Yet another towing question ...

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CBAnglo

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Right, have decided that in about 2 months I am going to get a second hand 4x4 and trailer as my horse car is very sick at the moment, and I have two horses so no point getting a tiny lorry, and I can tow on my licence but need to do the test to drive anything over 3.5T.

Will be required to pull a LARGE trailer + 2 horses, so need something that can pull 3.5T.

Must also be automatic and diesel (trying to be as economical as I can in an auto!) Recommendations please? I am thinking along the lines of a 04 Nissan Terrano 3.0L diesel LWB but also toying with a Shogun and a Kia Sorrento. Thanks
 
Kia Sorrento all the way out of the above. Garage lent me one for a competion weekend once, I was so,so,so impressed by it!
 
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Kia Sorrento all the way out of the above. Garage lent me one for a competion weekend once, I was so,so,so impressed by it!

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What would you compare it to?

I am planning to test drive all of them, but obviously on driving so need comparisons in terms of towing very heavy trailer + horse combo.
 
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Shoguns lovely to drive and tow with. Discos can tow 3.5ton and tow well. Range Rovers tow well and are very comfortable, but thirsty.

Haven't tried the Kia.

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I have a very small parking space which is tricky to get to, so I have ruled out the disco otherwise it would have been first choice (have seen my neighbour struggle to get his in and cant be bothered to deal with that). Same with Range Rovers really ... need something relatively small.

Another neighbour has a toyota landcruiser and has abandonned parking in the garage and leaves it on the side of the road now!

Think a terrano, sorrento and shogun would all fit ... jeep grand cherokee will probably be too wide.
 
might have got wrong end of stick here but thought that you had to do test for towing anything that was combined greater than 3.5T ie towing vehicle and trailer together (and horse). This might not be right for you though.
 
I have converted my licence from a foreign licence and this has allowed me to be able to tow up to 3.5T but if I want to drive a vehicle over 3.5T then I have to do the test.

Its very complicated as I was able to drive up to 7.5T originally, but when I converted my licence in February 1997 they decided to take that class off as the new rules kicked in, but let me keep the trailer code. Bizarre.
 
I have a defender 110 double cab pick up - now i know its far from small so might not fit in your small space but think about the 90 version. I highly recommend land rover defenders. I tow an Equitrek Star Trekka with mine and it tows it lovely (much better than my old disco)
 
Jeep Cherokee auto - can tow up to 3.5 tonnes. I did my test the other week and instructor commented on how good it was to tow with. Are also pretty small and good value for money.
 
We are having the same problem, I am now right on the limit with my car as Stinky has grown so much so we have just put a tow bar on the work van which tows 2.3 tonnes so I can take Stinky out in my beloved Derby or Farra out in a larger trailer but not together. We need 3 T for them to go out in a Wessex Olympian which is a really big trailer. We would need 3.5 for them and an Equitrack.

One thing we have seen is a Ford Ranger 3.0 Tdci tows 3000 and does not have the huge tax burden of a normal 4 x 4. Has very good reviews.

When we looked at 3.5 capacity it was the big defenders, discos and range rovers or you could look at the Land Cruisers or Shoguns. Nothing else will have that weight capacity - most of them are 2.3 - 2.8.

Fairly sure that the Sorrento is only 2.8 capacity, the older Terrano is also 2.8 but the new one is upped to 3.0.

I would love a nice little box, but Farra as you know is not exactly a small girl, even though she is only 16.2 and Andy refuses to have a 7.5 ton box again.
 
Hi - i have a Jeep Grand Cherokee aswell - i tow my hb510 and 2 very large horses and it does a great job - very pleased and they arent too expensive to buy a decent one.
 
Do check the towing capacity as Theresa says - landy, range rover disco, shogun, land cruiser or VW Touareg (lovely if you can afford one!) possibly biggest Jeep Cherokee?
Our friend's got the big Equitrek and her top of the range Disco only just manages it with two horses.
 
Thanks for those suggestions everyone. I checked the terrano and the model I was looking at definitely tows 3.5T. I wont have that much with my two horses + tack + water + trailer etc, but I wanted to get something that could easily tow the maximum as I dont want to worry about going over the weight.

I will have to check the specs again but I think the particular sorrento I looked at could also tow 3.5T as I was only considering vehicles which could tow 3.5T.

T - Yes, Farra is on the heavier side, so I see you have quite a problem as C is also growing. Have you decided on a trailer? I was looking at the Equitrek but have heard so many bad things, now looking at a Fautras.
 
Yes we will stick to trailer as OH does not want the expense of the horsebox and we will need at least 5.5 T for the lump.

This year if we want to go out together, we will hire a trailer for her and tow with the van and my car can still tow Stinky, or hire a lorry that will take them both. Next year we may want to go out together a lot more and then will look at trailers - the Wessex Olympian is huge and there is a place at Brentwood we can hire one from to see how we go.

Luckily Farra is very good to travel so she should be ok in a big trailer and hopefully won't grow that much more, she is big long horse rather than a tall one.

If you do find a really big nice trailer, let me know how you get on with it.
 
I am actually looking at the 3 horse trailer - the anglo does not like enclosed spaces and takes ages to load onto an Ifor but will load himself onto a lorry. Was considering a little 5.5T lorry, but then have to faff about with the test etc and as my car is now on her last legs (poor thing) it made sense to get a 4x4 + big trailer.

Will look at the Jeep Cherokee, terrano, shogun and the sorrento. I must be able to find something suitable from that selection!
 
The toureg doesn't tow as much as the others. Its Disco, Rangerover, Defender, Shogun, Landcruiser and I think the Izuzu trooper that I was recommended. I love my TD5 Disco. I was going to upgrade to Disco 3 but have done my HGV test and I'm looking for a lorry instead.
 
I have a 2.8 Nissan Terrano and it tow like a train, I should imagine that the 3.0 is better again. My car owes me nothing I have had it four years now and all that has ever had to be done to it is the usual waer and tear items.

I also used to have a Wessex Olympian but I have now swapped it for a 510 as my horse travels better in the 510.

We are considering swapping the Terrano in a few months and I think we are going to go for the Pathfinder
 
CBA - Equitreks are fab, i know there have been a lot of criticism about them lately on here but ive never had any problems with the dealings ive had with Tom or his parents and never had an ounce of problems with either of the trailers ive had off them. (saying thtat though theres been a fair few unsatisifed customers of the new Ifors recently - something that i would never touch again- horses for courses i think)
dont discount them at all, they hire them out if you want to try them before you buy, to make sure your horses load/travel well.

i agree with what ironhorse has said, the ones you need to be lookingat are the Land Rovers - defender, Rnage rover and discos, or land cruiser or VW Toureg are the only ones that will safely tow the 3.5t fully loaded traielrs.
 
Have a Mercedes ML270 Diesel, which I adore and pulls two big horses with no problems (can barely feel them). That tows the full 3.5t, which is what I was looking for. Very few 4x4s out there can tow 3.5t - http://www.cuddles.abelgratis.net/kerbweights.htm will give you an idea of what the different makes can tow.

I drove a Nissan Terrano (noisy, but a fair bit of poke), Discovery (lumbering beast, but does the job) and chose the M Class because it was more comfortable to drive day to day. Fairly economical to run as well. Hope this helps
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Isabelle
 
Thanks Daisy and IsabelleJ.

Someone on my yard has a ShowTrekka and she is very happy with it. might try loading my boy onto it and see if he is ok.

I will also have a look at the VW and Mercedes - I would have preferred a disco or a LR but infortunately I have a fairly small tandem car space and I have another car as well, so I need something that is relatively small, hence why I initially thought terrano or shogun.
 
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