Bockmann Trailers?

[iris2006]

We have a Portax K with the front unload ramp. We got it from Maple Lane. We pull it with a 2008 Tacoma Sport 4x4 with a V6. We love it, and it pulls very nice. We live in Chicago and we take it to nearby states, the furthest we usually go is to Kentucky. We usually only bring one horse, and then we can put hay in the empty side, and we tie it to that wall so it won’t slide. We have taken 2 horses, but the hay then goes in the truck. The tack box is nice, holds 2 saddles and room enough for bridles and some saddle pads, etc. Trailer is very easy to hook up to truck and well built and the horses travel comfortably.

You don’t have to use the front unload ramp, but we have a horse who does not like to back out. They all jump off the front ramp the first few times; it’s fairly narrow. But they are better at it after a couple times.

The rubber is attached to the trailer floor, so you never have to clean under the rubber, like had to be done with the Brenderups. Our horses have not caused any damage inside the trailer, it is very sturdy.

Our 16 hand big draft cross fits OK. He is pretty snug in there, but doesn’t seem to bother him. And he can’t move around much, so I think that is good.

I noticed that they have come out with a new model with a small dressing area. I would definitely choose this model if it did not cost much more. It would be nice to have a little more storage space. I think there are also new models that are a little longer so there is a little more room in the front of the horses.

The only other Euro trailers I have seen in US is an Equi-Trek dealer in Portland. Those look really nice. There is another thread on here; someone on the Board bought one.

[soloudinhere]

Having been inside several of the smaller trailers, I would not recommend going much smaller than the big champion. I had originally decided on a Comfort, but it was just too small in real life.

[MegBackInSaddle]

Iris2006, thanks for the feedback! Sounds like these trailers are exactly what they purport to be, and that it would work well for my needs.

Soloudinhere, I appreciate the opinion! I definitely want to have a look for myself, as I’ve only seen them online at this point. Just spoke at some length with Marsha at Maple Lane. I’m lucky that hey’re only a little over an hour away, so after hubby gets his vehicle serviced next month, if it’s given the green light on being safe to haul (has a receiver, but we’ve never hauled anything with it), I’ll probably go check them out in person.

[Lusoluv]

Can’t remember who told me this, but “things in motion tend to stay in motion”. If I have an emergency or get hit, I don’t want my horse in a larger stall to get thrown around, possibly causing injury/falling or moving the trailer in an scary scenario.

When I first got my euro trailer, first thing barn owner commented was how narrow the stalls were. Wanted to know why didn’t I move the divider over to give my 1 horse the whole trailer. WHY?? My horse loads happily and can spread/brace legs for stability. The divider doesn’t go all the way down to the floor, and is slightly flexible to lean on if needed. I think stall is about 33" wide and for my 16.1hh sporthorse, that’s plenty. I reminded him that in his big 4-Star with movable stalls for 6-8 horses, that his 3 across setup made his stalls narrower than mine! And he has that configuration set most of the time since he won’t haul to shows with less than 5-6 horses. He didn’t have much to say after that…

Length of stall is important. Height of stall is important. Width is last on my list. Giving a horse “room to move around” is not on my list. Have you ever seen the shipping compartments airplanes use for horses?? And they are in those things much longer than any haul I’ll ever do!

[Jim_in_PA]

You are correct…stall length is more important than width.

[Gardenhorse]

I did not look at the Comfort in person. I looked at both the Champion and Big Champion. I think the regular Champion would have been fine for my horse. She is a 16 hand TB, so not particularly large or stocky. But when I was looking, the Big Champion was only about $600 more and I liked the extra length in front of the chest bar.

[demidq]

I have a Comfort model- really happy with it!
Great suspension so horse travels more comfortably, no rattling noises, and the longer ramp means horses load more easily. I also really like the screen option to close the back to keep out bugs and debris. Tows like a dream even with 2 horses.
I tow mine with a Hyundai Tucson- V6 motor. Before that, I used my husband’s Passat with turbo drive for a year. I had a long discussion with Marsha before I bought the trailer, and she checked the German VW specs for me as the NA specs said that it wasn’t possible to use the Passat to tow anything! No problem. Just make sure your wheelbase is long enough.
The main difference in the Euro trailers is that the weight is distributed over the axles instead of being supported on the tongue. That means the vehicle is only towing, not carrying the trailer. If you ask your ordinary mechanic if the SUV can tow a horse trailer, he will look at you as if you were crazy so tell him you will be towing a boat trailer or something. The brakes are hydraulic (“surge”) instead of electric which adds safety.
Good luck finding a used model! They seldom come up and they hold their value so don’t expect a bargain. LOVE mine!

