Trailer or 3.5T?

[Quertymcquerty]

I have an Ifor Williams trailer, bought new last year but I hate towing. I can’t reverse or do three point turns and it’s making me anxious about taking dd to competitions. To the point where I don’t sleep the night before.

Has anyone got on better with a 3.5T? I know payload is poor etc but I only ever take one horse and have no partition in the trailer.
I like the Foxy weekender but wondered if anyone had any recommendations for others?
ICE? Boss? Bloom fields?

So expensive this lark

Can you not take lessons in how to reverse and do three point turns with a trailer? I can't imagine that many people are 'naturals', they must learn somewhere?

I could do, there is nowhere close by and I have built up such huge anxiety about towing now.

I wish I had thought about it a bit more before buying the trailer. I would also quite like the day living with a 3.5T.

Do you tow?

I was looking around for a lorry a few years ago. I found a delightful 3.5 ton van with day living. It was lovely BUT the payload was 700kg! That was for pony, fuel, driver, feed, water and any tack I wanted to take. Even with only one pony in the back it would have been close to the limit. Just to warn you that you don't really get a lot to play with, in a 3.5 ton van. Even the kind with an Ifor box welded on to a truck chassis only gives you about 1000kg payload.
I've gone back to a trailer now. It's not easy to reverse etc. but if you can't find a small van that suits, you could do a trailer course, they're supposed to be great for hints & tips and getting your confidence with towing.

I have an elderly 7.5t as regularly take two/three ponies and 4 DC. However, for a couple of long championship journeys last year I hired a Bloomfields 3.5t from a local company. They are absolutely fantastic and the build quality/safety aspect second to none (no chance of horse jumping over the breast bar into the grooms area as they are completely separate and there is a proper reinforced bulkhead between horse and driver). It was as easy to drive as my everyday car (a VW transporter), in fact possibly even easier! I had to watch my speed on the motorway as it was so easy to sneak up to 70 without even noticing, so effortless (55 is my top speed in my 7.5t, downhill with the wind behind me!!). Loved the reversing camera too. Also very very economical on the fuel compared to towing trailer, which I also do fairly regularly. They are pricey but if I had the money I would 100% buy a Bloomfields. Can you find a local company that you can hire one from and try for yourself for a few days? If you are anywhere near Wilts I can tell you who I use .

Thanks for the replies, I like the look of Bloomfield too. We have a Foxy distributor near us but the feedback on customer service seems quite mixed and not encouraging (especially for the price).

We got a trailer in January - I’m ancient so didn’t need to take a trailer test. I had a lesson before I got it to learn how to reverse and had lots of practice in an empty car park. Despite that, I still managed to get completely confused the first time I went out in it and ended up doing what felt like a twenty point turn with dd helpfully pointing out that I was getting it all wrong .

Since then I’ve done a lot more practice without dd or dhorse to complicate things and had another lesson just concentrating on reversing. I’m still not a natural by any means but each time I go out in it, my confidence is increasing.

If money wasn’t an issue, I’d love to have one of the 3.5 boxes, but the ones I’d want (well-built, mechanically sound, safe) are eye-wateringly expensive. Our trailer was nearly new and in perfect condition and they keep their value very well so when we’ve finished with it I should be able to sell it for not much more than I bought it for.

I towed a trailer for about 10 years - having an old licence meant I could just drive straight off without a trailer test. it took me a while to find my confidence, and it was simply practice, practice, practice and more practice. By the end I was reversing all over the place at really weird angles, doing 3 point turns etc and not really thinking about it.

However, I never really liked towing and am now waiting for a box conversion to be built for me as my daughter is now old enough to drive a 3.5T.

Having sold my trailer I recently hired a Foxy stallion box. Absolutely loved it! Really solid build, easy peasy to drive and manoeuvre - only took our ponies out for a local hack so can't comment on fuel consumption.

Definitely get a weighbridge certificate if you buy a 3.5T - the payloads vary enormously depending on build, and how on earth people can say they carry 2 x 16.2s in them I don't know. I think they are for 2 ponies or one horse.

I've had a 3.5t van conversion and now have a 5.5t Iveco that is only slightly bigger than the 3.5t.

I think if you can drive anything above 3.5t you will get a nicer build for your money and a greater payload.

Our 3.5t didn't have loading gates so if travelling anything without a partition or if travelling two one was against the side ramp and if they declded to swing bottoms out there wasn't much you could do to stop them treading on the ramp.
However, now dd is 21 I would buy back my 3.5 in a heartbeat!

I went from trailer to a 3.5t and the cost difference is massive. Mines cost a fortune to run and in repairs and has been off the road more than on.

Oh and I am constantly worried about starting and moving it or it siezes up.
I bought one with safety features and emergency exits which was also pricey but you can pick up older models for less.

It’s much easier to use though I’ll give it that but the stress of the unreliability of it makes travelling in it just as stressful. At least I knew my car inside out

A 3.5t is very easy to drive, much easier than towing but it will cost quite a bit to buy and maintain.

Can you take the trailer in an open field where there is no pressure and drive it around until you get the hand of it?

More replies! Thank you very much.
The problem is that it’s not stored at home and I don’t have anywhere to practice with it. No fields that I can take it to and the car parks have height barriers.
Foxy haven’t even got back to me after my initial enquiry so I am not impressed with customer service at this early stage.

