Balanced Ride trailers compared to the big box brands?

[BroncoMo]

I’ve done some searching. Looking for thoughts and reviews on Balanced Ride trailers in comparison to bigger name trailers; more specifically 4 Star and Adam. I’ve seen these in person, I have not seen Balanced Rides in person.

Looking for thoughts regarding craftsmanship, durability, quality (especially welds), etc.

I’ve been longing for an Adam 2+2 and waiting for the financial situation to be right. But I stumbled across the Balanced Ride trailers today and for $20k less, I’m intrigued. If the quality is there, I can likely get the customization and upgrades that I want for still substantially less than I was expecting to spend. Obviously I don’t want to sacrifice quality and I DO believe you get what you pay for. Curious to hear from those who have seen/experience with ALL these brands.

[fordtraktor]

I believe Balanced Ride trailers are made by Hawk. My Hawk has been very durable.

[Greys]

I have a 15-year-old Hawk that pulls beautifully and has been durable and reliable, and remains my “daily driver” for local errands.

Last year I purchased a larger Balanced Ride after considering both 4star and Adam; I have the same expectations for its utility and longevity.

They’re all nice trailers; Risa’s communication through (and after) the process sealed the deal on the Balanced Ride for me. I have a lot of custom features on mine that we had extensively spoken about, and Risa was patient and knowledgeable throughout.

greys

[DMK]

I think hawk trailers are great and last as many years as an all aluminium trailer. I also think wood floors or rumbar is probably less vibration than all aluminum. The only “con” (and to me it is well offset by the price) is that you need to be much more diligent about aluminum over steel frame trailers maintenance. Be prepared to do paint touch up on the interior annually and inspect the frame regularly. Obviously you should inspect ANY trailer regularly, but with steel/aluminum contact points you need to be more aware of corrosion and rust and act accordingly. But like I said, that price differential more than makes up for an extra hour or two of work a year!

[Greys]

I haven’t owned an aluminum trailer, so I can’t speak about the ride quality, but I find my trailers very stable and my horses happy in them.

I agree about the maintenance; I have rumber floors in my Hawk, so I don’t have to worry about cleaning under mats. I do always clean out the trailer after use, and weather permitting, hose down the interior and pressure wash the floor.

I also use a leaf blower to blow out any water so that no water stands or is trapped under the side wall rubber. As you mention, that intersection of steel frame and aluminum walls is a potential point of failure.

I have the trailer’s running gear serviced and the trailer checked overall annually; my shop uses a spray-on coating, much like Fluid Film, to inhibit corrosion and repel rodents. So far so good.

And yes, I find the small bit of extra maintenance is more than offset by the value!

greys

[fivestrideline]

Balanced Ride is Hawk (or was, when I looked into them years ago, but I don’t believe it has changed). Made by them, same box and build. You should be able to get your hands on a Hawk for comparison pretty easily!

[Cowgirl]

I have had a Hawk for 20 years and just orderd the Balanced Ride. I was intrigued by 4Star and Cimarron because we have local dealers and I see lots of them, and there is a hype (they are overpriced). They 4Stars/Cimarron (very similar IMO) have an exposed aluminum skin, typically, which you have to use special cleaners on. OTOH, 4star offers a “quiet ride” option with rubber gaskets on al the moving metal parts, so it stays quiet. In my region, however (high dry arid), rubber tends to corrode pretty quickly. I find the ramps on the 4Star very steep. I also never have gotten a straight answer on whether they are insulated. The Balanced Ride/Hawk are double walled and insulated. In 20 years, I have only had to replace some tie backs, and pads, reline the ramp with marine wood and new matting (bought from Hawk), and replace some reflecters and a jack. That, in my mind, is pretty impressive. It has been exposed to MANY MANY hail storms and doesn’t have dents. A wood floor is much more horse friendly than aluminum with a coating. The wood floor on my Hawk had been inspected annually and I’ve never had an issue. I like the fiberglass roof in the Hawk/Balanced Ride as I think it is cooler. The rear facing configuration is more horse friendly. I think it might be more roomy and the ramps are not as steep in the Balanced Ride as the 4Star. The 4 Star has more prestige locally, I think because they are way overpriced. There are more windows in the Balanced Ride/Hawk (but of course, you can probably add as many as you want). You should look on both websites and see if you can find the blueprints (Hawk has them and they will be similar for Balance Ride) so you can see the spatial configuration. People who have Hawks are very loyal; same is true for 4Star and Cimarron. If they hadn’t raised the price on the 4Star/Cimmaron (Adams is very similar), I might have made the effort to find out about the insulation, but when they raised the price $20k, there was no contest for me. Also, I have people asking me if I will sell my two horse bumper pull Hawk that is 20 years old ALL THE TIME. I am sure I will get 75% of what I paid for it 20 years ago.

[BroncoMo]

I live out west and they just aren’t that common.

