Is an All Wheel vehicle suitable to tow a trailer with livestock in it? (Volvo XC90)

[SheepTales]

Thinking of changing my jeep for an All Wheel Volvo XC90 2.2 but wondering if it would be OK to tow a trailer with say 16 sheep in it/ maybe a couple of calves/bales of wool etc?
It's an All Wheel drive
Do you think it would be OK for this job? I'm fully expecting it to drink diesel but not really a problem as won't be my day-to-day runabout. I'll only be using it for my trailer work or picking up bags of feed etc.

Does anyone else use one?

Thanks

 

[brigadoon]

Thinking of changing my jeep for an All Wheel Volvo XC90 2.2 but wondering if it would be OK to tow a trailer with say 16 sheep in it/ maybe a couple of calves/bales of wool etc?
It's an All Wheel drive
Do you think it would be OK for this job? I'm fully expecting it to drink diesel but not really a problem as won't be my day-to-day runabout. I'll only be using it for my trailer work or picking up bags of feed etc.

Does anyone else use one?

Thanks

The manual for the vehicle will be your first point of reference I would think

16 sheep could be anything from 500 to 1500 Kg so you maybe need to think more in terms of weight

 

[willyorkshire]

Thinking of changing my jeep for an All Wheel Volvo XC90 2.2 but wondering if it would be OK to tow a trailer with say 16 sheep in it/ maybe a couple of calves/bales of wool etc?
It's an All Wheel drive
Do you think it would be OK for this job? I'm fully expecting it to drink diesel but not really a problem as won't be my day-to-day runabout. I'll only be using it for my trailer work or picking up bags of feed etc.

Does anyone else use one?

Thanks

XC90 doesn't have great towing capacity.

 

[Timbo]

XC90 doesn't have great towing capacity.

Current xc90 is rated for upto 2800 kg depending on model.

Previous gen was 2250kg again model dependant.

 

[Fellstoflats]

Ours towed a trailer fine, but as others have said, the towing capacity isn't huge. I'd have thought with an idiot and 16 'sheep', you'd be close to the limit.

Great cars though.

 

[steveR]

Current xc90 is rated for upto 2800 kg depending on model.

Previous gen was 2250kg again model dependant.

Pretty decent capacity I'd say!

OP just needs to size trailer/loads accordingly

 

[neilo]

@hally had one iirc, but likely wanted to tow more than that.

Occasionally towing 16 sheep isn't going to challenge most vehicles tbh.

 

[hally]

O

@hally had one iirc, but likely wanted to tow more than that.

Occasionally towing 16 sheep isn't going to challenge most vehicles tbh.

Ours just a xc60 but most should tow 16 sheep no problem

 

[Cowabunga]

Having had a current shape diesel XC90 for a few years, long gone now, it is quite economical on fuel and easily averages 38mpg when not towing. For towing, it’s more suited to caravan towing than commercial trailers which quite quickly can reach the car’s towing weight limit. Certainly wasn’t my towing vehicle because my livestock trailer weighs 1.2 tons before putting a single animal inside. How much does your trailer weigh and how much does a sheep times sixteen? If the combination weights more than 2.5 tons I’d give the XC90 a miss. Under that, no problem, but you should be aware that livestock trailers generally require a higher tow ball height than that offered by such cars. If the trailer rides nose down and is a twin axle, forget it.

 

[mf7480]

We had an gen 2 XC90 and it was hopeless with towing. With three heavy cows on (admittedly over weight for the car), going down a steep hill my wife called to say the jockey wheel was running on the road, I said well put it up then! She then sent me the picture through and it was up, the suspension had just completely collapsed and it's arse was dragging along the ground.

Thankfully it sprang back up when we took the trailer off and we sold it soon afterwards. They're very comfortable but that's at the expense of a decent towing capacity.

Dad's gen 1 one is better and won't completely give up like the other, but it still doesn't feel that sturdy compared to towing with a Discovery.

 

[Paddington]

Need to check towbar download as well as towing capacity.

 

[Hfd Cattle]

Load her up and drive on I say

 

[Rich_ard]

My dad does loads of towing with his volvo. About 50 odd mpg I think. Don't know if it's a 90 though could be smaller. Only tows a small livestock trailer. 5 foot wide tyep thing. Not a 5,10 like the bigger ones

 

[Cowabunga]

My dad does loads of towing with his volvo. About 50 odd mpg I think. Don't know if it's a 90 though could be smaller. Only tows a small livestock trailer. 5 foot wide tyep thing. Not a 5,10 like the bigger ones

That’ll be the latest version that runs on fresh air.

 

[Bucks Boy]

I tow a 9’ Bateson livestock trailer with a 2011 Kuga. No problem. Pulled 17 fat lambs or 6 stirks to market up hills. Even pull it across fields. Haven’t noticed excessive fuel consumption.

 

[Rich_ard]

That’ll be the latest version that runs on fresh air.

Must be. Not a new car. He is a sensible driver

 

[Rich_ard]

That’ll be the latest version that runs on fresh air.

Wouldn't know how accurate the mpg are on the car

 

[Cowabunga]

Wouldn't know how accurate the mpg are on the car

Mine was within 0.5 mpg.

 

[steveR]

Load her up and drive on I say

All the way to the nearest VOSA checkpoint, hey....?

 

[hally]

That’ll be the latest version that runs on fresh air.

We can't get 40mpg from our current xc40.
Have to say our older xc60 was crap at towing, our twin axle caravan bossed it in windy conditions, swapped for a disco 5 which was a very capable tow machine.