equi-trek trailers

[seabiscuit]

Any reviews on these- good/bad?

Have heard that the weight-balance distribution of these trailers is not great....

 

[seaofdreams]

i followed behind a friend who had one, all i can say was it was scary to watch it was all over the place and she drives normally very well so i don't think it was here driving, she sold it afterwards
also when you are following it looks like a lorry so you find people don't take the same precautions when over taking

 

[hussar]

I've had a Sports Trekka for four years and love it. It tows (with a Discovery 2.5) like a dream - have never had any worries with it. The horses travel really well in it. I'd get another one tomorrow, except that I think they've discontinued that particular model.

 

[Sooty]

A friend of mine has one, don't know the model, as she wanted a trailer with living. She absolutely loves it!

 

[Lozz1uk]

I regularly hire one (with a driver, not towing myself) and its the best thing my horse travels in. She seems really chilled and never comes out sweating up which is what she does in a normal box or forward facing trailer. Not looked at it from behind though so can't comment on how it tows.

 

[_jetset_]

I have a 4* Equi-Trek and absolutely love it... My horse travels really well in it and she is not a good traveller normally, especially in a lorry that is herringbone.

If I was looking for a new trailer I would definitely buy another one. Having driven an Ifor and an Equi-Trek, both pulled by an X5, I prefer driving the Equi-Trek. You forget you a pulling anything with it (mine is Tri-Axle) and there is not the pull or judder that you can get with trailers. It is a very smoothe ride for my girl (I went in the back with her first time - I know very very silly!)

If you are thinking of one, the place I bought mine from let me try one for a week!

 

[katylee]

i love these trailers they are amazing. i wont use any other now.

 

[_jetset_]

Also, I have transported a mare with a fractured shoulder (she did it three years ago but can never be ridden again) and she travelled better in that than in anything else... She was extremely chilled on the hour drive to stud and back!

 

[seabiscuit]

Thank you so much everyone for your replies, most appreciated!! Sounds like it is a really good trailer! I dont know what these rumours are though about the weight distrubution/wobbling- seaofdreams- perhaps there is the odd dodgy one? Or maybe the car was at fault?

So Becki do you think that these are as smooth, or smoother for a horse to travel in then a large horsebox?

 

[_jetset_]

I don't think you can beat a large horsebox to be honest... but I didn't want to have to pay for plating etc on a box once I had looked at how fantastic the Eqiu-Treks were. We were thinking of buying a box but unless I had three or four horses, which I don't, I think I would prefer to have an Equi-Trek due to maintenance costs etc.

When I bought my trailer the dealer explained that you needed a heavy 4x4 to pull them because of the weight of the trailer. My car pulls it no problem, and like I said in the previous post, it is a really smoothe ride.

All the horses I have travelled in it (including a 6 month old foal who had never travelled before) have travelled fantastically. My mare sweats up just looking at a trailer, but she travels so much better in the Equi-Trek than she did in a box. I think it something to do with travelling backwards.

The trailers are really appealing for a horse to walk into too I think... they are white and airy inside and even the most awkward loaders have loaded in my trailer after a couple of minutes of fighting. I like how the ramp is quite wide... it's helped my mare a lot.

If there is anything else you would like to know, please feel free to ask.

Rebecca

 

[Happytohack]

We looked at buying one last year. Make sure you have a vehicle that is up to towing one, they are much heavier than say an Ifor Willaims. In the end, we decided to buy a lorry, but a friend of mine as the tri-axle Equitrek and tows it with a top of the range Isuzu and absolutely loves it.

 

[Toby_Zaphod]

As has been previously said you must have a heavy duty 4x4 for towing these trailers. It is recommended that you don't tow any more than 85% of the towing vehicles weight. The Equitrek trailers have an unladen weight from 1750kg details from their website http://www.equitrek.co.uk/dimen.html. A Bateson Deauville trailers ulw is 860 kg, so Equitrek are over twice as heavy to start with. By the time you put in a couple of 16h2"horses plus tack etc the weight goes right up. The max weight is 3500 kg (approx 3.45 tons). You'd need a mighty 4x4 to tow it at full weight. Check up on your weights before you commit to buying. I hope this helps.

 

[seabiscuit]

Thank you again everyone really helpfull advice!

Is a Toyata Hillux Surf heavy enough to pull a Equi trek with a little living and two horses?

 

[ihatework]

Your PMs are full!!!

Although the surf would pull it i don't think it would be the best car on the market for it.
Those equitreks are VERY heavy, you would want a serious car for it, probably a landy 110 etc.

 

[seaofdreams]

hi she was pulling it with a discovery but it was the massive one i think she paid £15.000 for it,
so it may just have been to big, the owner of my loan horse has brought a smaller one but she hasn't towed it yet so i don't know what it is like.
it is for sale aswell, but through no fault of it own

 

[Toby_Zaphod]

To give you some idea of towing vehicle weights, I have a 2.8 litre Turbo Diesel Mitsubishi Pajero LWB (Imported Shogun) & that weighs around 2.25 tons, a XDiscovery 300tdi weight around 2 tons. I think they would probably have trouble with a fully loaded Equitrek, which would be 1.25-1.5 tons heavier than the towing vehicle. Speak to a Toyota dealer or look in your handbook & find out the ulw of the Surf & then you will know if it would tow the Equitrek. Also speak to Equitrek. If you make a mistake it would be a very expensive one. Good Luck

 

[dizzydolly]

I looked at getting one of those 3-horse trailers, but my SWB Pajero's towing capacity is 1.8 tonnes only, and those trailers, when loaded, weigh 3 tonnes! So it would be illegal for me to tow one. You have to check the towing vehicles weight capacity, the only things that would be legal to tow those trailers are Defenders, Toyota Land Cruisers and may be a X5 or something large like that!