I’m closing in on the day my daily driver bites the dust, and I’m left with only my tow vehicle to drive. Toodling around the suburbs and countryside in a gas-guzzling, 20-mpg-highway SUV is unappealing, and I’m considering biting the bullet and trading in my gas-guzzler for something more economical. Obviously, this means the 2 horse BP has to go. On the off chance that my FOMO proves intractable and I want to get back out there, I’m leaning toward getting something smaller and more economical that could pull a Boeckmann someday.
So, what are you pulling your Boeckmann with, and do you like it?
Probably not. :lol: Should add, my very annoying HOA prohibits me from having a truck parked in front of my house, so specifically looking at something outside the truck range.
2010 Hyundai Sante Fe. I only haul one horse, and it does just fine. I don’t think I’d be comfortable with two horses. Engine and transmission, not braking, as the Böckmann brakes are stellar.
I’m towing with a Range Rover Sport. I regularly forget the trailer is back there even with two horses and wind on long hauls. Mileage sucks though. So I’m now giving serious thought to the Audi E-Tron after test driving it. Wow is that thing nice.
ETA: good on you for putting all the spellings of Bockmann so people can easily search this thread, well played!
My friend tows a lightweight aluminum trailer with a jeep Cherokee and it works well. I have an Acura mdx I used to own a brenderup and I think it would tow the brenderup no problem
My current daily driver is a Toyota, so I will admit to a preference for them. 17+ years, just short of 200K and still going strong (although in the shop for a repair to pass the emissions test, hence the nail-biting over the end being nigh…)
Never again! :lol:
My horse isn’t tiny, so I wonder if that’s a concern…
Looks like the 4Runner’s mpg isn’t any better than my current tow vehicle.
Range Rovers and Audis are out of my budget unless I go really used, which makes me too nervous. Already own an old car. Definitely nice vehicles though!
(On the spelling: tried to do a forum search and couldn’t even find the recent posts I knew were floating about, so hopefully my title will help some future befuddled soul!)
I was circling a neighbor’s Acura MDX while walking my dogs today. I was wondering if they could do the job. It did have a 2" hitch installed.
So, doing a comparison, looks like I can expect a tow vehicle to top out at 30mpg highway? Not the 35-40 city I’ve gotten spoiled by, but definitely better than the 20mpg highway my tow vehicle gets now.
I used to tow my St Georges (similar in size to Boeckmann) with a 2009 Hyundai Santa Fe. Moved up to a Lexus RX350 when my folks’ low mileage SUV was no longer needed. I usually haul my WBx horse alone, tho will take my pal’s OTTB along now and then. The Boeckmann specs should tell you what wheelbase, horsepower, etc. requirements are needed for safe hauling. Leave out the guesswork…
Currently I tow mine with a Skoda kodiaq. Rather sure they’re not available in the US. I regularly tow two horses without any issues at all. I have towed with an Audi S5 before, with that we towed a horse and pony.
2020 Acura MDX gets 20-27mpg and tows 3500-5000#. So towing at close to full capacity it’ll get well under 20 I’d guess. If you got a V6 4Runner you’d get 5000# towing capacity and a V8 tows 7500#. You don’t want to be at your limit towing horses: how much does your trailer weigh? Horses and gear?
I towed a 2000# Brenderup with a V6 4 Runner for years and it was OK, but with 2 horses going up a long hill it was a slog and put some strain on the engine.
That’s a second Hyundai Santa Fe. I’ve seen the Boeckmann specs. I’d like to know what people use in the real world, rather than laboriously picking through website after website, hunting down specs most websites don’t think someone buying a mid-sized SUV want. So, you guys are helping me skip around the guesswork of “on paper” vs. “real life.” Thanks for that.
No Skodas in the U.S. to the best of my knowledge, but thanks!
I’m looking for smaller vehicles with better gas mileage, specifically in the case that I someday buy a Boeckmann trailer built to be towed by smaller vehicles. My current SUV has a 9000# weight limit and gets the same gas mileage as a 4Runner, making a 4Runner a big step down for me - smaller, less tow capacity, and the same wallet-hurting gas mileage.
Hearing that a 4Runner wasn’t comfortable with a Brenderup makes me pause, because 15 years ago my friends were towing Brenderurps with an Explorer and some mid-size luxury SUV, back in the day before luxury SUVs had much tow power, and you couldn’t feel it behind you. Definitely no 4Runner for me, but thanks.
I was wondering about Subarus. It’s just occurred to me that my sister owns a Subaru with a tow package. I’ll have to see exactly what she’s driving and maybe beg her to let me take it to the local Boeckmann dealer for a trailer test drive.
I towed mine with a bunch of vehicles - 2002 Yukon XL, 2007 and 2014 v8 grand cherokees, 2018 Tacoma, 2018 F250, and now I have an Rx350 that I will be trading on the RAV4 prime when it comes out (plug in RAV4).
The forum search feature is pretty lousy. It’s usually better to just do a Google search. Tip - if you add site:www.chronofhorse.com to your search in Google, it will just bring up results from the COTH website, including the forums.
When I was looking into Böckmanns before buying, one poster stated she’d pulled hers with a Volkswagen (can’t remember the model) sedan for a while before trading for an SUV. She reported getting some looks any time she’d arrive with that rig!
I’ve never put two horses on my trailer behind my Sante Fe (though I did attend a horse trials for a 3-day weekend, and I had two bales of hay, two bikes, a couple of bags of shavings, and some other crap in the second stall and didnt notice a difference). But your experience is what I’d worry about. I’ve never felt unsafe hauling with my current setup, but there’s a definite limit on my acceleration. Very short on ramps take some awareness. My Sante Fe handled the very steep gravel entrance to one event quite well, but that was at very low speed with one horse.
17+ years, just short of 200K and still going strong (although in the shop for a repair to pass the emissions test, hence the nail-biting over the end being nigh…)
