Trailer and 4x4 choice help please

Which 4x4?

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Sheri

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I am looking at getting a Equi Trek Trail Trek M

There is another trailer company who makes side loading trailers I think its french and new out anyone know who they are?

Could I ask you all what vehicle you use to pull with please?

Only requirements I have are:

Must be diesel not petrol or LPG

Must be a 4x4 not a car

Finally I've heard some many conflicting stories I'm confused!!

Which is better Manual or Auto?
 
4 by 4s are a personal choice, I'd go for the heaviest one you can afford for towing... there aren't many 3.5 tonners left... Land rover are great if a little unreliable - the Range rover is superb but v expensive. Toyota's are also a good sound make that are much more reliable. I've got the old shape Toureag that is quite simply the best car I've ever owned but it's heavy on fuel, and I'm not a great fan of the Shogun (feels like a van to drive)

I'm sure there are some others but these are the heavy ones I could find...

Blitz
 
i think in the olden days, manuals were better for towing. but with more modern automatic engines, they're now better...

(this is based purely on what garage salesmen have told me when selling me 4x4s... but it does seem to be a consistent thing they say...) x
 
I have a Shogun 3.5 all singing all dancing Auto LWB.
It can, and will tow anything.
2 x 16.2/17.2s no problem.
If you have 2 large horses you need a large vehicle to tow.
Please dont compromise and put the safety of other road users at risk just because you want to buy a cheaper vehicle.
Because one day you just might kill innocent members of the public as well as your beloved geegees..or even your kids.
 
How about an Isuzu Trooper for a lot of towing power and not too expensive? I have a Vauxhall Monterey (a Trooper but made for the British market) as my first towing vehicle and love it! I feel 100% confident learning with it; weighs 1.9 tonne and tows 3.5 so no worries there. I got mine, the 3.1 diesel (the best one), 1998, with a new MOT, then taxed & insured it for a year and the lot cost me £2000. You'll find many fans of the Trooper oin here and I bought one after so many recommended it and have not been dissapointed :)

Personally, I prefer towing with a manual but that's because I dislike driving automatics in general. A friend has an automatic Sorrento and wouldn't want a manual, so I think it's down to personal preference.
 
Out of the options there I would go for the raneg rover (if you can afford it!). Howwver, personally I would rather have a small car and a horsebox as I loathe trailers and know of too many people who have had accidents with them.

However, I recently came across this site that gives you the idea of what cars have what towing capacity. Just type the make of car in and it'll bring up all the models and what their towing capacity is. I think it's quite useful.

http://www.towinghorsetrailers.co.uk/towing_vehicles.htm
 
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nativeponies said:
Please dont compromise and put the safety of other road users at risk just because you want to buy a cheaper vehicle.
Because one day you just might kill innocent members of the public as well as your beloved geegees..or even your kids.
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Oh don't worry I won't , I don't believe in cars pulling or silly little barbie jeeps pulling, we have a decent budget as my boyfriend is a mechanic and is going to buy it with me to use as his recovery vehicle. I would never do anything to put my horses at risk, plus I'm buying them a brand new trailer I don't want a dog pulling it!!

I know what you mean though you see some combinations on the road and it makes you blood boil....the tail wagging the dog!!
 
I have a Range Rover & it pulls like there is nothing at the back.
It's also auto which makes the automatic gear changes so much smoother.

I hope you find something suitable.

XxX
 
Yeah my sister's friend was pulling an Ifor with two horse in with a Disco (new shape) and the trailer still managed to snake and flip over, flipping the car with it. Closed the M1 for several hours. Thankfully both horses and all 4 people in the car walked away. But i would never get a trailer as this i not the first incident of this types I have heard of.
 
For the Equitrek you will need something that will tow it! I am very sure that you will do your homework on that one! They are a lot more solid than the standard forward facing trailers and can tend to push you around a little unless you have the right car for the job.

I have an Equitrek L with a Shogun. It is a perfect combo. :) I have had many 4x4's over the years and personally find that the Shogun has everything and does every thing (extremely well) that I have ever asked of it. My first Mitsu was a Pajero and I could tell you stories that would make your hair curl, but it never failed me hence why getting a new Shogun as soon as I could afford it!

I also have experience of towing with LandRovers (109 / 110 Defenders etc) They are great but I like a little "comfort" :D (I still have my classic 109)

The L200 was pushed around by my Trek, but then it was not legal to tow it either as it was only up to towing 2.8. :)
 
ladyt25 said:
Yeah my sister's friend was pulling an Ifor with two horse in with a Disco (new shape) and the trailer still managed to snake and flip over, flipping the car with it. Closed the M1 for several hours. Thankfully both horses and all 4 people in the car walked away. But i would never get a trailer as this i not the first incident of this types I have heard of.
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A HUGE mistake some people make it not to check the unladen level of their trailer on the truck. Thus meaning it's not correctly loaded and unstable. We had to buy new towbar parts to ensure each truck tows level, and it's actually lower than some realise....!

The BEST way to do it is to put two horses in and weigh the towbar....

Not saying your friends didn't check, but this one of the most common reasons for a trailer to snake, along with speed....
 
Sorry, I'm off on it now....!

