How much?! The price of trailers.

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Butterscotch

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We are considering buying a trailer for daughter's pony but are horrified at the outrageous prices of second hand ones. Why do they retain their value and why do people pay such a lot for these old trailers?
Have you got any good advice on buying a pony trailer? I am inclined to go for a new one - a cheaper brand. We have a 2.2 litre car but have yet to fit a tow bar.
I haven't found a good comparative website and some sites are positively secretive about their prices, does anyone know of a good site?
Is there anything we should know before embarking on such a purchase?
Thank you for reading my post and happy 2008.
 
I had an ifor williams 510 and sold it for what I brought it for 8 months later.

Good trailers retain their value as they're reliable and safer to pull....I'd always get a good second hand one to a flimsy cheap new one anyday!
 
I agree with Parkranger - get a good second hand one rather than a new one of an inferior model.

I recently bought a 4 yr old Ifor 505 for £2,300. I could have had a new one from Robinsons or the like for similar money but the reports I hear of them are not so good. I'm more than happy with my 'second hand' trailer.

Incidentally - worth looking on ebay. I bought mine on there - and the one before that in fact.
 
Youve probably looked into it and sorry if you have and everythings fine but be careful towing with a car, being a 2.2litre doesnt mean its up to the job or safe to tow as the weights a lot to do with it. I cant remember the actual rule but Im sure someone on here will. Its something to do with 85% of the kerb weight or something. Your trailer, horse, passengers and equipment have to weigh less than the kerb weight. The Cheval Libertes are very light especially if you only want to tow one pony
Ebay is a great place to look for trailers but I'd definately recomend viewing before bidding especially on an older one. We luckily viewed one described as good condition before bidding but it had a rotten floor. I did buy a Ifor which was great off Ebay but then it was 18 mths old.
 
Thank you for your replies.
I have lurked on eBay looking at trailers for some time but found it very depressing - many of the trailers look so grotty in the pictures. Anything decent goes for such a high price - what happened to depreciation?
Which brands qualify as flimsy in your opinion?
Thank you for the link, we are in the same county as this company so that was very useful.
 
Trailers don't loose much money, hence the good second-hand price. If they are kept under cover and well maintained there is nothing to go wrong with them, so you would get as many years out of a second-hand as a new one. There are some trailers around that are 20+ years old. Mine is about 15 years old.

As for towing with a car - you CAN, but you must check with the car manufacturer's handbook. If you are over weight you will not be insured and the Police do sometimes pull people over and check. If you have just one pony and a lightweight trailer and a heft car, you should be OK.

When buying a second-hand one the most vital thing is the floor - there have been some horrific tales of horses going through the floor - and you can guess the rest, it is too gruesome to think about. The same applies to the ramp. You have to get underneath and poke about with a sharp tool, and it shouldn't go in!

The wiring is important too, make sure the lights work. And check the tyres. The makers say they should be replaced every 2 years, but I admit I haven't, but then my trailer is kept in a shed.

If you have to keep it outside, then this makes a trailer deteriorate faster than anything. The trailer gets rained on, it starts to leak and rots the floor and the tyres get perished in the sun.

Some of the ones on ebay look rather tatty. You might get a good one, but you might also have to do a lot of travelling to look at them. Beware stolen trailers, because a lot DO get stolen and you have to wonder where they end up.
 
How much do you want to spend?
I paid £2500 for the 18mth old IW505 which I thought was a good price and got the same back 12 mths later. My large 3 yr old Richardson cost me £2850 but it had extras. The old Rice trailers are heavy and the Robinsons Requisite look really flimsy.
If you want an older one check the floors on the pre 2000 (i think) Ifors as they changed to Aluminium that year which are much safer. My first trailer was a 98 Ifor and they must have seen me coming, it was rotten all round the edges of the floor. I didnt check properly, it looked in great condition and I didnt think there would be much wrong with it. They had 'kindly' washed it for the viewing, it was all wet inside, probably to hide the already wet through floor. The dealership wanted £600 to put it right, needed new sides too, so I ended up part exing it for a new one that I couldnt afford.
 
I wanted to spend as little as possible for something safe and sound. Initially I presumed we would get a good second hand one for £1000 - so naive. I can't get over the secondhand price 'conspiracy', I can't think of anything else that graces our roads that retains its value so much as these trailers do. Now I'm thinking if you can't beat 'em join 'em and am considering buying new and selling it on in the next century for what we paid for it in this one.
I don't like the idea of spending more for the trailer than we did for the pony.
I googled the car and apparently it can tow up to 1000lb.
 
I know what you mean, when I was looking for a trailer, they were either sold or silly prices but when it come to me selling mine, I had hardly any interest. We took a loss on my last one, selling it 3 mths after buying it as it just had to go as the damn horse decided he'd only travel in a wagon and my hubby was in fear of having a heart attack each time we tried him in it!! I ended up putting it on Ebay because I didnt want it to stand all winter.