[BroncoMo]

That’s a good point about rubber coating. I too live in an arid climate. Granted I thought quiet ride was plastic. My trainer had a 4 Star with what I thought was quiet ride; now that I think about it, that may have just been the standard chest bar latch mechanism…

Unfortunately the Balanced Ride website doesn’t have a ton of pictures of the inside. But I do like the idea of reverse load. Especially if they can customize the front box to be two reverse load as well.

The price point is very intriguing. I just want to make sure I’m not skimping on quality or craftsmanship. I was all ready to drop more than twice what I paid for my truck, on a new trailer. But I’ve now opened a can of worms that has me questioning everything….

I also like what I see from Gore. But I hear great things about Risa’s customer service.

[clanter]

@Cowgirl

I am sure I will get 75% of what I paid for it 20 years ago.

you just may be under pricing your current trailer, we sold our fifteen year old two horse bumper pull for more than what had paid for it without advertising

[CLB15]

Balanced Ride trailers are made by Hawk- Hawk’s quality reputation and Risa’s design ingenuity. I’ve had 2 in the last 7 years (sold one to downsize)- Risa’s customer service is second to none, and the trailers- with the outlined standard specs on different models, are super customizable.

As for replacing an older trailer, I’ve sold two horse trailers since Covid started (my big BR and another trailer for a friend) and feels like year-over-year the used trailer prices have crept up to the point where they’re probably selling for more than they cost new- and I mean the oldies but goodies of early 2000s & 1990s vintage!

[Pezanos]

I don’t know anything about trailer design as my Balanced Ride is only my 2nd trailer but it is so incredibly horse friendly, cool, quiet, and comfortable. It feels quite heavy to pull (I have the 2 horse BP)- I think the side ramp makes it tongue heavy. I have enough truck so that’s not an issue. Risa is fabulous to work with and I’d buy a trailer from her any day and heartily recommend her to others.

[Critter]

I have a newer Hawk that was ordered during the pandemic through Risa (who does the Balanced Ride)…I downsized a bit from a 4 star 2+1. My horses never rode relaxed in the 4 star…and it was noisy, despite having the upgrades. The Hawk is a much smoother ride and the horses seem more comfortable. I had a Hawk prior to the 4 star, which is why I went back. It does need more maintenance than the 4 star did, but that’s the trade off for a trailer the horses are much happier traveling in.

Risa was super to work with and made some great suggestions as I took a 3 horse slant and added room from the dressing room to the stalls, plus some other features (like a ramp on the first stall).

[Cowgirl]

Risa has a ton more pictures. I asked to see a lot more pictures of the box stall so I could figure out if I wanted extra ties and such and she sent me the photos AND photos of customer orders with extra ties.

[Cowgirl]

Why do you think it needs more maintenance?

[DMK]

All trailers need maintenance, but ALL aluminum skin over steel frame needs a bit more diligent management due to potential contact point issues. As stated above, we really are talking a few more hours a year as long as you stay on top of it.

[FjordBCRF]

Galvanic corrosion or bimetallic corrosion can happen between the steel and aluminum. One metal corrodes in preference to the other that it is in contact with through an electrochemical magic.

[FjordBCRF]

@Cowgirl

I was intrigued by 4Star and Cimarron because we have local dealers and I see lots of them, and there is a hype (they are overpriced).

I just purchased a new 4Star. I found looking at new comparable brands there really wasn’t that much of a price difference; even lesser reputable brands were darn near pretty close to the sticker on mine. I haven’t heard a bad thing about 4Stars and that is worth a lot to me. I know a few people with Hawks that really like them however, I went the all aluminum route due to the area I live in literally being called the Rust Belt.

[Critter]

As @DMK and @FjordBCRF mentioned above. So, it is a wood floor under the mats. And we’ve already seen some rusting in specific areas…which we’ve been managing and doing touch up painting as needed. None of this was unexpected though. So it is a trade off, which we didn’t have to do with the 4 star. When we got the trailer, we took the mats out and added some waterproofing to the floor, just as a precaution. When we had the Hawk in the past we would periodically take the mats out, powerwash the floor and waterproof it again.

[Hattie]

I own a GN Balanced Ride. I’ve owned 3 Hawk manufactured trailers (including this BR). The only rust I had was surface rust on the scratched chest/butt bar connections. My painted steel interior walls always have looked immaculate. I do admit that I’m OCD about keeping my trailer clean, waxed, and maintained. That being said, I have no issue with a well made steel/aluminum panels trailer. Years ago, I had a Hawk GN 2+1 that was involved in a head on accident when a driver going 45mph lost control on a wet curve. My crew cab dually was totaled and my trailer was hit going from the front left side down to the axles when the car flipped around. The bed of my truck was pulled up 10” where the hitch was attached to the ball. The horses were completely fine except for bent breast bars.

Risa, of Happy Trails Trailers, arranged with the insurance company to have my trailer transported from Florida to the factory in Wisconsin to check the frame and replace the aluminum panels. The frame was not damaged. The safety of their design and customer response is enough for me to continue to purchase from them.