Rice trailers

alsxx

alsxx

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I'm looking at buying a new car and trailer this spring, and my budget for the trailer won't be much, therefore I am probably looking at getting an older rice trailer. I've seen a couple of nice looking ones go on ebay for about 850 - 1000, but also some decent looking ones that need a tidy up go for around 500-600, I will have around 850 ish to spend.

I'm happy to get one that does need a bit of work as have a handy OH, but ideally want something structurally sound. Am I being realistic here?

I also had a few questions...on average how much do they tend to weigh? I appreciate the older ones are prob heavier than the newer ones. I had also seen mention of some being fitted with some kind of auto-reverse hitch...what is this and is it essential?? Those that have them, are you able to remove or move the central partition? I quite like the idea of being able to swing the front half as you would in a ifor when unloading out of the front...saw a lovely one that looked relatively new go for 820 on ebay recently that had the newer style partition, sadly wrong timing for me! Anything I buy I will go and look over first before buying or even bidding, so any pitfalls to look out for with a rice?

Thanks in advance!!
 
I used to have a rice trailer, was an older type, I sold it for £500 and it was in excellent condition - just could of done with a lick of paint, just needed to sell it so I could get my lorry! I think you should be able to find a good one easily :)
In terms of weight I don't think ours was that heavy, my dad could move it around himself!! The partition was removable, when I travelled my bigger horse he travelled without the partition.
I don't know about your other questions! But Good Luck in your search! :)
 
Thanks for the reply! I actually did my towing lessons and test towing an older rice and it weighed about 900kg unladen...was just wondering if they were all about that of if even older ones weighed even more. I'm trying to factor in the weight when buying my towing vehicle you see.

Any other tips, pointers etc very welcome :-)
 
Love mine!
Its so much more stable and feels sturdier than Ifor's - Well my mare thinks so!
She likes travelling without partition - So Dad just made her a scaffolding pole with two holes in either end for a breast bar! (with padding ect)

Mine is probably about 15yrs old. We have the Skeleton 'H' partition that you can swing about anyway you want - very handy if you need to still swing it over for the second loader!

It might look old and a bit tatty - but I trust it to put my big girl into, and she trusts me enough to fall asleep in it! :D
 
I could have written the original post myself a month ago lol.

Long story short, sold my van last week for £1550, threw in another £300 quid and have brought myself the following beauties:

Car:
Mitsubishi Pajero 2.8 LWB 1993. It is immaculate inside and out, as if it just come off the forecourt. It has done 100k miles (nothing for a vehicle like this). Taxed and MOT until 12/2011. Starts and drives perfectly and has a full service history - 18 years of receipts and all uk mot's. It also has a heavy duty towbar - Bargain £1200

Trailer:
Rice Beaufort Double, 12 month old floor, good brakes, good boots, all electrics working. Lovely inside and out, except just needs a clean. Was going to paint the outside, but the T-cut has brought it up lovely and inside is washing down well -- another bargain £650

I've been told by many people that you can't beat the old Rice Beaufort trailers, will last a life-time if well looked after.

Big tip: Look at the Beaufort Popular trailer, if it has padding on the inside and metal mud guards, it's is most likely a Beaufort Double. (Popular bottom of range, Double top of range, at the time). Apparently, many Double's had a Popular sticker put over their name - something to do with the weights and doubles were stolen more than popular.

You say you done your trailer test with a an old rice that weight about 900kg. Can I ask who's trailer this was and do you have a contact number? (PM me) Just with that weight it sounds like a Double, and I need to know some information from the chassis plate on it (see my recent thread lol)

If you see in vehicles or trailers you're interested in, PM me the details and I'll take a look and give you my opinion. :)
 
Rice trailers were once considered the Rolls Royce of trailers. Considering how many really old ones are still around they were obviously well built.

The old ones were heavy, designed to be pulled behind Land Rovers. They did lighter weight ones - the Eventer? - but they lost a lot of trade to newer, lighter models like the Ivor Williams.

Just the same as any other trailer really, get underneath to look at the chassis and the floor, pull at the wheels, check the electrics. As for being stolen, aren't there website that list stolen trailers, etc?
 
They are great trailers.

As someone said, get underneath and check the chassis. Also obviously check the floor.
The autoreverse brakes came in a long time ago, before that you had a pin which you put in to reverse.

The tyres also changed size at some point so worth looking at tyre size to gauge the age.

The only thing i would say to look out for is one with top doors at the back. They are really important unless the trailer is to be stored undercover. I didnt have the doors and the trailer let water in at the back and rotted the floor.
 
I had a REALLY old one. We had to add a double floor (only had single floor). Also the hitch was a very old screw on one - we replaced this also - as the dimensions are different to modern day towbars - although can be used together can cause unnecessary wear and tear.

Mine did not have top doors on the back ramp so we had someone make an aliminum cover for the back (kept the rain out when stored).

The other thing was the clips to hold the ramp in place (when closed) did not have any safety mechanism so we drilled a small whole and used split pins.

Great trailer!
 
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