28/05/2023
HORSE FLOATS
A GUIDE TO SAFE TOWING OF YOUR HORSE FLOAT.
How to keep you and your horses safe.
Take a walk around the local pony / horse clubs and you will see some large and often dangerous rigs. You will see some towed by vehicles not legally allowed to tow such a weight.
Horse riding and carriage driving are popular and enjoyable pastime for many people and is a popular and a fun weekend activity for many, however, some starting out, are towing often with limited driving and towing education or experience.
The horses also need to be transported, usually with a horse float towed behind the family car, 4 x 4 or ute. Often little consideration is given to the legalities and safety issues of transporting such a large animal.
SOME BASIC FACTS
HORSE WEIGHTS and sizes vary greatly from a Shetland pony at around 8-10 hands height at 200 – 225kgs, a heavy weight hack at 16 – 17 hands height at 450 to 600 kgs up to a draught horse at 16 - 18 hands height at 550 to 800 kgs or more. Weights courtesy DPI NSW.
TACK WEIGHT also varies greatly depending on activity and the number of horses to transport but can easily average 20 – 40 kgs.
SADDLES vary on type and size but can average at around 10 to 25kgs each.
FEED – a bale of hay can weight approx. 25kgs and a bag of feed will be around 20kgs.
Adding all that up we have a basic average weight of around 700 to 800 kgs per horse with feed saddle and tack.
HORSE FLOATS
Floats vary in size and function. They are built heavy and strong due to the heavy and moving load they are designed to carry. There is the very basic one-horse float (not popular) to the two, three, four and more horse floats with kitchens, sleeping accommodation, storage, portable panels and fences and awnings.
Many floats are left parked in a paddock and often neglected until they are needed for the next event. In the meantime, the horses have urinated in the float causing rotting of the floors and rusting of the frame axles and other components. Cleaning after each trip will assist but it is not the whole answer and regular maintenance checks are vital for a safe float. When did you last really check your float underneath?
Tyre pressures, age and conditions should be checked before each trip. More on tyres and how to tell the tyre age on our web site.
A two-horse float can cost upwards of $13,000 and have a tare weight (unladen weight) of around 800 kgs with an ATM of approx. 2,000 kgs, (Maximum total legally allowable weigh of the float and all load in / on it). All vary so check the legally allowable weights of your float and its load.
The three-horse float can cost over $23,000 and have a tare weight of around 1,300 kgs and an ATM of approx. 3,500kgs, making them ‘on paper’, just towable with many popular 4 x 4 light vehicles.
But there is far more to the story than towing capacities when discussing can that car legally tow that trailer or float.
LEGALITIES OF SAFE TOWING
Towing a horse float has basically the same legal responsibilities as towing a caravan, boat, or any other large trailer. The main difference is that you have a live, moving load with a high centre of gravity on board, making stability a bit trickier.
The driver is responsible to ensure that the tow vehicle and trailer, (in this case, the horse float) are all loaded correctly, and weights, hitches and chains are all within legal limits.
The tow vehicle MUST have the capacity to tow the float within the manufacturers Aggerate Trailer Mass (ATM), the tow vehicle and trailers tow ball weight (TBW) as well as the towing vehicles Gross Combined Mass (GCM).
YES, IT IS MUCH MORE THAN THE GLOSSY BROCHURE TOLD YOU ABOUT TOWING CAPACITY.
If you are over in ANY one of these weights you are driving an unroadworthy vehicle, and your insurance can be voided. Yes, read your insurance policy. All insurance can be voided if driving an overweight vehicle and an unroadworthy vehicle. Voided on both points.
Apart from that it is beyond the manufacturers recommended vehicle limits and you are a danger to yourself, your horse or horses, and all other vehicles on the roads.
It was reported that a triple horse float pulled be a Colorado dual cab ute was stopped by police at random roadside weight checks in Qld last year. The float had a basic kitchen and some accommodation. The driver was instructed not to proceed as they were over the limits of the Colorado and forced to empty 100l of water (100kgs) from the water tank just to be able to drive on the road to their destination.
The interesting thing was, IN THIS CASE THE TRIPLE HORSE FLOAT WAS EMPTY. Can you imagine how much overweight this rig would be if they had 3 x 500kg horses also on board. After all, that is the intention of owning the float.
An article on the Truck Friendly web site under Road Safety Info on dual cab utes marketing hype helps explain legal towing capacities and GCM, GVM and other weight legal compliance.
https://www.truckfriendly.com.au/the-dual-cab-ute-marketing-hype/
HOW TO FIND OUT IF YOU ARE DRIVING LEGALLY.
Basically, the easy way is to have your fully loaded vehicle and float weighed on your next outing.
Many local councils will allow you to use their weighbridge at the dump, and there are also commercial weighbridges available.
I will be reporting on our page about some big changes to make it a lot easier to weigh your vehicles, floats and trailers shortly, so follow our page for more on this soon.
However, the mobile weigh companies will weigh each wheel and axle individually, the tow ball down-load weight and the weight of your tow vehicle. This will give you much more information to see where the weight is. Anything else involves guesswork.
There is a list of mobile scales companies throughout Australia who can weigh your rig (preferable fully loaded for an event) to see just how much your rig weighs for peace of mind. The list is published during the first week of each month on the Truck Friendly caravan road safety program page. You are welcome to share it among club members and the wider community.
1. KNOW YOUR TRAILER AND TOW-VEHICLES LIMITATIONS.
Every vehicle has maximum weights on all aspects of its use. These are set by the manufacturer and under Australian Design Rules, legally must not be exceeded to remain roadworthy and insurance compliant.
