Equitrek trailers - experiences pls.

popsdosh said:
Ive had two Ifors that wheels actually completely broke off.
What I cant quite get my head around is if they are supposedly so bad is it an urban myth! They all have their problems Chevals rotting floors! Ifors bad panels and crap fittings. How often do you see an Equitrek thats not sold within a short time of being advertised second hand and for a price in excess of what you can buy a new IW for !! Im bemused!!
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It's not an urban myth. The road was closed near me recently while a horse was shot due to the side panel of the equitrek coming off and it's leg ending up making contact with the motorway at 50mph.

This horse lived on the same yard as my friend's, hence I know the nasty real details.

I've seen how rubbish they are when I hired one recently which was a matter of months old and already falling to bits.
 
FfionWinnie said:
It's not an urban myth. The road was closed near me recently while a horse was shot due to the side panel of the equitrek coming off and it's leg ending up making contact with the motorway at 50mph.

This horse lived on the same yard as my friend's, hence I know the nasty real details.

I've seen how rubbish they are when I hired one recently which was a matter of months old and already falling to bits.
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Yes and every make of trailer has accidents! You have personal experience of that with an Equitrek. That just begs the question again if they really are that bad why do they sell? You certainly can buy a lot cheaper so its not that. I had never rated them at all till circumstances meant it was my best option ,even though I carry mares and foals and various hooligan youngstock have never had any problems unlike the panels that regularly needed replacing in a 510 I had for a short time. The panels may seem not up to it in an equitrek but they are made from the same panels commercial trailers are .
 
popsdosh said:
Yes and every make of trailer has accidents! You have personal experience of that with an Equitrek. That just begs the question again if they really are that bad why do they sell? You certainly can buy a lot cheaper so its not that. I had never rated them at all till circumstances meant it was my best option ,even though I carry mares and foals and various hooligan youngstock have never had any problems unlike the panels that regularly needed replacing in a 510 I had for a short time. The panels may seem not up to it in an equitrek but they are made from the same panels commercial trailers are .
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It's not simply an accident when a new trailer has a side panel fall out and the horse dies as a result! I don't know why they sell they are hideous things in looks and build in my experience. As far as I see it the other names are improving and equitrek are not. You only have to look on their own FB page to see how they treat customers after the sale.

You could safely put cattle in my CL optimax if you were that way inclined. Build quality is superb. I wouldn't have had a CL a few years ago but this is an entirely different trailer to the past.

Had no issues with my IW other than the paint was soft and that was a disappointment but not a functional problem.
 
As I said I would prefer to buy a checked 2nd hand than new I think having let someone else sort the issues out if there were any/the trailer having proved itself to be one of the 'good' ones and they do fill a gap in the market where there aren't many other options if you want a trailer with living.

I know of 4 owned by people I know that were bought new, all had issues, one fairly major and **** customer service to help with it.
I 'know' of an awful lot more ifors and know of one issue that was fully rectified by IW asap.
 
It's as if Equitrek have different teams producing them on the production line. Some folk have a good one, whilst (many) others have a rubbish one.

My local dealer has the full range of Equitrek in. I like the design, so went along for a look for myself.

The build quality of the ones on show was absolutely horrendous. Tat, tat, tat.
 
OP I have an older show trekka. Hadn't planned on getting one (partly influenced by the mixed reviews), but a friend was selling (to move to a lorry) when I was looking. And I knew that she'd had there plus years of reliable work from it. I tow with a defender 90 and it tows very nicely. Horse loads and travels very well in it (she'd not done much travelling before I got her). I like the design - the living part is really handy (I've not slept in it, but previous owner did a lot as they travelled far and wide to show). The tack lockers are great and mean that my husbands car isn't filled with tack.
I've not had any concerns with build quality, but I always get spooked when I read these threads. Mine is due an annual check, which I'm about to arrange, and i bought it with evidence that it has always had one. Maybe a fully tested and maintained older one is the safest bet?
It will be interesting to see if other brands do a side ramp trailer when the patent ends. I'd definitely look at this style when I replace mine.
 
Flyermc said:
no, no, no, my horse came out of the back and got stuck in the jockey door! (front legs and head out of the door, back end stuck over the breast bar)
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That can happen in any trailer. My friend had a similar experience with an IW 505 - her 16.2 came through the jockey door. He was stuck for a few seconds with his back legs over the breast bar but managed to wriggle through. How he managed to get through it I'll never know. If I hadn't see it happen with my own eyes I wouldn't have believed it! Unfortunately horses are numpties. Some more than others!
 
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