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Trailer pricing

flwiii
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Oct 19, 2005, 6:29 PM

Post #1 of 23 (2412 views)
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Trailer pricing	Can't Post

What should I expect as the average price for a 2 horse trailer, both new and used? Also, is one brand that much better than another anymore? Seems to me the technology is well advanced, so most suppliers should be on the same page.

Thanks
Frank

JimHess
Silver Member

Oct 19, 2005, 8:54 PM

Post #2 of 23 (2406 views)
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Re: [flwiii] Trailer pricing [In reply to]	Can't Post

Yikes! That's a tough question - kind of like asking what's the average price of a 2 door sedan. There is a big difference in quality out there. Whether you're looking for new or used, it's not a bad idea to check out some new ones to get an idea of quality and price. The good thing about getting as new a trailer as you can afford is that, if kept in good shape they tend to hold their value. Especially the more well known brands. Also, aluminum trailers cost more than steel but you don't have to contend with rust. If you go used make sure you check it out very thoroghly. Steel frame + wood floor + sitting on damp ground for years = trouble.

-Jim

Cottonhawk
Member

Oct 20, 2005, 1:29 AM

Post #3 of 23 (2400 views)
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I have a three year old 4Star two horse slant load bumper pull all Aluminum horse trailer which I bought new in 2002. it's been a great trailer. If you are in the market to buy a horse trailer I suggest that you do as much research as you can. if it's possible go see and compare. There are broad range of quality and price.

Cotton

flwiii
Member

Oct 21, 2005, 11:29 AM

Post #4 of 23 (2379 views)
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Re: [JimHess] Trailer pricing [In reply to]	Can't Post

Wow! I guess there is a lot to learn. Being my first horse I am very new to this whole thing. My wife on the other hand had horses when she was young. I thought trailers were like all the same, just the options were different. I see I will have to do some serious checking into this. What, in both of your opinions, are the top name in trailers? I thinking aluminum, even though it is very dry here in Phoenix AZ, steel can still rust here, just much more slowly. I will definitely do more homework.

Thanks
Frank

JimHess
Silver Member

Oct 21, 2005, 8:46 PM

Post #5 of 23 (2365 views)
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Boy, there are so many trailer brands, even a list of the best ones would be pretty long. Ours is an aluminum Featherlite. We think it's great, and it's held up well for 11 years. You are right about the fact that in your dry area rust might not be as much of a problem, but aluminum trailers are a little lighter, too. You might pick up a horse magazine or two - they usually have a bunch of trailer ads. Some of the most heavily marketed brands are Sundowner, Sooner, Featherlite, Exxiss, Trail-et, but there are lots of others. There's no substitute for going and actually looking them over closely. Another way to go is a stock trailer. They come in all different lengths, and are an economical way to go. They're bare bones compared to a horse trailer, but they'll get the job done. The nice thing about a stock trailer is you can more easily use it for hauling other stuff. If you stick with the two horse trailer route, one thing you might consider is one with a "dressing room". It makes it 3 or 4 feet longer, but it's great to have a place to put the saddles and tack, besides the back of the truck. We keep a lot of spare tack in there all the time, in case we get to a trail ride and forget or break something. Happy hunting.

-Jim

Cottonhawk
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Oct 21, 2005, 10:59 PM

Post #6 of 23 (2358 views)
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Frank,
I agree with JimHess that there are many popular top brands........ Sundowner, Sooner, Featherlite, hart, Exxiss are all very good horse trailers. When we were buying our horse trailer, we did a lot of research. I also read an excellent book covering A to Z about horse trailers (you can get it on Amazon.com). After we decided what we wanted we went to "All American Quarter Horse Congress" (the largest single breed horse show in the world) for a week. There we talked to all the top quality trailer people as all of them were there to sell/display their trailers. The end result was that we bought a build to order 4Star which IMO is the very best.

