As above really gentlemen, An experience at the weekend has convinced me I want something a little more capable than my Polo for weekend heroics.

I drove through some standing water and the bloody thing died. On an unlight road. On a blind corner. In the pissing rain. In thick fog. On a saturday night.

Suffice to say i will keep the Polo for city use and get a toy truck for the weekend.

I don't want something huge or "status enhancing" or anything like that, just something small, cheap and able to get up and down rides etc.

I have been looking at the Suzuki Jimny but would appreciate suggestions.

With thanks,

Amir

Amir, I am sitting here laughing my bollocks off.

For £1500-£2000 you might get a fairly fresh SWB Nissan Terrano II. These are excellent value for money with real off road ability.

Given the current state of the 4x4 market, if you have £3K you could probably buy my late '06 Disco 3.

I own a Terrano II and I'm very satisfied .
The Jimny is too small IMO: otherwise you could consider the Suzuki Vitara.

Daihatsu Fourtrak? They are quite cheap and reliable...

quote:

Originally posted by Claret_Dabbler:
Amir, I am sitting here laughing my bollocks off.

For £1500-£2000 you might get a fairly fresh SWB Nissan Terrano II. These are excellent value for money with real off road ability.

Given the current state of the 4x4 market, if you have £3K you could probably buy my late '06 Disco 3.

I was rather hoping you'd miss this thread......

I'm not very good at first impressions Brian, as you may have by now guessed!

I had a look at the Nissan, I need to go and see one with a tape measure to make sure I can fit fishing rods and guns and things in it. It would be nice to be able to use all the seats at the same time as well.

Budget will be about 2-3k, I'd rather spend the cash on Africa to be honest!

Will email you soon.

ATB,

Amir

quote:

Originally posted by Boghossian:
Daihatsu Fourtrak? They are quite cheap and reliable...

Too slow Boggy, top out at something like 80mph, can you imagine revving the nuts off that thing on the way to Lover, only doing 60!

I may be wrong however as I have not driven one. Actually that raises a good point to clarify it would need to do motorway miles as well as I live in the middle of london.

Amir, to get storage / Luggage space in a small or SWB 4x4, it needs to be a 2 seater, or at least have rear seats that fold away.

You might get 2 boxes of cornflakes and a 3 piece fly rod in the boot of a 4 seat Terrano II.

quote:

Originally posted by Ghubert:

Too slow Boggy, top out at something like 80mph, can you imagine revving the nuts off that thing on the way to Lover, only doing 60!

Amir, from what I saw of your driving, 60mph is more than fast enough for you...

Lada Niva Cossack.

I have used them on construction sites. Short of something catastrophic, like being run over by a mine muck hauling dump truck, they are just about unbreakable.

If you bend one, they can be 're-shaped' with a suitable weight of hammer!

Amir why don´t you tell us all what did happen this weekend?

Btw are you all right?

Good to see you in person.

Best regards Chris

Diesel Jeep Cherokee - give around 25 - 35mpg and they offer room in the back to get a snooze if required.

The engine is an Italian made diesel engine which is ok when maintained, also check the rear diff & gearboxes.

95 - 96 vintage should be around £500-1000 tops - plenty of room for any surgery you may wish to perform!

Yes, I know it is not 'small' - however, the extra few foot of length makes no real difference to the parking - but one hell of a benefit to the usability in the field.

Transporting a carcass or your fellow hunters, storing your stalking kit or allowing you to sleep on site and avoid a stupidly early start..... a standard sized 4x4 does it all.

Rgds Ian

quote:

Originally posted by Husqvarna M98:
Amir why don´t you tell us all what did happen this weekend?

Btw are you all right?

Good to see you in person.

Best regards Chris

Chris,

what happened was that Brian and I witnessed Amir at a loss for words!!!

I know..... We couldn't believe it either!!

Anyway I think something that tops out at 60mph is plenty for you, having witnessed you trying to knock the kerb over outside my house a few times now...