[MegBackInSaddle]

I love that you towed it with a Passat! I’d read that, that they’re somewhat regularly towed by sedans in Europe. Did that raise eyebrows when you pulled up somewhere with it?

You guys aren’t actually helping. I’m kind of in love with the idea of one of these trailers. It’s a solid 3x what I was looking to spend on a trailer. But the way used ones get snapped up and kept off the market, they seem to hold their value pretty well. And the flexibility for our “hauler” vehicle for however long I own the trailer. There are just so many checks in the pro column. The only negative seems to be upfront cost.

And it’s the only trailer I’d even begin to consider buying new at this point (everything else is available used, haha) sigh Nice new shiny guaranteed thing holds a whole set of allures.

Gonna get hubby’s SUV checked over well, tell them we’re looking at hauling a boat, (Marsha mentioned that too), see what they say. Our Sante Fe is an old girl, '09. But really low miles (like 80k or something), do we’re not adverse to keeping her if she wants to keep chugging along happily. If she’s ship-shape, I’ve gotta at least go see some of these trailers, right? I’m within about an hour and a half of the only NA dealer.

[DogIsMyCopilot]

IF you do get posted to Europe, you could also consider bringing one back with you. If a trailer is older than 15 years, you can import it into Canada duty free. Shipping is ~$5000, maybe you could even write some of that off as moving expenses?
I know 15 years sounds old, but there are a lot of trailers available in Germany that are in really, really good shape and they are dirt cheap compared to the prices in Canada.

[4horses]

I’m not sure I see what is so special about them. For $6k I could buy a used Shadow all aluminum trailer that is lightweight to tow. For $2k, I could buy a tiny fixer-uper. Many older trailers are small and lightweight.

How well does fiberglass hold up in hot sunny conditions? Is this a trailer that will need repainting or special maintenance? If something does need repairing, how far are you from the dealership?

I thought about buying a brenderup but I wasn’t certain it was something that could be easily repaired. I believe the one I looked at had a crack on the exterior of the back door.

[soloudinhere]

@4horses

I’m not sure I see what is so special about them. For $6k I could buy a used Shadow all aluminum trailer that is lightweight to tow. For $2k, I could buy a tiny fixer-uper. Many older trailers are small and lightweight.

How well does fiberglass hold up in hot sunny conditions? Is this a trailer that will need repainting or special maintenance? If something does need repairing, how far are you from the dealership?

I thought about buying a brenderup but I wasn’t certain it was something that could be easily repaired. I believe the one I looked at had a crack on the exterior of the back door.

1. Brenderups were frp, not fiberglass, so they did crack/rot/warp like any other wood product over time.

2. Towing one is not anything like towing a 2h shadow. It’s not about the weight- my Beckmann weighed more than my Merhow - but how the trailer is balanced and the weight management requirements of the tow vehicle. Tongue weights make you need a much beefier vehicle to support the weight on the axle. The loaded tongue weight of my bockmann was under 200lbs while the loaded weight of my
   merhow was over 450.

My bockmann was all aluminum with a fiberglass roof. It was cooler inside than most trailers which is why brands like hawk also use fiberglass roofs.

[Gardenhorse]

I think they will hold up just as well as other trailers. While Bockmanns are relatively new to North America, they’ve been sold in Europe for over 50 years. The construction depends on the model - the Champion and Portax are aluminum with fiberglass roofs. I think some of the others are FRP. But, yes, there are certainly cheaper horse trailers out there. I thought the features of the Bockmann were worth the cost to me - others may not.

​

[shortenmyreins]

I have a Big Master. Love it.

It has the WCF shock system. I credit that for my horse self-loading after only a couple of trips on this trailer. Before that she would get on the trailer and fly back off.

When I moved my horse I had to drive down a fairly rough road. I looked in my mirror and the trailer was moving along super smoothly with no bounce.

Somewhere I had seen a video where they compared a Boeckmann with a different trailer - they had a little table with a glass of water in the back of the trailer. The difference in the amount of bouncing around was incredible. When they went over a set of train tracks the non-Boeckmann glass and table fell over, in the Boeckmann a bit of water bounced out.

I blogged about it here: https://grayflannelhorses.blogspot.com/2018/05/my-pferdeanhanger.html

[MegBackInSaddle]

Thanks for sharing the blog post, shortenmyreins! I read it, and it’s pretty much confirming everything I’m hearing.

