Ridecamp: [RC] hauling water and hay ( lessons learned on XP2001)

We have a 4 horse bumper pull, slant load with ramp, NO rear tack area. This
is a steel trailer, so welding tie down rings was fairly easy to do. In the
front stall we hauled 2 trash cans with pellet, grain, and loose bagged
feed, and a few bales of hay stacked for immediate feeding. I also kept the
large hay manger nets we got from Trail-Rite stuffed full, and hanging in
the trailer, where I could just move to the outside when we arrived at the
next camp. The  horses were in the next three stalls. Because the last stall
has a little "extra" space on the left side, and the very back, where the
horse does not stand, we put a 55 gallon plastic barrel for water. (it had
been used for food service, not chemicals) I had rings welded to corners and
walls of the trailer to be able to attach tie straps to hold the feed up
front, and the water barrel in the back secure. The horses all hauled fine
in that spot, sharing it with a water barrel.We then hauled extra bales of
hay on the roof rack. The roof rack was rated to a ton, which I would NEVER
put that much weight on the roof, but nice to know it was secure. Now, being
we were 8 weeks on the road, I learned a few things about hauling feed and
water.

Roof rack and hay. First, if you want it to rain, leave your hay uncovered.
When ever a new load of hay was brought into one of the camps, if someone
left it uncovered, sure enough, it would rain! Our roof rack has a solid
floor. I am thinking of drilling holes in it to let water out. Rain would
seep under the hay, and then sit there, molding hay that was up there for a
while.(we would stock up on hay when we found some, not knowing the next
available hay) I had to lay a tarp down ON the rack, put hay ON tarp, then
wrap like a Xmas gift to keep it dry. The bale bags work great for a bale or
two, but when you were hauling many bales, it was easier to cover and wrap
with tarps. Oh, and climbing up and down that ladder got old real fast! Hay
should be secured. We would see busted bales along the route from those who
did not tie them down.

Water barrel: The barrel in the back of the trailer worked very well. I had
a hand pump that I stuck down in barrel to pump water out, but found a
siphon hose actually worked better. The barrel was easy to fill and access
at any water hose we could find. Just open the back of the trailer, and
fill'er up. No climbing up on top of trailer to fill, or turn on or off. If
was easy to unstrap to take out to clean, and also to remove after the ride.
One person could do it. We also had some of the 5 and 6 gallon water
containers we filled when we were heading to areas that water was not as
easy to access. If you do haul water in the trailer, keep in mind the weight
distribution of the load. Up front can make some bumper pull trailers too
tongue heavy, and in the back on some, make them too light up front. With
all the feed, tack, horses and crap we took with us, we were just heavy.
(how DO you pack for 8 weeks on the road?)

Jonni

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