Make sure you have boot space in this car as you'll only be complaining you cant transport a carcass in in within a few weeks.

BTW, it was an especially good effort even for you!!

Rgds,
FB
FB

Mate,

Sell the Polo and get something Like This

Or depending what you get for the polo you can get something in Diesel out of the VW range. My Brother In Law bought a BMW estate for £5k last year so you should be able to get something decen that will serve both purposes, and reduce your need to tax/MOT/insure etc two cars...

FB

My weekend vehicle is a Toyota Prado turbo diesel with its back seats out for camping equipment, cooler boxes etc.
This 4x4 goes well on the highways with cruse control but is also great for off road use.

The Suzuki Jimny is fine as a ONE Man + Dog shooting vehicle. Mine goes everywhere I need it to offroad, but with mud terrain tyres it is noisy on long runs. It will go many places where a "Landy" is too heavy and too wide.
Disadvantages, obviously interior space is limited, but Ok if you remove the rear seats and modify it. It would be better with a diesel engine and a beefier clutch but.... it works as it is .





I can get 2 or 3 Fallow in it, no problems or as many roe as I ever shoot in one outing.

Food for thought if nothing else.

T260

quote:

Originally posted by Claret_Dabbler:
Amir, to get storage / Luggage space in a small or SWB 4x4, it needs to be a 2 seater, or at least have rear seats that fold away.

You might get 2 boxes of cornflakes and a 3 piece fly rod in the boot of a 4 seat Terrano II.

Those are good points and considering Ian's post below I think that "small" maybe the wrong direction. I agree that much as I enjoy cornflakes, the ability to transport limited quantities would indeed be useless in a hunting context

I found a couple of Terranos near me, i'll be having a look this week.

quote:

Amir, from what I saw of your driving, 60mph is more than fast enough for you...

Slander, pure and simple.

ATB,

Amir

quote:

Originally posted by robthom:
Lada Niva Cossack.

I have used them on construction sites. Short of something catastrophic, like being run over by a mine muck hauling dump truck, they are just about unbreakable.

If you bend one, they can be 're-shaped' with a suitable weight of hammer!

I would love to own a car called a "cossack", just wait till the guys on the PF find out!

I got as far as googling it but couldn't find any for sale near me, I will note this as wild card choice!

ATB,

Amir

quote:

Originally posted by Husqvarna M98:
Amir why don´t you tell us all what did happen this weekend?

Btw are you all right?

Good to see you in person.

Best regards Chris

It was a pleasure to finally meet you in person Chris! May I just say how much I was impressed by your apparent, and I’m sure continuing, discretion.

Congratulations on your buck sir, you are a hero for stalking in that rain and your perseverance paid off! The same rain in fact that caused the flooding that nobbled me!

The bowdlerised version of what happened is as follows:

After leaving the pub on the Saturday night it was agreed that Brian and I would head back to the hotel to change, shower, etc and then drive over to Kiri’s place; Kiri having shot off to hang the carcasses in the chiller.

The domestic portion of the plan went smoothly and we set off for Kiri’s house from the hotel. Enter the villain of the piece, Satan’s own sat nav, cheerfully informing us that we were only 20 minutes away and that it knew the fastest route.

Off we go down some B-road or another in fog that thickened with astounding speed. Brian is one cool customer, not one given to bursts of emotion or bad language, and it was therefore of some concern that he seemed nervous. At the time we had only aquaplaned occasionally, every hundred yards or so, with the visibility at about 10 metres with the dipped beams and about 5 with the full beams I couldn’t see anything to be concerned about.

To reassure him I told him that I had only been driving for 6 months and so not to worry about my being overconfident in my abilities and driving outside my limit.

He responded with a few words of encouragement and bade me to remember to keep the foot in in the puddles.

Therefore when spotting the foot deep river running across the apex of a blind sharp left at the bottom of a depression from about 15 feet we realized that, in the absence of Moses, we were going too slowly to make it across the 15 foot wide torrent.

