Hi all, I’m thinking of buying a 2006 Bison Alumasport 4H LQ. The forums seem to have mixed reviews on the Bison horse trailers. Anybody have personal experience of this year? I understand Bison has seen a few changes of ownership etc. many thanks!
Bison is built near me and you are correct there have been ownership changes in the past 10-15 years. From what I recall, the biggest problem people have had in the past are warranty issues . . .new owners not honoring previous owners’ warranties. The 2006 would be out of warranty at this point --so a non-issue. My suggestion would be to look at the trailer as you would any 13-14 year old trailer --or pay someone who is an expert to do it for you. Look at the floor, axles, tires, brakes, seams where walls meet --loo. Missing screws or rivets? No matter how well-built the trailer was --the amount of use and care the previous owner did will be more of a factor than the manufacturer.
I have owned 5 trailers --three bought new, two bought used. The best, by far, is my current trailer, a 2004 Merhow Equilite. Merhow built a quality trailer (welds are a good place to see quality v lack of quality). But more important was that the woman who sold me the trailer (a friend of my daughters) only used the trailer 8 times in 12 years. There was almost 0 wear on the trailer --but even so I had to put $1200 in to it to replace electric, brakes, tires, and new hay bags! The fact that it was used very little, and kept inside was much more important to its condition than its manufacturer.
There’s a great book: Everything You Need to Know about Buying, Owning, and Maintaining a Horse Trailer by Neve Scheve —it’s on Amazon —you will find it is a big help. Oh, the author designed the Equilie and currently owns EquiSpirit. And I know all this because, like Bison, Merhow is built near me --7 miles away . . .
