Trailers...

[Leam_Carrie]

My husband has bought a car to tow (which he’s getting tomorrow) and he has b+e licence so all much simpler than me towing (he’s also a much better driver!). Now need to sort a trailer. My horse is 16hh MW and then I have a mini Shetland, so ideally I’d like to take them both out occasionally - mainly it will be my horse.

What trailers would you recommend? I was thinking Ifor Williams 505. Ideally I’d like to spend under £1.5k.

What should you check on a trailer? Regularly serviced? Then breaks, tyres, sound floor? How do you check breaks? Or should I get it inspected by someone who knows what they are doing.

Never bought a trailer before so all advice and suggestions very welcome.

Thanks everyone

 

[ROG]

Bateson Derby - mare + foal trailer = idea?

Also a good trailer for B licence towing as it can be down plated

 

[Leam_Carrie]

Bateson Derby - mare + foal trailer = idea?

Also a good trailer for B licence towing as it can be down plated

Thanks @ROG. Do you rate Bateson? I’ve found a Bateson Boston, slightly over budget, which looks nice. I’ll see if I can find a Derby.

 

[Toby_Zaphod]

Before I went out & bought a lorry I had a Bateson Deauville for a few years. It was a great trailer, towed beautifully, very smooth & very little rattle. It was light & airy & the horses loaded easily into it. The customer service at Bateson is second to none & they are very helpful, you order a part & it's with you extremely quickly. They are well worth considering.

 

[Leam_Carrie]

Before I went out & bought a lorry I had a Bateson Deauville for a few years. It was a great trailer, towed beautifully, very smooth & very little rattle. It was light & airy & the horses loaded easily into it. The customer service at Bateson is second to none & they are very helpful, you order a part & it's with you extremely quickly. They are well worth considering.

Thanks, that’s good to know. I had only really considered Ifor Williams before. Bateson look a good option to add to the list.

 

[w1bbler]

Ifor Williams 505 are starting to be of an age where the panels start rotting.
If viewing tap panels, particularly the bottom, round wheels etc.
If they are of an age to still have wooden floor that will likely be rotten if not already replaced

 

[Leam_Carrie]

Ifor Williams 505 are starting to be of an age where the panels start rotting.
If viewing tap panels, particularly the bottom, round wheels etc.
If they are of an age to still have wooden floor that will likely be rotten if not already replaced

Thanks, that’s really helpful.

 

[Tiddlypom]

At 1.5k you are looking at older trailers. Do go for one with a decent service history, as bringing a knackered one up to a good spec will be costly.

I have paid out nearly £500 recently on my 2006 owned-from-new Ifor 510 classic for routine servicing and a full set of new trailer tyres (£300 for the set). I’ve already been offered quite a bit more than you are hoping to pay as a trade in, and will asking double your figure if I sell it privately. It is a good trailer for its age, though .

 

[asmp]

The walls on Batesons rot too so check carefully

 

[MuddyTB]

I've posted this before but think it's a really helpful list.
Can't claim the credit - copied from a FB post by a well respected trailer dealer:

Buying a trailer check list

When looking for a second hand trailer its important to actually know what your looking at.

1. Trailer overall condition. Is it clean inside and out has someone spent time looking after it. If the mudguards are held on with baler band and checker plate covers the lower half and the roof is green with algae the inside still has horse muck in it then be aware. An unloved outside is unlikely to be mechanically good.

2 Tyres: the trailer tyres are essential to you and your horse arriving alive at the end of your journey. The sidewall on tyres contains lots of information two important ones are i.e 165 13c , 175 13t these tell you the width (165 mm) and the wheel diameter (13 inch) the C or T or occasionally LT stands for commercial, truck and light truck which means they are designed to take more weight than standard car tyres. The other numbers will appear such as 4516 and this translates as the 45 week of 2016 or 1209 the 12th week of 2009. If someone tells you the trailer is a 2014 model but all the tyres are 2009 ask questions. When looking at tyres check for cracking in between the treads and on the sides. Any cracking is a sign of deterioration.

3. Floors: Thoroughly check any wooden floor as many have been replaced with marine ply which contrary to popular belief is not suitable for this purpose. Any rot you can see will be a lot greater when actually taken out.
Aluminium floors should be relatively maintenance free and safe however get underneath and check that someone hasn't just put checker plate over a rotten wood floor.

