What is a good unlaiden weight for a lorry?

BethanT

BethanT

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Looking at a potential new horsebox (new for me, not new new), but the majority of 7.5 tons seem to have payloads around the 1,400kg mark. I was hoping to get something more around 2,000kg payload, but I don't know if that is far too high?

OH wants to get a MAN, so I know these are heavier. I only really want to travel 2 horses but I like them to have a bit of space, or the ability to take 3 if push came to shove, as a sometimes take a big horse and two ponies, which means passengers as well. There is always me and OH, then my friend and her daughters who usually compete their horse (my current lorry does allow for passengers in the living). So by the time I add say 5 people, two horses, all the kit, hay water and fuel I must be coming up to 1,800kgs surely?! Or am are my estimates waaaaaaay over?

A lot of the lorries I have seen have very swank living areas which I am assuming is taking up all the weight.

So back to the original question, what is seen as a reasonable payload from a 7.5t horsebox?
 
You're right to want a decent payload. The luscious 2 horse 7.5t lorries on display at Badminton from a renowned manufacturer (P**) had a payload of 1500kg or very near. At least they were honest about it and clearly displayed the payload. My Ifor 510 trailer has more than that :eek:.

Two decent sized competiton horses, all their kit, driver, 3 passengers, water, diesel would take them way over. 2000kg sounds a good minimum to aim for, which can surely be done if a more modest living area is incorporated.
 
I think it depends on what you want, living wise. My friends all singing dancing lorry weighed 6.2t unladen, whereas the box I had back then by the same horsebox builder with just day living weighed almost a ton lighter. I got a shock with my new to me lorry as it has living, not fancy or extensive and it weighs 5.6t, I had imagined being an old Merc it would be much more.
 
My old 6.6t Merc had a payload of approx 2 tonnes. It had a small living with job and mini fridge and a couple of cupboards, bench seat and mini table.
 
I have a compact 6 tonne and it has 2.5 tonnes payload. It will only take 2 horses and it means I never have to worry about the weight. There is a bit of living (small luton, cupboards, gas hob and tiny sink), but no seats other than the cab, so I guess it's a compromise and you need to decide what is more important.
 
I had a 6.5 with payload of 2.4 but would only take 2 horses or could have taken 3 if stalling was changed. Had basic living with a fridge and hob - a lot of the newer 6.5 tons have a better payload than some of the older 7.5.
 
I’ve looked into this for smaller lorry. I’d want 1.6t min for two horses and kit, 1.8 would be good, anything above that is peace of mind but don’t have to have as much as that. Only worked it out on 2 horses though not 3. 2t on a 7.5t should be do able but will likely have limited living.
 
As above. On the whole You would get much better payload on a 6.5 ton if you don’t need a huge living, only problem will be finding one.
Mine has over 2.1ton payload.
If I was buying a 7.5 ton, I would want at least 1.8 ton payload.
 
Just checked my last brake test, vehicle weight was 5460 with a full IBC on board. Take off a tonne for that and you get a full 3000kg!

Mind you it's a simple but strong cattle style ali body with zero living, but heavy partitions and ramp gates. So it can be done.

How often do you actually stay away? What about drop down crew seats ex aircraft (light), blow-up mattresses and perhaps a microwave and small fridge?

Some people love the 6.5T, my view is that overall construction is much less strong than a 7.5T. They also tend to be a bit poverty spec in the cab and not as nice to drive - but that is subjective.
 
Thanks all, pleased to know that I wasn't being optimistic about wanting 2t payload or thereabouts.

Turnbuckle in answer to your question, OH wants to use it for camping as well, so this could be a couple times a summer. It also depends where my competing takes me in terms of stay away shows, but I doubt it would be many a year, perhaps two?

What we do use it a lot for is day living when out doing ODE's, so use of a simple cooker and fridge would be ideal. Sleeping capacity not essential, as we could sleep in the horse area really as we have a good blow up mattress.

I have thought about getting a 7.5 and upgrading it to 8.5 or 10t as I can imagine once we get something we will be keeping it for a while. A friend said that it isn't that much to get them upgraded, just the tyres and springs. Though happy to be corrected.
 
