Small lorry help please.

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Bananaman

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www.teamtorrent.co.uk
At long last I am investing, with Spider's help I hasten to add , in a lorry instead of my trusty old IW trailer.
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As I am unlikely to ever travel more than him on his own or a mare and foal I have been looking at the smaller end of the market. So a 2 horse lorry with decent living, ie seats, sink, hob, fridge and bed. MUST be tilt cab to appease my mechanic but he wants me to go for a 7.5 Merc 814. I've looked and they all seem to be much bigger than I'd like.
I've seen some nice Iveco 59-12s which seem to be between the 3.5ts which tend not to have enough living space and the full size 7.5s.
Mechanic seems to think that the smaller lorries will sway about all over the place with a large horse in???
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Budget of up to 15k which rules out what I REALLY like the look of, eg Equicruisers and similar!
Anyone that can offer advise even if it's what not to go for, I'd be very grateful.
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what about a 5.5tonne, like peper harrow. they arent too big and you have enough payload to take 2 horses and they have small living. Otherwise - you should be able to get a 7.5t that measures about 20/22ft which arent too long. Shame though - I sold mine last week which was exactly what you were looking for!
 
We just recently sold our old B reg Ford Cargo and got a Ford Iveco which has slightly smaller horse area - can only really fit 2 horsesw whereas our other you could squeeze a pony in aswell - but a larger living - sink, cooker, toilet, bed etc which is what we wanted. It isn't a tilt cab though as had a luton and isn't a new enough one to have the flash tilt cab that some do have.

So far though it is really nice to drive and powers along with two largish horses in. Our budget wasn't quite as much as yours but i think we got a good deal compared to others I have seen of the same age (ours is a P reg).

We were looking at Dafs, Mans, Ivecos and getting advice from our lorry mechanic - he didn't seem to have a problem with any of them. To be honest though we didn't really come acrioss many Mercs for sale.

Ok, so a tilt cab is ideal but we wanted a luton and walk through cab and unless you've got pots of money these, with a tilt cab are hard to come by (it seems).
 
Can't comment on larger lorries etc but I've got a VW LT45 which is 4.5t and I take my 16.1 530kg horse around in it and it never 'sways about all over the place' lol! I have taken two horses out in it a few times as well and tbh it's like driving a big car
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I think it depends on the build more than anything else - if you've got a lorry with a rubbish build then it is more likely to be unstable.
 
I agree with your mechanic re tilt cab, makes life a lot easier when looking after it but at the end of the day it's your lorry not his (you pay him to fix it I presume?) and I think you've got to go and try some and see what you feel about the accomodation and layout and what they're like to actually drive them, before deciding what will suit you.
 
When I was looking for a lorry I spoke to various mechanics & was given the following advice. A volvo mechanic said to steer well clear of 7.5 ton Volvos as they never made a decent one. Additionally although Mercedes & Man are good lorrys their chassis are a lot heavier than most so your payload can be restricted. Parts for Mercedes & Renault tend to be more expensive.

I was told to stick to Iveco or Daf as they are reliable, parts are reasonable that is why many of the logistics companies have them in their fleets.

Consider a purpose built horsebox rather than a conversion as conversions are invariably heavier thus restricting your payload.

I ended up buying a Daf with a Tristar horsbox body on it. It has a luton & still retains a tilt cab. My mechanic won't work on lorrys without tilt. It has sleeping for 3/4, sink, water, hob & grille, 240v, plenty of cupboards, 2 external lockers, headroom of 7'06". It's ulw is 5.6 ton so I have a 1.9 ton payload which means I can carry 3 horses & remain within weight...... which is more than many 7.5 ton lorrys can do. It's 'X' Reg & was bought for less than your budget.

Best tip is don't go for a too luxurious living as it puts tremendous weight onto your lorry. I phoned after one , it had everything, really wonderful but only had 800kg payload. With me, wife & daughter on board plus tack we couldn't have carried one horse......basically it was a nice motorhome but not a horsebox.
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I have a Ford Iveco 5.2 tonne, takes two large horses facing forwards, plus small living area (you could have bed in lutton). Drives like a dream, very stable and safe. The cab does not tilt forward but my mechanic has never complained!
 
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