There will be somewhere you can practise... if you have a local horsey Facebook group, that would be a good place to ask for suggestions of places where you can practise and trailer instructors who can help you get the hang of it. Paying for a couple of lessons (and it shouldn’t take much more than that) would be well worth the investment as you already have the trailer and presumably a suitable vehicle to tow it with.

If you do go ahead with buying a 3.5t box, make sure you check the payload carefully - I saw one advertised recently that looked lovely but it only had a payload of 800kg - it was stalled for two horses but frankly you’d be lucky to get two shetlands plus tack, water, passengers etc in there under that amount... The other thing to check is if your dd’s horse is happy travelling backwards - our horse is brilliant to load and travel in our forwards-facing trailer but is very wary getting into a backwards-facing truck (he got whacked on the bum when a door hinge broke just as he was getting on several years ago but he has a long memory...). The last thing you want is to spend a fortune on a beautiful new box only to find that your horse won’t load ...

We are reasonably urban but yes, good idea to ask on FB, I will try that. It’s stored half an hour away too which complicates things but I am aware I am probably just looking for excuses.

I have checked payload, it’s only for one horse and has 1.2 which should be fine I think.

You are right as in it’s worth persevering to save in the region of 30k or so.

I was in a similar position two years ago and went from trailer to 3.5t box.

I can now sleep the night before we go out!!

It was eye wateringly expensive I’ll admit. We had family help to buy it. Fuel wise it’s similar to our family MPV. MOT has been a few hundred each time. Insurance is about £40pcm but that includes recovery inc horse recovery in another box. Tax is £20 pcm.

It has a payload of 1.1t with weight certificate, so fine for one horse plus passengers and tack. It’s stalled for two 17.2 but you’d never legally be able to take two! It could be uprated to 3.9 if we wanted but then it would need plating etc.

It has made going out a lot let stressful and I wouldn’t go back to a trailer!

I struggled with reversing our 505 at first but actually watched some videos on You Tube and picked up some really useful tips. I’ve been towing a year now and am quite confident although I do still need to concentrate when reversing into a tight space. Practice really helps.

DrunkenUnicorn which model did you go for? Are you happy with it? I could kick myself for spending nearly 8k on a trailer without hiring one first.

I went to courchevel in Kent.

We chose them particularly because our box is a crew cab with 5 seats. I’ve got three children so whilst 90% of the time it’s just me and horsey DS1, sometimes the other two get dragged along eg for summer weekday pony club rallies, and I wanted to be safe and legal. It meant the jockey area has pretty much nothing in it, unlike their other models, to keep the weight down.

Joseph at Courchevel was really helpful. We actually bought an ex demonstrator box so didn’t get to choose the spec/colour etc but from what I’ve seen they’re pretty good at making any changes or additions you’d like. He’s been helpful, including randomly ringing him in a panic 18 months after buying the box, mid drive to our first stay away show when an accident on a main road sent on us on a diversion via a low bridge and I couldn’t remember how tall the box was

Thanks so much for the feedback, I am in Kent too, I hadn’t even considered Courchevel and I put a high priority on good customer service. Foxy still not got back to me.

He’s much better if you call rather than email. I am sure his mobile number is on his webpage but if not pm me and I’ll send it to you.

Tho to be honest when I first started looking at boxes I emailed a few companies and barely anyone got back to me. I rang Joseph because I saw a box on his website that I liked the look of but it had already sold.

If you tow, I guess that means your driving licence is the old sort and you could have a bigger box than the 3.5? What about a 4.5t which I think are the same size as 3.5 but you could have a bit more comfort and still be well within limits.

I could drive a 4.5t yes, I should hire one maybe and try it. It probably wouldn’t be much different to 3.5t and the living would be better. Lots of good ideas, thanks.
I think the IW trailers keep a fair bit of their value so that might make a bit towards a lorry.

In my experience up to 6t they are fairly easy to drive and you’ll get the hang of one very quickly. Finding a decent lorry is another matter.

You want to go for as good a chassis as you can afford because there is no point in having an amazing box on an ancient chassis. Breaking down with horses on board is no fun.

Payload is crucial for the box, but equally the floor must be sturdy and safe, the weight must be correctly allocated and the passenger area should be protected with bars from the horse area so that the horse doesn’t land in your lap in case of an accident.

Only thing to bear in mind if you go for a box above 3.5t is you need to have them plated instead to an MOT. This is considerably more than a standard Class 7 test. I've just had mine done and for a test and retest the cost was £207. If this has been a class 7 the cost would only have been £58.60.

Thank you, yes I will consider that. I have just turned a competition down as I know I have to do a three point turn with the trailer in the parking area, which is kind of pathetic...

Did you have any lessons at all before you started towing? I understand the anxiety as I still feel it to some extent, but each time I take the trailer out I get a bit more confident and a couple of lessons helped enormously. Reversing a trailer is completely counter-intuitive and it’s very easy to get it wrong when you’re feeling a bit panicked (and when your teenager is sitting in the passenger seat telling you you’re not doing it right ) but every single person who’s ever towed a trailer has been there at the start. There’s no shame in asking for help and especially at a competition there will always be someone around you can ask to help you. I know I sound like a trailer evangelist - I’m not really, if we had the budget I’d love a lorry!! - but as you’ve already got the trailer + towing vehicle it would be a shame not to try to get a bit more comfortable with it before spending a LOT more money on an alternative