Cotton

flwiii
Member

Oct 24, 2005, 11:33 PM

Post #7 of 23 (2325 views)
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Re: [Cottonhawk] Trailer pricing [In reply to]	Can't Post

Great advice. I have heard of sundowner and Exxiss, but none of the others. I will research that book you mentioned on Amazon.com. I thought this would be easier than buying a motorhome. It is going to require quite a bit of study. I will also pick up some horse oriented magazines and check out the ads. Thanks for the information. If it were a boat or a computer I would feel more at home. Must study up more on this.
Thanks

Frank

JimHess
Silver Member

Oct 25, 2005, 12:24 AM

Post #8 of 23 (2323 views)
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I think you're on the right track. The research will pay off. Try to get to some dealers. There's nothing like seeing them in the flesh and kicking the tires!

-Jim

JimHess
Silver Member

Oct 25, 2005, 1:02 AM

Post #9 of 23 (2321 views)
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Re: [flwiii] Trailer pricing [In reply to]	Can't Post

One other thought while you're on the trailer search. How are you fixed for a tow vehicle? I was a little naive when we got our first trailer, a two horse. We had a half ton pickup with a small V8, which I thought would be adequate. The first thing I found out was it needed a bigger radiator to stay cool towing at hiway speeds and hills. Next came a trans. cooler, eng. oil cooler, overload springs. We finally got it beefed up pretty well, but it would have saved a lot of hassle just to get a heavier duty truck.

-Jim

Cottonhawk
Member

Oct 25, 2005, 1:21 AM

Post #10 of 23 (2318 views)
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This is en excellent point. The tow vehicle, towing package, hitch set ups are every bit as important as the trailer. Often people use inadquate set up and end up in fatal accident.

Cotton

flwiii
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Oct 25, 2005, 11:54 AM

Post #11 of 23 (2297 views)
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JimHess and CottonHawk:

Yes, that is a good thought. I was thinking of towing it with the 1/2 ton Pickup (small V8), and trade in the 3/4 ton Crew Cab 4X4 (V10). I should re-think this. Maybe I will keep the 3/4 ton and trade in the 1/2 ton.

What about towing it with the motorhome. It is a 31 foot Class C with a V10 and a towing package. That would probably work. Do you see any problems with towing with the Class C?

(This post was edited by flwiii on Oct 25, 2005, 12:21 PM)

JimHess
Silver Member

Oct 25, 2005, 1:30 PM

Post #12 of 23 (2286 views)
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Frank, of the two pickups, I know I would be more comfortable with the 3/4 ton for several reasons. A 3/4 ton has bigger brakes than a 1/2 ton, which is important if the trailer brakes aren't working perfectly (not uncommon). The back seat area would be a good place for your tack in bad weather if you didn't have a dressing room trailer. In our experiance, the small engine sucked just as much gas while towing, as a large one, sad to say around 9MPG, while straining much harder. In fact, we had to use hi-test to keep it from pinging under the load. The 3/4 ton will most certainly have a higher tow rating. As far as towing with a motorhome, I've seen it done plenty - it's great for multi day rides. Just check the tow rating for it. The thing I wonder about with the motorhomes is the long overhang behind the rear axles. Seems like there would be extra bounce to the trailer tongue. While that might not matter much for a cargo trailer, I wonder what kind of a ride it gives the horses.

-Jim

flwiii
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Oct 25, 2005, 6:51 PM

Post #13 of 23 (2278 views)
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JimHess:
That is a new thing to consider. I don't think I would want sea sick horses. Never thought about the overhang in that light before. The motorhome is an F450 which could tow it, but definitely don't want the horse bouncing up and down on an outing. Definitely a lot to think about.

paulburns
New Member

Oct 26, 2005, 12:10 AM

Post #14 of 23 (2269 views)
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flwiii
This is off the subject but...
I thought I saw you say you were from Phoenix and I have a very good friend who recently moved to Tenn from there. Do you know a lady named Lori who has some nice Lepoard Aps and did barrel racing and such there. She is about 40 years young.Just a stab in the dark but you never know till you ask.
thanks paul

Paul
Between the banks of the BIG SANDY River
and MAPLE CREEK in West Tenn.