Dogismycopilot, I doubt we’d want to bring anything so big back from Europe, but since there’s only a possibility we’d go, and not even a probability, and since I’m looking for a trailer for this season, kind of a moot point. Hopefully we stay within continental North America so we don’t have to make any of the big, difficult decisions Europe would entail! Though I have quite a few friends in Europe now, and I’d love to get over for a visit.

4horses, I’m considering one of these trailers because there just isn’t any comparison with most North American trailers when it comes to the tow vehicle. If I want a regular old used 2 horse, we’ll have to have a full-sized truck. That’s just a given. I really like the idea of the inertial braking and the freedom we’d have long-term in choosing more commute-friendly vehicles as a tow vehicle. Neither of us really wants a truck. If I don’t buy a Bochmann, I’ll be looking at much lower end trailers, more in the McBride 2-horse category.

I really love the idea of a Bochmann. sigh We’ll see. If our SUV is in solid shape to tow, I’m not sure I can talk myself out of buying one new. And hubby’s no “help!” He’s reasonable and I can talk him into anything remotely reasonable if I want it badly enough. Seeing how rarely these are available used, and how well they hold resale only adds to the “pro” column.

[MegBackInSaddle]

There are virtually no used Böchmanns. I have found a few used Brenderups that may be worth a look, but there all in the US. The Canadian dollar doesn’t go very far right now. :-/

[soloudinhere]

@MegBackInSaddle

There are virtually no used Böchmanns. I have found a few used Brenderups that may be worth a look, but there all in the US. The Canadian dollar doesn’t go very far right now. :-/

When I sold mine, I consigned it with a dealer in Virginia who sold it within a week to a buyer in California, for more than I paid for it. New is probably going to be the only way to fly especially since the importer cut back last year after the tariff situation went a little bananas.

for what it’s worth I looked at some brenderups when I bought my bockmann and there really is no comparison. Even the late model brenderups (I think the last imports were in 2011) were nowhere near the quality of even the cheaper bockmann models.

[SharonA]

@soloudinhere

I looked at some brenderups when I bought my bockmann and there really is no comparison. Even the late model brenderups (I think the last imports were in 2011) were nowhere near the quality of even the cheaper bockmann models.

Ohhhhhhh, SLIH, I’m hurt! And so is the B’upster (my Brenderup)! Here my 2010 B’up has towed my precious ponies all over New England, loyally {sniff} zipping along behind the family minivan and then a ….well, you know… “cooler” vehicle in the form of our SUV, never failing [sniff, sniff] its trailer-newbie owner, never failing its [sob] horses, stops smoothly when it’s supposed to stop, goes cheerfully when it’s supposed to go, cool in summer, warm (ish) in winter [well, I’m stretching here], quiet, easy to maneuver, useful for many other moving jobs [good for spouses], there for emergencies [sniff], there for the routine stuff, never needs anything but the most basic maintenance, and here you come along and just THROW it into the wreckage heap? OHHHH, the inhumanity!

I totally am just teasing you, SLiH. Just had to the defend the B’up in case it’s reading this board.

OP, make a budget and find a way and get a new Bochmann, already. Yes, these trailers are much more expensive, but, it will make trailering so much more pleasant, and I do not think that when you are lying on your deathbed, many decades from now, you’re going to be saying, “I’m so glad I bought a less-expensive trailer when really back in 2019 I wanted that Bochmann.”

There. Consider yourself enabled.

[MegBackInSaddle]

Soloudinhere, I feel like it’s kinda fated, since I’m within a hour and a half’s drive of the only North American dealer.

THANK YOU, SharonA! That’s what I needed, lol! Pretty sure I have hubby talked into a new trailer They seem to hold their value well, and like you, I’ll be a newbie at this trailering thing and want the easiest thing possible to tow.

[Gardenhorse]

@MegBackInSaddle

Soloudinhere, I feel like it’s kinda fated, since I’m within a hour and a half’s drive of the only North American dealer.

There are actually two US dealers as well. Traveled Lane Trailers in Maryland and a place in Texas. Since you are so close to Maple Lane, I’m sure that’s the best option for you. And they seem like really helpful people, based on previous COTHers’ experiences with them. But if others interested in Bockmanns are reading, just wanted to let them know there are other options in North America.

[MegBackInSaddle]

Good catch, Gardenhorse, thanks! I’d actually found the MD one, but had forgotten about it. Hadn’t heard of one in TX. (I read a LOT more on the forums than I post, so happy to have more general info.)