Shopping for a trailer, would appreciate input!
I think I want a 2h GN with side ramp, not 2+1. I want the ease and extra room offered by the side ramp, but not as much extra length as the +1 adds. I will likely never haul more than 1 horse and likely not more than within a 3-5 hour radius. Will show out of the trailer, and haul with a 1 ton.
Will I regret not just going for the +1? Do you love your 2h with side ramp? Share all your insights, please!
Just a note on a ramp -
I borrowed a Featherweight 2 horse stock trailer with a rear ramp. The ramp was terribly heavy and I could barely lift it. I’m am old and maybe you are not but that is one reason I will never buy a trailer with a ramp.
Also, the horse doesn’t have to “commit” to getting in with a ramp like they do with a step up. Of course your horse might hop right in and it wouldn’t be an issue. Especially with a side load.
Well, I have a 2H gooseneck with a back ramp, which was pretty much what I was looking for in reducing the size of the 6 horse I was pulling. BUT, unless you are looking at buying NEW for big bucks, you are limited in what you can find second hand, which is what I found. Mine is not a side ramp. But if it is what you want for sure, it sounds like a custom made situation. Mine has a back ramp, but I took out the partition and chest bars… so it’s a box stall. I could haul three in there loose together if I wanted to (had to). But I usually just haul one, so this box stall works for me. They can turn around in there if they want to. If you are looking to get this trailer made especially for you, you can order up anything you like, and a trailer builder can make it for you, at a cost.
My trailer BEFORE the six horse was a two horse with a side ramp, which I did love. But we had it built that way… well, “renovated” that way. It was previously an insulated 16 foot deck trailer with 8 feet of headroom and a reefer unit on it, for hauling produce and weighed 6000 lbs empty. Built in 1964. Atco. We renovated it several times, first with a back ramp and a camper in front, then ripped the camper floor space out, and made it a side load, come up the ramp, turn the butt over a bit, and back into the 2 stalls, the entire floorspace for horses. Unload forwards. It rode like a bus. Horses loved it. I pulled that trailer a lot, for several decades. But the ribs were rotting out of it, and it was no longer really safe. So we cut the box off it entirely, and still have it as a flatdeck farm trailer for taking round bales off the field. I’ve owned it for… nearly 50 years (yikes). If you are lookng to get one built, this configuration is quite nice, for sure. If you can find one second hand like this, and it is in your price range, bonus. Good luck!
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I love my 2 horse with side ramp. I would maybe put a little bit more space in front of the breast bar than I did (ordered custom and should have snuck another 6" in), but literally so nice to work out of. I considered doing a 2+ .5 where I could still have stud gates but was nervous about the length on the floor due to my driveway. I have 19’ on the floor with a passthrough door to a large tack/dressing room. My use case is similar to yours.
Some people will say how they love using the +1 to tack up in. I’ve never felt very safe doing that unless with a small horse.
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I LOVE my 2+1 (4 Star). I usually only haul 2 horses, and I certainly enjoy the option for the third. But for my day-to-day usage, being able to tack in the +1 area is a huge thing for me. I can tack, put in studs, hang out at the horse show, etc under a roof or out of the elements.
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Gore makes such a trailer that might work for you. Aluminum body, steel frame. I don’t own this one but I am on my third Gore, and have been pleased with the brand.
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As far as ramps go, I had one on my very first trailer over 30 years ago and hated it. It was a straight load trailer with a ramp and 2 upper rear doors. When the ramp got out of round, the upper doors would not stay closed.
But, now that I am older, and ramp configurations are different, I love having one on my living quarters. My trailer has two full rear doors with the ramp over them.
As for the use of the ramp, and getting them up and down, you can block the ramp a certain way at the hinges to make them easier to move. Mine has small metal “blocks” that make it much easier to use. I had mentioned to the service manager at the dealer who services my trailers that I was having issues with the ramp, and he knew right away what the solution was.
The only drawback I could see with a 2 + 1 might be the length, but once you get used to it, you don’t even notice it.
