Axle fell off my horse trailer! Anyone else?!

[Boomer]

So I hauled over to meet a friend to trail ride and as I turned to pull in to the parking area, the trailer tilted wildly and I thought the tire was falling off - until I got out and saw the entire axle had come off!! This is a 2000 Hawk 3h w/lq’s. I bought the trailer used and know that it previously lived in PA.

I was counting our 9 lives this didn’t happen on the highway!

Thankfully my friend gave my horse a ride home.

US Rider sent a tow service and he said the welds had broken loose. I followed the tow service (who carried the axle) to their shop on the remaining axle since the trailer was empty and it is Sunday, so the trailer repair shop isn’t open and their lot is fenced, so I couldn’t get in to leave it anyway.

Has anyone had this happen?! I am thinking it’s time for a new trailer!! Or am I just over reacting and re-welding will fix things?

Freaked out, but thankful me and my horse are ok!

[beowulf]

It depends on the trailer’s construction and if any damage was done to the axle… Talk to your trailer repair mechanic and they will tell you - as long as you took it to a professional trailer repair shop you should be okay.

This will make you feel better… when I was 16/17 I was bringing my gelding back from a lesson in a stock trailer… I’d driven trailers since I was legally able to do so but a squirrel ran into the road and I didn’t want to swerve or step on the brakes so I angled the truck away from it - not very drastically (luckily I was only going about 20mph) but enough that the trailer end had unfortunate contact with a telephone pole that was literally 1 inch away from the road…

I popped … no… ripped… the axle right off… Horse was ok, squirrel was ok… never avoiding an animal in the road again if there is a trailer behind me.

Easy fix though - man that owned the property I pulled over in front of had a garage and came out w/ some welding tools - my father came, I unloaded the horse, and they fixed it in under 2 hrs.

[Quelah]

I had this happen recently with my Hawk. In the trailer’s defense, it has a LOT of miles on it. It wasn’t that the welds broke, it was that the frame ripped, or broke, depending on how you want to phrase it. It broke in one place, axle loose, THANK GOD my husband was here when I was backing the trailer in and yelled STOP! He saw, as I was backing up, that the tires were moving closer together. I am very grateful to my trailer (it has very good ju jus) that it did not dump me on the road with horses in the trailer. In retrospect, it had happened a couple of weeks prior, that’s when I had a light go out and it wasn’t the bulb. I had crawled around the trailer to trace out the short but hadn’t gotten really into it and everything looked fine, just hadn’t actually pulled the tires off and looked behind them, which is where the broken piece of frame had pinched the wires.

Be interesting to know on your trailer if the welds broke or the frame did, ask your repair guy if you wouldn’t mind

Husband bolted it back together (he’s very handy) and I took it to trailer repair place. They welded in a heavy duty piece of angle iron the length of the horse compartment frame on both sides. Good to go. It was broken in one place, and cracked at the other three axle attachments.

The rest of the trailer is in perfect shape, the frame is now stronger than it was. Interestingly, the floorboards (trailer is an 06) are PERFECT.

[Boomer]

[QUOTE=Quelah;8181759]
I had this happen recently with my Hawk. In the trailer’s defense, it has a LOT of miles on it. It wasn’t that the welds broke, it was that the frame ripped, or broke, depending on how you want to phrase it. It broke in one place, axle loose, THANK GOD my husband was here when I was backing the trailer in …
Be interesting to know on your trailer if the welds broke or the frame did, ask your repair guy if you wouldn’t mine

.[/QUOTE]

I will definitely let you know what the shop says.

This trailer has a lot of miles on it too. The previous owners (who had stickers all over the trailer, so it was easy to find out about them - they stood a stallion) hauled a lot and until recently, I hauled a lot because I lived in MS where you haul (for me it was at least 2+ hours one way) to anything English. Here in SC I am hauling a lot, but generally 20 minutes gets me to a lot of horsey stuff!

The trailer is at the tow shop until tomorrow since nothing is open today. So it will be later in the week before I find out anything.

[Boomer]

OMG! At least you were not going really fast! Glad you and your pony (and the squirrel) were ok!

There was a post on one of the other forums about people trail riding their high priced horses, now I’m thinking “maybe they should think about how the high priced horse gets to the trail / show” ; )

[WildandWickedWarmblo]

Always have a profession check the axles when you buy a used trailer. Don’t know if yours was damaged before you bought it, but it should have been checked back then. Know some people who have bought used trailers and had them break down on the interstate. Glad that yours made it to the parking area in Aiken. And glad that neither you nor your horse was injured.

[beowulf]

[QUOTE=Boomer;8181780]
OMG! At least you were not going really fast! Glad you and your pony (and the squirrel) were ok!

There was a post on one of the other forums about people trail riding their high priced horses, now I’m thinking “maybe they should think about how the high priced horse gets to the trail / show” ; )[/QUOTE]

the only thing that wasn’t okay was my teenaged self’s sense of pride… I was downright tortured for years for that

I’d definitely be very upfront with your mechanics - stress that now you are considering a new trailer and if they think that the trailer is salvagable or not - definitely have them check the rest of the trailer too, if you can… frames, wiring, floors, etc.

[Mango20]

I think I’ll take a good look under my 2000 Hawk tonight!

[Pocket_Pony]

You can have the axles replaced. I just had the whole wheel drum fall off of my EquiSpirit trailer . . . just as we were pulling out of the driveway to take it to the trailer shop for a service. The repair guys had to search long and hard to find a match for the drum because they no longer make that model. The choice was to replace the wheel drum (not easy to find all the parts) or replace the axles. I went for the wheel drum but might as well have just gone with the axles - it probably would have been easier and just the same amount of money.

I would guess that if the frame of your trailer is in good shape then replacing the axles will be the thing to do and you’ll be good as new. Cheaper than buying a new trailer and you’d still be getting new parts (the most important ones).

[Boomer]

[QUOTE=Quelah;8181759]

…Husband bolted it back together (he’s very handy) and I took it to trailer repair place. They welded in a heavy duty piece of angle iron the length of the horse compartment frame on both sides. Good to go. It was broken in one place, and cracked at the other three axle attachments.

.[/QUOTE]

Interesting you said this about the angle iron. I took the trailer to the shop today and one of the guys said I that if I had bought the trailer directly from Hawk, that I should raise hell.

He says for 5000 lbs axle, they should put exactly what you said - re-enforcing angle iron. If it had smaller axles, it would be ok without the additional angle iron.

I am thinking the trailer came from the factory just like it is - two, 5,000 lb axles w/o any structural reinforcement. Pretty sure the plate says 5,000 lb axles.

[Boomer]

[QUOTE=Mango20;8182643]
I think I’ll take a good look under my 2000 Hawk tonight![/QUOTE]

How did it go with your trailer? OK I hope.

[Quelah]

Boomer was it the welds or the frame that broke on yours?

[enjoytheride]

Why don’t you talk to the Hawk people and find out if this is a common issue or if they have made modifications since then? I’ve seen trailers from the 80s and 90s that are in great shape.