We are soon to commence on a self-build house project, hence need a vehicle to carry around small loads of materials/rubbish etc. It also needs to be fairly respectable, so I can drive to work in it. Does anyone have any suggestions, budget about 2K, was considering a Land Rover but not sure.
Thanks
Andrew
www.hispecgolfs.co.uk
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Been there, done it, got the house built. As per yesterday's debate on camper vans v. caravans, no point dragging empty space around with you the rest of the time. Buy yourself the heftiest trailer you can afford and a tow hitch but keep max. trailer weight to 85% of vehicle kerb weight or manufacturer's recommendation. You'll be able to chuck anything and everything into it, unlike a Landrover or whatever.
Happy building, happy towing! PG
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This is something I hadn't thought about, I have an old 1989 VW Golf GTI (with a towbar!) in storage at the moment, maybe I could get it out and use that with a trailer.
Actually a local trailer hire place does them for 7 quid a day, probably better than buying?
Thanks
Andrew
www.hispecgolfs.co.uk
>Buy yourself the
> heftiest trailer you can afford and a tow hitch but keep max.
> trailer weight to 85% of vehicle kerb weight or
> manufacturer's recommendation. You'll be able to chuck
> anything and everything into it, unlike a Landrover or
> whatever.
>
> Happy building, happy towing! PG
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Good idea Peter G. If Andrew doesn't fancy that, then there's always the Berlingo/Kangoo - but probably not at £2000.
What about Peugeot estate or, even cheaper, Renault Savannah - if you can find a decent one? The Renault has loads of room but you don't see many these days.
Peter's idea is best.
KB.
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I had a lovely little Mitsubishi dropside pickup truck (L300 I think) for a while. It had a hydraulic tipping body, 1600 petrol engine and column gearchange - possibly not quite 'respectable' enough, but very pleasant to drive and utterly reliable. I sold it to a chap who was building his own house, and when he had finished, he sold it to someone else who was doing the same....
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I was going to suggest much the same as Richard. I drove for 6 years a Mitsubishi 1 tonne pick-up 2WD, 3 seater cab. I bought it for £1000 and had it sprayed and a few body panels and it lasted ages. Reasonably respectable especially if kept clean in & out.
I built houses for 12 years - it's great fun although I did it for a living and at least when I went home at the end of the day, I was able to put my feet up!!
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Andrew,
Been there, done that several times and with a different vehicle combination every time!
On its own a Land Rover is hopeless, no room in the back. Compare a SWB Land Rover and something like a Citroen C15D van, the van wins every time.
Trailer is a good option in some circumstances. We started this house project with a new Ifor Williams 12'x5'6" galv drop tailgate four wheel trailer. It was fantastic for the larger things but security/weather was a real issue for the materials when you had several places to call. In the end security of the trailer itself was the issue because "the boys" took it from the yard one night. Thankfully the full new cost was paid out but I vowed never to have an "attractive" new trailer again. So I built one on a caravan chassis that was just a little larger than the standard 8'x4' building sheet. Didn't look worth pinching and the boys let me keep it. Cost about £120 to build and sold for £50 after several years use.
Really just depends how much the project rules your life. Can you hack work in a Transit to make the building bits easy?
Last thought. An old horse trailer makes a brilliant van substitute. Strong enough to carry a ton and some level of security/weatherproofing. The rear ramp makes it easy to get larger loads in when on your own. This is what we have at present. Buy a medium sized one for about £600 and it will still fetch £600 in two years time.
David
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David W wrote:
>..........
> Last thought. An old horse trailer makes a brilliant van
> substitute. Strong enough to carry a ton and some level of
> security/weatherproofing. The rear ramp makes it easy to get
> larger loads in when on your own. ........
On my drive to work, I pass a street of small terreced houses, someone has a horse box parked on the street outside the house and uses it as a garden shed!
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Vern,
Where do they keep the horse, in the front room?
