Lorry versus trailer - practical differences?

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soloequestrian

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Pondering our vehicle situation... thinking about a lorry, though I do like my trailer. What are the advantages of each? How much does it cost to insure an older 7.5 tonne lorry? Do you find automatic ones about?

Thanks in advance!
 
Quite right.

Lorry - you have to tax, plate and insure. And in practical terms also get roadside rescue of some form.
I'm not aware that automatic lorries are available -but if they are I'll bet they're a lot more expensive!

Trailer -you don't have to do anything -although if you are sensible you'll service and get roadside rescue. The only thing is if you don't already have a tow capable car you have to get that too.

You don't even have to sacrifice horse or living space with a trailer. They can travel forwards, backwards or herringbone. You can get trailers for up to 5 horses and / or with living. (Although they are heavier so you need to know your tow vehicle is up to it.)

The only positive reason for a lorry (unless you are doing massive stay away shows ) is that the smaller rear facing ones can be driven on a standard post '97 license. Obviously if you are away from home at shows for days at a time the nothing is going to beat those top of the range things with pop out sides!
 
Its about £200 a year for me to insure my Lorry with a good company.

I have both, for me its kinda like this...

Trailer pros-
Its cheap to maintain
can be used for moving "stuff".
quick and easy to hitch up and go.
I have a 4x4 as my main car any way
Baby seat can go in car.
I can keep it at home.

Cons-
Horse doesnt like it :p
Not good for long journeys.

Lorry pros-
Lots of comfortable living to rest in at shows.
Horse likes it.
good for long journeys
Could take 3 horses.

Cons-
Can be expensive to maintain especially if not competing regularly.
No place for baby seat.
cant be stored at home.
Hubby has to drive as I haven't the correct license for it yet :p
 
Trailer of course but I having said that I've a 7.5 30 year old cargo lorry myself (for sale)to dash me sometimes a mate and horse and my 16h warmblood to funrides/local hacking and endurance events. The plus has got to be for me anyway, the reassurance of safety for my horse who is my precious, most certainly so as we trudge down the M6 at rush hour!
I've used the lorry for so much. We've had weekends away as well as just nipping a couple of miles away to find nice or just different hacking. I certainly wouldn't of done that with a trailer but that's me.

Costs? I guess with plating and running safety it's cost £2000 per year then there's fuel on top. I rekon it out at a £1 per mile there and back, so if I'm travelling 50 miles it's £50 which gives me that and more.
 
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Yes definitely more expensive having a lorry, but I'd wouldn't go back to a trailer myself. The lorry feels much more secure, the horses seems to travel better in it. There's somewhere warm and dry to sit, and get changed. I keep a lot of kit on the lorry, I've got water on board. Parking is much easier, especially when you come home late from a show, also its secure enough to be able to lock it up and leave all your tack on if you're back late.

The disadvantages of a lorry over a trailer? Apart from the cost, only getting stuck in wet muddy fields: a 4x4 and a trailer are far less likely to get stuck.
 
We had a lorry but recently sold it.
Before getting the lorry we really thought it through first.

We are both post 97 licence and needed to upgrade.
At the time we were driving a lot of car miles.
We didn't already own a 4x4.
We owned 2 horses and one was 18th.

We decided that it would actually cost us more to upgrade our car to a decent 4x4 buy a new trailer and have the reduced mpg.

It was the best choice to spend around £20k (partly financed via mortgage ) get a new lorry made and then we spent around £200 on insurance, less on tax than my car!
It barely cost £200 to plate and service every yr as it was a relatively new chassis.
The horses loved it, I found it easy to drive and passed the test quickly.
I took it to a week long camp and slept in the horse area as it only had day living.
Best of all it had a proper toilet for us and shower for the horses.

We sold it as we moved to the middle of devon and it didn't fit down any lanes!
 
Financially, a trailer is better. However, my new boy does not like trailers, not particularly keen on my friends equitrek either. I also loathe with a complete passion, driving trailers on motorways. I find it stressful and tiring and it's often quicker to use back roads (and I drive a lot).

I am now saving for a lorry. As I have a pre 1997 license I can drive upto 7500 tonnes though am tempted to take my HGV (except for the hefty cost attached to do so.). The concept of having somewhere to change, room for my dogs and no issue with a stressed horse is some thing to look forward to.
 
soloequestrian said:
Pondering our vehicle situation... thinking about a lorry, though I do like my trailer. What are the advantages of each? How much does it cost to insure an older 7.5 tonne lorry? Do you find automatic ones about?

Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

Trailer

cheaper ........................................ less storage
less maintenance ..................................... no facilities like cooking or toilet ( unless you buy the posh ones )
no plaiting yearly .................................... no where to sit
no road tax ................... .................... not so easy to back up
................................. .. not so good in winds and bad weather
............... can snake if driving conditions are not good
............................................. can be stolen more easily
you have to have 4x4 ideally so you have to have the extra cost of a 4x4 for every day in general even when not towing
........................................insurance
box

road tax ......................................... somewhere to sit if you have living
yearly plating + costs .................................... more storage
general maintenance oil etc ......................................... wc if you have it and cooking facilities
need somewhere to park it ................................. better in winds
insurance ........................... nicer for the horses ( in my experience )
can be used to move house
somewhere to change at shows
Generally I would buy a box over a trailer for many reasons

can be stored at home if you have room :D like I have
 
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We've just sold our trailer and bought a lorry 7.5t. I've had a trailer for ever, loved it, cheap to run. Although my insurance on lorry is only £192 per year, so not a massive difference. I was permanently worried about the trailer being stolen, but not so with the lorry. Agree with other poster who said about driving on a motorway, I just wouldn't do it with a trailer. I'm looking forward to going out, no hitching up, just load and go, and have a brew when we get there. We have living, so space to change , get warm and room for teenage son to accompany us. ( until he gets bored !)
 
I think everyone saying a trailer is so much cheaper is a bit misleading. If you already have and run a 4 X 4 then it may hold true.

For me I drive an awful lot of miles in my car every year. I have a small petrol engine car for this. To upgrade and run a 4x4 as my only car would cost me a small fortune in fuel alone. To buy a decent reliable one and trailer I would have wanted to spend at least £8k.

Instead I bought a 7.5 lorry which is £300 a year insurance and recovery. Diesel as and when, Mpg isn't horrendous. It's much easier to drive than a car and trailer and feels much safer.
 
We have a trailer and car, not found a lorry with enough room for me and 3 or 4 kids in the front, unless I win the lottery! In the car/trailer they just all get in their normal seats.
 
I've had 2 older 7.5 ton lorries, an ifor 510, and now have a cheval liberte diagonal trailer. The lorries both crippled me financially in terms of repairs, and prep for the mot. Never again, they almost caused divorce! I had to beg for £2k from my husband towards the last £5k bill! The ifor was fine, but no storage and not safe to tack up youngsters in. The cheval has a huge tack locker that fits two dressage saddles, and loads of buckets and other stuff. It has super stable suspension, and I have travelled hundreds of miles on the motorway with it without any trouble. The tall equitreks may be less stable to tow though. Another thing with the trailer is the ramps and the egress make them very inviting for bad loaders. Some lorry ramps are so steep, I am amazed any horse loads! Trailers tend to be better ventilated on hot days, especially when at a show, when you can open up both ramps to allow airflow
 
I tried a trailer but was constitutionally incapable of reversing it, and had to get a lorry instead! I love my lorry (4.2 tons) - I have a pre 97 licence so no extra test needed. For me, I am so lazy and useless I don't think I would go out if I had to hitch up and manoeuvre a trailer each time, whereas it is incredibly easy just to nip out in the lorry.

The other advantage of a lorry is that, if you have a lorry you DONT need to have a 4 x 4, but can have a little runabout which will be very much more economical on the mileage than the 4 x 4.
 
I've mostly had trailers over the 36 years I've had horses, but did have a 7.5 tonne back in the early 1990's. It was great fun and I loved the convenience, but having an automatic gearbox it was extremely expensive to run at only 18 miles to the gallon. It also cost a fortune to service and test every year. So I went back to an Ifor Williams.

I'm another one who is totally incapable of reversing a trailer! I could reverse my estate car through the centre of a city in rush hour and think nothing of it, but as soon as a trailer went on the back I almost forgot how to drive. So after practising ineffectively for many years I bit the bullet last summer and bought a 3.5 tonne Equi-trek which is my pride and joy! It's got nothing in the way of living because my horse is 17.3 so weight was a factor, but it's a new Peugeot which is incredibly easy to drive. It is also very economical even on short journeys, and I can also park it at home or run down to the shops in it.

Whilst on the face of it running a trailer is cheaper (insurance, no fuel costs etc.) that assumes that you are prepared to run a large car, or more likely a 4x4, and depending on what you have, they can be expensive beasts to run, especially if it is your main car. We had our 4x4 for towing a caravan as well as the trailer, however having sold both, the sensible thing would be to sell the 4x4 but trying to get my OH to do that will be like pulling teeth, it's very little value now anyway as it's cracking on and is a bit of a work-horse.