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I’m a cowardly hauler, and where I live, people drive like really stupid maniacs….yellow line on a hill? Why not pass the truck and trailer?? Four was stop? Nope!! I was going to buy a straight load w a front unload ramp, but didn’t want the extra length it added. I asked 4 Star to add extra length to the rear ramp, so it is less steep. I also asked them to make the dressing room as small as possible so I have less foot print to pass. It probably sounds really silly, but I love this trailer. There isn’t room for a party in the dressing room, but everything fits w a little creative packing.
I think it was @endlessclimb who suggested more running lights a while ago. That was brilliant! This trailer looks like a. Christmas tree going down the road. I also put DOT safety tape along the running boards and the ramp.
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With the longer ramp, do you have a ramp over doors or are the top windows modified? I like the clearance of the 4Star for some driveways etc but the ramps are steep.
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I have the ramp w doors at the top. Those guys at 4 Star are the best… I’m 5’2”- they put a handle on the door to make it easier for me. My goal was to go back to a 6’ wide trailer. That’s what I started w 30 years ago. Our 18 hand horses fit just fine. We have roundabouts everywhere and the wider trailer was worrisome to me. 4 Star actually built it 6’2” wide so it could stay on the smaller width axle. Draft crosses fit in it fine.
For new, Equispirit is it: 2 Horse Gooseneck HorseTrailer with Dressing Room
I have their now-discontinued EquiBreeze model but if I ever wanted an enclosed trailer, I’d trade it in for the above.
They do have a used one for sale: Pre Owned Horse Trailers
Yeah, pros and cons to that as you mentioned.
I have an EquiSpirit and that thing is TALL. It has more ground clearance than the other trailers at the barn, and I can barely reach the top doors to open/close them. The ramp is quite steep, and I really don’t love that.
On the other hand, it’s easy to crawl under without having to raise it.
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I don’t have an issue reaching things but my horse who tends to bonk his head on the doorway would like a less steep ramp. I could go taller I suppose to 8’, but the inside height is fine (he’s 16.2) just the doorways, especially into the box.
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I have a Hawk 2+1. I ordered it without a DR as I didn’t want to make it longer and I was trying to work within a budget. I bolted saddle racks and a tack trunk onto the goose for all my stuff. I hang a net across the tack area if I have a horse riding in the front. It is an extra wide, extra tall as I owned large horses when I bought it in '04. For the last 5 years it has been hauling around my 14.2h paint in a rear box. I have fit 4 horses in it on occasion (well 2 ponies and 2 horses), and have once or twice tacked up in it.
I love the side ramp as I found climbing up into the tack room of our last trailer with my tack to be cumbersome. It is much easier to load and unload my tack using the ramp. My paint is the only horse I have had that I never bothered to teach to self load, so the side ramp is great. I lead him up, put him in the rear box, and unload the same way. My side ramp is lighter than my rear ramp too.
Now that I have a young draft X, I am going to put the divider back in and teach her to self load. I will still unload, most of the time, with the side ramp.
I have a 2012 Adam 2 horse GN with a side ramp and dressing room. I wanted a side ramp but didn’t want the length of a 2+1 so Adam added 2 ft to their 15 ft 2 horse GN and angled the dressing room wall to make room for the side ramp. The DR door is on the driver side (which I really like) in addition to an escape door from the horse area on the driver side. I adore my trailer and have found the side ramp invaluable. There is added room in front of the breast bar so it is very inviting for the horses when they walk on from the back ramp, and I feel safer being able to walk them straight off the side ramp. The side ramp also makes it easier to load and unload stuff from the dressing room at shows or when we go horse camping (there is a door between the DR and the horse area). The trailer is only 17 feet on the floor so very easy to maneuver. I had considered a 2+1 but am very glad I don’t have to deal with the added length and have never, ever regretted not having a 2+1.
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So glad to hear this! After much looking, I finally found a used 4-Star 2H with side ramp and pulled the trigger. I’ve taken to calling it my 2.5H. I wanted an Adam, but couldn’t find a used one anywhere. Grateful to have found one and so excited to use it!
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