advice on sheep trailer for small van

ruralfarming

hi guys
looking at buying a sheep trailer for a small van, I am only ever moving no more then 12 sheep at a time, and want something light enough to tow behind my van, have been looking at 7x4 tuffmac builder trailers with mesh sides but they have no closed top on them. the trailer is single axle and is available in 8x4 also. is there any other options out there that may suit me better?, looking forward to hearing your ideas!

Username John

ruralfarming wrote: »

hi guys
looking at buying a sheep trailer for a small van, I am only ever moving no more then 12 sheep at a time, and want something light enough to tow behind my van, have been looking at 7x4 tuffmac builder trailers with mesh sides but they have no closed top on them. the trailer is single axle and is available in 8x4 also. is there any other options out there that may suit me better?, looking forward to hearing your ideas!

Bought a CLH 7x4 a few years ago... Does all I want it to, nice and light to tow...

Expensive enough first day, but happy with it.

Mine is mesh aides, and I have a cheap 2m x 3m tarp as cover. Does the job fine...

https://www.clhtrailers.com/catalogue/online/livestock-trailers/solid-side/

ruralfarming

thanks john , will definatly have a look into these clh trailer,

Green farmer

Username John wrote: »

Mine is mesh aides, and I have a cheap 2m x 3m tarp as cover. Does the job fine...

https://www.clhtrailers.com/catalogue/online/livestock-trailers/solid-side/

Also interested to hear if anyone else uses the caged trailer for transporting lambs. ? don't see it done around these parts, ( all dedicated livestock trailers) but I ain't in sheep country. I have a caged one lying around that would be easier towed then the livestock one, and less wind resistant, but never used it, often tempted to, but not sure if it'd suit going up the motorway full of lambs ?

rangler1

Green farmer wrote: »

Also interested to hear if anyone else uses the caged trailer for transporting lambs. ? don't see it done around these parts, ( all dedicated livestock trailers) but I ain't in sheep country. I have a caged one lying around that would be easier towed then the livestock one, and less wind resistant, but never used it, often tempted to, but not sure if it'd suit going up the motorway full of lambs ?

buy a tarpaulin for it.....it'd be dangerous not to have it covered,

Green farmer

Wonder would the tarpolin be flapping around the place unless you had a right good one. Pity more of the manufacturers don't make bolt on roof canopies that you could fit to the caged trailers.

Username John

Green farmer wrote: »

Wonder would the tarpolin be flapping around the place unless you had a right good one. Pity more of the manufacturers don't make bolt on roof canopies that you could fit to the caged trailers.

I find the tarp all right.

Lidl have em every now and then, think they about 8euro maybe... Use those stretchy bungee straps to keep it taut, and it's fine...

You'd go through one every year or so as they often get holes at the corners...

For the roofed canopy - you'd want it hinged at the front and then prob gas struts to keep it up when opened. Seen a lad with a home made roof on a small trailer at the mart one day, and he nearly had to go into the trailer on his hands and knees to get the lambs out...

IH784man

Whats the reason for the tarpaulins?

Username John

IH784man wrote: »

Whats the reason for the tarpaulins?

To keep what's in the trailer, in the trailer

Dickie10

We used a 8x5 builder trailer from jim murphy for hauling sheep since 2000, got a good man with a welder to make mesh panels for bolting down to the sides and they all lock together, theres a gate on the back on hinges, its just under 6 ft high so no hope of anything hopping out. will i put up pics for ya? im not sure how to though!

anyway did the job fine but i have more sheep now than then and regularly buy in stores with beef industry as bad as it is, i might go for 3 or 400 store lambs instead some year, so bought a brand new 8x5 ifor williams with decks off westwood. cant get these second hand with decks and not sure if i want someones else problem so took the plunge €5300 they quoted me €6200 originally but told them i was buying in the north and they matched the price less vat. got quoted €4000 off them for a tidy second hand without decks earlier so ifeel i got a good deal

Green farmer

Hard to beat the ifors. Pull up at a mart or factory and they'll be the most popular trailer there.

Green farmer

ruralfarming wrote: »

hi guys
looking at buying a sheep trailer for a small van, I am only ever moving no more then 12 sheep at a time, and want something light enough to tow behind my van, have been looking at 7x4 tuffmac builder trailers with mesh sides but they have no closed top on them. the trailer is single axle and is available in 8x4 also. is there any other options out there that may suit me better?, looking forward to hearing your ideas!

How did you get sorted in the end ?

Dickie10

i bought a brand new ifor williams 8 x 4 with decks last year ended up 6200. would never have got one second hand with decks

sea12

Dickie10 wrote: »

i bought a brand new ifor williams 8 x 4 with decks last year ended up 6200. would never have got one second hand with decks

€6200😬😬😬
Why didn't you go for an 8x5 second hand. To be fit for 2-3k

Green farmer

Dickie10 wrote: »

i bought a brand new ifor williams 8 x 4 with decks last year ended up 6200. would never have got one second hand with decks

8x5 dickie ? Have a 10x5 here myself, pulled with a jeep, but the jeep is sick a lot recently, so might see can I get something smaller that car can pull.

