Rice trailers

[Dizzle]

Very similar to my Ifor thread

What are rice trailers like? I've seen a few of the older ones on ebay for very reasonable prices, once I've bought it I'd be happy to put in a bit of work I think but have seen them for the £300-£500 mark ('tis my birthday next month )

For instance how much does it cost to replace a wooden floor?

 

[china]

can be a couple of hundred to replace a floor. i wouldnt be getting a cheap one. you pay for what you get and your horses safety at the end of the day. we picked up a rice from ebay for £400. drove 200 miles to go get it to find it had a hug hole in the roof! used it for hay storage in the end!

 

[spacefaer]

They're solid and reliable - easy to maintain if you're practical - parts are easy to get too

On the downside, they're heavy to tow so you'd need a decent 4x4

We have two Rice and my OH loves them - but then he's practical and maintains them himself. He hates the modern trailers, particularly Ifor Williams, as we have large solid hunters and the IW would never stand up to the weight and strength if one of ours decided to be objectionable inside it!

We have a treble - which is probably worth about £800 - and a Badminton, which has day living in the front - and is worth about £2000

Any trailer on ebay going for £300-500 is going to need work. Wooden floors are easy to replace - but you need to know what you're doing to do it safely - you can get the proper tongue/grooved Iroko wood from Rice trailers - so many people do a lash up job with plywood :O :O make sure you check the floor of any trailer you do buy

 

[Dizzle]

We have two Rice and my OH loves them - but then he's practical and maintains them himself. He hates the modern trailers, particularly Ifor Williams, as we have large solid hunters and the IW would never stand up to the weight and strength if one of ours decided to be objectionable inside it!

This is what I want, something sturdy incase he has a 'tb fit' in the back.

Towing wise I don't have a license so it would be Daddy and his Disco D Is it normal for a 28 year old to be towed about by her dad?!)

I think once I've bought it, I'd be happy to have it up at the yard to put a bit of work into it, even if it took a while, as long as I could get the horse to stand on it I'd be happy, he's never travelled in a trailer or very well alone so I'd be putting in work getting him chilled before we went anywhere.

 

[domane]

We bought a trailer back in March... I gave my OH the choice of a done-up one on eblag which was just down the road and £800 or the doer-upper which was about to finish with bids. He chose the project and we bought it for £371 in the end. However, I didn't buy the project to try to get it road-worthy cheaper, we just felt that if we do everything, then we know that it's been done properly and can travel our boys with peace of mind. So far it's had some essential welding, some flooring replaced, a new rear ramp and an interior paint-job. Just a couple of coats of red oxide to the exterior have already smartened it up too (previous paint was green and flaking - we rubbed it all down by hand first)

Still got more flooring to sort, replacing the front panel where the window is, Waxoyling the chassis and axles, final exterior paint and rubber matting so it will probably end up costing me more than the original buy-it-now trailer. But who's to say that there may have been problems lurking underneath with that one....?

So far we've gone from this to this....

 

[Cop-Pop]

I bought my Rice for £100 on ebay - the seller listed everything that was wrong with it in the listing. It cost about £300 to do it all up - the floor was about £200 as I had it done properly but my dad did the electrics, painting etc Sadly my horse killed the ramp last year so thats in the process of being fixed atm tho since I sold the 4x4 I think the trailer will be going too

 

[Dizzle]

Domane, that's also my thinking, if I do the work myself I'll know it's been done! (Well I say 'myself' by that I mean I'll paint it and then leave it at my parents house until mum gets so annoyed with it being there that she makes my dad fix it!)

 

[Cop-Pop]

Towing wise I don't have a license so it would be Daddy and his Disco D Is it normal for a 28 year old to be towed about by her dad?!

Perfectly normal - that's what dads are for! (Can you tell I'm another 28 year old without a towing license? )

 

[Mince Pie]

can be a couple of hundred to replace a floor. i wouldnt be getting a cheap one. you pay for what you get and your horses safety at the end of the day. we picked up a rice from ebay for £400. drove 200 miles to go get it to find it had a hug hole in the roof! used it for hay storage in the end!

I disagree, I have never paid over £700 for a trailer and all of mine have been in great condition. They have all been so cheap as usually they are older than I am!

This cost me £650

 

[Dizzle]

Potentially the biggest costs are going to be a new floor (£200) and a new style hitch, how much would that cost?

I like the fact people seem to rate the Rice as being sturdy.

 

[Happy Hunter]

Love my Rice Hunter - Sturdy, bigger - and I cant stand Ifor split in half partitions - My mare likes the room - and I like the grooms door and Ramp (With arm over the top a bit) that I can open from the outside!!! (Old Ifors take note!)

 

[Dizzle]

Interesting, I posted on facebook about getting a cheap fixer up-er rice and was warned off by a couple of people, both Ifor owners..?

They’re main reasons being that it will cost me more to do up in the long run, but even if I spend £1k doing up a £300 trailer that’s still LESS than an Ifor right?

I like the fact that the Rice have a reputation for being indestructible.

Of course now I’m thinking about travelling I’m worrying about going on my own (Dad is no use with horses!) although I suppose I could spend 6 months just taking him somewhere for lessons?

 

[Dizzle]

Anyone?!