[RC] Trailering alone - Susan E. Garlinghouse, D.V.M.
>...I am trying to decide
if investing in a used living quarters trailer is going to be >worth the
cost. I am looking at two options a nice little two horse trailer, ($8000, a >decent
used SUV, $7000 and a tent & nice air mattress $100), or buying a
truck(which is >pretty expensive), and a living quarters trailer.(used I can
find for $17000 for the >basics) The advantages of course are heat and
water.
A long time back when I was
a starving student scraping to get by, I "splurged" and bought myself
a new 16' stock trailer for about $4200. I had a carpenter enclose the
front 8' with solid walls, replace the front door with a locking RV door and
put in two RV-type slider windows on the sides.
I had him put down linoleum
and build a platform that held a futon mattress on top (the air mattresses were
forever springing leaks) and had space underneath for some supplies, a duffel
bag of clothing, a PVC water tank and (oh, the decadence), my very own
porta-potty. He also built in a little shelf for my Coleman stove, a tiny
cabinet, and an overhead hook for my lantern. Compared to the
horse-trailer camping and tent camping I'd been doing up until then, it was the
very height of comfort and luxury. I had a little propane space heater
and so was warm, dry, out of the wind, had a little privacy and a comfy place
to sleep. After riding, I heated up some water on the stove and
sponge-bathed out of a bucket---not ideal, but sure still beat the stuffing out
of no bath at all. I think the "conversion" cost less than $800,
and the stove and stuff another $200 if I hadn’t already owned it.
It pulled just fine and had plenty of room for a horse or two in back.
Was it as comfy as the LQ
trailer that replaced it, heck no. Was it a lot more economical and still
very niftily supplied the basics requirements of comfort for an endurance
weekend, sure did.
