Anyone help with this towing question

best bet is to get the disco and box coupled together on hard level ground. load the horses and step back to see if level, if not then undo the hitch and raise the towball up one set of holes on the car.keep trying until it gets to as level as possible when looking at it. a little nose down is usually good for caravans(not so sure on live stock)
hope this helps

Thor1950 said:

Correct dear Glad you got it. Just make trailer level and you are good to go. If you have front Tack room that helps also.

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Its not mine

My defender and 510 dont have that problem, but then I dont have off road modifications One day though

Actually front tack packs and water carriers are the worst thing you can do. They increase the nose weight and unbalance the trailer, unless you teach the horse to sit back to balance the load

My 2700kg Ifor cattle float has a recommended towbar weight of40-45kg and I shoul think the horse trailer is similar. Ive seen loads of these threads, not sure why the horse people go on about animals moving around? When I tow haltered cattle I tend to have two 5-700 kg beasts tied side by side.In a 5x10 trailer and with a partition against their arses they cannut move much even if one came untied. And I never drive in a way that would cause them to stumble about or get spooked.
When I tow loose animals(not often) I push them forward and wedge them tightish with a partition so again they cannot move too much.
I always put the rear tyres up to 40 psi for towing and I have standard wheels and AT tyres that I put on when my towbar goes on altho I usually run modular wheels with muds.I have towed cattle as far as Carlisle from west cornwall and many points between!In 30 years of towing live and deadstock the only time I have had serios trailer swing has been when the noseweight is too light or even lifting the towball,this can be almost impossible to drive.
Even for the experienced towing livestock is always worthy of concentration and forethought and those who are not confident would really be better to get a haulier to deliver their beasts.

suew said:

Its not mine

My defender and 510 dont have that problem, but then I dont have off road modifications One day though

Actually front tack packs and water carriers are the worst thing you can do. They increase the nose weight and unbalance the trailer, unless you teach the horse to sit back to balance the load

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lengthen the lead a bit, and they will put there arse tight against the door

LOL, I think horse people do tend to worry a lot

Then again horses dont seem to have the good sense of cows. They often dont stand still and do all sorts to make towing interesting.

Out of my three only one is easy to tow with, you dont know she is in there. My oldie has discovered its fun to run forward into the front bar and them back on the back bar. This makes the trailer rock backwards and forwards which them brings the brakes on and off. This gives a rather jerky ride. The stupid warmblood thing of my daughters jumps around and rocks the trailer from side to side, Non of this causes any instablility towing but you do get funny looks from people, especially at traffic lights

Thor1950 said:

lengthen the lead a bit, and they will put there arse tight against the door

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Illegal I'm afraid

You have to have a bar in front of the ramp to stop them jumping back onto you when you drop the ramp. One at the front too to stop them banging their noses if you brake too hard. And if you lengthen the lead they will be able to reach the other horse and bite it, then the other horse goes loopy and starts trying to kick the first one through the partition etc etc etc etc. These ARE horses, not creatures with any sense

suew said:

LOL, I think horse people do tend to worry a lot

Then again horses dont seem to have the good sense of cows. They often dont stand still and do all sorts to make towing interesting.

Out of my three only one is easy to tow with, you dont know she is in there. My oldie has discovered its fun to run forward into the front bar and them back on the back bar. This makes the trailer rock backwards and forwards which them brings the brakes on and off. This gives a rather jerky ride. The stupid warmblood thing of my daughters jumps around and rocks the trailer from side to side, Non of this causes any instablility towing but you do get funny looks from people, especially at traffic lights

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We train the show cattle to enjoy travel by leading them into the trailer and feeding them cake and then leadingthem straight out.Then back in,little bit longer,feed again and out.Next day in,short move across the yard,feed and out.And so on and so on!
I doubt wether the horses are stupid or hard to train,more likely it is the owners that are the problem!

suew said:

