Help a dimwit find a trailer...

HaloHoney

Well-Known Member
Apr 30, 2017
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Hello. I’m mentally spending my next windfall. I need help on which trailer or even if a trailer with this combo is at all possible...

Right.

Tow vehicle:
2016 Honda CR-V 1.6 i-DTEC Manual 2WD.
According to manufacturer:
Kerb weight: 1592kg
Maximum permissible weight: 2100kg
Maximum towing weight braked: 1700kg
Maximum trailer nose weight: 100kg

Beast in need of transportation:
16.3HH DWB x ISH. I’m thinking 650kg or thereabouts.

Considerations- at some point in the next 2 years we may upgrade the towing vehicle. At roughly the same point we may add a pony for my children. I’ll be passing a towing test at the same time I get the trailer. Husband has the correct categories on his license whatever, so we have one driver... but I want to go places with my strapping beastie without having to have him play chauffeur!

All help gratefully received. :)
 
Ivor Williams 505 will be ok, it weighs 905kg, so the total weight with your horse is 1555kg, so is under your 1700 kg. I know your horse is 16:3 and the trailer max is supposed to be 16:2, but there is actually a fair bit of leeway, and it is much lighter than the other ones. However, don’t put loads of kit in it, put the tack in the car boot instead. I regularly towed a 15hh heavy set cob about the same weight as yours with my Freelander (max tow weight 2tonne). Don’t forget if you are towing only one horse, to always use the offside stall of the trailer so that it balances out the road camber, which is angled in a curve from the centre line out to the gutter each side.
As you haven’t got a 4wd it might be worth considering changing to smaller size wheels and grippier tyres like Michelin cross-climates if yours are currently low-profile tyres. This will give you a comfier ride and more tyre depth to weather and grip any lumpy ground. I changed my wheels to 17” and use all-terrain tyres; got the wheels on ebay and sold my old wheels back on ebay!
Of course as you know, you’ll only be able to tow one horse in the 505 until you change tow vehicles, but that’s what I do as I only have one.
 
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You wouldn't ever be able to take a 2nd horse on a 505 (even though the 505 has space) with that tow vehicle and you'd have to be careful about other weight, like tack, rugs, hay, water etc. not putting you over your limit and the older style with a wooden floor might weigh more than the ones with an aluminium floor, I think the newer version the 506 comes in a bit higher too.
I think cheval liberte have lighter trailers, but when I looked at one the sides and partition appeared to be quite flimsy to me and it was small stalls by comparison to my then 505. I can't remember which brand it is does the trailer with the plastic floor in, that might make them lighter perhaps? The older style Rice trailers are much heavier so wouldn't be good for you.
 
I wouldn't really feel confident towing a16.3hh with a car that can only tow 1700kg max, I think if you were you would really need to weigh him on scales and trailer as I think you would be right on the limit. If I were you I'd hold off until you swap can swap the car, something with 4x4 would be ideal. Then I'd be looking at a 510 or 511 ifor trailers, that way you would not be right on the limit of your car and could take kids pony.

We tow with a heavy 4x4 that can tow 3tonnes, if the horse starts moving in the trailer you can feel it trying to move the car. Remember a horse is not a dead weight it's livestock. Personally I feel very confident towing as I know the car is well up for the job and I wouldn't feel as confident in something that I was right on the towing limit with. But people do tow like this, I just think you would really need to look into the weights and also if right on the limit the strain it could put on the car.

Also worth noting the caravan club recommend towing 85% of the cars towing limit.
 
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I have a 505 and one horse (a 15hh warmblood around 480kgs) and I struggled with towing it with a Santa Fe (2005 model). We looked at towing it with the CR-V and my husband didn't think it would be up to the job. The Santa Fe is more powerful but it still obviously struggled with towing so we've got a much bigger 4x4 now (Isuzu Rodeo). I think you'd be really on the limit, tbh, and even if you're just about legit weight-wise, you can end up damaging your car if it's not really up to the job. I'd upgrade the car if poss.
 
