Trailers and Transport article

anthony79

anthony79

Well-Known Member
Joined
7 July 2008
Messages
147
Location
devon
www.trailermedic.co.uk
Hi! I am writing an article for WMN on trailers and transport.
Instead of just writing a standard piece, I thought it would be good for you guys to ask me any queries/questions you may have on the subject. And I will put the answers in the article with the question.
Don't be shy! Ask away!
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Excellent! Can you clarify the new laws on mirrors ? We have a K reg Iveco Cargo with what I would call "standard" mirrors but I've read a couple of articles saying that at the next MOT we might have to get some additional ones.
 
Some questions which I think need to be asked and answered in big bold letters with a pointy finger are:

Is it sensible to travel with the top front door of the trailer open as the horse likes the fresh air?

Is it safe to travel in the trailer with your horse because he is scared in there.

Is it safe to travel a horse in a trailer when its ears touch the roof?

Is it safe to travel a horse in a trailer with no front bar?

Is it safe to travel a horse in a trailer with no back bar?

Do i need check that the lorry floor/ trailer floor / ramp is safe - or just assume it is until my horse falls through it.


Is it safe to tie my horse up outside my lorry/trailer with a lovely long lead rope so they can graze on all the lovely long grass while I walk away?

Sorry - they all sound so obvious but I am constantly amazed why some people seem completely ignorant of the basics and if you are doing an article on safe travelling then these need to be highlighted.
 
Why does my friends horse always fall over on tight right hand bends i.e. roundabouts. I drive really really slowly for him on roundabouts for him but doesnt seem to make a difference
 
Hear Hear Bosworth.

That and NO you CAN'T tow with a medium sized family saloon or a hairdressers jeep (vitara, rav 4 or the like)
and....
Stop trying to squeeze your 2 16hh horses into a 3.5t unit and sit the bloody test.
 
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Why does my friends horse always fall over on tight right hand bends i.e. roundabouts. I drive really really slowly for him on roundabouts for him but doesnt seem to make a difference

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I sold my Ifor yesterday after having it only a month as my horse was going down in it on corners. No matter how slow you go round corners, if you have one of these trailers it will always happen. I acted quickly before my horse got damaged physically. dont know about the mental scars he may have.

The dealer who bought it off me said they are renowned for causing horses to go down as they have metal floors.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Hear Hear Bosworth.

That and NO you CAN'T tow with a medium sized family saloon or a hairdressers jeep (vitara, rav 4 or the like)
and....
Stop trying to squeeze your 2 16hh horses into a 3.5t unit and sit the bloody test.

[/ QUOTE ]

Firstly I drive a Rav 4 and its no hairdressers jeep
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In seriouseness it can actually tow 1.5 tonne so that equates to a small ifor and small horse (although I have never done it!!!!)

Now onto my other rant. I also own and hire out a 3.5 tonne box that will comfortably and legaly carry 2 largeish horses. I really am getting fed up of people on here stating that they can't.

My old 17hh mare and my current 17.1hh gelding travel in there very happily with room to spare.

The unladen weight of our vehicle is 1.2 tonne sp with 2 horses (fair enough not 2 17hh heaveys!) 1 driver and no tack etc you would still be under weight.

Please please stop assuming that all these 3.5 tonne lorrys are badly built and weigh too much - they don't!!!
 
Question; I have a LGV licence, so can basically drive anything ridgid but not an artic licence.

Given this, can I drive a 4x4 with a trailer or do I need to do a seperate test?! Everyone seems to give me a different answer!
 
For those who wish to know if they need additional mirrors fitted to conform to the new legislation you can get the answer by going to this link & entering your lorry details:

http://www.checkyourmirror.com/

I didn't need them fitted to my lorry but I fitted them anyway to eliminate some blind spots. They only cost me £8.99 + p+p off Ebay.
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Sorry wasn't going to reply to any until the paper, but this I see a lot in my travels. I'm afraid it's nothing to do with the trailer make/model. It is simply the trailer was not properly set up (PDI'd) before the sale or has been serviced badly causing unsafe travelling.
I have rectified several of these strange towing events, by simply servicing the trailer properly!
And yes it has taken a few trips out to get the horse used to the trailer again, but it does come right.
 