BethanT said:
Thanks all, pleased to know that I wasn't being optimistic about wanting 2t payload or thereabouts.

Turnbuckle in answer to your question, OH wants to use it for camping as well, so this could be a couple times a summer. It also depends where my competing takes me in terms of stay away shows, but I doubt it would be many a year, perhaps two?

What we do use it a lot for is day living when out doing ODE's, so use of a simple cooker and fridge would be ideal. Sleeping capacity not essential, as we could sleep in the horse area really as we have a good blow up mattress.

I have thought about getting a 7.5 and upgrading it to 8.5 or 10t as I can imagine once we get something we will be keeping it for a while. A friend said that it isn't that much to get them upgraded, just the tyres and springs. Though happy to be corrected.
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If you have the licence to drive above 7.5 tonnes, it might be cheaper to buy a 12 ton gross in the first place ☺
 
tda said:
If you have the licence to drive above 7.5 tonnes, it might be cheaper to buy a 12 ton gross in the first place ☺
Click to expand...

I do, I have a HGV licence so this is what I was thinking. Just might prove difficult to find one compact enough to get down the lanes!
 
It depends on how many horses you want to carry.
In reality a lot of well kitted out 7.5T can only take 2 horses.
Taking 3 would need a more modest build spec.

In general I’d say I’d want a minimum of 750kg for an average sports horse plus associated extras.

I had an older PRB, only 22ft and basic day living. Stalled for 2 big/3 small. That weighed in at 5.2T and is about as good as you are going to get.
 
Our 6.5tn has a 2300 payload.with 2 heavy horses, tack, 2 people, water etc the minimum we would need from a lorry would be 1800 but also found lots of the bigger boxes have a low payload, newer ones are much better payload wise!
 
If you have your HGV you would be far better to get a 12 or 14 ton lorry and never have to worry - you could even put a 3rd horse on if needed. I live along a single track lane with banks and hedges and with the help of a neighbouring farmer we have adjusted the lane to accommodate an 18 ton lorry!! He now prunes it annually rather hard with the hedge cutter!
 
My last lorry was a 10t Daf which we had downrated to a 7.5t so I could drive it. It did compromise the payload as it was fully kitted out but fine for what I needed but as a 10t it had a whopping payload. I cant remember what it cost exactly but I think it was about £250 ish, we didnt have to change tyres, but it had to go to a VOSA test centre to check the springs had been altered and we were given the new plate certificate. It was a big lorry though, which is the only reason I parted with it as I wanted something more compact.
 
I am thinking that I will go down the compact HGV route, or bite the bullet and get a 7.5t that we really like and get it upgraded. I really don't want to be caught out being overweight. I'm hopeful that upgrading doesn't cost a lot!

Anyway, looks like this is something for next year now anyway as some other costs have come up unrelated to the lorry, so will make do with mine for now and tidy up the living so when it comes to selling it has more appeal.
 
My 6.5 has just under two tons it’s heavy because it has very fancy living with a slide out .
It’s perfect for me as it’s ample for two day to day I would only ever have one away on a well packed up trip .
I had 1.8 on my 7.5 again I only travelled away overnight with one horse so it worked for me .
 
My 5t VW had a payload of 1500kg, which when you take off the two equines, driver, passenger, food, water and tack, didn't leave us with much, but just squeezed it on. We had day living, luton and cut through cab, never travelled with anything we didn't need, but we were ok.
 
We have a j reg layland daf 45 and we had a new body built on it (chassis was sound dad is a hgv mechanic) which brought its payload from just under a tonne with the old body to 2.2t with the new one and its stalled for three. (Was four but we lost a few so dad and i made the living a bit bigger still basic though)
 
We had a compact 7.5t box that had 2t payload, it was a compact iveco. Standard wheelbase but short body.

Horse area we could fit in 2 big horses and a shetland, wouldn’t have been enough space for 3 horses. Living was then big enough for a small kitchen, sofa turned into double bed and sleeping over Luton. Unsurprisingly it was very easy to sell!

We now have 7.2t, its an iveco daily long wheel base so a van type. Great for easy maintenance and even with a good living we still have nearly 3t payload.
 
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