3.5t boxes anyone have Equitrek???

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Nativelover

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Ok so after having an accident in my ifor williams, I bought an Equitrek show treka. I loved it, horse did too!
Sadly had to sell due to financial difficulties but 3 years on and I'm desperate for some wheels. I've always wanted a little wagon and have seen an Equitrek sonic. Anyone had one??? Good and bad reviews please.
The reason I'm drawn to them is I like the layout, and they are coach built on a brand new chassis. The other boxes I've seen are a fortune for a new chassis!!
 
Yes I have a 2008 model and love it, I have had it since brand new and its great.
I have had no issues and fuel consumption is fab even with horses on board.
 
I looked at them and did not like several parts.

Personally I would rather have a Bloomfields on an older chassis to a Sonic on a new one. They will fully service prior to delivery.

The sonic was more flimsy, had doors too narrow to be an escape route for the horse, I have seen those quite new that look quite old, the build quality was just not there.

I have gone for a longstall, so no breast bar, and still horse escape route out the back, plus crash tested safety cage for the driver.

TBF I also know peple who have been happy with their Sonic, but it tends to be people with smaller horses. Form memory I believe the headroom in the sonic was too low for my liking, I have gone for a 8ft head room.
 
My budget is really only about £15k-£18k so it'd have to be second hand and I'd really want to get a good chassis. The majority I've seen have what I consider high mileage, so that's what has drawn me back to equitrek.
I'm thinking it's easier and cheaper to repair/modify a body than have a poor engine or running gear.
 
Do check the under struts (haven't a clue what they're really called!) and the fitting of the floorboards as a friend bought a brand new trailer from them purposely for her mare who couldn't face forward. Mare went from loving it to being unable to load in a month and when loaded, staggering around like a ship at sea (friend is a superlative driver, used to travel horses for her job) Her OH travelled in it to see if they could find the problem and they found the floor moving when they turned. Looking underneath, they found several screws had come out and the sections were only resting on the narrow struts, not fastened down at all; when it turned or braked, the floor sections moved off the struts so giving a sinking sensation, even the OH felt traffle sick in it. She had a devil of a job to get it sorted and replaced properly or any apology at all from the company.
On the other hand, a friend has bought the small Equitrek box that WFP had and uses it in her transport business; she is very pleased with it, not had a problem with it and all horses seem to travel well in it so I do think it's a case of inspecting it thoroughly before you buy, both travelling in it yourself as well as driving it let alone a decent mechanic/bodyshop person checking it both underneath and the mechanics of it.
 
I bought a new Sonic 4 weeks ago and I'm really pleased with it. My horse is a 17.3 KWPN and he travels like a dream in it. Despite his size you would not know he is in it, and it tackles hills (I live in rural Scotland) with complete ease. It is very easy to drive.
 
I bought a sonic new nearly 5 yrs ago. Very pleased with it. I had looked at many others but I chose the Sonic as I it had the gates on the ramp that many others did not offer.
 
Wouldn't touch equitrek with a 10ft barge pole! Badly made, prone to tipping over, cheap, crappy materials and their customer service leaves a lot to be desired!
 
I'm on my 2nd Equitek box, a Victory & now a Sonic and I am very happy with it. Great value, build quality has improved a lot in the last two years. Horse loads & travels really well. What's not to like?
 
Nativelover said:
What made you go for Equitrek over the other 'brands'???
Click to expand...

I always bought my Ifor Williams trailers from a dealer in Lancashire. Some years back they had sold Equi-Trek trailers, as had nearby Derby House. I had looked at them and was totally unimpressed with quality. The dealer in Lancs stopped selling them, and Derby House closed. On a trip back to Lancs a few weeks ago I decided to go an look again as I had heard the dealer were now selling Equi-Trek again and I wanted a close look at the Sonic. I took my brother who is the fussiest nit picking individual I've ever know (love him dearly!). He crawled over it, through it and under it, and then gave his seal of approval. My dealer advised that they had previously stopped dealing with Equi-Trek due to the quality issues, but having had such bad feedback on their product, Equi-Trek improved their product, and so the dealer was once again selling the trailers and horseboxes.

I was well aware of their bad feedback and had done a considerable amount of research online. I'd spoken to a couple of people locally who had the trailer versions, and all where very happy with them, and so based on the advice of my dealer, who I trusted, I ordered the Sonic.

In addition to this I wanted a new chassis, basically a vehicle that had never been used for other purposes. The Peugeot chassis has the added advantage of being 150 bhp, which living in a semi-mountainous region was important to me. If I do encounter any problems (hopefully not) then I can take it to an Equi-Trek dealer in Scotland for warrantee work, which may have been difficult if I had bought a coachbuilt horsebox elsewhere in the country due to distance. It also has a relatively accurate known payload as it is not a bespoke vehicle with add-ons and extras which was important as my horse is so large.

So far I'm delighted with it.
 
Thank you all for your help and advice, seems it's the new builds that are the better quality.
I suppose I'm worrying as I want to have the best chassis possible so it will last. It won't only be used as a horsebox either so must stand the test of time!!
Anyone got any suggestions for other builds?? Or where could I buy a newish chassis?
 
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