Talk to me about 7.5t lorries

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I’m going to upgrade from a large trailer to a lorry this year and want to make sure I am clued up before I start looking. I’ve got lots of friends who say ‘don’t get a lorry, trailer much better!’ My trailer takes 2 horses and a pony and has a small walk in tack room. It’s a long combination with my car, making it awkward to park or turn round when parking is tight. DC2 needs a bigger pony and I am not comfortable with putting much extra weight in the trailer/behind the car (current horsey combo weigh 1300kg between them.) The final thing is we are doing more and more events where we stay away, 7 sleepover weekends planned already this year.

So, what kind of things do I want/need?

Obviously I need decent payload, but what kind of figure am I looking for if I’m likely to have 1.4t of horse, 3 people and our stuff?

Do people get a mechanic to check a lorry before they buy it?

I’m paranoid about the number of lorries I’ve seen without seatbelts, is it easy to get seat belts fitted? What do people do it they have an extra person with them, just leave them to roll around in the back? (Thinking this one through for the rare occasions DH may come to watch.)

Any other things that a first time lorry owner would need to know? I’m confident about my driving - I used to drive a friend’s lorry years ago, and have good situational awareness so driving one will be fine once I’ve got one, but I imagine reversing cameras will make life easy, anyone retrofitted these?

Finally, what are people’s average annual costs, eg plating, insurance, tax. I know how much a car costs but no idea with a lorry.

How many horses do you want to transport? I didn’t quite understand. If you are transporting two horses and a pony are you sure the current payload is 1.3t, seems very low. For example, my 16.2hh WB weights 700kgs and my 16.2hh WB weighs 600kgs, so that would be just two horses for that weight.

If your horse weight is 1.4t, then another 170kgs for two DCs and an adult, plus hay, tack, water, fuel another 100kgs, you could easily need 1.7t payload. You’d struggle to get that in an older 7.5t with living.

Do you want living? This takes up a lot of space and a lot of payload. With living you will only have space for two horses, herringbone in a 7.5t, usually and the ramp risks being very steep. This is the usual configuration, of course you may find something different if you look long enough.

I’ve never seen one without seatbelts, the lorry must be ancient to not have seat belts. You need to get as new/low mileage a lorry as you can afford because breaking down with horses onboard is a nightmare.

No, passengers should not travel unsecured in the back. If you have an accident, or even brake suddenly, your DH could get seriously injured or even killed.

Service and plaiting would be about 2k a year.
Insurance and horsebox recovery another 1k.

Sorry, just to clarify, you can get 2.5 payloads but in the new, much more expensive trucks. Generally the older ones have much lower payloads due to older construction materials. Some also waste a lot of the payload on really fancy living.

My horse (15.2hh, been on a weighbridge) is 550kg, DD’s pony is 450kg and DS’s current pony is 300kg but bigger pony certainly needed. I’d been thinking I needed a 2t payload but there seem to be so many lorries about that are advertised as having a ‘huge 1.5t payload’ and I wondered if I was getting something wrong somewhere along the way. My current car tows 3.2t, my trailer is 1.4t, horses are 1.3t and tack, water and stuff is about 200kg so I added a bit onto that figure for ‘being away’ stuff and came up with a needed payload of about 1.8-2t. When staying away I would only be taking 2 horses plus staying away stuff. If I had all 3, it would be for a hunting day or a local show so no overnight stuff or extra hay bales and water.

I do want living, and I want to be more comfortable that current arrangements. However if I told you current arrangements were to sweep out the trailer and hang a camping hammock plus 4 seasons sleeping bag and that’s it, most lorries seem more luxurious! In all reality I would want somewhere for 2 people to sleep (Luton,) somewhere for 4 people to sit, a gas ring to boil a kettle (I currently use a hiking micro stove,) and a cupboard to put a camping toilet. Things can be made nicer/more lightweight in the living area over time.

Regarding the seatbelt issue, I have mainly only been in hunting boxes. They seem to be little more than an old cattle truck on wheels and don’t have seatbelts. I don’t want anyone in my lorry who isn’t strapped in, but don’t know have people normally acheive this. Would I have to tell DH he has to follow in his car, or can you get seat belts fitted in the rear too?

There is a huge difference between lorries made with old materials and lorries made with new, lightweight but durable and safe, materials. Usually there is a huge difference in price as well, so the payload may be tied to what you can afford to pay for the lorry.

If you want space for 3 horses in the back this will limit the space you have in the front. You may struggle to find a 7.5 with space for all you want. Beware the toilet, it takes up a lot of payload. Also having gas requires other certification at plaiting so is an extra cost and septic tank may also require certification (not sure about this though).

I wouldn;t want anyone to travel without seatbelts either! I would imagine those lorries are truly ancient and, having broken down in a lorry with horses 3 times, I would be really worried about an ancient chassis. It is a nightmare waiting by the side of the road, in dangerous locations, for the recovery service to turn up while the horses are loosing the plot in the back.

As far as I know to install seatbelts a seat has to be bolted to the chassis and be forward or backward facing (no side facing seats).

All useful info, thanks.

We have an older 7.5 t lorry and it came with seat belts fitted in front and in the living so it must be do-able.
When you go and view a lorry remember to get right underneath it and check the floor out well for any rotting.
We have never required, or been inspected, for gas or septic tank certification at any plating we have been through and our lorry was plated very recently.
With regards to breakdown sometimes it is the luck of the draw, some engines just go on and on with no problems and also newer ones may not be without issues. Certainly the older lorries generally have been constructed better than the newer, lighter ones and offer the horses a better ride.

I had an old lorry back along, It weighed just over 4 tons on the weighbridge so the payload was 3.3 tons. That's a LOT of stuff :) There was no living in it though.
I believe that you can take extra people in the back of the lorry but only if there is a door between the living and the cab. If no door, you are not allowed human passengers in the lorry body.
The running costs were on average £1500 per year (insurance, breakdown cover, MOT, mending things) as it was an old lorry and often needed things fixing on it. The MOT test for a lorry is very stringent and at least twice the price of a car test. There are also limited places to take your lorry, at least round here that's so, finding a test centre can sometimes be a bit tricky. IIRC there was about a three month wait for test appointments so book it early.
My lorry had a Mercedes chassis & engine, those never let me down, ever, and it was OLD! It was the bodywork and things that wear out which needed attention.
I loved having my lorry and it was certainly easier to manouevre than a trailer.