So it's difficult to say which is best, as we all have different lifestyles and expectations, but I know now I wouldn't go back to a trailer.
 
Agree with a lot of the other posts that lorries can be more expensive to keep on the road but then again 4x4 can be as well especially when they start to go wrong.

The only 'new' comment to add if that with a couple of big horses, I needed to upgrade to a 7.5 lorry to be able to take them together as couldn't find a trailer with a big enough payload. They could fit physically but I just couldn't travel them together. This fact plus that fact is was spend £££ on a new proper 4x4 which was just for towing and occ 2nd car made us swap to a lorry.

I have driven an automatic lorry (in the 1990s) so they do exisit but the issue with them is if you need to be towed out of a muddy field
 
I was thinking the same as jnhuk, presumably the payload is a big factor in getting anything above a 3.5t lorry anyway. I've been thinking the same lately, currently drive a 3.9t but now have a bigger horse so don't think I can comfortably take two larger ones, and thinking of whether to upgrade box or switch to a trailer. I get a co car so it makes more sense to run one vehicle, if I can get so,etching with enough oomph to tow under co rules. But atm I'm liking my lovely little box, just limited to solo outings.
 
I chose a Lorry because I did not have or want to drive a huge car about all the time. I have to drive a long way to work because I work in a specialised school, it would have cost me a fortune. At times you can save money on the Lorry, mine is currently sorn because my horse is lame. I also worried about the hitching and towing on my own, where as a 31/2 ton Lorry is easy to drive and you can do so on a normal licence. If you already have the huge car and the towing licence I do think the trailer would be much cheaper but if not and you do a lot of mileage then it's a close run thing.
 
Thanks for all the replies! Looks like I will stick with my trailer for the moment and aspire to a lorry one day, when I've somehow become a bit richer!
 
Had both in the last 4 years.

Trailer was cheaper to run, but I did insure it which was about the same price as insuring my 7.5t. Personally, the only negative of the lorry are the maintenance/plating/taxing costs. Fuel cost per mile is cheaper in the lorry than towing the loaded trailer. Also, with two biggies, I had to be careful of not exceeding payload with horses, tack, water, kit, hay... etc.

Lorry has a far better payload (although, most 3.5 t lorries wouldn't take my two), somewhere warm and dry when at shows... the horses travel well in it. It's better driving on motorways and in moderate winds. It's fab for storage :-) Easier to load on my own, too. And far easier to reverse... although, too me a while to get used to being in 'trailer mode'. :-)

BUT I have a pre-97 license and plenty of room to park it.

To my mind, I'd rather spend more and have the advantages of a lorry.
 
I think it's a very individual thing - do your research and make a decision.

I've got a 3.5t lorry, and I love it. I went for a lorry over a trailer because at the time I needed to do my trailer test (and lived in the middle of nowhere in Wales so this was a logistical nightmare) and I had a car provided by work which was not suitable for towing, so I decided that by the time I'd paid to do my trailer test, bought a trailer and a 4x4 to tow it, I might as well have a small lorry.

I keep toying with the idea of swapping to a trailer as I now have access to a 4x4 for towing and it would be much easier to sit the trailer test as I no longer live in the back of beyond.

However, I love my little lorry. It's so easy on your own as it is side loading, I can keep all my stuff for hunting and competing in the box and it takes up less room to park in a tight spot out hunting than a 4x4 and trailer. It's better in rubbish weather as although I don't have a living as such there is at least room to sit/tack up/get changed out of the wind and rain. I also don't have an arena at home so have to box up to use one, and it's so much easier to load and go rather than mess about trying to hitch up a trailer in the dark at 6am!

PS I only want to travel one horse, so the weight issue is not a problem.
 
I had a similar dilemma. For me, trailer was best.
I can use my husbands Defender (it has a home for life - so all non fuel costs aren't 'mine'!)
The defender can tow anything, so I've got a second hand show trekka - can tack up inside, can store tack, rugs and kit, and have a mini day living.
I need to keep mine at yard, so was limited in size - trailer ok, v small box ok, but I couldn't afford any small enough lorries.
If money was no object, I'd have a small Equitrek box as I worry about motorway driving etc.
So far, I'm really impressed with the trailer - it is rock steady, easy(ish!) to reverse and defender doesn't notice it!
Horse slowly being introduced to it - marched up ramp first time, no bother.
Good luck with your deciding - lottery win would help I'm sure!
 
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