Trailers

[EAMULE@aol.com]

HI, Karen,
 
I sold my side by side bumper pull and bought a 12 ft. gooseneck stock
trailer.  I loved it.
 
It was just the basic stock trailer.  It wasn't fancy by any means, but it was
very versital.
 
I slept in the neck.  I had a full size mattress.  I used a spring loaded
shower curtain rod at the front of the neck inside and hung a sheet across it
to give me privacy.  I , also, had acrylic "windows" put in on both sides at
the front near the neck.  They covered the side door and the area opposite the
door.  That helped keep the rain from blowing in on me when I was sleeping!!!!
You could have these 'windows' or covers put in when you order the trailer.
They were an afterthought for me.   When I ordered the trailer I had bus
windows put in the neck.  
 
There are lots of "adjustments" you can make to the trailer to make it more
functional for you.  Just use your imagination.
 
When hauling one horse I would swing the end of the divider to the side.  I
drilled a hole in the foot of the divider and the floor and used a bolt to
hold the divider in place at the side and tied the butt bars secure so they
wouldn't swing loose and let the horse have that whole "V" section to ride in.
She could stand at an angle like a slant load.  She had plenty of room.
 
I could stack two bales of hay on the outside of that "V" against the opposite
wall.  The divider prevented them from falling.  There was lots of room on the
floor in front of the chest bars for storage boxes, etc.  
 
My only frustration with the gooseneck was hitching it up.  I can hitch 10
bumper pulls in the time it takes to hitch the gooseneck.  You have to crawl
under the neck a couple of times each time you hitch and unhitch to unlock the
ball and to unplug the wiring.
 
It pulled like a dream.  The one I had, a Big Valley trailer, never felt like
I was pulling anything.  It took me 2 or 3 backings to get the hang of backing
it, but I could then put it anywhere I wanted it.  
 
I think the horse is so much more comfortable in the stock trailer.  My mare
is a freight train and she just wouldn't fit in a regular side by side.  She
hated going in it, but the first time I loaded her in the stock trailer she
jumped in like she had been doing it all her life.
 
I probably would have been ok getting a 10 ft trailer.  I didn't have to have
that much room.  The 12 came in handy when I hauled my cousin's three horses
to her new home.  We took the divider out and ran them in the box loose.
Worked like a charm since only one of them had ever been hauled.
 
The extras I had installed when I ordered it were torflex axles, spare tire,
(yes, I have need the spare!), and underneath the neck I had them add "towel
racks".  These were bars welded  to the underside of the neck during
production.  I hung wet towels and saddle blankets to dry out.  If it rained
the things hanging there were out of the rain.  Also, I had tubular side bars
or rails used, instead of the flat looking side bars.  (These are the bars on
the sides above the solid wall.)  The tubular bars are much stronger to tie
the horse to, inside and outside the trailer.
 
This has rambled a bit, but I did like my gooseneck.  I sold it a few months
ago when I lost the truck I pulled it with.  (My father owned the truck and he
sold it.  So what was I going to do with a gooseneck and no truck to pull it?)
I will be buying a truck myself and I will get another gooseneck.
 
Ellen
Memphis, TN
  >>


---- Begin included message ----

• To: mgehringer@marketshare52.com
• Subject: Re: Trailers
• From: EAMULE@aol.com
• Date: Sat, 5 Sep 1998 08:47:12 EDT

HI, Karen,

I sold my side by side bumper pull and bought a 12 ft. gooseneck stock
trailer.  I loved it.

It was just the basic stock trailer.  It wasn't fancy by any means, but it was
very versital.

I slept in the neck.  I had a full size mattress.  I used a spring loaded
shower curtain rod at the front of the neck inside and hung a sheet across it
to give me privacy.  I , also, had acrylic "windows" put in on both sides at
the front near the neck.  They covered the side door and the area opposite the
door.  That helped keep the rain from blowing in on me when I was sleeping!!!!
You could have these 'windows' put in when you order the trailer.  They were
and afterthought for me.   When I ordered the trailer I had bus windows put in
the neck.  

There are lots of "adjustments" you can make to the trailer to make it more
functional for you.  Just use your imagination.

When hauling one horse I would swing the end of the divider to the side.  I
drilled a hole in the foot of the divider and the floor and used a bolt to
hold the divider in place at the side and tied the butt bars secure so they
wouldn't swing loose and let the horse have that whole "V" section to ride in.
She could stand at an angle like a slant load.  She had plenty of room.

I could stack two bales of hay on the outside of that "V" against the opposite
wall.  The divider prevented them from falling.  There was lots of room on the
floor in front of the chest bars for storage boxes, etc.  

My only frustration with the gooseneck was hitching it up.  I can hitch 10
bumper pulls in the time it takes to hitch the gooseneck.  You have to crawl
under the neck a couple of times each time you hitch and unhitch to unlock the
ball and to unplug the wiring.

It pulled like a dream.  The one I had, a Big Valley trailer, never felt like
I was pulling anything.  It took me 2 or 3 backings to get the hang of backing
it, but I could then put it anywhere I wanted it.  

I think the horse is so much more comfortable in the stock trailer.  My mare
is a freight train and she just wouldn't fit in a regular side by side.  She
hated going in it, but the first time I loaded her in the stock trailer she
jumped in like she had been doing it all her life.

I probably would have been ok getting a 10 ft trailer.  I didn't have to have
that much room.  The 12 came in handy when I hauled my cousin's three horses
to her new home.  We took the divider out and ran them in the box loose.
Worked like a charm since only one of them had ever been hauled.

The extras I had installed when I ordered it were torflex axles, spare tire,
(yes, I have need the spare!), and underneath the neck I had them add "towel
racks".  These were bars welded to the body during production.  I hung wet
towels and saddle blankets to dry out.  If it rained the things hanging there
were out of the rain.  Also, I had tubular side bars or rails used, instead of
the flat looking side bars.  (These are the bars on the sides above the solid
wall.)  The tubular bars are much stronger to tie the horse to, inside and
outside the trailer.

This has rambled a bit, but I did like my gooseneck.  I sold it a few months
ago when I lost the truck I pulled it with.  (My father owned the truck and he
sold it.  So what was I going to do with a gooseneck and no truck to pull it?)
I will be buying a truck myself and I will get another gooseneck.

Ellen
Memphis, TN

---- End included message ----