a few times a year. They have even mentioned getting a trailer (equitrek).

Ask me again tomrrow and I,d of probably changed my mind again. :)
 
I've recently sold my trailer and disco and bought a 7.5t lorry and I am so loving it. I hated pulling the trailer, storage was a pain, horse wasn't too keen on travelling in it. Plus side was the disco was great fun to drive and useful for other trips, and I was sad to sell it.

Lorry plus sides are loads of storage, living area, lovely to drive and able to get horses ready without leaving the vehicle. Downsides are it will cost me a bit more but not much. I get a normal car expensed with work so having had to run a disco just for the horses wasn't much difference to having a lorry.

The lorry will cost more in servicing, but is cheaper on tax, insurance etc. Fuel is about the same for both.
 
For me it was cheaper to have a very frugal car for the shedload of miles I did and buy a cheap 7.5 tonner. I couldn't justify 500 miles per week at less than 30mpg when i was used to get 50+mpg. So I bought a £1K lorry and she did us for three years - we went on trips of up to 100 miles in her.
 
I have a lorry could'nt afford a 4x4 running costs for 500 miles a week roughly an extra £250 per month over a 60 mpg car if you only do a hundred or so miles a week then a trailer and 4x4 still just about adds up, rember depiciation can be a large part of the costs so buying a 20k 4x4 keeping it 3 years and selling for 7k =expensive.. a small hatch back 5k and a second hand lorry 15k for 20k ...bet in 3 years would still be worth a tidy sum. tax on a 4x4 later ones are over £400 lorry 165 small car £30 , you need to work it out to suit you're own lifestyle and mileage. hope that helps
 
We have had a trailer for years and in the middle of getting our first box. Mum has had to drive us to shows as I didn't have the right license.
I did my HGV before xmas and are getting a small box because I would never be able to pass the blinking trailer test in a million years! Don't know how I passed the HGV one!
I feel safer driving a lorry, thats the main reason, not so much to think about. Plus we will have a small living for changing, it will be a luxury to be able to sit down and make a cuppa in between tests!!
It will be more expensive to run, but I am changing my car for a cheap runaround to make up for this!
 
i have a wessex champion trailer, i love it, my horse loves it, mum finds it a dream to tow, i would love a lorry but untill i qualify as a nurse and pass my test i wont have a lorry :( but the trailer is very convienient its cheaper to run which is always a plus and taz prefers to travel in the trailer.
 
I started out with 4x4 + trailer, then we had a 7.5ton wagon.

I loved the wagon for the living etc, but it cost so much to do anything to!

Every time it was seviced they would find something wrong and it wasnt a cheap wagon!

We then crashed it, well hit a tree on the side and couldnt go anywhere for a year,

With a trailer if the car, doesnt work, I can borrow my grandads 4x4 to go somewhere whereas if the wagon doesnt work i cant go anywhere,

my dad has lost his confidence with a wagon after we wrote it off therefore trailer was the only real option,

main reason we bought the wagon in the first place was because my new showjumper who was 5 at the time and from a millionaire in ireland had never been in a trailer and she didnt know what to do in a trailer, she would almost fall over as previous owner had a huuuuuuuuge wagon

For me , trailers are good and ample for what im doing, when i had the wagon, i was doing bsja, and everything going now im just starting competing again so i dont need a wagon as my local shows and pc are all max 30 mins away

plus my dad wanted a vehicle for when he takes my brother montain biking so he has a 4x4 now to do that and have a vehicle for the winter
 
I have just upgraded from a petrol thirsty 15mpg Jeep 4x4 and Bateson to a 7.5 ton lorry and its fantastic. It was costing us £70 a week in petrol for the Jeep now I have a Clio to run around in £40 every 2 weeks and its FAB!!! The MOT/Tax, Insurance and Petrol used having the Jeep would pay for a lorry on the road so we went for the plunge!

Lorry has living so kids can come with us and make it a family day out where they can play with their toys in a clean safe environment while mummy is doing what she loves best - riding LOL
Toilet so there are no accidents with the 3 year old and feel much safer!!!
lorry for me all the way!
 
I have had a Disco and Bateson, then an Equitrek. Equitrek lovely but I have 2 x 17hh+ and the car couldn't tow it all safely I felt. Went for a 2 stall 7.5t lorry as we didn't really have an option and I wouldn't go back now to a trailer, even for one horse- I love it! Horses travel better too and diesel worked out cheaper. I still have a 4x4 (about to buy a Sorrento) as I like them and it's handy to have a backup in case the husband isn't around (I don't have a lorry licence).
 
