Trailer Hire Information

ILuvCowparsely

ILuvCowparsely

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I am seeking information from fellow H&H peeps - bear with me.


I have been pondering getting a trailer for my livery yard as an extra facility for hiring out, as there very few if any trailers for hire locally, as I found out when livery owners have inquired. I am sorely wanting to hire out not use myself as I have a 7.5 ton, and I am not hiring that out, for one thing most cannot drive 7.5 on new licences.

Now Questions for those renting out and hiring one:

  • What make of trailers are the most popular when you are hiring one.
  • What are the best trailers out for general use nothing pricey.
  • What deposit do you have to leave when hiring one.
  • What are the terms usually when hiring for damage etc..
  • Do you get charged more say for example out of hours hiring in an emergency or weekend hire.
  • What safety precautions do you take when you have hired your trailer from theft by the borrower.
  • Does the person who borrowed have to wash the trailer out after use or just sweep it out.
  • What is the going rate for daily use for a trailer these days.
  • I assume it is best to get a high roof for those having bigger horse.
  • What is the average insurance for a hired trailer.
  • Do you check those borrowers know how to drive a trailer before you hire.
  • What sort of thing do you have in the hire contract.
  • What sort of price bracket are your hired trailers.



Anything I may have missed please mentioned all gratefully received.
 
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Not relevant to any of the above, but bear in mind that anyone under the age of 40(give or take a few years) will have to take the towing test to be able to tow a horse trailer, so you may find that you have a larger audience to hire to if you get a 3.5 tonne box instead.
 
Auslander said:
Not relevant to any of the above, but bear in mind that anyone under the age of 40(give or take a few years) will have to take the towing test to be able to tow a horse trailer, so you may find that you have a larger audience to hire to if you get a 3.5 tonne box instead.
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I would buy a trailer only I have a box and do not want the expense of another - would not be cost effective. Round here most people travel up to 1 hr to hire a trailer, so that is the route I would go - and if it does not pan out, nothing lost nothing gained.
 
I can’t answer all your questions as I no longer hire trailers, but the going rate is c £55 a day, and I’m not too far from you as you know!
The owner hoses/discinfects but you are expected to hand it back as clean as possible, ie free of hay and droppings.
An Ifor 510/511 seems the best imho as it accommodates up to 17.2hh. I had to leave a deposit, which was c£100 if I recall.
Also, had to have ID, which was photocopied, should I have decided to abscond with the trailer. The trailer was also obviously marked with the name of the hire company, and it had the postcode/hire company name on the rooft, to reduce chances of theft.
No one ever checked I could actually tow,either! Same when I hired a lorry, although driving up in a car is abit of a clue, but not that I may have passed any relevant tests had I needed to! I was never asked if I had passed a test, or had grandparents rights, either.
 
Spottyappy said:
I can’t answer all your questions as I no longer hire trailers, but the going rate is c £55 a day, and I’m not too far from you as you know!
The owner hoses/discinfects but you are expected to hand it back as clean as possible, ie free of hay and droppings.
An Ifor 510/511 seems the best imho as it accommodates up to 17.2hh. I had to leave a deposit, which was c£100 if I recall.
Also, had to have ID, which was photocopied, should I have decided to abscond with the trailer. The trailer was also obviously marked with the name of the hire company, and it had the postcode/hire company name on the rooft, to reduce chances of theft.
No one ever checked I could actually tow,either! Same when I hired a lorry, although driving up in a car is abit of a clue, but not that I may have passed any relevant tests had I needed to! I was never asked if I had passed a test, or had grandparents rights, either.
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Thank you Spotty all useful information
 
I regularly hired an Ifor Williams before I eventually bought one. I was not expected to wash it out properly - just remove hay and droppings. They deep cleaned and disinfected after every use. I never had to prove I could tow. I was provided with a lock.
 
Ambers Echo said:
I regularly hired an Ifor Williams before I eventually bought one. I was not expected to wash it out properly - just remove hay and droppings. They deep cleaned and disinfected after every use. I never had to prove I could tow. I was provided with a lock.
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Thanx I thought that just sweep out and make good after horse been in there
 
If you only have a B licence then hiring a trailer that will be plated weight legal for you to tow is very very unlikely

If you have a car that has a GVW of say 2100 then hiring a single trailer plated at 1600 is going to be a total of 3700 which is 200 over the B licence tow limit
 
Absolutely need to disinfect between hires (and I'd ensure I had an aluminium floor so I could do so easily).

I don't see why you wouldn't be able to do the same as hire car places for licencing, you get people to give you a one off code so that you can check entitlements and points etc.

I'd definitely opt for a larger version too.
 
Spottyappy said:
I think disinfecting needs to be done every time to reduce risk of cross contamination, as it were. Washing probably not or the floor would potentially be a problem, especially as most are wood or wood and aluminium.
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Oh yes I would disinfect each time as I do every time a Livery leaves we disinfect the box.
 
