bumper pull trailers and hauling cart in truck

[myblackmorgan]

I am looking at the S & H Contender bumper pull - not sure about having all steel (this is a more rust resistant version but probably still heavy). I plan on putting the carriage in the bed of the truck, using an electric winch and ramps.

So two questions:

Anybody have an opinion on this trailer AND is it worth getting a longer tongue (standard is 30") so that the trailer can be swung out sideways to unload the carriage rather than having to unhook things.

My first carriage and first trailer, so any words of advice appreciated!

[system]

I am a lurker, but I have the S&H Contender. 2 horse slant load with a dressing room. I love my trailer. It does get rough loading and unloading the cart though. I usually pop the cart into my bed, hook up the trialer and go. Then, when I arrive at my destination, I have to unload the horse, un hook the trailer and then un load the cart. We don’t use a winch, just ramps. I can get it on the truck myself, but my husband usually has to help me get it off.

I have a Belgian, 17.3 hands, 2018 lbs. I trailer him with the divider out, and he fits great. I used to haul all of that with my 1/2 ton V6 Chevy Silverado, and it did great.

[Cartfall]

Hello, MBM,

My husband repairs trailers as a side line. He says that by extending the length of the tongue of the trailer you are throwing the balance of the trailer out of wack. It could put all the weight on the back of the trailer causing the truck to become light in the rear end or too much weight on the front of the trailer causing the truck to become light in the front end. Out on the highway with these conditions on your truck and trailer, your whole rig is susceptible to cross winds or tractor trailers going by (any big vehicle actually that pushes a lot of wind).

Without seeing the trailer, wheel placement, it is hard to say. He did say you need 12 to 15% of the total weight on the hitch of hte trailer. The only way to tell exactly is have the trailer weighed (perhaps at a local landfill who has a weight) and then with a scale weigh the downward force of the tongue. He does it with a bathroom scale and a board. Now we are beyond what I can easily tell you. I do know that by moving the wheels and axles forward some you get the weight corrected.

Now that you have all that technical stuff—if you are looking at a trailer, why not consider a 16 ft long stock trailer. I can put a marathon carriage in the front section, close the center gate and then the horse goes in the back.
I have even gotten brave enough to put carriage, horse and a small atv in with the center gate.

I am not familiar with the S&H brand, so aren;t a lot of help there.

Aluminum stock trailers were going for about 6 or 7 thousand a couple of years ago here in Florida. With today’s economy I bet you can haggle them down somewhat wherever you are.

Hope this helps.

[HackneyHorseDriver]

For the truck make sure you get an 8’ bed not a 6 or you won’t be able to close the tail gate and secure the carriage.

If hauling a two wheeler get a roof rack for the top of the truck to hold the shafts up and to tie down with. Also use ratchet ties for securing the carriage forward and back.

Almost everyone I’ve seen that hauls carriage in the back of the truck unhooks the trailer before loading or unloading carriage. I’ve seen a handful try not to at shows and it wasn’t pretty.

Since I haul alone I went with a 16" steel stock trailer. I can put two horses in the front and a cart in back and one in truck or carriage in front box of trailer and horse in back. The trailer was purchased used, stripped, undercoated, repainted, and gravel guard added. All total it coast less then $3500. New steel trailers are not undercoated and thus become rust buckets quite quickly. Also have a tool box on the tounge of the trailer for locks, chocks, small tools, and emergency gear. I’ve used this set up for seven years. If you wish PM me and I can send you a photo or two.

Good luck,
Denise

[SmokenMirrors]

Unless you have a side ramp to get the horse off in an emergency, I would caution you to never put your horses in the front and your carts and gear in the back. If you get into an accident and cannot get those animals off that trailer, your in for a nightmare.

We bought a 24ft Exiss stock trailer, aluminum, and it is a gooseneck. My village cart fits well in the nose of the trailer, with the shafts pointed into the area of the nose that you can put smaller items. We pad the shafts, the front of the cart bumps up to the wall so that too has a well paded 4x6 it sets up against and we rachet down the frame of the cart to the floor. My husband can also get my smaller cart I use to work Smoke in as well and as both my harness, skid, single tree, etc. and we still have the two back areas to have a horse in, as I much prefer my draft mare in back in case we have to quickly unload her.

I personally would suggest a nice stock trailer instead of a bumper pull. It would be easier to maneuver, you can get more things in them, and they have more room than a bumper pull trailer. But, to each his own. We put down a bit more money and in the long run will have something that will last and we won’t have to sell and upgrade later on.

