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How much can a llama pack?

Comments and chart

I hear a lot of different answers as to what a llama can pack. I recommend seventy to eighty pounds to my renters. What do we want to accomplish with our answer? I try to be conservative and realistic and give an answer that will help the packers' trip be a success. Some llama packers like to brag about their llamas, and they continually throw out percentages of body weight and load weights of over a hundred pounds with their chests all puffed out. What they don't know is that they probably ruined some new llama packer's career because he will go out and throw a hundred-pound load on a green llama and not even make it to first base. My other main concern is for the animal and his future attitude about packing. The weight of a pack is a concern, but how the weight is loaded and the pace the hiker is setting for the llama is even more important.

How much a llama will haul also has a lot to do with its personality and conditioning. Don't believe that just because a llama is big he will pack more. Bigger llamas do pack more on the average. I think the ideal size is about 350 to 375 pounds and 45 to 47 inches tall at the withers. Some smaller llamas are real go-getters, and I feel they are better choices for transporting in station wagons or private airplanes if you want to do that. I find many llamas over 400 pounds to be fat or lazy.

Average hiking speeds	wither 40-42	wither 43	wither 44	wither 45	wither 46	wither 47	wither 48+
1.0 mph	85	100	110	120	130	120	110
1.5 mph	75	85	95	105	115	105	95
2.0 mph	65	75	85	95	105	95	85
2.5 mph	55	65	75	85	90	85	75
3.0 mpn	40	45	50	55	65	55	50

Modification of weight load factors

Medium bone	-10%		Fat llama	-30%
Light bone	-15%		2-years-old	-30%
Knock knees	-20%		1-year-old	-505
Cow hocked	-20%		Slow packer	-20%
Loose load	-20%		Extreme heat	-25%
Sickle hocked	-20%
Low hanging	-20%

Example equation:

You have a 45 inch, large-boned packer going 2.5 mph. This equals a possible weight load of 85 pounds.

• Add in temperatures of 100 degrees, plus the animal's overweight and loosely packed reduces the load by 75% - for a total of 21 pounds.
• Packing the load tighter would bring it up to 38 pounds.
• Packing the load tighter AND slowing to 1.5 mph raises the total to 47 pounds.

Return to Articles or Check other pages Home Llama Info BCL back issues BCL articles Pack pictures Llama trip suggestions Pack llama literature Pack llama sites Pack llama events Pack llama equipment Pack llama sales Pack llama rentals Commercial packers Llama trail issues Conservations sites