Should I get a lorry, and other related questions!!

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Crazydancer

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I know there are lots of threads about buying lorries, almost too many to run a search that would be useful!
So:
If you had about £4k to spend, and were over that certain age that meant you could drive a 7.5t on your license, would you (a) buy a lorry, or (b)upgrade your car to a towing vehicle, and then either (c) buy or (d) hire a horse trailer?
Car would have to do 12k - 15k business miles a year and be presentable for work.
Can you get a decent condition box for £4k?
What sites are good for looking for boxes?
What sort of person would you need to get to check the roadworthiness/condition of box?
What would be the important things to check?
What are the 'must haves' and the 'really useful' things to look for?
Any help/advice on this much appreciated!!! :)
 
You could definitely get a decent 7,5T for 4k, not a very new one but a well looked after one. Thats because they cost more to run/repair/MOT and also because anyone post 1997 driving test pass has to do a lorry test to drive one, limiting the resale market

Look for one which has a tilt cab to enable mechanics easy access to engine
One if its a big old heavy one, with a turbo so you do actually make it up to the top of the hill
One with a battery isolator so it wont keep going flat every time you park up
Ideally herringbone or rear facing stalls

we had an ancient bedford TL turbo also known as AWD (not TK) and loved it. Only got rid of it recently because it is too heavy for some of the endurance venue fields and only need to travel one horse now.

I much prefer the experience of a lorry from the horses perspective.
 
I'm not sure you would get a decent 4x4 and a decent trailer for 4k. A good trailer will set you back 2k at least.

My lorry was just over 5k, has a tilt cab, low milage (190k kilom ) and a good cummings engine, 2.2t payload. It is 21 years old, but is well looked after and only had three new tyres and new brake pads/discs in 8 years.

I bought mine out of H&H!

So I would go for a 7.5t box everytime :) Take a good mechanic with you, check you can do the ramp on your own, and as other poster has said, a tilt cab
 
Thanks guys, great tips, keep 'em coming!

We did look at some trailers and thought about £2k - £2.5k seemed about the level for a decent one. Getting a 2nd 'cheap' vehicle to tow with was another option, but thought we could be buying into just as much maintenance and risk as getting an old lorry.

We've seen a Leyland Roadrunner advertised for under £3k which might be worth a look. :) I was just a bit concerned about the fact that at this price level these vehicles are pretty old, and have know friends getting caught with huge bills to keep them on the road.
 
Lorries are much better for horses than trailers. Provides a more stable/sturdy ride.

Before you buy anything - hire a lorry a few times from a company (usually around £100 per day).

If you only go somewhere occasionally, then it may be better to always hire one, rather than having your own. If you hire a lorry once a month at £100, then you can hire it monthly for 3 years for £4000! (check my maths though - I've never been good at it!)

Then you wouldn't have the expenses plating, taxing, servicing, any work done by mechanic, insurance. And you'd be guaranteed that it's a lorry that's looked after properly and now expenses would have been spared to maintain it to a high standard.
 
Also remember a lorry will cost at least £1000 per year to insure, Plate and have roadside recovery.
A 3.5ton lorry will be cheaper to run if you're transporting 1 horse - however in your price bracket I'd want to have anything you were thinking of buying inspected by a really good mechanic.
 
To add... Our mechanic says Bedfords are difficult to source parts, and I personally wouldn't touch an Iveco as the breaks can seize and they're very costly to replace.
We've had a G reg Leyland roadrunner conversion that was very reliable, and easy. We now have a v reg coachbuilt Leyland Daf 45/130, it's been fab, and again very reliable. Even when stood to ages.
It's about to up for sale as one of our horses hates travelling Herringbone
 
Mines a Leyland Roadrunner :)

Costs; plating £95, insurance £330 including breakdown with NFU, tax £185, I have the engine serviced once a year £80 , I've spent around £1600 on it in 8 years as said before for tyres and brakes.

Parts are fairly easy to get even for a 21year old.
 
I looked into hiring one as I don't use mine as often as I should; but I love the living in mine, I love going camping with the horses :) and to hire one for a weekend with living is about £400, so to do this three times a year, plus hiring twice a month for pleasure rides would be about £3k a year!
 
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