would you buy a 20yr old horsebox?

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minimex2

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im looking for a horsebox and before i travel the country looking need to work out whether to go for something old (20 yrs ish) with low mileage, well maintained, couple of owners vs something newer (10 yrs old) with higher mileage and needs bits doing?

wont part with any money without a professional inspection but would something that looked good but 20years old put you off?

thanks !
 
I've bought a 20 year old Ifor Williams last year but the dealer had re floored it and most of the panels replaced so it's only the frame that's really that old and it was good value really and sound as a pound.
 
I have an E reg Volvo Hunting box type body standing in my yard that we bought at auction to revamp. it's not high mileage for it's age and it drove home well. We've reclad it in light grey walling like Ifor Williams and so far wire brushed and repainted the chassis and done the metalwork dark grey. It should make a nice little box when it's done, was for me but it's looking like it might not get finished due to separation :( Don't dismiss the good oldies!
 
I bought a nearly 30 year old box. She looked awful but was mechanically very sound and was fitted out inside with the same quality horse area as an Oakley. Cost me £1K. She had no proper living but that meant I could carry five, or several and carriage, or two and plenty of camping gear. I bought her as a toe into 7.5 tonne lorry territory to see if we'd cope but she did us for nearly four years after which I sold her for £860 :)

I have to say I'd be worrying less about it looking good than finding one that had a traceable history and was in very good mechanical condition.

btw my current lorry is 23 years old now.
 
The age would not put me off. I am a professional engineer and the only age that would put me off is UNDER 10 years old. Too much electronics ,too sensetive and totaly un suitable for the modern crap diesel with 7/10 % biodiesel . Unless a modern lorry is worked hard every day ,it is going to give some very expensive problems. Modern lorrys do not make good horseboxes.
 
My friend has a B reg and its fantastic, shes been complimented each time it goes for its plate on how good it is. Mines 18 years old, the one before that 25 yrs old and my first was 7 yrs old but to be honest didnt drive any better than my older ones. I sold my newer one as it just wasnt getting the use it should and was a lot of money stood there depreciating. So yes I would buy a 20 yr old horsebox, just watch out for cab corrosion, some makes rot worse than others.
 
The mechanics of old lorries are very simple so as someone else has said there is very little that is not fixable by a decent mechanic, the main thing to check is rust and how long its been a horse lorry. If its been a horse lorry fifteen of its twenty years the fact its got a high mileage is neither here nor there, it spent 15 years doing less than 2,000 a year and being plated and looked after every 2000miles. Old lorries can actually appreciate in value, buy one in good condition and look after it you may get what you paid for it and if its a rare model perhaps more. Wish I had not sold my Bedford TK 1979
 
Mine is 24yrs old and in 8 yrs has never let me down, it has been a horse box from new and only got 60k km on the clock
 
Mine is 21 years old, have owned it, almost two years,
They don't do much mileage once a horsebox, so as long as you are happy to maintain it, it should stay a great workhorse for a number of years.
You obviously need to purchase one which has been well maintained, and ask to see receipts for work done to back this up.
My mechanic also advised to not believe the km on clock, as often they are changed, so, a low km one,even if being sold genuinely, many not be a true reflection of its use. However, as above, even the higher km would not put me off. Ob someone like Connegirl could verify not the case for hers, but most have had several owners so that wouldn't be the case.
 
It is not about Km on the clock or even receipts . A Good mechanic can read a truck like a book, he doesnt need to know about what has been spent or the mileage. We regularly entrust our lives to aircraft that are 20 years old or more.
 
I love my old Horsebox (M reg) he's flown through his last 2 MOT's with no advisories.
The bloke that does my 'horseboxy bits' (ramp, floors etc) builds Horseboxes for a living but always tells me to let him know if I want to sell it because he'd have people queuing up to buy it if it was smartened up ( it does look a bit scruffy at the moment :( )
 
we have a 30 + year old Rice trailer - she's a classic, and we love her so much. Goes with our "classic" Discovery. it's all in the maintenance. x
 
Cab corrosion is simply remedied if you know how. I can turn the rustiest cab totaly solid for the nxt 6/10 years , No welding ,that just increases the corrosion.
 
I bought a 20 year old Leyland Daf in September and added a smart coat of paint and resealed all the wood panels. A previous owner had resprayed and renovated the cab. I have old plating certificates all the way back and know the 160,000km mileage is genuine. I've just come back from my first decent length outing (about 100 miles each way) and it hasn't missed a beat. Very pleased with it.
 
The first secret ingredient is to find yourself a nice reliable and friendly local independent commercial vehicle mechanic who understands old commercial vehicle technology and has a source of second hand parts. Ask other horsebox owners in your area who services their vehicles and at the same time find yourself a similar coach builder.
The mechanical components of commercial vehicles were designed to do many miles of uninterrupted travel however some things will still perish or rust so these will need changing from time to time.
Ensure that the vehicle you purchase has a tilt cab rather than is coach built with only an inspection cover so as to ease access to the engine.
Horseboxes owned by amateur riders do very little mileage i.e. an average of about 2,000 miles per year so it is important to take them for a run once a week as otherwise things will start seizing up such as the brakes.
If you are in London you will need a vehicle that complies with the emission regulations which require a modern diesel engine however an ancient Petrol Bedford TK would also comply as petrol engines are not covered!
Despite their age Bedford Tk's are a reliable vehicle as they are a bit like a Meccano kit and are easy to take apart and put back together again.
One other bit of advice - carry two complete spare wheels so that if you ever suffer a puncture the wheel(s) can be quickly replaces by road side assistance.
Ensure you have breakdown insurance from a good company who will arrange alternative transport for your horse if this is deemed necessary.
Get any vehicle you intend purchasing thoroughly checked out including floor and ramps.
 
You need an excellent mechanic on side! Parts in good condition can be hard to come by and therefore your mechanic may need to be creative at times. My 27yr old lorry died last year, a very sad day
 
I have have just bought a C reg Bedford Cf2, it starts every time, has done 56,000 miles and is pretty solid. I am in the low emissions zone so being petrol is a must.

I think that as long as it has been looked after and the engine/chasis are in good condition, pretty much everything else can been treated with tlc.

As they say its not the box, its what comes out of it that matters!
 
Mine is relatively junior at 14 years old but runs fab, so if you "know" the lorry and it's history why not. I have a friend who has an older Mercedes and it goes first time every time. Just get a trusted mechanic to look at it of you are not sure
 
I recently bought a 24 year old Ascot Supreme. I chose her over flashier, newer ones because she is an awesome and beautiful old lady :)

My reasoning (rightly or wrongly) is that if she was a pile of rubbish she wouldn't have made it to 24.
 
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I sold a what will now be 22 year old Ford Iveco 0813 a few years ago, it was beautifully coach built - the living and horse area much better than the new conversion I had built. The main reason I sold it was because it was getting hard to source spares, however that may be because I'm not a mechanic and just wasn't looking in the right places. I did have one notable conversation with a breaker's yard (when I definitely had the correct part description that was required from the mechanic) that went sometimes like "get the mechanic to call me woman, I'm not speaking to you" :-o!!

It also didn't have a tilt cab and that (understandably) wasn't popular with the mechanic although it did have some kind of engine access hole somewhere in the cab. The rails on the chassis that the back of it sat on were getting somewhat "squashed" with age (not the right description) but that would have been fixable with some attention/welding. The lady that bought it off me still has it going strong and I sometimes wish I'd waited longer to sell it.

My newer lorry (DAF) has more power (especially up hills) and has a tilt cab, but the quality of the coachbuild on the old one was a lot better. Good luck with your viewings :-)
 
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