Floating horses ..... how easy it has become. With a new generation of floats and a range of vehicles well equipped to take you and your equine companion down the road, it has become a huge decision as to what is the correct towing combination. Without getting too technical, here are a few pointers on what questions to ask and what research to do when buying your new car/float.
Questions you should ask
How much will it tow? (Your car) and How much does it weigh? (Your float)
These two questions refer to what is the towing limit on a vehicle and what is the TARE weight (the weight of the float) with no horses in it. These are two areas of concern as some floats either don’t have the TARE weight on the drawbar or manufacturers fabricate some of these numbers to lower the weight to make it more attractive to prospective buyers.
Some other areas we must pay attention to are;
What is the ball weight of your vehicle? This is the amount of downward pressure your vehicle can handle from your float. This is usually listed on a small silver plate on the tow bar itself of in your owner’s manual of the vehicle.
What is the GVM (Gross Vehicle Mass) of your float? This figure is the maximum carrying capacity, including the weight of the actual float. So if the GVM is 2 tonne and your float weights 1.7 tonne, you are only legally allowed to carry 300kgs of gear and horse.
Any good salesperson will give you the correct advice in the above four areas, however be careful of people wanting your money over your safety. All of this information can be found online so you can narrow down what float and what car will fit into your towing set up.
A few things to look into when seriously looking for a new tow car are...
Towing with Diesel Utes
One of the more appealing vehicles in today's market are the ‘new generation’ diesel Utes; plenty of power, huge towing capacities plus shiny new wheels, A/C and Bluetooth kits!! In theory these Utes are brilliant, great value for money very reliable and heaps of useable power.
These Utes are a great option but the weight of your float when fully loaded will dictate just how safe this option will be. The towing capacity of some of these Utes is 3 tonne; this opens the door to many of us who have a heavy float. Remember that these Utes only weigh a little over 1 tonne and the suspension and brakes are not the best they can be with most of them still choosing to use rear drum brakes instead of disc brakes. With the old leaf spring suspension in the rear it will not be long before your Ute will be sitting down in the back chasing possums with your headlights pointing up into the trees.
If this is happening to you a set of Polyair air springs should be fitted to the rear of the vehicle. This is a manual version of air suspension which you pump up with a tyre gauge and will set you back around the $500 mark fully installed in your car. As for the rear drum brakes..... there aren't a lot of options here in upgrading the drums but you can fit a set of performance ‘drilled and slotted’ front disc rotors to the front of the vehicle. With over 60% of your braking coming from the front discs it would be wise to fit some good quality discs and Bendix pads to your car to prevent an accident.
Electric Brakes
As I previously mentioned, if you are pulling your 3 tonne float with your 1.3 tonne Ute, your float can dictate the state of play very quickly. An option would be to install a good electric brake controller, being aware that on with this controller we have the ability to brake the horse float on its own. I am sure many people are aware of this, but for those of you who aren't if you are coming down a steep hill with a heavy float on there is usually a slide or a button on your controller which activates the trailer brakes only. This is a good effective way of taking off speed in a emergency and it also lets you keep a heavy float under control instead of being on and off the brakes of your car.
In the next article I shall run through some safety aspects and maintenance tips for your float and vehicle.
James Deacon