Thanks for all these guys!:D

We currently have a Volvo XC70 and a Cheval Liberte 1000XLseries

See that's the only thing making me ponder, because my big lads 17.2, and my mares 16.2, so I need a lot of room. For the price difference the lorry looks more practical.

It's not like we go out that often, and with dad driving round a big volvo all day getting 30mph on a daily basis is so expensive

It's so confusing! My friend decided to scrap the trailer idea, and I guess the prices of 7.5T now, it'd be the time to buy?
 
We found ourselves in exactly the same position this year. I have a 16.3 warmblood and we could use a trailer and saab estate last year and get about fine. However my husband now has his own horse, 17.1 ISH who is 4 and we want to be able to get out and about together without taking two trips. Our car could not tow the weight. At first we looked at large trailers and upgrading the car and also factored in an LPG conversion given the lower MPG.

After loads of research we decided to buy a 7.5t wagon instead. We found that it cost far less and had far more advantages. Incidentally we ended up with a Ford Cargo and shockingly it seems to be doing better MPG than the Saab! Another major factor in the decision was that my OH by a couple of months thankfully has cat C1 entitlement on his licence as he passed in time. I think this is why the 7.5t wagons are looking like really good value at the moment, as increasingly people have to do the HGV to drive them.
 
I have just downgraded from a 5.5 ton 2 horse lorry to a 4x4 and trailer. I'd had the lorry about 4 years, paid 10,000 quid for it so presumed it would run like a dream and not cost much to maintain. How wrong could I be. It cost me at least 1000 quid per year in maintenance to get it through its test, plus the cost of having to run a car as well. As much as I loved my lorry, it was just too expensive. I now drive a 3.0l Nissan and as long as I dont put my foot down, believe it or not it doesnt use very much more fuel than a 1600 vauxhall estate.

I vote for 4x4 and trailer if running costs could be an issue.
 
See that's the only thing making me ponder, because my big lads 17.2, and my mares 16.2, so I need a lot of room. For the price difference the lorry looks more practical.


Forgot to say, friends of mine have two horses, both over 17hh and the travel superbly in a trailer.
 
I used to have a 4x4 and equitrek trailer but moved onto a 7.5 ton lorry 2 years ago only because we were staying away at shows so it was more practical, I sold my car & trailer and didnt have to add any extra to buy the lorry, also OH is a mechanic so the maintenance side is reasonable.
 
I've had trailers, and am now on my 2nd 7.5 ton lorry. We bought a fairly cheap one first to see if we preferred it, and then upgraded. I much prefer a lorry, I'm able to park it at home so keep most of my stuff on board (apart from tack), it's great when it's raining and daughter is off on one of her treks as I can sit in the warm and make a cuppa, and also when we're at shows and waiting between classes. Our horses vary in size from 14hh to 17.3hh and it takes the big lad with ease. I also find that they travel better in it. It's easy to drive, feels safer and not too bad on diesel. The insurance is about the same as my 4X4 and the tax is cheaper. Try and get one with a cab that tilts as this makes servicing and repairs so much easier, and cheaper if you have to pay someone to do it.
 
I have a trailer and 4x4 which I bought around 5 years ago.
Honestly I hate the trailer - I dont feel that safe ever and am selling up to buy a lorry - I have used them alot and done my b+e test but dread taking the horses out in it and often just dont go to certain places because I dont want to drive it. My friends horse was killed recently in a freak trailer accident and even before that happened I still didnt like it. So lots of saving for me and lorry here I come!
 
We have a lorry, its 18 tonne and takes 5 horses. It has a really big modern living which is fab when its wet and because it has masses of storage we never have to take anything out or struggle for space. However, it does limit where we can go for lessons and shows as the roads have to be suitable for a HGV. We live in village with HGV restrictions everywhere so have to go on a massive diversion to get back to the yard after going out.
 
It's one of those things we've been thinking about.

Pros of 4x4 with trailer
we use the truck if theres bad weather
runs to the tip
moving house etc
trailer easy to park,
no MOT or tax on it.
Also, better chance of me being able to use it once i've taken a towing test (as i'm only 19)

Pros of Lorry
Dad (driver) hates going out and gets bored. With a lorry he has somewhere to sit, have a cuppa and watch a DVD or something and might eventually stop moaning.
Keep all our stuff on board, the living provides a changing room for me and there's plenty of room.
Room for the dog and all my friends who want to come and come with in the back without having to use extra transport.

I've got atleast 3 months or so yet, so i'm not in a rush. I know the lorries are expensive but we have a lorry maintence thingy on site at my stables, plus the OH is a mechanic... wouldn't be too difficult I guess
 
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