Smallholders Insurance from Greenlands

Author Topic: what size livestock trailer do I need if I want to fit a cow or two in?  (Read 5654 times)

mab

  • Joined Mar 2009
  • carmarthenshire
Hello all,


I was planning on sheep as ,my primary 'business, but would like a house cow and was wondering what size of trailer I could get away with for transporting the odd calf to market and/or collecting a cow & calf when I'm ready.


they seem to come in all sizes; 8'x4', 8'x5', 10'x4', 10'x5', etc  but for someone who want a 'cow & 1/2' size I've no real idea what's a sensible size, and don't want to get wan that's just too small.


Thx

JEP

  • Joined Oct 2011
Re: what size livestock trailer do I need if I want to fit a cow or two in?
« Reply #1 on: August 04, 2013, 08:18:58 am »
hi I would recommend the 10x4 as it will have more room for the animals to move in and it is that bit bigger in case you need to use it for anything else
john

SallyintNorth

  • Joined Feb 2011
  • Cornwall
  • Rarely short of an opinion but I mean well
    • Trelay Cohousing Community
Re: what size livestock trailer do I need if I want to fit a cow or two in?
« Reply #2 on: August 04, 2013, 09:04:40 am »
Not wanting granny to suck eggs... but if you're planning on transporting a cow, best to check the combined weight of trailer and load wrt towing capacity of the vehicle, and rules and regs too. 

A Jersey will weigh 400-500kgs-ish, an Angus could be 800kgs or more.  Which, added to the weight of a trailer large enough to carry her, could take you over the legal / safe unbraked weight; a braked trailer weighs quite a bit more than an unbraked one.  Check the safe-to-tow weight for your vehicle, it can be surprisingly low for some 4x4s.

It's not the same as towing a horse, btw - horses in horseboxes can't move around the way a loose cow can and will.  Having been in a large 4x4 that was being swung about by the beasts in the trailer moving about, I now prefer to find out on paper that the load is not safe for my vehicle, rather than when the driver says, "I have no control of this" as the vehicle moves from lane to lane...  :o
Don't listen to the money men - they know the price of everything and the value of nothing

Live in a cohousing community with small farm for our own use.  Dairy cows (rearing their own calves for beef), pigs, sheep for meat and fleece, ducks and hens for eggs, veg and fruit growing

mab

  • Joined Mar 2009
  • carmarthenshire
Re: what size livestock trailer do I need if I want to fit a cow or two in?
« Reply #3 on: August 04, 2013, 02:56:38 pm »
Don't worry - I recently acquired a 110 defender 200TDi project - I plan to have this vehicle on the road before I try moving a cow.


my astra estate will tow 1400kg braked, on paper, which should allow me to tow an empty trailer, and probably a few sheep too, depending on trailer weight.


But that's one reason I don't want to get a trailer any bigger than I need, as the bigger (and heavier) the trailer the less I can get in to it and still have the option of using the astra.




mab

  • Joined Mar 2009
  • carmarthenshire
Re: what size livestock trailer do I need if I want to fit a cow or two in?
« Reply #4 on: August 05, 2013, 01:14:32 pm »
I guess everyone who's read this agrees that 10x4 is the practical minimum then.


Good answer JEP.  :)

 

Forum sponsors

FibreHut Energy Helpline Thomson & Morgan Time for Paws Scottish Smallholder & Grower Festival Ark Farm Livestock Movement Service

© The Accidental Smallholder Ltd 2003-2024. All rights reserved.

Design by Furness Internet

Site developed by Champion IS