People who tow with non 4x4....question!

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Jingleballs

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Can I ask -

1. What trailer you tow (and the weight if you know it)

2. The weight of the horse(s) you tow?

I'm looking at non 4x4 options but wondering if my current combination of a 960kg 505 and 500kg horse + subsequent tack/water etc would be too much for something like a Passat or Mondeo and if perhaps a lighter weight trailer may be required!
 
1- unladen 750kg Old Bahill Sportsman and also once single Ifor at 740kg (I think)

2- 1 14hh pony , 500kg max!

This was towed with a Rav 4. Which aren't 4x4s, and has a towing limit of 1500kg.

I also know of -

1- Single Ifor 740kg?

2- 15hh hairy cob type, probably no more than 550/600kg.

The woman used a VW Passat.
 
Meant to add, you'll struggle to tow a double Ifor with a car, unladen they weigh about 1100kg. Even a decent car will have max towing weight of 1500kg/1800kg.
 
Have you thought about a landrover freelander? (new shape ones)

I have 600kg horse plus ifor 510 (unladen 1000kg as its the big one) and it tows perfectly.

Not bad fuel consumption- 38mpg on motorway and 33mpg about town. £250/year road tax
 
Dusty85 said:
Have you thought about a landrover freelander? (new shape ones)

I have 600kg horse plus ifor 510 (unladen 1000kg as its the big one) and it tows perfectly.

Not bad fuel consumption- 38mpg on motorway and 33mpg about town. £250/year road tax
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Freelander is one I'll look at but it's still a 4x4 and therefore more expensive for parts/repairs etc. I'd love something that gets me better mpg when not towing also and some of the estates are around 45 mpg from memory.
 
BeauBear said:
Freelander is one I'll look at but it's still a 4x4 and therefore more expensive for parts/repairs etc. I'd love something that gets me better mpg when not towing also and some of the estates are around 45 mpg from memory.
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True, the estates are better fuel consumption......but what makes you think that 4x4 are more expensive for parts/repairs than your average decent built (German) estate?!
 
Dusty85 said:
True, the estates are better fuel consumption......but what makes you think that 4x4 are more expensive for parts/repairs than your average decent built (German) estate?!
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I don't have the costs of the estate cars for comparison but planning on speaking to my mechanic but I do know that I have spend an absolute fortune on repairs to my cars over the years which were much higher than those of say, my parents when they had to carry out repairs on any of their estate cars.
 
I passed a few livery places recently and noticed that many of the vehicles parked up were cars and estates with tow bars fitted or were hitched up to trailers

I would say I saw more non 4x4s with tow bars than 4x4s

The cars I have seen towing horse trailers on the road have only had one horse in the trailer but there is no reason that two cannot be towed

I also suspect that many of those cars towing one horse are doing so with a light weight or down plated trailer on a B only licence
 
Check the intended towing vehicles GVW (To be found in door frame or bonnet)

Check the trailers MAM (Silver plate on A frame of trailer)

If the GVW + MAM of the trailer is greater than 3,500 then you can’t tow.

It is possible to have the MAM of the trailer downgraded by the manufacturer but it must still be sufficient for the total weight of the trailer and anything in it (including the horse).

Also the total weight of the trailer should be no more than 80% of the weight of the vehicle towing it.
 
I have a single Cheval trailer that weighs 655kg unladen and my horse is 525kg. I tow with a Nissan quashqui (spelt wrong).

Someone on my yard tows the new style double ivor willams with a volvo estate. And another person has a bateson ascot with a mondeo. As to if they are legal or not I'm unsure as I don't know the weights.
 
I towed with various saloon and hatchback Rovers, a Montego estate and a Peugeot 406 estate over a period of 20+ years, the trailers were initially a Rice Eventer (lightweight square front) then a Rice Europa (around 710kg). Only ever carried one horse. I used to compete quite a lot so maybe regular 100 mile round round trips, and once a 500 mile round trip via motorways.

The engines coped fine. But I wouldn't recommend 2 x 4 towing if you are in a hilly area, I had a few hairy moments trying to do hill starts at tricky junctions with the driving wheels spinning and with me having to roll back to a more level bit of road to get going again, not nice! The motorways were rather hairy too, with the outfits being very vulnerable to side draughts from passing lorries. Parking on grass rather than hard standing at an event could be interesting too!

7 years ago I upgraded to an ifor HB510 towed with a year 2000 W reg 2.8L LWB Shogun estate. The whole caboodle is far more stable, sturdier, and less stressful to drive, and personally I would never go back to towing with a car.

But it is perfectly possible to tow with a car, as long as you are aware of its limitations.
 
Thanks for all your comments.


Based on the amount of towing I did in previous years I absolutely wouldn't have considered a car but now days, I'm out once a month, twice at most. 95% is parking on surface and with a round trip of less than 100 miles (can't be faffed with long journeys any more).

I would consider getting a lighter trailer if it allowed me to strike a better balance but anything that can tow 1800kg would be perfect as I'll only be towing up to about 1600kg.
 
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