Question: What beekeeping vehicle would you advise for £2,500?

[Swarm]

I've got a kangoo trekka and it's a proper little workhorse.
It'll fit 26 supers with the seats folded up, has a great roof rack and a tow bar- rated to pull 750kg, a bit light for heavy work but enough for most situations.
It goes everywhere and more than my old l200, it's better on wet grass and much cheaper on fuel, the little beast hauled 6 tonnes of honey last season.

Crikey, I thought they looked a tidy little vehicle but that's very impressive.

 

[user 6228]

...has a great roof rack and a tow bar- rated to pull 750kg, a bit light for heavy work but enough for most situations.
...

I wished they would tow more but the missus said it felt a bit iffy towing a fully loaded 750kg unbraked trailer, so we have Yeti to for the boat and the kangoo is now a combination of Bee vehicle and self propelled skip.

 

[peterbees]

Citroen Berlingo, well-proven workhorse. £2500 will get you a 10-year old Berlingo with 50k on the clock.

 

[peterbees]

I decided on a 10 year-old Citroen Berlingo @ £2500. I like the headroom. Easily takes four hives, could be six (I've taken out the back seats). Supers will stack five-high. Thanks for your advice. [Sorry, still haven't learnt how to attach photos. Could there please be a sticky, Admin, on how to do it? Nigh on 80 I'm not as slick as some....]

Good choice.

 

[Amari]

I decided on a 10 year-old Citroen Berlingo @ £2500. I like the headroom. Easily takes four hives, could be six (I've taken out the back seats). Supers will stack five-high. Thanks for your advice. [Sorry, still haven't learnt how to attach photos. Could there please be a sticky, Admin, on how to do it? Nigh on 80 I'm not as slick as some....]

At long last I can post pics on this new forum. Despite the help of Repwoc and Murox above I never succeeded on the previous format

 

[Swarm]

Impressive iawn.

 

[Amari]

Impressive iawn.

??

 

[Swarm]

Very

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

??

Welsh for very (in this context) Steve is using what we call Wenglish - it's sometimes a game we play

 

[Swn58]

Single cab pick up.

Yes....trying to do the 'green' thing here, but rely on my gf's vehicle far too much since the Covid. For some reason, she does not always like bees in her car and always moans on about the time a swarm broke out of it's bag. It was ages ago....and we didn't get stung, so why the fuss? Hehehe. On a serious note though, I am thinking of going down the line of a pickup, purely for beekeeping. There are Toyota, Ford and VW two wheel drive pickups for about £2000.

 

[ericbeaumont]

There are Toyota, Ford and VW two wheel drive pickups for about £2000.

Volvo 940: six colonies + mounds of extra gear, 8x4 roof rack for pallets, 90 all day fully loaded and in air-con comfort, heated and electric everything, leather and all that; will outlast you and me combined and with greater reliability. OK, fuel not so good, but servicing is DIY, parts supply good, going up in value, insurance cheap.

1992 Immaculate volvo 940 For Sale | Car And Classic (open to offers).

 

[Amari]

Volvo 940: six colonies + mounds of extra gear, 8x4 roof rack for pallets, 90 all day fully loaded and in air-con comfort, heated and electric everything, leather and all that; will outlast you and me combined and with greater reliability. OK, fuel not so good, but servicing is DIY, parts supply good, going up in value, insurance cheap.

1992 Immaculate volvo 940 For Sale | Car And Classic (open to offers).

https://maps.apple.com/place?q=Home...gland&ll=52.25929937301597,0.7048952579498291Dan, our pond man visited today and said they're soon trading in their 2015 Berlingo for c. £1500. 120,000m and due for new belt and discs. I would have bitten off his hand....
https://maps.apple.com/place?q=Home...gland&ll=52.25929937301597,0.7048952579498291

 

[pargyle]

Volvo 940: six colonies + mounds of extra gear, 8x4 roof rack for pallets, 90 all day fully loaded and in air-con comfort, heated and electric everything, leather and all that; will outlast you and me combined and with greater reliability. OK, fuel not so good, but servicing is DIY, parts supply good, going up in value, insurance cheap.

1992 Immaculate volvo 940 For Sale | Car And Classic (open to offers).

Fastest Lorry on the road - we've had two when we had all the kids and dogs with us .. The last one was a T5 ... real wolf in sheep's clothng but even keeping your foot off the juice ...gas guzzler. 'Er indoors cried when I said it had to go .. mind you -the way she drives the Rover 75 I bought her to replace it isn't that much better ... heavy right foot and it's an automatic .. although it's a diesel so a bit cheaper.