Thinking Brian’s advice of “bury the (feminine organ of generation)†with reference to the accelerator pedal, good I just made to the other side of the puddle before the engine died. Completely. On the inside of the blind bend. On an unlit B-road. In the dark. In the pissing rain. In a pea-soup fog. On a Saturday night with stoned yokels hammering it around in an impressively diverse collection of machinery.

“(oh dear)†said Brian, several times, “(well quite)†I managed to respond. “What (on earth) do we do now?†I enquired. “How (on earth) am I supposed to know!†Brian very reasonably countered, “If I were at (dear old) home I would know but this isn’t exactly my (dear old) neighbourhood†“(I would certainly advise) we call Kiriâ€

This was a good idea, “Hi Kiri, we're stuck like a couple of (feminine organs of generation) in the middle of (dear old) nowhere on a…(synopsis of circumstances)…. . “ so where are you then?†asked Kiri. “ According to the (blessed) satnav we are five miles from you on a road called X.†I said . “ right I’ll come and get youâ€

I donned my trusty Orange Goretex safety jacket, which I always bring along on expeditions such as this for reasons precisely like this, and spent the next hour swearing, smoking and waving a torch at passing motorists.

And he did. He towed us and with Brian behind the wheel were managed to get her started and back to Kiri’s house where for some reason no one can work out Brian treated us to a Chinese.

I therefore want a 4x4.

How was your other stalk?

ATB,

Amir

Oh yes,

I meant to mention the cash I found in the kitchen Brian. Thanks for that, but I really feel that we should have made Amir pay....

Anyway some definately scary moments but it all worked out in the end. To be honest I think the scaryest part was the possibility that Brian would have to spend another night listening to Amir snore!!

Rgds,
FB

quote:

Originally posted by Fallow Buck:
Oh yes,

I meant to mention the cash I found in the kitchen Brian. Thanks for that, but I really feel that we should have made Amir pay....


Agreed.

Anyway some definately scary moments but it all worked out in the end. To be honest I think the scaryest part was the possibility that Brian would have to spend another night listening to Amir snore!!

he without sin, old boy......

Rgds,
FB

In summary thanks Kiri, you well and truly saved my arse. In fact it has a message



ATB,

Amir

quote:

Originally posted by IanF:
Diesel Jeep Cherokee - give around 25 - 35mpg and they offer room in the back to get a snooze if required.

The engine is an Italian made diesel engine which is ok when maintained, also check the rear diff & gearboxes.

95 - 96 vintage should be around £500-1000 tops - plenty of room for any surgery you may wish to perform!

Yes, I know it is not 'small' - however, the extra few foot of length makes no real difference to the parking - but one hell of a benefit to the usability in the field.

Transporting a carcass or your fellow hunters, storing your stalking kit or allowing you to sleep on site and avoid a stupidly early start..... a standard sized 4x4 does it all.

Rgds Ian

Sounds like small is a mistake in this context. How reliable would the jeep be compared to something like the Subaru?

The weekend emphasised the need to be able to transport fellow hunters as well the kit of other and different fellow hunters. Kit that I of course should have been transporting. Good kit, fine kit...... kit I would have been happy to leave in a car registered in my name in the middle of nowhere. Do you remember the jokes about the policeman, Brian and I?

I fucking did.


Regards,

GH

quote:

Originally posted by Fallow Buck:
Mate,

Sell the Polo and get something Like This

Or depending what you get for the polo you can get something in Diesel out of the VW range. My Brother In Law bought a BMW estate for £5k last year so you should be able to get something decen that will serve both purposes, and reduce your need to tax/MOT/insure etc two cars...

FB

Thats a good idea mate, i've had a hankering for a scooby of some description for a while. This may be the perfect excuse!!

Regards,

Amir

quote:

Originally posted by Tikka260:
The Suzuki Jimny is fine as a ONE Man + Dog shooting vehicle. Mine goes everywhere I need it to offroad, but with mud terrain tyres it is noisy on long runs. It will go many places where a "Landy" is too heavy and too wide.
Disadvantages, obviously interior space is limited, but Ok if you remove the rear seats and modify it. It would be better with a diesel engine and a beefier clutch but.... it works as it is .





