Can a Honda Accord pull a horse box?

shirleyc

Just wondering if anyone knows if a Honda Accord (2.2 ctdi) diesel will pull a horsebox? Also, does anyone know if a law is coming out stating that you need a 4x4 to pull a horsebox?

Thanks.

Mr Benevolent

shirleyc wrote: »

Just wondering if anyone knows if a Honda Accord (2.2 ctdi) diesel will pull a horsebox? Also, does anyone know if a law is coming out stating that you need a 4x4 to pull a horsebox?

Thanks.

Best to check the car's manual tbh. It'll tell you the maximum towing weight too.

Tipsy Mac

What weight is the horsebox loaded?

P.C.

shirleyc wrote: »

Just wondering if anyone knows if a Honda Accord (2.2 ctdi) diesel will pull a horsebox? Also, does anyone know if a law is coming out stating that you need a 4x4 to pull a horsebox?

Thanks.

I don't see why not.

I used to tow my Hobie 16 with a 1.6 petrol Golf, or a 2.0 Merc.

Don't see how there can be a law that says you have to have a 4X4 to tow a horesbox.

Wishbone Ash

shirleyc wrote: »

Just wondering if anyone knows if a Honda Accord (2.2 ctdi) diesel will pull a horsebox?

The important thing to ask is if an Accord will stop a horsebox!

shirley wrote:

Also, does anyone know if a law is coming out stating that you need a 4x4 to pull a horsebox?

No requirement for a 4x4 but it matters on whether the trailer is braked.

If the gross weight of the trailer is more than 750kgs, you'll require an EB licence to draw it on a public road.

tin79

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

If the gross weight of the trailer is more than 750kgs, you'll require an EB licence to draw it on a public road.

i dont think its as simple as that

STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS

S.I. No 537 of 2006

Road Traffic (Licensing of Drivers) Regulations 2006

Drawing vehicles.
7. (1) A combination of vehicles which consists of a drawing vehicle and a trailer shall, for the purpose of these Regulations, be regarded as a vehicle -


(a) in category B, where the drawing vehicle is in category B and the design gross vehicle weight of the trailer does not exceed the unladen weight of the drawing vehicle and the total design gross vehicle weight of the combination does not exceed 3,500 kg,


(b) in category B, C1, C, D1 or D, where the drawing vehicle is in category B, C1, C, D1, or D, respectively, and the design gross vehicle weight of the trailer does not exceed 750 kg

leeroybrown

The problem you'll run into is that horse boxes (and the horses themselves) are very heavy. If you read section 7(a) of tin79's post above you'll see that for ordinary cars the DGVW of the trailer must be less than the unladen weight of the car. A Honda Accord estate will have an unladen weight of just over 1600KG which means that it probably won't be able to tow any normal horse box legally.

You'll end up needing an 'EC' class license and a vehicle with a much higher unladen weight in order to tow one. This is why horse boxes are always towed by 4x4's but there's no legal requirement for the tow-vehicle to be four wheel drive. Practically speaking a 4x4 is much more suitable for towing that kind of weight though, particularly if you'll be going near soft ground.

JHMEG

Current model has a (braked) towing limit of 1700Kg.

What is the laden weight of a horse box?

leeroybrown

That would depend on the size of your horse. Offhand, a small horse box would probably be designed for a max weight of around 2000Kg (~800Kg unladen plus two ~500Kg horses).

Another thing to bear in mind is braking. If I was lugging nearly 1500Kg of horse and trailer behind me I really wouldn't want to have to stop quickly using fairly modest passenger car brakes.

JHMEG

That's the braked limit. ie the trailer has its own brakes.

A typical horse seems to be 500Kg and a trailer is around 800Kg, implying that a horse box with one horse will be ok, but two horses is over the limit?

leeroybrown

It is possible to get single horse boxes which should be somewhat lighter. One of those could make the Accord a practical tow vehicle choice.

Marlow

Also check your logbook for the total weight for the Honda.

If the total weight of the car is set as being over 1800 kg and your total weight for the trailer is 1700 kg, you still need the driver license for large trailers.

Otherwise you'd be driving without license and insurance (doesn't matter if you're insured)

/M

x in the city

Id say a 2.2 type r could tow a horse [or 2] ...!

pred racer

Marlow wrote: »

Also check your logbook for the total weight for the Honda.

If the total weight of the car is set as being over 1800 kg and your total weight for the trailer is 1700 kg, you still need the driver license for large trailers.

Otherwise you'd be driving without license and insurance (doesn't matter if you're insured)

/M

Guys, will you please stop spouting this.

Whatever the law is...........nobody cares:eek:
the guards dont care, your insurance company doesnt even care whether you have a licence or not, let alone the correct one once you have paid for the correct policy. (I.e mine covers me for trailers. Attached and detached)
everybody tows trailers and nobody that I know has a special licence for one.

so the question was will a 2.2D accord pull a horse box and the answer is YES!.:rolleyes: you can look at it ethically, legally, moraly(sp?) or any other way you want but this is the answer.

a micra will pull your horsebox (now I wouldnt want to be buying that micra second hand or paying for the new clutch and back springs) it wont pull it well but thats another issue.

as for stopping, any decent horsebox has brakes. even my million year old rice mare and foal box has brakes that will stop the car and trailer (with just a dab of brakes in the car) when it is loaded. I used to tow it with a 1.6 vectra with no issues.

hope this answers your question op.

sorry for the rant:o

CJhaughey

Leaving aside the legal issues for a minute, the Accord will tow a horsebox on level tarmac, stopping might be a bit dicey even with a braked trailer and with two horses on board it would be verging on the dangerous.
If you are talking real world conditions, (wet roads, sudden stops, hills and bad bends and reversing) your clutch lifetime will be measured in Months rather than years.
Not to mention the added stress on suspension components and braking system.