The tow vehicle will have a rated GROSS VEHICLE MASS (GVM) which is the max weight allowed on the wheels of that vehicle. This will include all drivers, passengers, vehicle accessories like bull bar, roof racks, the load, fridges, canopy, drawers, and the tow ball weight of the fully loaded trailer or float once attached.
The TOW BALL WEIGHT (TBW) is the maximum allowed stamped on that vehicle, the tow bar, tow hitch or tow ball, whichever is the lesser rated of them all is the max weight allowed. All legal 50mm tow balls must have a max weight stamped on them. There are many out there that don’t comply. The 50mm ball is limited to towing a trailer / float to a max of 3,500 kgs.
The TOWING CAPACITY of the tow vehicle must not be exceeded and varies between many 2 x 4, and 4 x 4 models and makes. Just because the vehicle is marketed as having a 3,500kg tow capacity, in real life this is often – well ‘just garbage’, as the vehicle is often restricted to just a driver with no passengers or load to achieve this figure and stay under weights. This rarely happens in real life as you know, so do your sums.
The trailer also has a GROSS TRAILER MASS (GTM) which is the maximum weight that the trailer can weigh on the wheels. It excludes the actual tow ball weight which becomes a load weight on the tow vehicle when the two are coupled together.
EACH AXLE on the tow vehicle and the trailer will also have a maximum weight allowance to stay legally able to drive on the roads. Overloaded rear axles is one of the biggest infringements found in recent Qld Police road side weight checks.
Keep in mind that on the average tow vehicle a load of 200kgs, for example, on the tow vehicles tow ball may equate to a load of around 300kgs on the rear axle due to the leverage effect as it is taking weight off the front axle. (A multiplier of some 140 to 150 % of the tow ball weight)
The tow vehicle will also have a maximum GROSS COMBINED MASS (GCM). This is where many vehicles become illegal.
The GCM is the maximum combined weight of the fully loaded trailer and fully loaded tow vehicle. That is the actual tow vehicle GVM and actual trailer GTM added together.
Many tow vehicles have MANUFACTURERS RECOMMENDED TOWING SPEEDS and several state road rules also have restricted towing speeds. NSW for example is limited to 100kph if the tow vehicle’s GVM and / or GCM is over 4,500kgs, which may include many horse floats under tow.
Western Australia also has a 100kph towing speed limit.
2. KNOW THE WEIGHT OF YOUR HORSES, PEOPLE AND EQUIPMENT.
This will include all drivers, passengers, and all load so that you can work out the weights discussed above.
3. KNOW SAFE DRIVING HABITS
ALL vehicles must have electric brakes (or in some cases override breaks to a max of 2,000kgs) fitted when towing a trailer / float over 750kgs. Check that electric brakes are adjusted correctly and can be adjusted for a softer braking around town or heavier braking for faster highway driving via the controller in the tow vehicle.
There are some braking systems on some horse floats that are controllable and adjusted via a phone app , however good luck explaining to the police why you were using your phone while driving and not get a hefty fine. Remember the brakes need to be adjusted to different braking strengths for low speed around town and faster highway travel.
An electronic brake controller adjustable within the cab that also has an override button so that you can independently apply the trailer brakes if needed is always the best option.
All trailer safety chains, and ‘D’ shackles are connected and rated to the correct breaking capacity to be able to take the sudden strain of the float if it becomes disconnected, especially with your valuable horse / horses in it.
Ensure that you have adequate mirrors on the tow vehicle. While most would be adequate, however, if your float body is wider than your tow vehicle, you may legally, and for safety reasons need towing mirrors to help eliminate those blind spots. NOTE that adequate rear / side vision is a legality, not a suggestion. You must be able to see both the rear corners of your float from the drivers seat.
Remember that you have a live animal in the float that can move around so the weight can shift, and the horse can lose balance. Drive, corner, and brake, smoothly and carefully.
4. INSTALL A UHF RADIO
Install a UHF radio in your tow vehicle. They are a very useful safety device, especially if travelling on the highways.
Tuned to channel 40 – the ‘highway safety channel you will hear of roadblocks, wide loads, and other useful information.
A friend had her horse fall in the horse float, and she was contacted by UHF by a truck driver following and was able to pull over to assist the horse before any serious injury was done to the horse thanks to UHF communication.
Oricom is an Australian company making UHF radios and tyre pressure monitors. Purchase any product from their web site and use discount code TF15 to receive a 15% discount at the Oricom web site checkout.
LASTLY, please follow the Truck Friendly caravan road safety program’s page and read the web site. You will stay up to date with safety information and the program helps educate on safe towing practices for all trailer types and interacting with heavy vehicles on our highways.
The Truck Friendly program also has an Australia wide ‘I’M TRUCK FRIENDLY’ sticker program which helps identify you as a driver who has read the Truck Friendly, driving guides on the web site, know how to help other drivers, you have a UHF radio installed and want to help others stay safe on the roads.
Qualifying horse float drivers are welcome to join the program. See the web site for details.
Ideally, ask your pony / horse local club to arrange a weighing day. I am sure your local mobile caravan weigh company will assist. It is a responsibility of many clubs to help ensure that members are instructed on safe driving and towing.
Talk to a local mobile scales company about doing a group weigh as a fundraiser for your club.
I trust that this information has been of help. Please contact me should you have any questions.
You are welcome to share this article with other horse, pony clubs throughout Australia. Just click share from the Truck Friendly page.
Photo used by permission of the owner.
Stay safe
Ken Wilson
www.truckfriendly.com.au
https://www.facebook.com/truckfriendly.com.au