I can get 2 or 3 Fallow in it, no problems or as many roe as I ever shoot in one outing.

Food for thought if nothing else.

T260

Thanks for the photos, that is a very good idea for a gralloching system.

May I ask if it was bought or homerolled?

Regards,

Amir

Can I add a recommendation of any non-Impreza Subaru. They have quite amazing off-road ability for what are really road cars. The Forester is probably your best bet, but not the turbo as it doesn't have low-range.

The TD Cherokee with proper mud tyres is fantastic off road, better than any Disco', however they aren't very reliable (Still better than any Land Rover though!). Cherokees (Old shape) have TONS of room in the back.

The Scooby Forester might be a good option.

£2K should buy an 02 model. They will be hard on juice.

Eric, I would not be in a rush to compare a Cherokee against a Disco...

milage is a concern and the nly down side is that all the Subaru's have been petrol till recently.

RIck ran Foresters for years until the currier business meant he needed more seats.

This is the cheapest one on Autotrader.

We'll make a country bumpkin out of you yet!!!

Rgds,
FB

Amir,
I've used a Nissan Terrano van down at the shoot for the last couple of years and its coped with the off-road stuff really well. Its light and manouverable and carries dogs and deer no problem.
However, on-road; at least two employees have got points on their license from it as the little beast is very nippy for a diesel and fifty feels like thirty.....but not to the speed cameras.

quote:

Originally posted by Ghubert:

How reliable would the jeep be compared to something like the Subaru?

Good kit, fine kit...... kit I would have been happy to leave in a car registered in my name in the middle of nowhere. Do you remember the jokes about the policeman, Brian and I?

GH

Ahhh - had forgotten that issue. Never fear - the false floor set up I showed you in the Landy will allow discrete storage, whilst leaving stacks of room for transporting steaming, damp stalkers!

I am hearing great things about the reliability of both Subaru AND the older Cherokee models. A Haynes manual, tool set and cheap spare parts ensure both will return more than adequate reliability.

Unfortunately, everything is a compromise in this situation. Size = Power = Useability = lack of fuel economy. At the end of the day, my toy truck is kitted so that I don't get stuck begging a tow in the wee small hours.

In exchange for that - I put up with the negatives associated with 4x4s!

Many great suggestions here - most, if not all, will do you just fine.

Don't lose sight of the benefit of being able to take a private kip in comfort - summer Roe stalking can be a draining experience if you are not able to crash for a few hours midday.

Rgds Ian

Amir

The gantry was homerolled from an idea that had been a long time in gestation ... I got a "real engineer" to do the 'numbers' on it, and had it fabricated by a 'Yachty shop' local to me in Chichester Marina. The whole ensemble was load tested with 150 kgs on it, and it passed ! It takes about 2 minutes to deploy or stow, and I have started to use it for suspended gralloch on roe out in the open if there is not a suitable tree handy. Makes the job easy, and saves my ancient and rather decrepit back from further pain. It is probably a bit lightweight for big Red or Sika, but it copes well with Fallow and Roe obviously.

There are lots of variations on the theme, but this works well on the tiny Jimny.

T260

quote:

Originally posted by Tikka260:
Amir

The gantry was homerolled from an idea that had been a long time in gestation ... I got a "real engineer" to do the 'numbers' on it, and had it fabricated by a 'Yachty shop' local to me in Chichester Marina. The whole ensemble was load tested with 150 kgs on it, and it passed ! It takes about 2 minutes to deploy or stow, and I have started to use it for suspended gralloch on roe out in the open if there is not a suitable tree handy. Makes the job easy, and saves my ancient and rather decrepit back from further pain. It is probably a bit lightweight for big Red or Sika, but it copes well with Fallow and Roe obviously.

There are lots of variations on the theme, but this works well on the tiny Jimny.