Illegal I'm afraid

You have to have a bar in front of the ramp to stop them jumping back onto you when you drop the ramp. One at the front too to stop them banging their noses if you brake too hard. And if you lengthen the lead they will be able to reach the other horse and bite it, then the other horse goes loopy and starts trying to kick the first one through the partition etc etc etc etc. These ARE horses, not creatures with any sense

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Bad horses's never had a problem with a bitter, had the 6 we had got along fine load like a dream would walk right in and just tie them in. Load them in a slant. No partition or butt bars. They rode better with out it. They just about self loaded. They were never that way just taught them not to worry. Had 1 horse didn't like to load and took 6 hrs before he went in voluntary after a few sessions was the best loading horse we had.

suew said:

Have passed all this on thanks

One other factor if the trailer is high at the front. Horses are not a static load. Put the trailer uphill and the horses might be inclined to "sit" on the rear bar pushing the weight of the trailer further backwards and lifting the front even more.

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can understand that if a hoss sat down, either of its own accord (tho ive never seen a hoss sit) or if you were uphill, be it the trailer or road conditions, then it would throw weight rearwards.

Thor1950 said:

Disco and horse trailer............ Disco hitch/ball sits higher than horse trailer being level........ hooking trailer to disc the tongue needs to be raised to hook together, After connection is made trailer is now front high, add 2 horses and the back of trailer is now heavy on the backend causing (through the leveler principle ) the front of trailer becomes lighter attempting to raise the backend of disco.

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yes can see this if the hoss moves rearwards of the rear axle, or sits down. it would also happen if the trailer was level.
while i agree that the trailer should sit level, wording it how you did just didnt make sense.

quoted-
"Trailer needs to be horizontally level, if front of trailer is higher than the back, it puts more weight on the back axle causeing weight to lift the rear of towing vehicle"

Thor1950 said:

Have you ever hauled live stock ?????????????? either in a tandem live stock trailer or a articulated lorry and trailer????????????? and have had several thousand miles experience

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no, ive never hauled livestock.

Turboman said:

We train the show cattle to enjoy travel by leading them into the trailer and feeding them cake and then leadingthem straight out.Then back in,little bit longer,feed again and out.Next day in,short move across the yard,feed and out.And so on and so on!
I doubt wether the horses are stupid or hard to train,more likely it is the owners that are the problem!

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No but competition horses are hyped up and fed for extra energy, not weight like cattle. Does make them extra stressy and less likely to want to stand still.

Thor1950 said:

Bad horses's never had a problem with a bitter, had the 6 we had got along fine load like a dream would walk right in and just tie them in. Load them in a slant. No partition or butt bars. They rode better with out it. They just about self loaded. They were never that way just taught them not to worry. Had 1 horse didn't like to load and took 6 hrs before he went in voluntary after a few sessions was the best loading horse we had.

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Mine load and travel together well too, they dont rush the partitions and would travel without partitions. Same cant be said for some peoples though. Not sure its totally the owners fault, look at the injuries sustained just turning strange horses in a field together.

nrgserv said:

can understand that if a hoss sat down, either of its own accord (tho ive never seen a hoss sit) or if you were uphill, be it the trailer or road conditions, then it would throw weight rearwards.
.

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LOL, I have actually seen one sit down, not in a trailer though. I meant rest their bums and lean back hard on the rear bar.

going back to yer origional problem ...realistically tyre pressures...hard is good, and hitch height .. horizontal or slightly nose down is good, are the easy things to look at.
nobody has mentioned the air pressure from passing lorries...keep as far left as possible in your lane as one is passing may help.
then your looking at is a lifted disco a worse tugger than one on standard suspension?

We have the same trailer that is towed with a L322 Range rover with no problem at all. I don't up the tyre pressure when towing but the trailer is level. As above check the level without the horses. We have standard tyres so not sure what the effect of offroad tyres would be could they have more side wall flex? What tyres are on the disco?

Mick