Cottonhawk
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Oct 26, 2005, 1:09 AM

Post #15 of 23 (2267 views)
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Some of our friends tow horse trailers with their motorhomes. They are equipped with the high capacity tow package (including cooling system), strong shock system, front and rear sway bars. The towing assembly should include equalizing bars to keep the trailer stable. It is important to remember that the tow rating would have to cover the weight of the motorhome and the horse trailer.

Cotton

JimHess
Silver Member

Oct 26, 2005, 6:41 AM

Post #16 of 23 (2265 views)
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Re: [Cottonhawk] Trailer pricing [In reply to]	Can't Post

Cotton, I think the rating for both vehicles is the GCWR, or gross combined weight rating. And when going by the tow rating you have to subtract the weight of everything put in the motorhome.

-Jim

Cottonhawk
Member

Oct 26, 2005, 10:01 AM

Post #17 of 23 (2257 views)
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What I am trying to say is to make sure that there is more than enough power to drive both loaded motorhome and the trailer so that you don't go backwards while going up a steep slope with strong headwind.

Cotton

flwiii
Member

Oct 26, 2005, 10:33 PM

Post #18 of 23 (2237 views)
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Sorry Paul Burns:

I don't think I know her. I know very few people that barrel race. There are a couple of neighbors here that might know of her since they are into barrel racing.

flwiii
Member

Oct 26, 2005, 10:40 PM

Post #19 of 23 (2236 views)
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Re: [Cottonhawk] Trailer pricing [In reply to]	Can't Post

CottonHawk:
I understood what you were trying to say. I believe it has the capability to tow as I had the suspension beefed up by Ford (stiffer shocks, extra leafs and sway bars. I just need to find out what the Gross Vehicle Combined Weight is and subtract out the load including Trailer, horse and stored supplies. The V10 is pretty strong. I would much prefer a Diesel but Class C's don't seem to come with them.

ATS
New Member

Nov 23, 2005, 6:40 AM

Post #20 of 23 (2164 views)
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Re: [flwiii] Trailer pricing [In reply to]	Can't Post

Frank we are a trailer dealer,a 2-horse steel trailer is going to cost around $ 3,300-4,000.Thats nothing fancy, alum. Double it.Used in decent shape about 1/2 of new There are alot of trailer manuf.out there, take a look and compaire.While we are a new member on this board we have been a member of the TBN board for several years.A big Texas howdy to all the members of this new board.

Tommy
Affordable Trailer Sales

ArAppy
New Member

Mar 23, 2006, 3:56 PM

Post #21 of 23 (1972 views)
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Re: [flwiii] Trailer pricing [In reply to]	Can't Post

Diesels are apparently becoming available in motorhomes. I know nothing of RVs but a dealer on the interstate here had a banner, "Diesels Here." Whether they were class C or not I have no clue.

You might look at the Brenderup. They are a little expensive for 2 horse but much lighter. In Europe, they are commonly pulled by Volvo V70XCs and Range Rovers. They are just a different concept than my gooseneck combo stock.

(This post was edited by ArAppy on Mar 27, 2006, 2:35 AM)

JimHess
Silver Member

Mar 27, 2006, 1:15 AM

Post #22 of 23 (1938 views)
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That's interesting to hear that Brenderups are expensive. I could never get past the looks of them. They just seemed awfully dinky to me. We like our aluminum Featherlite.

-Jim

ArAppy
New Member

Mar 27, 2006, 2:38 AM

Post #23 of 23 (1936 views)
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Re: [JimHess] Trailer pricing [In reply to]	Can't Post

One of the other boarders where we keep just bought a Featherlite. Very nice trailer.

I think the Brenderup was about $15k, it has been a year since I looked at it. As to the "flimsy" perception, you need to have it shown to you by a rep. There is more to it than one realizes. (But I think they look odd too)

Edit:
Rereading, I see your complaint was "dinky" not "flimsy." Sorry. They have room in the horse area but you give up a walk-in tack. The tack is low and small as I remember.

(This post was edited by ArAppy on Mar 28, 2006, 12:43 AM)

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