Buying a 3.5T - advice please

WhiteJods

I’m thinking of buying a 3.5t horse truck and am looking for dealers/traders with Ireland. I’ve found a couple in NI but if possible I’d rather avoid having to register an import.

I’ve had a look on DoneDeal and found a few but they tend to be private sellers and I’d be more comfortable buying from trade.

has anyone any experience they could share? E.g makes or models to avoid, potential pitfalls re older models insurance...

Thanks for reading, I’ve been lurking about for ages 😀

TheFarrier

I’m afraid I can’t be of much help but a client of mine was on the lookout for a little truck for the last year or more and in the end went to England to have a new body built on a 5/6 yr old truck. He reckoned there was nothing worth buying in Ireland, anything he saw was too rough and too dear.

elusiveguy

Be really careful with payload. A lot of 3.5t trucks would be over weight once you factor 2x horses gear, fuel, driver etc

WhiteJods

Thanks guys.

I think I’ll end up going to UK route, there just seems to be more options. Maybe they’re more common over there so more of a market.

I’ve noticed that, once you take fuel, me and the tack... my monster is small but not exactly fine boned!... I’d need an unladen weight of 2.4 max to carry two but I’m ok with it basically being a single

Edited to add: now to research UK dealers so I don’t come back with a cardboard box on wheels painted to look pretty

TheFarrier

That client of mine went to tristar horsebox bodies in wales. They had a selection of trucks, he picked the one he wanted and they built the body on it. He couldn’t fault the service or the workmanship. Must say I was very impressed when I saw it myself

WhiteJods

This is starting to come together! Near(ish) the ferry, within budget, how to import checklist from the motoring forum...

Thanks again everyone

isaos

I'm quite interested myself - a 3.5 seems safer than a trailer on our Kerry roads! so keep us posted if you can?

Good luck!

WhiteJods

isaos wrote: »

I'm quite interested myself - a 3.5 seems safer than a trailer on our Kerry roads! so keep us posted if you can?

Good luck!

I certainly will - it’s so funny though, so many advertised as 3.5t would actually be over once you’d put a horse in - my little one is only 15.2 on her tippy toes but she’d still be 550kg + tack + fuel + me .. and I’ve been offered some lovely ones if only I had a C license!

charlieIRL

Getting a C Licence is not the hardest thing do either. You do have to do a theory test again (easy enough) and then the test is similar to a car. Only problem is nowhere will do a C1 licence, you can only do a C which means driving a lorry with a split box.

WhiteJods

charlieIRL wrote: »

Getting a C Licence is not the hardest thing do either. You do have to do a theory test again (easy enough) and then the test is similar to a car. Only problem is nowhere will do a C1 licence, you can only do a C which means driving a lorry with a split box.

I don’t know, I’d say I’d be fine as long as I was going in a straight line! Not so sure how I’d cope with any turns or country roads 🀔
I’ve found one in the UK that’s seems right and is just within budget (even if I have to pay the 13.3% VRT rather than €200).

I’ve been lurking around the motors board, so RAC inspection is happening on Friday and all going well with that.. trip to UK for me next week!

charlieIRL

You get used to it very quick, once you get the turn circle figured out you'll drive anywhere. Sitting over the front wheels takes a bit of getting used to!

I have a fairly decent commute to work and was putting around €140 a week diesel into my jeep and went up to €200 if we were at a show at the weekend. If it was raining at the show, i used to head into work with the smell of wet horses off me cause the smell would be in the jeep from the weekend. After buying the lorry (i got a cheap one and did it up) I got a diesel car so now my fuel bill is €65 a week in the car and €50 - €70 a month in the lorry. Plus don't have to worry about towing or trying to stop in an emergency.
Years ago a dog ran out in front of me, I was driving a Nissan X-trail with a mare & foal box with a 128 pony in it, from 30 mph it took me an age to stop. That never left me, what if it was a child on a bicycle? Was impossible to stop safely. You don't have that problem with the lorry.

WhiteJods

I have an awful feeling I'll be loading up at midnight the day before a show and be at the gates when they open

I've been taking ordinary (B) driving lessons to fine tune my driving and it's amazing how many bad habits I seem to have picked up.

Thankfully it's a while since I had a bad fright - last time was something similar, a dog wandered out in front of me in an 80km zone & it was like time stopped for an instant.

Viewing tomorrow in person so hopefully there will be photos of a new purchase soon. I'm trying not to get attached before hand and go with a neutral mindset so I don't blind myself to any pitfalls..

convert

I was talking to a friend yesterday and they knew someone who was thinking about a truck. The buyer had spoken to a few people about it, and the last person they spoke to mentioned that they'd be best to check it was up to the standard of a horse trailer and that the material it was made from wasn't too light and flimsy. Apparently (now this was a few years ago) some of the boxes that were on the road weren't up to best standards in a bid to keep the weight down, and resulted in some injuries to horses.

I know it's last minute, but I think we'd all prefer to go in with our eyes wide open. It may be worth having a quick chat with the seller and maybe having a quick Google search while travelling over just in case there's anything about the minimum requirements of boxes, etc.

Best of luck with the viewing!

WhiteJods

So, yes - I would be terrified that the floor would give or the horse would be able to kick through the walls or out through to the seats!

As I know zip about cars or building boxes I got an inspection done from an insurance assessor to verify the work was up to code.

It passed! So the exterior isn’t the prettiest, a few scratches but not through the paint and no signs of corrosion, needs new tires (they’re within legal limits but barely) scuffed seats and it clearly belonged to a smoker! etc but windows all have the safety marks, passed the mechanics inspection and the horse carrying part is very well kept.

So I’m mobile!

Thanks a million all, hopefully the little monster likes it - she is great to travel, so we’re going to go up and down for a few minutes tonight around the house to test it out, I was too tired last night.

Roll on the summer shows!

convert

That's great news and I'm glad it's all worked out for you. And a really good idea to have it inspected before making the big plunge!

Congratulations on your new purchase and many happy and successful miles with it!

charlieIRL

Best of luck with the lorry, you won't know yourself in a few weeks when you get used to it.

@covert, normally a lorry will be kitted out to a decent spec, i redone the pony area in mine. Stripped back everything to bare panels, 2 layers of ply and then refitted the rubber walls. It has an aluminium floor so no need to worry there. Good for another few years!!

Slightly off topic, seeing as you mentioned floors - I had to re-do the floor in my Ifor Williams 505 last year, was rotten through in one rear corner. I clean out all muck after every single time its used but it still rotted through. If it went much more and pony stood in that spot I've no double they would have went thought it. Not a nice thought. Always clean them out and check the floors of the older models regularly.