My horse is too valuable to me to risk putting him through that again.. Once the trust has gone with me thats it - wouldn't go there again.. Its sold now anyway and he will never step foot in another. He trusted me to keep loading, but I didn't listen to him.. Not beating myself up though, I just think I'm lucky he had no injuries.
 
Re Halfpass, I'd love to know what type of 3.5 t vehicle you have with an unladen wt of 1.5t. I have a curtain side general goods vehicle Transit and it weighs 1.5t unladen, all the 3.5t conversions I have viewed with the aim of buying for hire are between 2.3 and 2.6T unladen all of these are reputable makes most based on the renualt / vauxhall chassis. A renualt chassis cab (the most popular used) weights 1851kg before a box goes on! sorry cannot belive you vehicle is 1.5t unladen.
 
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Question; I have a LGV licence, so can basically drive anything ridgid but not an artic licence.

Given this, can I drive a 4x4 with a trailer or do I need to do a seperate test?! Everyone seems to give me a different answer!

[/ QUOTE ]

Depends when you first passed your driving test - if pre-1997 think you're OK as youd could tow a trailer with a car even if not got LGV.
 
[quoteif you have one of these trailers it will always happen.

[/ QUOTE ]

What a nonsense blanket statement!!. thousands upon thousands of people travel in IW's (and other forward facing trailers) with metal floors with no issue whatsoever.
It's more likely to be a maintainance/servicing issue, or an issue with the horse itself.


Halfpass. not being confronational here. But I would love to know what make your box is. I am yet to find a well built 3.5t that has an unladen weight of less than 2t.

Yours might be fine, but the Majority of advertising that states they can carry 2 large horses is misleading and false. Especially bearing in mind that most people will want to carry water hay and tack as well.
 
What could cause a recently serviced trailer that was hitched correctly to come unhitched when travelling straight down the motorway at 60mph?
 
Carys; I took the LGV in 2004 having passed driving test in 1999.

Seems mad that I can drive a HUGE HGV but not a car and trailer.........
 
The reason why that happened, is because the hitch coupling was probably worn on the trailer , which allowed enough movement for it to come off.
We replace about 50 of these a year, and some on trailers only a few years old.
They need to be checked every time the trailer is serviced for wear.
If the trailer was new then the towball on the truck was worn, thankfully these are now part of the MOT for cars.
It's very frightening and I hope no one was hurt.
 
Thankyou Trailermedic
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I've been both wanting and dreading a reason for 10 months now. Fortunately no humans were hurt - it somehow missed a load of cars, but we lost my horse (the polo pony on the left of my signature) and my friend's horse (it was her trailer) somehow walked away with only cuts and bruises.
 
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The reason why that happened, is because the hitch coupling was probably worn on the trailer , which allowed enough movement for it to come off.
We replace about 50 of these a year, and some on trailers only a few years old.
They need to be checked every time the trailer is serviced for wear.
If the trailer was new then the towball on the truck was worn, thankfully these are now part of the MOT for cars.
It's very frightening and I hope no one was hurt.

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Yes they do wear out especialy when people rarely grease the tow ball/ coupling and its high time trailers had a annual MOT there are loads of defective trailers about, faulty lights inop or poor brakes, bad floors etc
 
Is it safe to travel a horse in a trailer with no front bar?

Yes it is safe if you are travelling horses or ponies completely loose with no partition.

Is it safe to travel a horse in a trailer with no back bar?

What are you supposed to do if the back bar is too high for your small pony.
 
We have a very old IFW trailer - but it had a new aluminium floor last year and this week it has been in to have something on the tow hitch welded - how long do you keep spending money on repairing an old trailer before its time to bite the bullet and get a newer one?
 
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