Clinic today. It’s only 1/2 hour away. Trailer is a 2 horse straight load with a shoulder divider. Chest bar bracket welds snaped off. There’s nothing sharp protruding. Should I haul her on the left without a chest bar or put her on the right side. I’m not sure when it happened so I’ve probably been hauling without the chest bar for at least a few trips! (Horse self loads so I just might not have noticed).
As long as the divider is structurally stable with the broken bar, it should be fine to haul on the right. I would definitely recommend making a habit of doing a “preflight” every time you put a horse on the trailer to head off any potential safety issues.
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Thanks, I plan on it from now on, but I haul a couple times a week and the trailer is only a year old. I did have to make a fairly sudden stop to avoid an accident a week ago but it’s not like I even burned rubber! I will let everyone know if Featherlite stands by their product and repairs it under warranty.
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Can you tie a lead rope up somehow to fashion a chest bar? It might not be possible but if it is - that would work to keep the horse where it needs to be. Not as a permanent fix, but to get you to the clinic and back. I hauled a friend’s horse and he bent the pins to my chest bar. I am not sure how but I was able to get the pins out and get them straightened. Luckily he did not do anything worse. Glad he went home!
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Nothing to tie to. The rivets popped out of the bracket. She loaded fine on the right and we made it there and back. Thanks for your suggestions
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Hauling on the right side can be fine. I had to do this a little while ago when there was an issue with the left side of my trailer. Sure, it comes with risks, but in my case I had to get to the vet.
Interestingly, when I lived in Germany, I noticed that a lot of people hauled on the right side. They thought it was better to have the horse away from oncoming traffic. Most did haul on the left side, and when I explained why it was preferable, those that hauled on the right said that they simply never thought of that. It was bizarre to see so many horses traveling on the right side of the trailer, but it is/was regularly done! Made me a bit nervous as many of their roads have no shoulder.
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Are you saying they just used Rivets to hold this bar in place???
I could be wrong, but it looks like they used rivets to hold the left bracket to the outside wall. I’m not sure if the outside wall bracket gave way which caused the post on the movable part of the bar to snap or vice versa. I’ll try to post pictures.
Definitely manufacturer defect!
FWIW, a couple of times (ok more that that probably) I’ve forgotten to shut the chest bar after I’ve loaded the horse and hung his hay net from the front hay net grommet. In all cases, the horse has been just fine. I am, however, a slow, cautious driver —probably you are too. If it were me, I’d load on the right side until I had the left side fixed. At manufacture’s cost!
have them correct the right side also as I suspect it was attached in the same manor
I am not an engineer but did work in equipment manufacturing for decades overseeing engineering teams… was that retainer attached to a structural member or just was rivetted to the side wall of the trailer?
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I think it was just riveted to the side wall. I would think there would have been more damage to the matting on the wall if it was attached to something structural.
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I am NOT an engineer but that sure sounds flimsy to me.
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Yes! It should not have broken from one hard stop. Horses are supposed to brace against it. That’s why it’s called a chest bar… hopefully featherlite will honor there warentee. I will let everyone know.
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From your picture, it looks like your chest bar was attached to sheet metal. To me that is a BIG no-no. Unless there is a design change your problem is going to recur. That hook needs to be WELDED to a structural upright, similar to the middle divider upright.
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That would be my guess. A company that has been in business as long as Featherlite should know better. This is my second Featherlite. I had the first for 20 years with no early problems and only a couple minor issues as it aged. But I wanted a dressing room and I had the cash. Starting to regret it.
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I would take it to a trailer expert to get it checked over thoroughly, and have a report in hand when you go back to Featherlite. Make them pay for the inspection too.
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When we were trailer shopping in 2018 we were looking at a brand new Featherlite. We were steered away from them (from a non partial person - he worked and made LQ in trailers) and said they were bought out a few years ago (I think he said by a car trailer company) and the trailers are not the same quality that they used to be. He won’t even work on a Featherlight trailer (as in build a LQ) as he didn’t want his name on it (Trail Boss).
I’m not sure of the age of your 2 horse, but it its around 2018 or newer, they are not built the same as your older Featherlight.
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I did not know that. Although, when I bought it, it was the only all aluminum, 2 horse step-up without a manger in the US. I drove from Indiana to Maryland to get it. It was also a new 2022 model in 2024, so I got a deal.
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