David
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Presumably, David, if you kept a horse in your front room it couldn't get past the new kitchen door that Mark's always asking about (the one that he reckons is propped up in the hallway). Or would that make it a stable door?
Ian
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Hmmm.
The problem has been that the back door was stable for far too long, but in the front hall rather than the frame.
All sorted now, and we've painted the kerbs white.
Just in case Royalty call by.......you know how it is.
David
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Andrew
I think you've got all the good advice. My only contribution would be to suggest the Peugeot 504 pickup which has a limited slip diff as standard. Security might be the drawback as mentioned earlier, but there are smart ones occasionally advertised by one owner-drivers for less than £1000 in the Midlands. I like the hydraulic tipping idea though. Personally I have a little closed-in sheep trailer built by my dad, but had to give his big double-deck Ifor Williams away because I didn't fancy renewing the wheel bearings and brakes outside in the snow to shift it 500 miles from Scotland when clearing his things up on a flying visit from the Middle East. Try a few farm clearances if that type of thing is of interest, or the horsey ads in the local paper (assuming you don't live in London).
David
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How much does it cost to get the tow bar fitted?
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By heck Andrew, working for Unilever must be a lot less like the hard work it was when I worked for the big blue U. Time to build your own house, run a car import operation and contribute frequently to this web site. Luxury
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Niall F. wrote:
>
> By heck Andrew, working for Unilever must be a lot less like
> the hard work it was when I worked for the big blue U. Time
> to build your own house, run a car import operation and
> contribute frequently to this web site. Luxury
Usually only look at this site between experiments, potential plot of land is around the corner from work and the car import operation is quite small scale!
Andrew
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Andrew
I haven't done the self build house project, but I have solved the problem of the ideal vehicle for DIY/gardening materials (and radio controlled model aircraft, but that's another story). I bought a Citroen C15D van.
Mine's an M plate, bought two years ago for £2K. It's also very comfortable to drive, and is very basic (mechanically). It's probably worth about £1K now and I expect I'll trade it for a song next year or so (= about £500 pa depreciation, max).
Ian
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Aren't horse boxes a bit heavy?
Strange, as I have been musing about using one for some time to move telecomms kit. Are they around 500kgs+ unladened?
Rob
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Rob,
They are damm heavy, often over 750kg. However they do tow really well if tyres/brakes are spot on.
They corner behind the car like they're on rails*.
*When unladen or carrying deadstock!
David
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David,
Any idea of the typical unladened weight for a medium-sized twin-axle box van trailer? I reckon around 400kgs. The one I use regularly is not plated.
FWIW these things are not totally forgiving, as I found recently.
If you are forced to load heavy-ish items very close to the door end due to the rest of the trailer being full, this can cause stability problems. They are not very happy about reductions in nose-weight.
Yes, junior-school physics, I know, but worth passing on.
Frantic load redistribution in the lorry parking area at Chievley services on the A34 sorted it out and made a dramatic difference. And the item was only around 150kgs, compared with the 800kgs++ of the rest of the load.
Do the Fenland Peaks have a dusting of snow this morning?
Rob
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Rob,
I would guess the same as you around 400kg but I don't know.
Yes loading is quite crucial. If the trailer is on the car sometimes you don't notice if the balance is out.
For best stability I take advantage of the Citroen self-levelling and use an extra 30 - 60kg of noseweight, assuming the car isn't already heavily laden with luggage.
Actually the self levelling of my Xantia makes it a very stable towcar, hence my comments about towing heavy trailers not being certain disaster.
No snow but it's freezing in a stiff North Easterly. I would hate to think of visitors from warmer parts turning up in the Fens this week. They'd need three coats!
David
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Andrew
Do bear in mind when you make a decision on a load lugger that some police forces are enforcing the rule that trailers (and pickups, I assume) should be netted or otherwise covered when carting rubbish to the tip. Makes good sense anyway if it is expensive building materials you are taking home.
David
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