Trailer ideas

[tanbarkguy]

The time has come to ditch the old titan trailer and upgrade.  What are everyones ideas on it?  What brand and add ons should I make sure ot add?  Featherlite is the closest dealer but have a pretty handy machinist who should be able to fix any of them.  Needs to be practical but but still have enough size to handle an a growing show load as well as regular ranch work?  thanks everyone.

 

[blackcows]

We have a 20 foot stock combo that we really like, it has a 4 foot dressing room on the front and a 16 foot livestock compartment on the back.  Several companies make them and you can also get a larger size.  We show cattle and horses and it worked great for both, we recently also purchased a horse trailer so the stock combo no longer has to do double duty.  What I really like is that the dressing room can be used as a permenant tack room on the trailer, we keep the showbox, some fans, fan stands, buckets, and other stuff always loaded and ready to go, no hauling from barn to trailer and back.  We keep it close enough to the cattle at home that we can get stuff out if needed.

 

[Silver]

The toughest trailer you can buy is Trailman. We have an 8ft wide model and you can pack lots of cows in there. Not many features other than a big overshot and dome lights. Really tough trailer and a great design on the channeled sides. I will warn you though if you get a trailer that big and that heavy you need an even bigger truck. Check out the Trailman before you go buy one.

 

[advocate]

Best one I ever pulled was an 8x28 eby with one stationary and one rolling cutgate it was cool

 

[Hilltop]

We purchased a 7 1/2 x 22 Eby and we love it. It has a rolling gate and we added a stationary gate.It has three interior lights, tie rails, nad back up lights. I wish we would of got a few tie loops on the back to fasten panels to when pasture loading. If there would of been a 24' I am sure we would of purchased it.
We may not of ordered the rolling gate but it was in the trailer already. I think it will be nice though because we can set the divider back to where the tack ends.Wish it were another 4" off the floor though.
We did like the combo trailers but we could only find a 7' wide and we wanted 7'6".
Pulls like a dream but we still have not had it filled up for a run.
We had thought about and looked at a few other makes but with making quite a few gravel road miles we deceided to go with the EBY. Right after we said we would take this trailer we were at a show and I looked a few other that were there. The gravel had totally destroyed the first 5 or 6 feet of cross members and on a Featherlite the front of the trailer was already pushed out and it was seperating from the floor.
If you never leave pavement almost any will work so it rally depends on what you will do woth it as to the make and options you will want.

 

[BCCC]

show load as well as regular ranch work? 

theres goes featherlite! If using for ranch work, get a Barret, Wilson, or Eby. Always buy from a company that makes a cattle pot.(all of which I named do)

 

[drl]

What about Elites durability?

 

[Silver]

I'm being dead serious if you want a really tough no nonsense trailer look at a trailman.

http://www.mcclivestock.com/images/Walker%20Trailman%2022%20ft%20trailer.JPG

Here's one take a look at it and notice the big difference in the sides. The ones on trailman are way stronger because of its ribbed design. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles, but if you want to ranch work their the best. We have had one since 2001 and when we first got it we took it and got the exterior rhino lined to prevent rust and rock chips. Then we put in tie racks, got to oversized axles and even bigger springs to go with and you then have one sweet trailer.

 

[pjkjr4]

When I bought a trailer last year, I had a list of things I wanted. The biggest for me was a side ramp. The top thing on the list for my wife was a tack room so the kids could have a clean place to change clothes. There are times now when I wish that I had a ramp on the back for the showbox, chute, generator, etc., but for the most part I'm happy with what I have.

If you're not in a huge hurry to buy one, the next show you go to, look at some of the other trailers that are there, and talk to the people that own them. More than likely, they'll tell you what they like and dislike about what they are pulling.

 

[blackcows]

I would also consider size and don't assume that bigger is always better.  My stock trailer is a 20 foot and my horse trailer is 28 foot (it has an LQ).  I can take my 20 foot trailer about anywhere...I can turn it around in an intersection and get it in a lot of spots.  While the horse trailer is only 8 feet longer it certaily seems much longer, I have to think about where I am going to turn it and where I am going to park it.  If you need a 24 foot or longer than by all means that is what you need to purchase but if not you can still stick a lot of cattle on a 16 or a 20.