It's alright having a 7.5 ton lorry too, unladen weight is almost 6 ton....and some horseboxes say they carry 4 horses! You only have a ton of horse left, then theres tack, food, water, extra stuff if you going away....you can be WAAAAAY overweight before you even think about it....!

So many people are getting tripped up on this one, and VOSA are having a ball....
 
How about a Kia Sorento? I love mine. Pre-2010 tow more as they changed the chassis, manuals tow 3T, automatics tow 3.5T. Think the new 2010 tow 500kg less but don't hold me to that!

I was told automatic cars/4x4s can tow more weight than the manuals but you will pay for it in fuel consumption.
 
DragonSlayer said:
Sorry, I'm off on it now....!

It's alright having a 7.5 ton lorry too, unladen weight is almost 6 ton....and some horseboxes say they carry 4 horses! You only have a ton of horse left, then theres tack, food, water, extra stuff if you going away....you can be WAAAAAY overweight before you even think about it....!

So many people are getting tripped up on this one, and VOSA are having a ball....
Click to expand...

i was discussing this with friends the other day! you see 7.5t lorrys that say carry 3 horses blah blah but no one actualy looks at the unladen weight to realise they only have a 1t payload! even one big horse at 600kg your tack, water and everything else you would take to say a 3 day u would be getting close to your limit! another vote for the shogun!
eta- have been towing in a toyota surf 3Litre before, was a piece of p1ss! very thirsty though!
 
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china said:
i was discussing this with friends the other day! you see 7.5t lorrys that say carry 3 horses blah blah but no one actualy looks at the unladen weight to realise they only have a 1t payload! even one big horse at 600kg your tack, water and everything else you would take to say a 3 day u would be getting close to your limit! another vote for the shogun!
eta- have been towing in a toyota surf 3Litre before, was a piece of p1ss! very thirsty though!
Click to expand...

Yep, nail on the head!

A friend of mine has recently started having her HGV class 2 lessons so she can get a bigger lorry because of all this....
 
ladyt25 said:
However, I recently came across this site that gives you the idea of what cars have what towing capacity. Just type the make of car in and it'll bring up all the models and what their towing capacity is. I think it's quite useful.

http://www.towinghorsetrailers.co.uk/towing_vehicles.htm
Click to expand...

Thanks for the link -thats a very useful website.:)

I've always used Nissan Terranos to tow and they easily do this with a 510 and two horses in & up and down the steep Devon Hills. They are also very carlike to drive, not agricultural at all.

when I get back to the UK though I will probably look at the Kia Sorento's as they look pretty good & they seem to have a greater capacity than a Terrano - I've not had any problems with towing a trailer though & thats been some years now!

I have thought of having a lorry but I can't get one through the narrow lane and gateway to the field unless its a small 3.5T, which I don't want as they look unstable and my horse is too big.
 
I doubt it is the Cheval Liberte trailers you are thinking of as they don't do a model that has a side ramp, only front and rear ramps. Having said that we've been very impressed with ours, extremely well made, lovely and light and inviting and comes with alot of options as standard that are extras on the IW's.
 
nativeponies said:
As with ladyt25................I too prefer a lorry.
I'm lucky to have a 7.5T MAN as well as access to a trailer
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I have a lorry at the moment and its not being used enough, I don't need one as I don't need any living my OH is a mechanic and we are going to share the 4x4 so it will work out alot cheaper and also I won't have it seizing up from being stuck on the yard for half the year!

I do love my lorry mind you, but I simply don't need something as big and this way I can afford to buy a brand new trailer and a pretty new 4x4 where as I would be buying and older box for the same money.
 
A lot of the cause of trailer snaking is the ruts in the inside lane that are made by the lorries. This was the main cause of this particular trailer snaking but as for the weight I can't comment on that as don't know the exact model of trailer or the weights of the horses.

as for the comment re lorries, no 7.5T lorry that has a decent sized living in is NOT able to carry 3 horses without being overweight. Ours is about 5.5T unladen so 2 tonnes spare for 2 horses and the living, tack, people etc.
 
Crazyfriesian said:
I have an Equitrek L with a Shogun. It is a perfect combo. :) I have had many 4x4's over the years and personally find that the Shogun has everything and does every thing (extremely well) that I have ever asked of it. My first Mitsu was a Pajero and I could tell you stories that would make your hair curl, but it never failed me hence why getting a new Shogun as soon as I could afford it!
Click to expand...

Could I ask you how you find your shogun on diesel? Also I'm guessing its a LWB right?

Thanks for your post it was v helpful :)
 
DragonSlayer said:
Sorry, I'm off on it now....!

It's alright having a 7.5 ton lorry too, unladen weight is almost 6 ton....and some horseboxes say they carry 4 horses! You only have a ton of horse left, then theres tack, food, water, extra stuff if you going away....you can be WAAAAAY overweight before you even think about it....!

So many people are getting tripped up on this one, and VOSA are having a ball....
Click to expand...

The unleaden weight of my 7.5T is 4.3T...3.2T payload
 
Without meaning to sound rude I DONT WANT ANOTHER LORRY

please argue about your lorry's in another thread!!

Sorry for the rant I just would like this to get back OT!! :)
 
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