What do you tow with ?

[Kirsti1]

i'm a new member so hello to everyone.
i would like some opinions on what you all use to tow a trailer with. i have a VW passat estate, 1.9TDI, it's max payload is 1800kgs, my horse and ifor williams trailer weigh 1400kgs but is a car suitable to tow with. i know it's awful in the wet, cannot pull itself along in wet grass, does anyone else have to be towed out of shows !?
any feedback would be appreciated, am starting to worry about this, do i need to get a loan and buy a 4x4 before next spring! (no plans to go out anywhere this winter)
thanks Kirsti

 

[cobwithattitude]

Hello!
Have towed with a variety of vehicles - found with ordinary cars the bottom can get scraped when driving over rough ground - also car may struggle up inclines. We now tow with a Discovery diesel and have no probs. (Well, I do make the clutch smell when reversing but that is my fault not the cars....) It also makes for a 'smoother' ride for the horses and it is easy to hitch up as it has self levelling suspension. There are alot of 4x4 on the market - have a look at some -

 

[pixie]

Personally I would not want to be towing with a car. I honestly don't think that they are suitable, especially in this country where weather conditions are not always perfect!

 

[miamibear]

My dad tows me with an Izusu trooper and my YO tows with a discovery but it has had loads of problems.

Would reccomend the Isuzu though!!

 

[Roany-pony]

[ QUOTE ]
My dad tows me with an Izusu trooper and my YO tows with a discovery but it has had loads of problems.

Would reccomend the Isuzu though!!

[/ QUOTE ]
Agree with the above.I have a Isuzu and can't fault it at all!

 

[sojeph]

In North Devon you're either going uphill or downhill so I need something up to the job!! I use a Shogun . Its automatic and does a great job.

 

[K9Wendy]

We towed with exactly what you are towing with, the Passat, it was fine towing on a straight road A to B with no hill starts and arriving at a show at a yard not a field!! We only towed for about 3 months before buying a 4x4 and I can tell you there is a world of difference. We towed a Cheval Liberte trailer, which is about 400kg lighter than an IW. Hubbie says he would never go back, with the 4x4 you just wouldn't know the trailer was there, the car, while it towed and it was legal, felt wrong.. This has been our experiences, and we wouldn't go back. Luckily we have been using the 4x4 to get us out of fields lately, car would never have done it! We bought a Hyundi Terracan.

 

[the watcher]

I wouldn't tow with anything less than a heavy 4x4..this has been a subject of several previous discussions. At the moment I have an Isuzu Trooper 2.4 petrol, which has been fine for local runs towing a Bahill double trailer and was going to sell the trailer and buy a lorry for longer runs (want to do qualifiers) I am now veering towards keeping the trailer but buying the Isuzu Bighorn.

In short I wouldn't tow with a car

 

[SSM]

We tow with our Discovery (when Cowbag goes in

)

 

[josephinebutter2]

I tow with a 21 year old Ford Sierra 1.6 Petrol!!! And yes, I do get funny looks when at shows!!!

Can only take one horse or 2 ponies to be legal.

It does fine around Essex, but strugles if we go to more hilly areas like Kent - have been to nationals in Stonleigh in it and it went fine - did get some stares tho, with all the posh lorries around - we even slept in the trailer!

It is rear wheel drive, so have managed to get out of muddy fields even when the lorries get stuck.

Wouldn't recommend you go out and get one though! My dad just had it sitting around, and as I cannot afford to run a big 4x4, it is doing the job just fine. Have been running it for 2 years and only got stuck once - but half the 4x4's got stuck that day also.

I would say, try yours and see - I was very surprised that mine did it. If you find it struggles too much, or lacks handling, then think about changing to a 4x4.

Hope this helps.

 

[burtie]

[ QUOTE ]
Can only take one horse or 2 ponies to be legal.

[/ QUOTE ]

My understanding of the law is that is to be legal it is based on the Gross Maximum towing weight of the trailor, not your actual weight. You can ask IFOR williams to downgrade and re-plate the single horse trailor, but I don't think they'll do it on a double horse.

Without knowing what you are towing obviously I cannot be sure but I find it hard to believe it is legal

 

[Maesfen]

Welcome to the forum btw!

We have a Daihatsu Fourtrak to tow our 5o5 and it is brilliant, cannot recommend them highly enough. They might lack the passenger refinements of things like a Discovery or Shogun but it more than makes up for it with the towing capabilities, you just don't know it is there even with two horses in!

I personally wouldn't feel very safe towing with an ordainary car even if it was legal - plus you're that much higher up you can see the road ahead much better which gives you more reaction time to give your horses a safer and smoother ride.

