OMG Unladen Weight!!!!!!

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burge

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Was having a wander round the Oakley and Lehel websites the other day (well a girl can dream!) and Lehel have a 2nd hand 7.5t horsebox on their website which ......wait for it...... Has an unladen weight of 6.35t. So if that is without fuel and passengers (god forbid) and all the other stuff you would have on board a luxury horsebox you would definitely want to stay away in you probably would have to leave your horse at home. Or get someone else to take it for you. Or perhaps you could get a towbar fitted and put it in a trailer. :-)
 
I know its such a joke! Tehe tow a trailer because you cant put them onboard! BRILLIANT! :D The worst part about it is maybe they are stating it because they think that is a good payload?! heavy boxes rarely list their payload in adverts in my experience!

My box is almost ready and from the start I made it clear to the builder how important payload was and the minimum I would accept to which he agreed, took it to a weighbridge today all but a few extras in and had a 2 tonne payload so min 1.9tonne all in :D I am overjoyed as I agreed absolute min of 1.7tonne. quality has been far from compromised on Ive just been sensible with the bells and whistles and had it built out of lightweight strong material. Probably cost around 1/4 or less than the lehel too! Unfortunately some of the type of people who drive these ridiculously priced boxes clearly do not necessarily care that much about payload as you have proved! bet they would if they caused a humungous pile up and their insurance was void, a fancy horsebox is not worth being sued for millions!

PS I may be wrong but I heard ahem a certain company had gone/was going into liquidation? cant remember who told me though but dont know why my imagination would make that up! :)
 
95% of 7.5t are near their limit when you have living included!

A few years ago on the forum this was a wide and debated item! Now with the sad popularity of the biscuit tins, sorry 3.5t vehicles these are now the most debated!

The only sure way of not being over weight is to have a hgv!
 
Think our box has a payload of 2.3T which is more than enough for 2 horses + stuff (its a 7.5T box). Worries me that I see similar make/model wagons with similar if not more bulky living carrying 3 horses though :o

I never trusted those expensive wagons with cherry wood panelling etc, anything that fancy has to be heavy!
 
That's nothing! There are actually some boxes out there which are supposed to by 7.5t but are actually over 7.5t to start with.....

I love my 3.5t one....at least you only expect a 1.1t payload with one of those. I don't expect to take more than one horse in it at a time, but if I had a 7.5t, I would definitely expect to take at least two horses in it as well as more stuff in the living area!
 
becca1305 said:
I know its such a joke! Tehe tow a trailer because you cant put them onboard! BRILLIANT! :D The worst part about it is maybe they are stating it because they think that is a good payload?! heavy boxes rarely list their payload in adverts in my experience!

My box is almost ready and from the start I made it clear to the builder how important payload was and the minimum I would accept to which he agreed, took it to a weighbridge today all but a few extras in and had a 2 tonne payload so min 1.9tonne all in :D I am overjoyed as I agreed absolute min of 1.7tonne. quality has been far from compromised on Ive just been sensible with the bells and whistles and had it built out of lightweight strong material. Probably cost around 1/4 or less than the lehel too! Unfortunately some of the type of people who drive these ridiculously priced boxes clearly do not necessarily care that much about payload as you have proved! bet they would if they caused a humungous pile up and their insurance was void, a fancy horsebox is not worth being sued for millions!

PS I may be wrong but I heard ahem a certain company had gone/was going into liquidation? cant remember who told me though but dont know why my imagination would make that up! :)
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Its amazing how useless some of the horse box builders are at making something without going stupid on the weight esp when you consider how light caravans are now.. I think some of them think they are building yachts!! thick shiny wood and formica they need a litle more engineering and less bovine scatter :D
 
our lorry is looking like it will come in at around 5.2-5.3T so we should have plenty of payload for our two plus tack etc. I'm hoping we'll be able to get three horses or maybe 2 horses and a pony but the extra people will more than likely have to follow in a car.

that's including a lovely living area :p
 
That's why I have a hgv, I had 3 eventers at the time and no chance of getting them on a 7.5t box, so I did my hgv and bought a lovely big lorry to carry 4 horses, sleeps 6, everything I need for staying away and I can still put 5 tonne if horses, tack etc in it and I love my lorry :)
 
aregona said:
That's why I have a hgv, I had 3 eventers at the time and no chance of getting them on a 7.5t box, so I did my hgv and bought a lovely big lorry to carry 4 horses, sleeps 6, everything I need for staying away and I can still put 5 tonne if horses, tack etc in it and I love my lorry :)
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Yes thats the answer if you need it, mind most people can do without all the hassle of tachographs,weight limits and fuel consumption , The latest lorrys are being built better and lighter 2.5 ton payload and full living is becoming the norm for a 7.5 tonner and then the 10/12ton lorrys are giving 4/5 horse capacity and not far off the economy of a 7.5 tonner without the hight and bulk of the 18 ton chassis.. a win win but pricey...
 
I think its a difficult balance and would advise any one looking to get a box built not JUST to think about payload. I could have increased my payload by a fair amount if I had opted for the veneer used by companies trying to use uberlightweight materials, BUT I researched and discovered the longevity and stand up to wear and tear was poor so opted for better quality veneer which weighed 50% more.

I also could have just had an aluminium floor in the horse area (I wanted one for safety) but my builder advised me to leave the good quality wood base underneath for despite the aluminium being more than strong enough to take their weight the ride quality with just an aluminium floor would not be as good and may upset poor/young travellers.

So its still a compromise, there have been huge developments in the materials used to build but there are other important factors to consider and hopefully balance to end up with a payload big enough to do what you want without worrying but not being unrealistic with horse numbers and then still having to weigh everything mentally to check you arent overweight!

I think some boxes are worryingly heavy but others worrying light!! 3 horse transport to me means needing a HGV just for the extra space if nothing else! I agree with perfect11s some of them do seem to think they are building yachts mentioning no names! I think 10/12 tonners are a fab option now if you want to travel more pones and will defo be looking at them when its time for me to upgrade though who knows years down the line what might be available?! :)
 
becca1305 said:
I think its a difficult balance and would advise any one looking to get a box built not JUST to think about payload. I could have increased my payload by a fair amount if I had opted for the veneer used by companies trying to use uberlightweight materials, BUT I researched and discovered the longevity and stand up to wear and tear was poor so opted for better quality veneer which weighed 50% more.

I also could have just had an aluminium floor in the horse area (I wanted one for safety) but my builder advised me to leave the good quality wood base underneath for despite the aluminium being more than strong enough to take their weight the ride quality with just an aluminium floor would not be as good and may upset poor/young travellers.

So its still a compromise, there have been huge developments in the materials used to build but there are other important factors to consider and hopefully balance to end up with a payload big enough to do what you want without worrying but not being unrealistic with horse numbers and then still having to weigh everything mentally to check you arent overweight!

I think some boxes are worryingly heavy but others worrying light!! 3 horse transport to me means needing a HGV just for the extra space if nothing else! I agree with perfect11s some of them do seem to think they are building yachts mentioning no names! I think 10/12 tonners are a fab option now if you want to travel more pones and will defo be looking at them when its time for me to upgrade though who knows years down the line what might be available?! :)
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Hopefully the new rules about type approval which are about the standards and safety of new vehicles before they can be registerd for the road will weed out some of the bodgers and more engineering and design will go into lorry bodywork , so you will get stronger lighter bodys as the haulage industry are looking for the same as us horse people IE higher payloads and durable trucks you can see it coming now with bonded aluminum structures and new composit materials which are both stronger and lighter than the old GRP ...
 
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