Titan Trailers - experiences please. Also any trailer tips?

No I don't have a reversing camera, you get used to lining up to the wheel arches, or I gauge the top of the spare wheel on the Disco, looking in my rear view mirror (I think I compare it to the pull handles on the front of the trailer?). But sometimes I'm not quite right, and I think I'll just move the trailer instead. And even if I'm perfectly lined up, I do tend to get grease or something on me, and have to remember not to rub my hands on my jacket or something :rolleyes:

Some people have a mirror on the trailer looking down to the towbar, but it shouldn't really be necessary with a bit of practice. 99% of the time I get it spot on, but the time I mess up is always when I'm in a hurry.
 
Hooking up tip - use 'leading lights' like ships coming into harbour.

So one day when you are hooked up and happy that the car & trailer are dead straight attach small 'markers' of coloured tape ( find diff colours easier) to the rear window of the car and front of the trailer.

You can either set them up so that they are in line (one above the other) or so the car one blocks sight of the trailer one. You then just line them up and reverse, only needing to hop out to see if you need to go back a bit more and with practice you can get it down to just a few minor shuffles.

In the dark this doesn't work very well but you can improvise with small torches.
Takes a bit of practice but a lot cheaper than a reversing camera!
 
I can't commment on the titan as I havent seen one and therefore this comment may also be irrelevant but before you buy a trailer.... consider rainy days!

We had a big 3 horse lorry that we only ever took 2 horses in so when tacking up we would just open the partitions slightly to make more room and my friend and I could both happily and easily tack up without taking the horses off. God send in the rain and could hop off after classes and throw them straight back on lorry to untack.

We now have an Ifor 510 classic which we are very happy with except that to put saddles and back boots on you HAVE to unload the horses which is a pain especially in the rain and if for whatever reason you want to get tacked up a bit early (we SJ so sometimes get tacked up then head back to check ring etc and come back) it means unloading and reloading.

It sounds fussy but believe me when the English rain is hamering it its horrid!! I hope though that the titan is more roomy from your description!
 
Felicity, that is BRILLIANT. gosh, tape and mirrors, and me thinking about an expensive camera. ha.
EVS, there really is honestly loads of room in the Titan, and a triangular gap between first horse and living door, so lots of room to stand and put tack on 1st horse from that side etc. Also room beside swinging tack locker at the back, so can tack up 2nd horse from that side.
I know exactly what you mean though because that was 1 of the problems with the 2-horse Sinclair i had yonks ago, even with a 14.2 pony in it, it was impossible to tack up etc. No way could I face going back to a little trailer, having been v spoilt with a lorry for decades, but the Titan really does seem to be a very viable alternative, rather like the Equitrek trailer but without the worries about build quality etc etc...
 
Re the ssangyong rexton- I think actually have enormous tow capacity... Same as defender. Pm honey_08 as pretty sure it's her with one.
 
I've got a mirror & its the best thing I've ever bought!! I used to be able to get it near but was forever getting in & out to check but with the mirror its done in one go!! Think it was only around £20 too & dead easy to fit!
 
perfect11s said:
Just curious how much are these titan trailers ??
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I think they are about £13k ish for the 2-horse herringbone with living etc, i'm not positive of price, depends on size and spec. Sounds like a lot compared to small lightweight trailers but not compared to a big heavy good-quality lorry, is how i look at it. i think they're going up against Equitrek (lots and lots of stories about them on here... general gist seems to be that if you got a good old one it is absolutely great, but there have been lots of quality issues reported with newer ones, and i won't compromise on horses' safety in that respect), and the French trailers that have living too, can't remember the name, something weird!
 
kerilli said:
I think they are about £13k ish for the 2-horse herringbone with living etc, i'm not positive of price, depends on size and spec. Sounds like a lot compared to small lightweight trailers but not compared to a big heavy good-quality lorry, is how i look at it. i think they're going up against Equitrek (lots and lots of stories about them on here... general gist seems to be that if you got a good old one it is absolutely great, but there have been lots of quality issues reported with newer ones, and i won't compromise on horses' safety in that respect), and the French trailers that have living too, can't remember the name, something weird!
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Ouch !!!!! so not a cheap alternative to a lorry by any means esp if you compare like for like which would be a very basic box no luton and with day living the size of a broom cupboard no toilet shower or much seating, then you need to buy and run a big tow vehicle on top say £5000 upwards or if your going for something new or nearly new £400 road tax and depriciation of say £2000 one service at £400 .. so £3000 ish a year maybe !!!!??? not bad if you can put it though a business but for someone private ?????
 
K you need to find a local horsebox man as your mechanic rather than using main dealers I think! I have never ever paid the kind of money you have to get a box through its test - even when I had a 1975 Bedford! I've always been closer to the sums quoted by Perfect11s (I think it was them) - I do have a handy husband who will fix some stuff for me mind you, and I know where the local cheap parts shop is and will pick up stuff myself there, but I am also lazy/busy and pay my mechanic to book the test and take the truck for me as it falls right in my busiest time of year work-wise and I just do not have the inclination to do it myself, so I pay for that! Plus he always steamcleans the engine too, which also costs. This year it only cost me £300 including the cost of the test, some parts and labour, the cleaning and him taking it to the test for me.
 
SC, i used the 'local horsebox man' in Staffs and it didn't save me any money, he screwed up the power steering thing 3x running on my last Cargo (NOT FUN to drive when the power steering is intermittent, trust me, needed arms like Arnie to haul it round the corners when it suddenly went!) and the bills still stayed huge. I didn't use main dealers in Northants or in Glos when I was based there but the bills stayed huge... except for little local guy in Glos who saved me the £800 i'd been quoted to have heater sorted out, by finding that actually it was a bent wire that needed straightening so the hot/cold slidey button would work...!!! that wasn't a main dealer who gave the quote either...
no wonder i hate lorries, could probably have bought 3 Badminton horses with what the bloody things have cost me over the years! ;) ;)
 
I can understand your frustration, I am so so lucky having my dad, and actually so are the other people who go to him as he's so honest and hard working. Shame you didn't live a good bit further north ;).

I've just remembered another tip! When I was young and Mum was first learning to drive the trailer, Dad taught her by rolling out my brothers toy road mat, like this:
http://www.elc.co.uk/Big-City-Deluxe-Roadway-Rug/127812,default,pd.html

Then hitching up the Britains Land Rover and Trailer:

http://www.toyfarmers.co.uk/farmveh...-and-Ifor-Williams-Livestock-Trailer-Set.html (though I recall his was a Rice horse trailer ;) )

Then making her drive it all around the map, and specifically reversing it around corners! She still needed to learn how to move the steering wheel for reversing (remember Steer Right to turn left!) but it really helped and she's almost as good as me ;)

Happy memories :D
 
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