ROG said:
If you only have a B licence then hiring a trailer that will be plated weight legal for you to tow is very very unlikely

If you have a car that has a GVW of say 2100 then hiring a single trailer plated at 1600 is going to be a total of 3700 which is 200 over the B licence tow limit
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ROG said:
If you only have a B licence then hiring a trailer that will be plated weight legal for you to tow is very very unlikely

If you have a car that has a GVW of say 2100 then hiring a single trailer plated at 1600 is going to be a total of 3700 which is 200 over the B licence tow limit
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MISREAD YOUR ORIGINAL POST
You want to hire one out not tow it yourself on a B licence but what I posted will be useful info for those with only B licences who want to hire it

Lets say a B licence holder wants to hire a trailer and the heaviest horse is 600kg
If you got a Bateson Derby which is 675 empty and had it down plated from 1700 to 1300 then any B licence holder with a max 2200 GVW vehicle can legally tow it
 
My local hire place hires out 510s.
On a ramp, washed out and disinfected after each use.
Driving Licence details taken, full agreement signed.
I have not hired for a while but from memory, any damage was down to the hirer to pay for.
I used to pay £50 or £55 a day but that was 3 years ago so not sure if it is more than that now.
 
ROG said:
MISREAD YOUR ORIGINAL POST
You want to hire one out not tow it yourself on a B licence but what I posted will be useful info for those with only B licences who want to hire it

Lets say a B licence holder wants to hire a trailer and the heaviest horse is 600kg
If you got a Bateson Derby which is 675 empty and had it down plated from 1700 to 1300 then any B licence holder with a max 2200 GVW vehicle can legally tow it
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My licence is from 1981 and on my fourth Horsebox, my 25 ft long box is easy to drive as is my caravan and big box trailer, this is just to add a facility to my yard and anyone else local.



So really it is hard to guess which one is going to be more useful as we don't know who will hire it what car they have and how many horses they want to take, and what weight they are.

I guess most hire companies leave it to the hire person to do their homework before hiring.
 
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ILuvCowparsely said:
My licence is from 1981 and on my fourth Horsebox, my 25 ft long box is easy to drive as is my caravan and big box trailer, this is just to add a facility to my yard and anyone else local.



So really it is hard to guess which one is going to be more useful as we don't know who will hire it what car they have and how many horses they want to take, and what weight they are.

I guess most hire companies leave it to the hire person to do their homework before hiring.
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Your best bet if going to hire horse trailers would be to get two different ones
One down plated as I suggested for B licence towing with one horse (can be used by B+E)
One for towing two horses for those with B+E licences

Good local research is going to be the key in which way to go
 
ROG said:
Your best bet if going to hire horse trailers would be to get two different ones
One down plated as I suggested for B licence towing with one horse (can be used by B+E)
One for towing two horses for those with B+E licences

Good local research is going to be the key in which way to go
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Good idea in theory but not practical in the financial way - My lorry cost enough to run without running 2 trailers,well it is really the initial outlay of buying one only
 
ILuvCowparsely said:
Good idea in theory but not practical in the financial way - My lorry cost enough to run without running 2 trailers,well it is really the initial outlay of buying one only
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I do not know of any trailer hire company in the UK that caters for B licence holders for towing horse trailers so that is one niche market to consider
 
But also I don't know of any B licence holders that would think they could hire a trailer, and even fewer that would have the right vehicle to make it work. They go and hire 3.5T boxes instead.
 
ester said:
But also I don't know of any B licence holders that would think they could hire a trailer, and even fewer that would have the right vehicle to make it work. They go and hire 3.5T boxes instead.
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That is probably because there are no hire companies that take the trouble to down plate the trailer as I have suggested

Most standard vehicles are less than 2200 gvw so a 1300 mam lightweight trailer will work legally
 
Well of course but it's going to take a fair bit of advertising for anyone local to realise they can. Also these people are the younger people who often tend to go for cheap to buy/insure/fuel economy. I consider my own car a pretty standard one of those and it's able to tow diddly squat.
 
ROG said:
That is probably because there are no hire companies that take the trouble to down plate the trailer as I have suggested

Most standard vehicles are less than 2200 gvw so a 1300 mam lightweight trailer will work legally
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So this one would be too heave for the B then Ifor 510/511.


I think I would be targeting those who may have more on their licence than just B+E. How would you down plate them? I have not had a trailer since 1989, had horseboxes ever since
 
ILuvCowparsely said:
So this one would be too heave for the B then Ifor 510/511.


I think I would be targeting those who may have more on their licence than just B+E. How would you down plate them? I have not had a trailer since 1989, had horseboxes ever since
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510/511 has a plated MAM of around 2300 so would need a car of no more than 1500/1600 GVW to tow it on a B licence = impossible as most cars are 1900 to 2300 GVW
Example - 2300+2200=4500 which is over the 3500 limit

To down plate a trailer the manufacturer has to be contacted then this is the procedure =
You remove old plate
You send old plate plus fee (£10 - £50) to manufacturer
Manufacturer sends you new plate
You fit new plate

Down plating a 510/511 is pointless as it weighs about 1000 empty so down plating to 1300 would only leave 300 (half a horse?) for the trailer load
 
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