Good luck.

[Gestalt]

Everybody has an opinion :lol: Mine is the opposite of Belplosh. I have a 16’ stock trailer (gn) and hauled horse and cart. Did not like that set up, so I recently was able to purchase a nice 2 horse bumper pull. Yep, loading and unloading the cart is harder, but I like this much better. The gn never rode well because my horse is big and I had him in the back stall and the cart and supplies went into the front.

[Cartfall]

A stock trailer can indeed be a bumper pull!! A 16 foot BP can take a carriage and horse easily. Gotta watch the height though.

Horse trailers are so personal–slant vs straight or open stock, ramp vs step up, one door or two—it goes on and on!! Everyone has their own perfect idea of a trailer.

Good luck

[RidesAHaflinger]

@Cartfall;3110716

A stock trailer can indeed be a bumper pull!! A 16 foot BP can take a carriage and horse easily.

I was thinking the same thing: bumper pull and stock trailer are not mutually exclusive terms. I plan to get a 16’ bumper pull stock trailer in the future that will accomodate my marathon carriage and the two ponies. Bumper pull so that I can still have the use of the truck bed should I want to haul a second carriage for dressage and cones. It’s definitely a matter of personal preference/needs when it comes to trailers.

[goodhors]

Make sure you have enough truck engine to control the load behind. The 6cyl. engines can be iffy in any kind of hill and a load behind. A half-ton truck is really not the truck it used to be, not up to pulling and managing a loaded horse trailer.

You need a truck that can STOP the load behind if your brakes go out, road is wet. Power for when you get hit with the blast of air semis leave behind as they blow by you. Will you be able to maintain highway speeds with the trailer behind you in hills, rising roads? I couldn’t when I was pulling one 900# horse in a steel trailer with my tired F-150. Previously I had only hauled in flat ground, had no problems until this long trip north!

If you do go with a bumper hitch, get the anti-sway (also called load-equalizing) bars and the hitch receiver that holds them. They are an immense help in controlling the load behind, well worth the cost. Use them EVERY trip with the trailer. Make sure the trailer hitch is a good one, capable of handling the load of horse trailer. All frame hitches are NOT EQUAL! If you are buying a new hitch, have the hitch mounted so trailer tongue is about 2 inches above level, with empty trailer hitched on the ball. With tongue above level when hitched, the tongue will drop to level when horse is loaded, giving horse a more comfortable ride. Loaded trailer with tongue very uphill or downhill, the horse will be constantly shifting to keep balanced. Very tiring way to ride over any distance.

We have a wonderful winch from Sears. It has been on 3 different trucks over the years. Probably could load the carriage by itself by now! I understand they have cordless remotes now, sure would be the way to go with a winch. I would probably brighten up the remote to be able to locate it easily during loading! Maybe buy a spare remote to have, in case of an accidental loss or damage problem.

[LisaW]

For the past 4 years, I used a BP 2-horse straightload trailer with a small tack area pulled by an F-150 with a 6 1/2 foot box. Marathon carriage or road cart went in the bed of the truck. The trailer has a regular hitch and I was told I couldn’t unload the cart without un-hooking. For 3 years the routine was: arriving at show, unloading horse, unhooking trailer, pulling truck ahead, unloading carriage, backing truck up, re-hooking trailer in order to tie horse.
Then, I had two horses and a carriage to return from a show. Only issue was one horse and the carriage were being dropped off first, second horse was going on to another farm.
On an impulse(and because un-hooking the trailer wasn’t going to be at all convenient), I tried almost “jack-knifing” the trailer. Lo and behold, the curve of the aluminum ramp allowed it to rest on the tongue just low enough to un-load the carriage. The one ramp rests about 3" off the ground, but the wheels easily accomodate this gap.
From that point, arriving at shows was as simple as backing up a few feet!
I just measured - from the centre nose of my trailer to the front edge of the tongue is 36". The trailer is 5’7" wide, with a rounded nose. Ramps are also 6’6" and arched.
Just bought my dream trailer - GN, 2H straighload with ramp at the back, 7 feet in front of horses for carriage, with 5ft wide side ramp Now my horse is lame!

[Yip]

Lisa W. your setup sounds like what I’m looking for. Can you please tell me what the trailer brand is, and whatever details you can think of? Thanks!

