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INDUSTRY NEWS
Page 110
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Shires Abel to go in style
• A £90,000 luxury horse box, built by Oakley Coachbuilders, is now in service with East Anglian removals, storage and distribution specialist AbeIs, to carry the company's shire horse team.
Built on a 7.0m-wheelbase Leyland Daf 95-310 rigid chassis, the 11.9m (39ft) body provides stalls for up to five of the majestic shires that help promote the company at county shows, fairs and other equestrian events.
Leyland Des Colchesterbased SVO unit lengthened the chassis. mounting the air and water tanks and its fulllength exhaust system inboard with the air intake, behind the nearside front wheel. This arrangement provides extra clearance down the outside of the frame for the lockers that hold all the tack and other equipment.
The three-element body features an aluminium framework with polystyrenefilled aluminium/plywood sandwich panelling. Interlocking floor extrusions are secured to cross-bearers (also aluminium) which are more closely spaced beneath the rear area to support the horses, which weigh about a tonne apiece. The rear floor is also protected by a 25mm rubber covering.
Ahead of the horse compartment is a collar and harness storeroom, and a bedroom for two grooms. The well-appointed accommodation section behind the top-sleeper cab offers an impressive range of catering facilities and home comforts, with two more beds.
Ware-based Oakley is building about 85 high-spec horseboxes a year, exporting 30% of them around Europe and Scandinavia. It also makes the chamfered cab fairing, which looks integral, but its internal recesses have sufficient overlap to allow it to tilt fully. A 1.2m square hole in the cab wall allows entry into the body but has an inner collar that unzips before tilting. A pneumatic sealing collar keeps out road grime.
The vehicle is heated by twin Eberspachers, and auxilliary power comes from a Masc. diesel-powered 4.0kW generator.