 

[Halfpass]

I tow with my Nisaan Terrano 2.7 TDI and wouldn't tow with anything else.
(other then a land cruiser amazon but I do have limited funds

)

 

[pixie]

agreed, a ford sierra has a max towing capacity of 1100kg, so that must be one lightweight trailer if she can "legally" carry one horse or two ponies in it

 

[the watcher]

I have to say that I think the Ford Sierra option is a recipe for disaster, in my opinion, in terms of comparative weight:weigh ratios and engine capacity

 

[sorona]

I tow with a 3.1L Isuzu Trooper and it does a good job but even that complains a little up steep hills. I have borrowed a friends Toyota previa when my car was in the garage and although it towed fine on the roads, when we turned up at a show to park, we had to park on an incline on grass and we had to take our pony out and tackle the slope at an angle to be able to park it and we only had the one 14.2 LW pony in the back! The other problem with towing close to the weight of the car is you will burn your clutch out much quicker so you may end up damaging the car you have so sometimes it is more cost effective to bite the bullet and get something a bit meatier to do the job.

 

[so03]

I use a Jeep Cherokee, 4L automatic. Very thirsty as it's a petrol but tows very well.

I used to tow one horse with a large estate car, but to be honest I would not tow with a car again.

It's the towing weight that matters as this affects the braking distance. It's not how a car manages to tow the trailer. Most cars will pull a trailer but can it stop safely? The answer is normally No.

Hope this helps.

 

[rema]

We use a Land rover Defender TDI.Not alot of comfort but tows the trailer brilliantly!.

 

[flyingfeet]

I tow a 1ton Ifor 510 with a Kia Sorento

Tows as well as our Toyota Land Cruiser. We also used to have Isuzu's which were very good.

 

[Theresa_F]

Hi and welcome.

I tow with a Nissen Primera 2 litre turbo diesel. My max tow weight is 1200 ks.

I have a nice little Bateson Derby which weighs 650k and takes 2 15 hands or with the partition out can take a mare and foal.

Chancer weighs 380 k. I only every tow with him by himself and would not take two ponies as I would be overweight.

It copes with steep hills and on the flat runs like a dream. I drive slowly - never above 50 and keep a large stopping distance at all times, but I did this when towing with a 4 x 4.

Chancer despite being young is an excellent traveller. I have not yet got stuck on grass, but I would hope that if I did, some nice person would assist me as I used to do so for others when I had my old series 3 landy.

If Chancer grows too big or heavy, which is a possibility I am considering either a heavier more powerful car or a 4 x 4 or even a small lorry.

My OH's Audi TT would be a great vehicle - heavy, powerful, 4 x 4 and traction control - be bit like hitching a TB to a cart though

 

[josephinebutter2]

Took my Trailer towing test with that combination and passed - they said it was perfectly legal, as long as I didn't tow above the cars maximum towing weight according to the handbook - which I don't

 

[josephinebutter2]

My max tow weight is 1500 according to the handbook and my horse plus trailer is 1400.

The paticular year my car was built, Ford thought it would be a good idea to boar down a 2 litre engine to 1.6 for fuel economy - turns out it wasn't popular, but gives me the torque of a 2 litre engine to tow with and it has a low rmp which helps.

If you look back 10-15 years hardly anyone was towing their horses/ponies with 4x4's - all the local shows were littered with estate cars.

Unfortunately, some of us just can't afford to run 4x4's and have to make do with less than ideal situations.

 

[Kirsti1]

thanks everyone, brilliant feedback. still dithering, guess i will just have to try with the car and go from there.
this forum is great for advice !

 

[MillionDollar]

We used to tow with an Izuzu Trooper until my Uncle wrapped it round a tree! now we have a Mitsibushi Truck and its fantastic, IMO a lot better than the Izuzu.

 

[Twinkle Twinkle]

I use a Diahatsu Fourtrack they are brilliant at pulling.

 

[lilym]

[ QUOTE ]


If you look back 10-15 years hardly anyone was towing their horses/ponies with 4x4's - all the local shows were littered with estate cars.


[/ QUOTE ]

i remember those days!! most people just hitched up to the family car, threw a few bags of cement in the boot and off you went to a local show!!
it's only been in the last few years, the boom of 4x4's the second hand ones have become more affordable in terms of cash outlay, but can still be expensive to run: i have a 14 year old fourtrack, but i don't do many "runaround miles" so not too bad for me. but if i didn't have that i would probably use a large van, which is what i'll do if the tax gets whacked up, either that or a heavy old volvo, i only tow my girlie anyway.

 

[Iestyn]

Hello!

I personally would never now with any car-like vehicle - closest I got was a Freelander. I now to with a LR Discovery and love it for towing (hate it as a car cos it's sooo big). I know though that sometimes it's not practical for people to have a 4x4, or financially possible so if they are confident that they are safe and legal on the road (which I would be interested to see how many are) then fine - as long as they realise that they may be endangering themselves, their horse and other people as well as invalidating their car and horse insurance then so be it. You are obviously not confident that your car is safe enough to tow you load so it may be something worth thinking about...