Wendy

[joharavhf]

[QUOTE=Yip;3112093]
Lisa W. your setup sounds like what I’m looking for. Can you please tell me what the trailer brand is, and whatever details you can think of? Thanks!

Wendy[/QUOTE]

I am thinking of upgrading to this type of set-up sometime soon. I currently have a Kiefer built 2 H BP with a tack room and a GMC 2500HD - 6 foot bed. I have been told that my cart will fit in that bed, LOL…haven’t gotten it yet!

Anyways, I know Kiefer sells a trailer like the one mentioned about. They call it the Genesis 2+1. That’s what I get if I have enough money one day.

[myblackmorgan]

thanks guys

I have printed off all this wonderful info. Thank you very much.

I’ve changed my mind about the S&H in favor of a Trails West, which is proving impossible to find quickly enough used. They sell in a heartbeat.

I know a 16’ is optimal, but this is my first trailer and I am afraid of ending up in a ditch trying to back up. Plus I’d have to check if a Ford F150 could handle it - as mentioned, travelling on the flats is much different than travelling over some hills, let alone mountains. So I think I am better off small.

And I know GN handles easier than BP, but we use our truck for hauling landscaping materials as well. I’ve seen removable winches but not removable gooseneck attachments - correct me if I am wrong.

Thanks again!

[mares_tails]

gooseneck hitch options

[QUOTE=myblackmorgan;3114548]
I’ve seen removable winches but not removable gooseneck attachments - correct me if I am wrong.[/QUOTE]
You can get hitches that fold/drop down and leave the truck bed flat.

For example here or here

.

[kearleydk]

My two cents

Go gooseneck. Far safer to tow. Backing up takes a bit of practice but then since you are new to trailering backing the BP would also be a learning experience.

see the above post about gooseneck balls that drop down. Some installers throw a steel plate in the bed of the truck and that’s that but it does not have to be that way. With a little more work the ball can be truly flush with the bed.

also follow Goodhorse’s advice on the size of the truck. the goose neck would help a lot in terms of having the trailer throw the truck around but there is no substitute for shear mass in the truck when it comes to stopping safely. I am sometimes laughed at when I tow a 2 horse gooseneck with my 4500 GMC but that’s OK. My horses and my family arrive safe and sound every time. You really can’t have too much truck but you can sure have too little.

[SmokenMirrors]

Kearlydk…good idea about mentioning the ball to the gooseneck that drops down into the bed, that is what we have. There is a lever that we turn in our wheel well and it releases the ball, we pull it out, turn it over and then turn the lever back and it is locked down tight. We had a company here in town who specializes in those kind of hitches install ours, total was about $600 and some change.

We pull our 24ft stock trailer with an F250 that we had a tow package on, pulls like a dream, we have no issues with it and even going up hills and around curves, our truck handles it all very well. We do have a diesel and I think it does a lot better miles and towing wise than a gas truck, but that is our opinion.

As for backing, I have seen my husband back and turn in some incredibly tight areas with our truck and trailer and am sold on a gooseneck. That is a big deciding factor for us, was the mobility, we also use our trailer to get hay every year, and you sure cannot back a slant load trailer or a small two horse with hay, or even enough to not have to make several trips.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a279/teampennin2/Newphotos110.jpg

[LisaW]

http://www.grantontrailers.com/Inventory%20htm/2006-024.htm

This is what I just bought, Windstar model by Trail-et.
Key factors:
Light enough that I didn’t have to trade in my truck(F-150 Triton V-8, heavy duty towing package, had since new, low miles).
Price - including gooseneck ball in truck and tie-downs for the carriage was well under $20K
One of the few trailers with a 5’ side ramp - most are 4’, marathon carriage is too wide for that.
My horse prefers a straight-load - loads and travels OK in a slant, but doesn’t stay quiet just standing. On a straight-load, you could leave her inside all day, she’ll just munch hay.
7 ft wide would have been a bit easier(no need to turn the marathon carriage), but this one was a great deal. Extra width would have been stretching the budget and weight more than I wanted.

It’s simple, no separate tack room - advantage to that is road-cart shafts can rest in gooseneck.

We also hope to do some overnight trail rides, so the carriage area will do double duty as a camper.

We could put another horse(or even two) up front, but that is not the plan. One horse and carriage or two horses and show/camping equipment.

Impatiently waiting for the snow to melt and my horse to get sound GRRRRRR!!!