T260

Just the sort of thing I approve of!

I would atttempt to fit an auto-skinner and and some sort of heat source (Kiri-this one's for you)

I shall consider it mate, thanks for the idea.

ATB,

Amir

As another Jimny driver, I tend to agree with Tikka 260 on the advantages/disadvantages of the vehicle.

All in all I am very pleased with mine. I wish it was a 5 door and I would have preferred it in a diesel but within the constraints of its size,it works very well.

I've not customised mine to any degree other than removing the rear seats, which are only suitable for dwarfs anyway.



Interestingly I'm a shade over 6' and find it has plenty of room in the driver's seat and prefer the driving position to that of a Defender which I also looked at..

Regards,

Pete

I found one, the only one offerred in the whole of the UK, on Autotrader:

1997 Lada Niva 1.7 Cossak. 3 dr 4wd estate. £550 ono (and only 37k miles!)

Another vote for the 3 door Terrano, get the one with the turbo/intercooler. I have one as my hunting buggy, its cruises nicely has bags of off road abillity and returns up to 30mpg.
The Jimmy is ok, is great off road, but lacks power for on road driving, it is only 1.3 ltrs.
You could get a Toyota, any model, they are all good reliable vehicles.
As for the Lada forget it and the Disco which are good at the supermarket car park.
Just my two penny worth.

A chap I used to stalk with had an old style TD Cherokee from new...He kept it three years and got rid of it because of reliability problems and the fact that spare were very expensive even by 4x4 standards.

It was pretty good off road, but not quite as good as either a Disco or a Defender..I was actually surprised at the lack of space in the load area especially when it contained the spare wheel as his did. My old Scooby 1800 or a Forester has a far bigger load area.

Stay away, no run away, from any late model Izusu Troopers...anything other than the older 2.8TD had terrible engine problems and please don't ask me how I know this!

The Lada's are a great off-roader but IMHO build quality is very questionable as is reliability. Some models rust as you watch them....

I don't know much about Terranos, they seem to have a decent reputation, but if I were buying something with a 2.7 or 2.8 TD engine, I think I go for the added space of a 5 door..

If you can find a good 200 or 300 Disco for the right money, they would also be a good buy, but there are a lot of dogs out there..If I were buying a Disco, I think I'd want to have some personal knowledge of the vehicle history. The good thing about early model Disco's and Defenders is that the parts are relatively cheap when compared to many of the Jap 4x4's...

Regards,

Pete

Fair comment that. Terrano spares aren't cheap and a headlight or bumper is going to cost you.
On the other hand, its one of the few vehicles we've kept in the work fleet after its three years were up. The engine and drive train have been very reliable as you'd expect from Nissan.

Amir,

you should buy a Disco and a 270....

FB

my vote goes for a 300tdi Discovery (94-99) you can pick them for around £1200 and are loads of them about. Insurence and parts are cheap, they will return 28-34mpg. There is a world of toys you can bolt on to them for whatever your need for them is. check for rust in the boot floor and sills/door posts.
Freelanders are getting cheap aswell but the have problems with there viscuss coupling and if not spotted in time leads to a new rear diff and IRD unit that will cost about £1200 to replace.

Daihatsu Fourtrak.Unburstable engines.A wee bit tight behind the steering wheel,or is it me?

You can't properly cross a "How fast can I get there" with a"Will it get up there", It's a no contest for me , My Defender Hi capacity pick-up will go anywhere your crossbreed won't, plus it can support two fat guys on the tailboard with all the lamping tackle for foxing/ bunnies, & I reckon loading at least 8 full grown reds in the back for home would not be a squeeze, I don't need any other refinements, I'm not lazy so can wind up the glass on my own!

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Latham:
I'm not lazy so can wind up the glass on my own!

Steve, that's a valid consideration with a Defender - because anything other than a dwarf will be troubled to find a comfy driving position that does not involve having the window wound down and the elbow rested on the ledge!!

Rgds Ian