Sorry....towing question...

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jumpthemoon

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Ok, so I need a car to tow my trailer. Problem is, I currently have a diesel estate that does 60mpg and I spend min £100 per month just getting to work and back
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Any suggestions what I could use to tow a 950kg trailer with a 550 - 600kg horse ( only one horse) in the back, without going to a 4x4? I know they are best for towing, but running one would cripple me financially! I don't want to drive over fields or anything - just tootle about in it to equestrian centres with nice concrete car parks etc.

Please don't tell me I need a gas guzzling, fuel munching, earth shaking 4WD!!!
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Indespension did a book that tells you what each car will tow. Theres an Indespension in Bolton, Lancashire who Im sure would send you one. I think Volvo's are capable (the big ones though)
 
Unfortunately, Horse trailers and Horses are heavy beasts and as such you need something heavy to tow with. I have an Ifor Williams 510 and like you only ever tow one Horse, around 600KG. Combined weight of the 2 is about 1600KG. We have 3 vehicles, 2 of which I can tow with. One is a company car (non tow vehicle, it's an Astra and they say it can tow 1500KG....no way in hell!!) the other a Mercedes Sprinter SWB van which we use for our Huskies and a Landrover Freelander. The obvious choice would be the Freelander but....even as a 4X4 it's max tow weight is only 1800KG. My van however is max tow weight 2880KG....completely gutless mind you!! The Freelander has more power but you really can feel the trailer on it. The van lacks a bit of power on hills but tows lovely, you don't feel the trailer at all (other than when you accelerate).

I use both....depending on where I'm going, weather etc. What I'd love is a van with more power which I will get one day!! The Feelander does 38mpg which is pretty good and is nice to drive (we have a sport version). In all honesty, I doubt you'll find a car that can tow near enough your weight. Even a Subaru Forrester is 1500KG. It's just not worth the risk. Ideally you want to tow with a vehicle that has a good 200KG capability in excess of what you need. It's fine untill something goes wrong. Even the Freelander is bordering on not being big enough. I would never ever tow with more than one Horse in it. I even take the partition out to avoid extra weight.

You also need to watch manufacturers recommendations...they are often over the weight of the car (as is the case with my Astra). At 150BHP it would have plenty power but jut would not be heavy enough if anything went wrong. I see people towing trailers with 2 Horses with a car.....scary.
 
The problem is the weight of the car. It's true that legally you could tow with a mondeo or like I did with a bmw 320d - but - the weight of the trailer behind you can be very scarey.

If the you get into a tricky situation - the car is pushed about by a trailer - and that's not good.

I have seen several accidents going up and down the motorway - one was a huge caravan towed by a focus - the caravan was sat there on the motorway - the car was upside down with the front shaved away.

Another a freelander and a trailer - again the car upside down.

I have a shogun and having experienced the difference - I can say I would not go back to a car.
 
I tow with a 2.5 litre omega - its max towing weight is 1750 so it is fine to tow 1 horse. I've never had any problems with stability etc (touch wood)
 
Sorry but you cannot take short cuts with towing horses...you need a good solid heavey 4x4...end of. It is not a matter of looking at the towing capacity and saying that is fine...a Mondeo 2.0...no way! That would be an accident waiting to happen. You need a really heavy vehicle to balance out the weight behind that is being pulled...otherwise you will find that you are in for potential jack knife situations, especially on hills...where the weight of the trailer takes over the car and dictates it's movement. It does not take much, like braking down a hill or for your horse to move suddenly in the back, that is all that it takes. I would also question from a legal and insurance point of view whether you would be excluded from payment in the event of an accident. If you have a major accident when towing the police will be involved and they will check whether things were legally right. Sorry to go on but you are better off not going anywhere with your horse and being safe than towing in a car of any description.
 
We borrowed my grandfathers 2.0 mondeo to go and collect some stable mats with our ifor 510 trailer.It almost burnt the clutch out going (trailer empty) and we struggled going over 30 mph on the way home.I really wouldent recommend it!.
 
This is an age old & recuring question. Basically there is no cheap way to tow horse trailer & horses around safely. If there was we would all abandon our gas guzzling 4x4 and buy something else. Some fins it cheaper to have a small car as a runaround & only use the 4x4 for towing...some have a lorry & a runaround. At the end of the day I'm afraid there is no cheap way.
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I'm with Suzy here, a far better option is to tow with a van, a transit/sprinter or similar is designed to tow at well over horse and trailer capacity, even when loaded with your tack / hay/ bedding etc etc. And a well planned van leaves you with loads of secure storage, rest room, shelter etc etc.
Worth noting that 4x4's were never designed to tow purposely, it's just something the end user has found suitable.
Where as a Van has been designed to tow, carry large loads etc, and the braking system is designed with all this in mind.
 
You sould get away with it with a pony, but I don't think it's a good idea with a horse.

Have you thought about getting a gas converted 4x4. My firend got one of these and it's much cheaper to run, almost the same as her car. Just a thought.
 
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