Cran

Dickie10 wrote: »

i bought a brand new ifor williams 8 x 4 with decks last year ended up 6200. would never have got one second hand with decks

A 12ft wouldn't be much more than that! Looking for P8G here but seem hard to get

Green farmer

Cran wrote: »

A 12ft wouldn't be much more than that! Looking for P8G here but seem hard to get

I'd imagine their nice behind a car, I'm guessing fit about 10 lambs ?

Cran

Green farmer wrote: »

I'd imagine their nice behind a car, I'm guessing fit about 10 lambs ?

Ye just for moving few rather than pulling big trailer around for Rams & like

Green farmer

Cran wrote: »

Ye just for moving few rather than pulling big trailer around for Rams & like

Suppose the question is, would you spend money on a Proper P8 or for the same money a 8x5 general purpose caged trailer with canopy ? Nugent do a version with ramp and loading gates .

Cran

Green farmer wrote: »

Suppose the question is, would you spend money on a Proper P8 or for the same money a 8x5 general purpose caged trailer with canopy ? Nugent do a version with ramp and loading gates .

Have an 8x5 caged trailer probably most used trailer here, have considered getting cover made for it but be heavy enough I'd say with it.

AntrimGlens

Cran wrote: »

A 12ft wouldn't be much more than that! Looking for P8G here but seem hard to get

Cran,
A neighbour here is selling his P8, he was meant to take it to local machinery auction last saturday but mustn't have as i met him on the road with it on sunday morning. It would be well enough serviced, i know it was completely re-done on the brakes, cables and backing plates a couple of years ago and new lights and jockey wheel fitted.

He had bought a new ifor twin axle about ten ft, in Wales and went to collect it when he was over for the rugby game, got a phone call from the dealer the day before to say don't come as thieves had broken in and stolen every trailer he had in stock, he then bought them same trailer in Inverness at the other end of the country. Must get a look at it as he said there are only a few of them about.

Green farmer

Had a look at a dealers When passing the other day. Quoted €3k a new P8. Also quoted €3,200 for a 8x4 general purpose with ramp and cage, so not much in the price of either but could do a lot of different jobs with the caged. The P8 looks lovely and I'm guessing very easily towed. Not sure how a single axel is vs twin tows.

ganmo

Green farmer wrote: »

Had a look at a dealers When passing the other day. Quoted €3k a new P8. Also quoted €3,200 for a 8x4 general purpose with ramp and cage, so not much in the price of either but could do a lot of different jobs with the caged. The P8 looks lovely and I'm guessing very easily towed. Not sure how a single axel is vs twin tows.

Ya have to be more careful about where ya put the weight on a single axel, had a few bags of fert on the back of ours at the weekend and I could hear it hoping on the hitch when travelling along which would be no good if you were travelling any distance.
They're much more agile when reversing which some ppl don't like.

Cran

AntrimGlens wrote: »

Cran,
A neighbour here is selling his P8, he was meant to take it to local machinery auction last saturday but mustn't have as i met him on the road with it on sunday morning. It would be well enough serviced, i know it was completely re-done on the brakes, cables and backing plates a couple of years ago and new lights and jockey wheel fitted.

He had bought a new ifor twin axle about ten ft, in Wales and went to collect it when he was over for the rugby game, got a phone call from the dealer the day before to say don't come as thieves had broken in and stolen every trailer he had in stock, he then bought them same trailer in Inverness at the other end of the country. Must get a look at it as he said there are only a few of them about.

Cheers be interested alright see what he's looking for it.

Other option I was thinking is have a p6e here use behind the quad and see if can get canopy and gates for it, just not mad on no springs for journeys...

Cran

Green farmer wrote: »

Had a look at a dealers When passing the other day. Quoted €3k a new P8. Also quoted €3,200 for a 8x4 general purpose with ramp and cage, so not much in the price of either but could do a lot of different jobs with the caged. The P8 looks lovely and I'm guessing very easily towed. Not sure how a single axel is vs twin tows.

I'm looking for covered one for Ram deliveries etc, not 3k one though....
Have a 8x4 Stanley here with ramp & full cage pure work house, wouldn't be without it

Green farmer

Cran wrote: »

I'm looking for covered one for Ram deliveries etc, not 3k one though....
Have a 8x4 Stanley here with ramp & full cage pure work house, wouldn't be without it

Ya, the P8 would look more professional alright. for factory runs etc, how many would you fit in Stanley ?

Cran

Green farmer wrote: »

Ya, the P8 would look more professional alright. for factory runs etc, how many would you fit in Stanley ?

You'd fit 12 easy in it, TBH rarely use it for sheep more for lugging stuff around have 12ft Ifor for factory runs

arctictree

Jeez lads the guards are out in force the last while. Have been stopped 4 times in the last month.