4. Side Panels: press, push and poke all the way around the edges anywhere you can depress a side panel is an indication of rot in the wooden core. On trailers such as Cheval Pullman the side panels are structural to the trailer and should have no rot in them.

5. Ramps: jump on them, your horse will, use your eyes and your heel to push in in around the edges to find any soft spots. Make sure the ramps are reasonably light to lift up and down.

6. Underneath. Take a mat and get on your knees and look under the trailer at the brake cables, are they rusty, bent, missing? Look at the back of each wheel is it very rusty and also are the electric cables all secure.

7. Tow head. Try the handbrake if it is the type without a release button how high does it come up. If nearly vertical or beyond likely to be either badly adjusted or worse non existent brakes. Try pushing the tow head back if it moves easily then the damper may be on its last legs.

8. Electrics: plug them in and try them on your car if possible. If not ask the seller to plug in.

Finally dont get hung up on age a well maintained older trailer with lots of paperwork is likely to be a long term better buy than something newer but unloved.

This is by no means an exhaustive list of problems but make a check list, look carefully and if not sure be prepared to walk away.

Get to know your local trailer supplier/dealer and always ask advice. They may offer a trailer pre purchase inspection for better peace of mind.

 

[SamBean]

We just bought a 510 from our local dealer and glad we did. He did say as we went to look at it that it needs a new ramp/ side panel or something so bear in mind when we look and it would be replaced and serviced if we bought it prior to collecting. It turned out it was the ramp that had been replaced but myself or my husband would not have picked up on this had we bought private and being honest couldn't work out when we looked either!

 

[Breagha]

I have a Richardson Supreme trailer. It has been a great trailer for is. The front panel went soft and rotted so OH took it out and replaced it with checkered plate as it was more a design fault that cause it to get wet etc.

 

[Leam_Carrie]

I've posted this before but think it's a really helpful list.
Can't claim the credit - copied from a FB post by a well respected trailer dealer:

Buying a trailer check list

When looking for a second hand trailer its important to actually know what your looking at.

1. Trailer overall condition. Is it clean inside and out has someone spent time looking after it. If the mudguards are held on with baler band and checker plate covers the lower half and the roof is green with algae the inside still has horse muck in it then be aware. An unloved outside is unlikely to be mechanically good.

2 Tyres: the trailer tyres are essential to you and your horse arriving alive at the end of your journey. The sidewall on tyres contains lots of information two important ones are i.e 165 13c , 175 13t these tell you the width (165 mm) and the wheel diameter (13 inch) the C or T or occasionally LT stands for commercial, truck and light truck which means they are designed to take more weight than standard car tyres. The other numbers will appear such as 4516 and this translates as the 45 week of 2016 or 1209 the 12th week of 2009. If someone tells you the trailer is a 2014 model but all the tyres are 2009 ask questions. When looking at tyres check for cracking in between the treads and on the sides. Any cracking is a sign of deterioration.

3. Floors: Thoroughly check any wooden floor as many have been replaced with marine ply which contrary to popular belief is not suitable for this purpose. Any rot you can see will be a lot greater when actually taken out.
Aluminium floors should be relatively maintenance free and safe however get underneath and check that someone hasn't just put checker plate over a rotten wood floor.

4. Side Panels: press, push and poke all the way around the edges anywhere you can depress a side panel is an indication of rot in the wooden core. On trailers such as Cheval Pullman the side panels are structural to the trailer and should have no rot in them.

5. Ramps: jump on them, your horse will, use your eyes and your heel to push in in around the edges to find any soft spots. Make sure the ramps are reasonably light to lift up and down.

6. Underneath. Take a mat and get on your knees and look under the trailer at the brake cables, are they rusty, bent, missing? Look at the back of each wheel is it very rusty and also are the electric cables all secure.

7. Tow head. Try the handbrake if it is the type without a release button how high does it come up. If nearly vertical or beyond likely to be either badly adjusted or worse non existent brakes. Try pushing the tow head back if it moves easily then the damper may be on its last legs.

8. Electrics: plug them in and try them on your car if possible. If not ask the seller to plug in.

Finally dont get hung up on age a well maintained older trailer with lots of paperwork is likely to be a long term better buy than something newer but unloved.

This is by no means an exhaustive list of problems but make a check list, look carefully and if not sure be prepared to walk away.

Get to know your local trailer supplier/dealer and always ask advice. They may offer a trailer pre purchase inspection for better peace of mind.

What a useful list