Does anyone on here use their freelander to tow horses and are they strong enough?

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crystal_tea36

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Hi, I'm thinking of buying a 1.8 petrol freelander 03 to tow my horse with, occasionally may need to take 2 horses in. My horse/trailer combined weight at a maximum would be 1800kg and I know the max. towing weight of the freelander is 2000kg so I was just wondering whether anyone had any advice on whether this was a good/bad towing car.. Thank you!
 
crystal_tea36 said:
Hi, I'm thinking of buying a 1.8 petrol freelander 03 to tow my horse with, occasionally may need to take 2 horses in. My horse/trailer combined weight at a maximum would be 1800kg and I know the max. towing weight of the freelander is 2000kg so I was just wondering whether anyone had any advice on whether this was a good/bad towing car.. Thank you!
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DONT DO IT!!!

At least not before finding out about all the problems the petrol hippos have. You will spend more time with your horses towing the Hippoo. Its a crap vehicle. If yu must have a freelander at least get a diesel, preferably get a Disco - just as comfy and more reliable (just watch out for rust).
 
Do not buy a petrol freelander its not worth the risk, they have bad engines.

The td4 freelander is a good tow vehicle, not as good as a disco though.
 
The 1.8 petrol hippo is well known to be a sh1t engine. Any amount of regular heavy towing would not be good for it. Get a disco. It'll be cheaper, much more reliable, and will tow anything you can legally hook up behind it without any problems.
 
why are you towing your horses ? dont they have legs ?
you might find its better to tow the freelander with the horses !

oh and if you want a good disco im just sorting one out for the MOT, new inner and outer sills both sides, new boot floor, cracking engine and box and very tidy. well it will be when the weather brightens up so i can get the other sill welded in :)
 
crystal_tea36 said:
Hi, I'm thinking of buying a 1.8 petrol freelander 03 to tow my horse with, occasionally may need to take 2 horses in. My horse/trailer combined weight at a maximum would be 1800kg and I know the max. towing weight of the freelander is 2000kg so I was just wondering whether anyone had any advice on whether this was a good/bad towing car.. Thank you!
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your first mistake here is thinking about a freelander!!! i would get a nice disco looks like your more serious!
 
dont do it! power to weight ratio yer better off with a good volvo estate car than a freelander , seriously !
yer down to a disco or an early 90, least if yer really want a hippo make it a diesel as the petrols are nawt but agro !
 
I tow with my td4, don't seem to be causing any problems. certainly wouldn't attempt a loaded horsebox with a 1.8 though. Go TD4 if you really want a freelander, but disco probably more capable.
 
gavbriggs said:
your first mistake here is thinking about a freelander!!! i would get a nice disco looks like your more serious!
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Yeah, everytime I'm out and about in the Red Ryder I see the Freelanders bumping along and think (due to seeing it here first) 'Gaylander'! :)
 
K the missus has 2 hosses. Drives me mad local shows etc. Best Tow for 2 hosses in a 505 or wotever is a Defender 110. 90's aint stable enough in novice hands. If those Hosses throw their toys out of the pram whilst your belting along at 60mph... A 110 you hardly notice it...Anything else an get your prayer mat out !!
 
ZoNeHeaD®;810289 said:
Best Tow for 2 hosses in a 505 or wotever is a Defender 110. 90's aint stable enough in novice hands. If those Hosses throw their toys out of the pram whilst your belting along at 60mph... A 110 you hardly notice it...Anything else an get your prayer mat out !!
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So right - two horses can be awkward, a 110 would be ideal.

I hope you find something nice.
 
So, ignoring the 'butch' guys who cant acknowledge anything other than a square Landrover ;), you are looking for good power to weight ratio's. Added to that, what else will it be used for when not towing?

Ignore the petrol Freebie, engine is a waste of time. Diesels are 2.0L so may not be up to the task of a 2 horse box. They are however lighter than a 2.5L Disco/ Defender.... how much comfort do you want? You could be really OTT and get a V8 Rangie! The heavier the tow vehicle, the less effect a heavy horsebox is likely to have on it.

I think the offer of a Disco says it all...... most of the usual welding has been done, something to think about.
 
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Freelanders are great on wet grass on their own, but towing something as large as a horsebox off road safely would really require a lower set of gears which the Freelander doesn't have.
I'd go and find a sensible Disco 2 TD5 if I were you ;)
 
We use a Freelander TD4 to tow a Ifor Williams horsebox. The horses are around 15hh but we would only tow one at a time.

Freelander 1.8 no good for towing.
Freelander no good for towing two horses.

Lack of low ratio means you develop good clutch control quickly.

The towing weight is 2,000kg but if you then load the car you can exceed the gross train weight. As a result LR advise a towing wheight of 1,800kg.

We wouldn't tow with our 90 - too agricultural. We used to use a Subaru Legancy estate which was great but obviously didn't give a verty stable (!) ride for one horse who was relcuctant to load until we started using the Freelander - no problems since. That speaks volumes.

Lots of people use Freelanders successfully as a tow car for horse trailers. They are stable tow cars and great on showgrounds/fields. Mrs Blip has regularly driven past other combinations stuck in mud or on slippery grass. But then Mrs Blip is incredible.

Cheers

Blippie
 
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