I have a friend that tried it with a Primera and the results were not pretty, the car was sold soon after.

Wishbone Ash

tin79 wrote: »

i dont think its as simple as that

STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS

S.I. No 537 of 2006

Road Traffic (Licensing of Drivers) Regulations 2006

Drawing vehicles.
7. (1) A combination of vehicles which consists of a drawing vehicle and a trailer shall, for the purpose of these Regulations, be regarded as a vehicle -


(a) in category B, where the drawing vehicle is in category B and the design gross vehicle weight of the trailer does not exceed the unladen weight of the drawing vehicle and the total design gross vehicle weight of the combination does not exceed 3,500 kg,


(b) in category B, C1, C, D1 or D, where the drawing vehicle is in category B, C1, C, D1, or D, respectively, and the design gross vehicle weight of the trailer does not exceed 750 kg

Rather than contradict me, you've just confirmed what I stated earlier - i.e. the category B licence will only permit the holder to legally draw trailers of up to a gross weight of 750kgs.

pred racer wrote: »

Guys, will you please stop spouting this.

Whatever the law is...........nobody cares:eek:

Some of us try to obey the road traffic regulations!

pred racer wrote:

the guards dont care, your insurance company doesnt even care whether you have a licence or not, let alone the correct one once you have paid for the correct policy

If you are involved in an accident causing death or serious injury, then the gardai and you insurance company may become very interested in your details.

BrianD3

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

Rather than contradict me, you've just confirmed what I stated earlier - i.e. the category B licence will only permit the holder to legally draw trailers of up to a gross weight of 750kgs.

It is easy to see where the confusion comes from but conditions a, b and c should be read as a list rather than a series of conditions all of which apply to B licences.

A combination of vehicles which consists of a drawing vehicle and a trailer shall, for the purpose of these Regulations, be regarded as a vehicle -

(a) in category B, where the drawing vehicle is in category B and the design gross vehicle weight of the trailer does not exceed the unladen weight of the drawing vehicle and the total design gross vehicle weight of the combination does not exceed 3,500 kg,

(b) in category B, C1, C, D1 or D, where the drawing vehicle is in category B, C1, C, D1, or D, respectively, and the design gross vehicle weight of the trailer does not exceed 750 kg, or

(c) in category W, where the drawing vehicle is in category W

The licence rules came from the EU. AFAIK, the bit about 3500 kg was included to facilitate UK caravan towers. And because we are also in the EU, we got it too.

Interpretation from the ROTR - I put the crucial word in bold

If you hold a Full category B licence, you may tow a trailer only if:

the design gross vehicle weight of the trailer is 750kg or less, or
the unladen (empty) weight of your towing vehicle is at least the same as the trailer's design gross vehicle weight, and the combined design gross vehicle weight of the vehicle and trailer is no more than 3,500kg.
When using a car to tow a heavier trailer, you must hold a category EB licence.

All of this means that yes, you can tow a trailer over 750 kgs d.g.v.w on a B as long as you comply with the 3500 kg d.g.v.w and towcar unladen weight rules. If your trailer is <750 kgs d.g.v.w, you can go to 4250 d.g.v.w on a B.

Explained well here
http://www.kevinparkersom.co.uk/trailer.htm

snowman707

CJhaughey wrote: »

Leaving aside the legal issues for a minute, the Accord will tow a horsebox on level tarmac, stopping might be a bit dicey even with a braked trailer and with two horses on board it would be verging on the dangerous.
If you are talking real world conditions, (wet roads, sudden stops, hills and bad bends and reversing) your clutch lifetime will be measured in Months rather than years.
Not to mention the added stress on suspension components and braking system.

I have a friend that tried it with a Primera and the results were not pretty, the car was sold soon after.

A mate of mine has a 1997 escort , 150k miles original clutch original shocks, he made the 160 mile return journey to Tullamore show last sunday with his 2 brood mares, and he attends shows most weekends & travels to goresbridge millstreet etc..

Op to answer your question a 2.2 accord will walk away with a double horse box, if you want to check the legal side a honda main dealer will tell you in 1 minute your maximun legal limit

The accord will be capable of towing & stopping if the trailer has decent brakes well in excess of this limit.

peasant

To confuse things even more, there is another thing to consider and that is the max weight on the tow hook.

On most car towbars thats 50 or 75 kg (in rare cases 100 kg).

When towing a heavy trailer it is advisable to utilise that downforce at the tow hook to the full for stability ...you certainly don't want the trailer to be lifting the car

However, 50 kg nose weight on a heavy trailer usually means that it's arse heavy and therefore unstable and shifting the load forward so that the car bottoms out on the rear springs isn't particularly stable and safe either.

But, this being Ireland, nobody gives two hoots what kind of towbar you fix to your car (as long as it sort of fits), what the max load on the towbar is or should be, never mind what a safe trailer should look like.

So, unfortunately, a one ton prize bull in a one ton wonky trailer pulled by a clapped out family saloon with its arse scraping the road will stay a fimiliar sight (at least in the country)