 

[The Poot in Somerset]

A T5 to a Rover?
I assumed after forty odd years together, you still loved her a bit

 

[pargyle]

A T5 to a Rover?
I assumed after forty odd years together, you still loved her a bit

Haha ... 48 years tomorrow - the glorious 12th - opening of the grouse season - opened on 12th August 1972 and it's been open ever since.

The T5 had nearly 200,000 miles on it and was costing a lot in repairs, petrol, insurance and car tax - tyres alone were £150 a corner - the engine and gearbox and body were good but there were other things that were going to cost more than the car was worth. I sold it for more than it was worth to an overkeen boy racer having impressed him with the unbelievable acceleration and bought the Rover Estate with less than 30k on the clock, full leather, aircon, cruise control and every conceivable extra and in pretty much showroom condition for £4k 10 years ago and she loves it ..

Its never missed a beat .. repairs have been neglible - it's quick enough and she's put 6000 miles a year on it. The Rover 75 2.0l diesel was the best Rover they ever produced (everything is BMW underneath). It is still motoring's best kept secret about how good they really are. Bomb proof. Sadly, they all got tarnished with the head gasket problem on the 1.8 petrol (which everyone quotes and is curable) and once the Rover buy out pulled the plug there were fears about spares (another myth - most things are still readily available). And I could still sell it for £1500 ... depreciation of less than £350 a year since we've had it ? There are not many vehicles that compare ... but keep it quiet please .. or everyone will want one !

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Volvo 940: six colonies + mounds of extra gear, 8x4 roof rack for pallets, 90 all day fully loaded and in air-con comfort, heated and electric everything, leather and all that; will outlast you and me combined and with greater reliability. OK, fuel not so good, but servicing is DIY, parts supply good, going up in value, insurance cheap.

1992 Immaculate volvo 940 For Sale | Car And Classic (open to offers).

Does a pair of crochet back driving gloves still come as standard?

 

[pargyle]

Does a pair of crochet back driving gloves still come as standard?

Yes ... they are mandatory and it's not permitted to drive without them ... goes with the walnut dash and old english white dial instruments they cloned from the Rover 100 ...

 

[ericbeaumont]

Fastest Lorry on the road

That was a nice line by Ettore Bugatti describing the 4.5 litre Bentley; the old-school Volvo (not the Ford rubbish) were built more like tanks, over-engineered and the equivalent of £30k when new. Volvo did supply gloves in the toolkit, JBM, but they were the sort used by honey show judges - white, cotton - and were to be worn to keep the driver's hands clean when changing a tyre.

 

[ericbeaumont]

The ideal, ultimate and most elegant beekeeper vehicle is the Tesla Cybertruck. Scroll down and look at that flatbed! Marvel at the stainless steel body, the air suspension and four-wheel electric drive! Put down a £100 deposit! It may arrive in the UK in three years but worth the wait, although a little north of £2.5k (er, £40k for the 4WD).

 

[The Poot in Somerset]

Haha ... 48 years tomorrow - the glorious 12th - opening of the grouse season - opened on 12th August 1972 and it's been open ever since.

The T5 had nearly 200,000 miles on it and was costing a lot in repairs, petrol, insurance and car tax - tyres alone were £150 a corner - the engine and gearbox and body were good but there were other things that were going to cost more than the car was worth. I sold it for more than it was worth to an overkeen boy racer having impressed him with the unbelievable acceleration and bought the Rover Estate with less than 30k on the clock, full leather, aircon, cruise control and every conceivable extra and in pretty much showroom condition for £4k 10 years ago and she loves it ..

Its never missed a beat .. repairs have been neglible - it's quick enough and she's put 6000 miles a year on it. The Rover 75 2.0l diesel was the best Rover they ever produced (everything is BMW underneath). It is still motoring's best kept secret about how good they really are. Bomb proof. Sadly, they all got tarnished with the head gasket problem on the 1.8 petrol (which everyone quotes and is curable) and once the Rover buy out pulled the plug there were fears about spares (another myth - most things are still readily available). And I could still sell it for £1500 ... depreciation of less than £350 a year since we've had it ? There are not many vehicles that compare ... but keep it quiet please .. or everyone will want one !

Excellent reply
I was being mischievous as usual. My whole illustrious career has been in the motor trade and I agree with you about the Rover being a bit of a little known gem and undervalued.
Years ago, when Rover was old time Rover I borrowed a 3.5 litre from work to visit the in laws one weekend. It was warm weather and the Airedale on the back seat needed the quarter glass open. Mrs Poot leaned back to open it and it promptly fell out....
I hope you have a happy day today on your 48th