Shockingly bad at coming back to this, thanks for all the replies. So sorry to disappear after asking the question!

I can't change car until it's 3 years old due to the contract purchase deal we've got it on. :rolleyes:

The sort of travelling we'll be doing is short journeys within approx 30 miles of home for the most part- and I live in Berkshire which isn't renowned for its hilly terrain. I also have mates who have vehicles with more grunt, but they don't have a trailer... So while I take everyone's point about tow vehicle not being ideal, it's what I've got to work with for the first 18 months of having a trailer. Then I can fix that problem v easily.

Step one is to get my B+E license. I unfortunately passed my driving test about 9 months after the change in 1997. But husband passed his in 1996, so I have someone who can sit next to me with my L-plates on... but this doesn't lend itself to being able to go places mid-week when he is at work!

Someone measured Flash with a weigh tape (and he's at his tubbiest, currently). I know weigh tapes can be a bit inaccurate, generally, but they weighed him at 580kg. Even allowing for a 10% margin of error that's 638kg. Which leaves roughly 1050kg for trailer and a some contents.

Someone suggested a Bateson Deauville trailer (the trailer weight on paper is 860kg). They have plastic resin floors which helps keep the weight down. They can manage two horses up to 17HH but I accept the fact that I cannot and will not be taking anyone other than Flash (or someone smaller) in it until the tow vehicle is upgraded. That's ok.

I have seen mentioned getting trailers downplated- I can't grasp whether I would need to do this. Do you do this to coincide with your vehicle's maximum towing capacity? Or 3500kg minus the kerb weight of your car? Would I need to do this if I got one? When I change the tow vehicle can I get it changed back to the original/something else?

This is possibly the most confusing thing I've tried to work out in recent years. I feel ridiculously out of my depth. Which is silly because Dad taught me how to reverse a car and flipping boat trailer on private land as a 14-year old!

Thanks for helping me!
 
Can't you borrow one of your friends cars? I don't think I'd be happy with that set up to be honest. Or get a cheap 4x4 to do the job for 18months.
 
I am pretty sure that downplating only applies if you don't have your B+E licence. My understanding is:

If you haven't got a B+E you can:
  • tow a trailer over 750kg MAM as long as the combined MAM of the trailer and towing vehicle is no more than 3,500kg
(MAM is maximum allowable mass - effectively the maximum loaded weight) This means the maximum loaded weight of the trailer is what is taken into account, so for an Ifor Williams HB511 it can be loaded up to 2700kg (I think) so that is what to taken into account even if it is empty! You can just change the dataplate to say its max loaded weight is less

If you have got a B+E the rules are different and as long as the trailer + horse etc is less than the max towing weight of your car you will be legal.
 
Can't you borrow one of your friends cars? I don't think I'd be happy with that set up to be honest. Or get a cheap 4x4 to do the job for 18months.

Second car not an option- I live in a residents only parking area where parking is over-subscribed, and a second permit will cost £50, cannot afford the running costs of a second vehicle, and nowhere to declare it SORN etc when not in use because I have no drive... if I could afford a second vehicle it would be a 3.5T box ;)

Even if I have to occasionally pay to hire a tow vehicle, it’s cheaper to do that than hire either a box or a trailer...
 
I don't really understand the ins and outs of trailers etc. But what I do know is that safety comes above everything else. It is dangerous to tow with a car that isn't up to the job. If your current vehicle is not suitable then don't risk it. For the odd local trip out you can hire a 3.5 lorry for under £100. This is the best option in my opinion.
 
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Can you borrow a trailer to try out towing with your car? Once when I had to get Raf to the farrier and my lorry was in the garage I borrowed a trailer (I used to have a trailer and a Pajero before I had the lorry so was used to towing) and tried towing with my Passat. I did lots of careful research and on paper it was ok to tow the weight of the trailer and one horse, but it was awful. It felt jerky and very unsafe and in fact when we hit a bump in the road Raf lost his balance and sustained a nasty leg injury. That's why I'd advise you to try it first, because it may be ok legally, but not be great in practice. Of course it might be fine too.
 
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