Im not well up on lbs and kg but the IW505 is 905kg unladen so I think you may struggle. Is it 2.2lbs to a kg??? Its the stopping thats the issue, if the loads heavier than the car than it may well end up towing you. I dont want to sound negative and I did know someone who towed a horse in a IW505 with a Mondeo but it was short lived as it pulled the guts out of the car, she now has a 4x4. All I know is the Cheval Libertes are very light but then they are newish so they will be expensive.
I hope you get something sorted.
 
Can the car tow 1000lbs or 1000 kg
Either way i doubt you can get a trailer that is stable and safe that is light enough.

A single ifor williams trailer weighs 770kg without horse people etc.

If you don't mind me asking what car do you have?
 
That has a maximum towing weight of a tonne.

I'm not sure of the weights of the newer lighter trailers but for the likes of Ifor Williams, your car will not be able to tow once the pony is in.
 
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The car is a Chrysler PT Cruiser.

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you're not seriously thinking of towing a trailer with something that resembles a london cab????
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i wouldn't tow a camping trailer with that.....
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As trailers don't have an engine, they're not going to suffer the same wear and tear /potential breakdowns that a vehicle would. As long as they're looked after - the floor, ramp, brakes, tyres, hitch etc they pretty much last forever.

They're made out of galvanised steel, aluminium, glasonite etc, so again, most parts don't rust.

Friend of mine bought hers from new 25yrs ago and it was still going strong until it was stolen.

Mine is over 15yrs old. I paid £1500 for it. I have it serviced every year, and only other money spent on it so far is a new spare tyre.
 
Please don't tow ANYTHING with a Cruiser. They may have big engines on paper but are seriously gutless. A trailer with a pony in it will rip the innards out of the Cruiser in no time.

I'm afraid you either need a bigger car, or a smallish lorry.
 
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The PT engine is diesel 2.2, the pony is 12.2.

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pony plus kit plus trailer = accdent waiting to happen....

your trailer would be pushing your car, not you pulling it...

i'm quite sure the car could/would tow trailer and pony...but i'd put money on it that it wouldn't be quite so efficient when trying to stop....
 
Have had quite large trailers before (not a horse trailer and not towed with this car) and not had any problems towing with a car. Does anyone else tow pony with a car?
 
We used to tow a light weight trailer with 12.2 ponies when we had a volvo, but would never tow with anything other than a 4x4 now. Mainly due to the getting stuck on muddy show fields aspect, but also i have 2 big horses so i wouldn't dare!

We now tow with a Sante Fae. It can tow 2.2tonnes and we tow a 505 with 500kg horse in. Would never take 2 horses.

Its all to do with the stopping. If your coming down a steep hill and trying to break with an over weight trailer, you are asking for an accident.

I know of people that have traded in their cars and bought an older 4x4 of some description so they can tow legally but most importantly safely!
 
A friend of ours tows their daughter's pony (12.2hh, no idea f its weight but very fine little thing) in a smallish trailer with a Mondeo estate, but then a Mondeo estate has a lot more grunt than a PT Cruiser. As Beatrice says, you may be fine on a striaght and level road, but when braking, or on any sort of incline, the trailer / pony will be pushing the car along, not the other way round.
 
I towed for many years a 14.2 pony in a single trailer (first a light aluminium single, then an IW mare/foal) with a subaru 1.6 litre. It was a heavy Japanese car with low gear ratios and good torque. I never had a problem.

My OH has also towed (local short journeys) one horse in an IW double with his 140 bhp TD VW golf. The engine never struggled ever, even with steep hills. I fully accept that this was not a great idea due to the respective weights of car/trailer, but the same engine is available in the much larger heaver Passat which would be much more suitable.

I have no idea about your present car's figures, but with the right car, towing is not a problem.

The IW 401 mare foal box (a big single) would be v suitable for you, but there aren't many of them about. Mine is still going strong at about 15 yrs with a friend.

Good luck with the search.

Fiona
 
The present car only tow 1 tonne and the 401's weigh 770kg unladen so she would be right on the limit once pony was in plus tack people etc were in.

I personally wouldn't tow with it.

I also know of someone that tows with a legacy. She has a 401 and a 14.2 welshie and she has no problems.
 
Years ago used to tow a 15hh in a Bahill double trailer with a Vauxhall Carlton, but gave that up after we had to do an emergency stop and the trailer shunted the car a fair way, and that was on level ground.

According to the car manufacturers kerb weights etc, the car was heavy enough for the pony and the trailer, but it clearly wasn't.
 
I used to tow my daughter's 12.2hh in an Ifor 505 with a vectra. Going along the dual carriageway one day it started to snake, scared the hell out of me!
I enquired with Ifor and they said saloon/estate type cars are not really suitable for towing horse trailers. We changed to a 4 X 4.
BTW, I am thinking of selling my 18 month old burgundy Ifor 505, what is a realistic price now or would it be better to wait until Spring?
 
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