Today was stopped with the trailer for doing 95K on the motorway. Didn't know that the speed limit was 80k for any vehicle with a trailer. He also gave me grief about not having an L plate on the trailer as I have a provisional BE licence. He did a full check on the trailer and said they are coming down hard now on vehicles with trailers. I'd say if I had anything else wrong I would have been done.

Green farmer

Lucky to only get warned. Whenever I'd be on the motorway with a trailer of lambs , I'd stick to the 80kph, but think it's ridiculous as cars would come up behind at 120kph and you'd feel like your a danger on the road travelling so slow in comparison. If it was a normal national road and you were travelling at 40kph under the speed limit you'd be done for lack of progress.

ganmo

I wonder can ya get signs that say this is limited to 80k, some ppl get socking angry when they have to slow down on the motorways

That's another benefit of small trailers, ya don't need a licence to pull them

arctictree

My trailer was empty too. Would have probably been going a bit slower if there were lambs in it but not by much really. Lucky I got the lights fixed on it a couple of weeks ago. He really went to town on the checking.

kk.man

I was hoping to buy a second hand ifor Williams 8x5 with decks...I am looking at the older ones with the square tail lights...i recon these are a lighter trailer to tow ...would anyone agree or have experience of them?

Green farmer

Are single axel trailers less stable then a double ? Just say you'd to break or swerve all of a sudden, which would ye prefer to have behind you ? Asking because I've never towed with a single axel and have no experience of them.

sheepfarmer92

Green farmer wrote: »

Are single axel trailers less stable then a double ? Just say you'd to break or swerve all of a sudden, which would ye prefer to have behind you ? Asking because I've never towed with a single axel and have no experience of them.

Have a little p6 ifor williams here, with canopy, brilliant little trailer, has been brought to blessington to bring home 5 rams from the texel sale and thats a good two hours away from here, so no problem on long journeys but a f**ker to reverse, if i were a pedigree man the p8 would look a better job and two axles would be safer on long journeys

Green farmer

Anyone have one of those aerlite 8x4.5 trailers, how many lambs would you fit in them ? They seem to be one of the lighter twin axel trailers out there, Looking for something easily pulled with the car ?

sea12

Green farmer wrote: »

Anyone have one of those aerlite 8x4.5 trailers, how many lambs would you fit in them ? They seem to be one of the lighter twin axel trailers out there, Looking for something easily pulled with the car ?

Green I've the 8x5 twin axle info williams with decks. Got it last year. It's a great job. It's one of the older ones with the timber on the top of the ramp door. Find it very light, easy to load and pull. Might be worth it to save up the extra few € and get one that will do u for years.,

kk.man

sea12 wrote: »

Green farmer wrote: »

Anyone have one of those aerlite 8x4.5 trailers, how many lambs would you fit in them ? They seem to be one of the lighter twin axel trailers out there, Looking for something easily pulled with the car ?

Green I've the 8x5 twin axle info williams with decks. Got it last year. It's a great job. It's one of the older ones with the timber on the top of the ramp door. Find it very light, easy to load and pull. Might be worth it to save up the extra few € and get one that will do u for years.,

Plus 1 on above ifor. Bought exact same one myself. The reason I didn't go for a newer version was because the new ones weights heavyer IMO.

orm0nd

sea12 wrote: »

Green I've the 8x5 twin axle info williams with decks. Got it last year. It's a great job. It's one of the older ones with the timber on the top of the ramp door. Find it very light, easy to load and pull. Might be worth it to save up the extra few € and get one that will do u for years.,

have 1 here although rarely use it now,

used to bring 34 young tight wolled lambs, as the season went on would bring less

pulled it full with the car a few times and biggest issue was wind drag, maybe not so much with a van or jeep,

I see a lot of the imported boxes had nose cones

sea12

orm0nd wrote: »

have 1 here although rarely use it now,

used to bring 34 young tight wolled lambs, as the season went on would bring less

pulled it full with the car a few times and biggest issue was wind drag, maybe not so much with a van or jeep,

I see a lot of the imported boxes had nose cones

Yea I found the wind drag noticeable the first couple of times compared to the 8x4.

Green farmer

orm0nd wrote: »

pulled it full with the car a few times and biggest issue was wind drag, maybe not so much with a van or jeep,

Anyone have one of these ?

wrangler

Green farmer wrote: »

Anyone have one of these ?

It looks a great idea but you'd need a young lad with you to run in and get the sheep out. I used to hate decks for that reason.
You'd see a few at shows, a 12 by 5 is a tidy outfit behind a car or SUV
Looking again, those trailers don't seem as low as decks

Green farmer

wrangler wrote: »

It looks a great idea but you'd need a young lad with you to run in and get the sheep out. I used to hate decks for that reason.
You'd see a few at shows, a 12 by 5 is a tidy outfit behind a car or SUV
Looking again, those trailers don't seem as low as decks

They’re a 4ft, so a foot or so higher then the decks. A 10ft one weighs 710kg and 12ft weights 790kg. In comparison a regular height 8ft ifor weights 725kg without decks and 850kg with decks. Reckon you’d easily fit 16 butchers lambs into the 10ft and a few more into the 12ft.