Lightweight trailers designed to be pulled by smaller vehicles

[blob99]

I’m in the market for a lightweight trailer designed to be pulled by an SUV/smaller truck. I know these are popular in europe, but less common in the US.

I know about brenderups and Boeckmann Portax, but was curious what other trailers of this kind are easily available in the US. And if people had any recommendations/thoughts on the particular models/makes. There are quite a few used brenderups available, but I also know they are no longer being made so I do worry about ease of repair.

Ideally, I’d like to buy used and stay under $15k.

[mmeqcenter]

Equi-trek in Portland start at ~$10k new. They’re fairly new in the USA and I’ve not really seen many used for sale.

I would assume most aluminum trailers can be towed by a large SUV. I have a Sundowner 3-h slant that only weighs 2400 lbs empty, I haul my one mare in it with my Ford Expedition and theoretically could haul two horses with it. I wouldn’t do three, and I removed a divider to prevent the possibility. A previous boarder had a custom-made 2-h slant aluminum trailer with a wood floor that was ~2000 lbs, she uses a Toyota Sequoia I think.

[BK6756]

I love my Brenderup Baron trailer! It’s older, but I’ve kept it in good shape. Even after I bought a large 2+1 gooseneck trailer, I kept my Brenderup because it’s nice to have a trailer that’s quick and easy to hook up, and easy to maneuver anywhere. The main difficulty has been trying to find replacement parts since they are no longer produced.

[LCDR]

What SUV or small truck do you have?

[blob99]

I have a range rover. It has a 7500lbs towing capacity. But I’d like to be well under and I would feel most comfortable with a trailer specifically designed to be towed by an SUV if I can find a good one!

I would only be using the trailer for local hauling and both my horses are small (14.1 and 15hh).

[demidq]

It is the wheel base as well as the towing capacity of your vehicle that you should be aware of for the Euro trailers. Recommendation is 100" wheel base in an SUV, V6 or turbo V4 engine.I have a Boeckmann 2 horse straight load ( the Comfort model but they are all pretty damn nice) and tow it with a Hyundai Tucson.
The Euro trailers have the center of gravity over the wheels which means the tongue weight is much less than NA trailers, and they have surge brakes instead of electric. They are cool and quiet, have a suspension for a more comfortable ride They have an excellent safety rating and keep their value very well. They do come in aluminum as well as a fibreglass. It is hard to find used Boeckmanns. Can you tell I love mine?
If you want to find out more, check the website of Maple Lane Trailers here in Ontario. They have excellent articles on the differences between NA and Euro trailers. The dealer Marcia is always super helpful if you have questions.
ETA: Price is around $18-20K Can new, so about $15k US

[Mouse_amp_Bay]

Love, love, love the Boeckmanns.

Genius design, tows fantastic, nice and quiet inside for the horses. The ‘maintenance’ is super easy as well - took the manual with the trailer to a local mechanic, he loved the design and other than the wheels just needed to grease a couple points. Easy peasy - charged me $50 for the “check up” which I do yearly only because I’m not mechanically minded. We are going on 5 years now and the trailer still looks and drives basically brand new.

I dealt with Maple Lane and Marsha was fantastic. Highly recommend - she does have used models in occasionally, so you may be able to find one within budget.

[xQHDQ]

Love my Kingston All Aluminum 2-horse straight-load WB trailer (no dressing room). It weighs only a little bit more than a Bender-up. I tow with a VW Touareg. Truck rated to tow 7200lbs. Trailer empty=2300lb. I barely feel it back there with two horses in it. My diesel gets very good gas mileage even when towing. The gas engine is rated to the same tow capacity.

[OTTBs]

@blob99

I have a range rover. It has a 7500lbs towing capacity. But I’d like to be well under and I would feel most comfortable with a trailer specifically designed to be towed by an SUV if I can find a good one!

I would only be using the trailer for local hauling and both my horses are small (14.1 and 15hh).

I have no idea what your wheelbase is, but my 2004 Explorer (thought it had 8000 lb tow capacity, when I got rid of it turned out to be 7000 lb) pulled my steel 16’ stock trailer (with 1 or 2 horses) no problem. It pulled my Shadow 3H slant empty to go home, but I don’t think I got a horse in it before the mechanic declared it shouldn’t tow anymore. Now my Tundra pulls that no problem with 1 or 2 horses. Probably need to weigh it before I try 3 horses, I think the tow capacity is 7200 lb.

My Brenderup was pulled by a Mercury Cougar with a 2000 lb tow capacity at first. Too bad my current horse wouldn’t learn to self load or wait for me to put up the butt bar, had to get the stock trailer for her. Despite the Brenderup literature, I didn’t find the other trailers much harder to drive. Getting the brake controller set up right was a bit of a pain, then smooth sailing after that. I actually think I felt my B’up sway, but never felt the heavier ones do so. So that’s my 2 cents in case you’re a new trailer driver thinking the Euro trailer would be easier to drive. Oh, one thing that was nice was the B’up tracked the same as the Explorer. The first time I took the stock trailer to a gas station I hit one of the barriers. Gotta swing wide with a “regular” trailer.

[Xanthoria]

I have an EquiTrek Show Treka. Weighs about 3000# and I tow with a V8 4Runner rated to 7500#

Horses face backwards, it has a wide side ramp, and a 2 bunk living quarters with a mini kitchen. I love it.

Used to have a Brenderup Baron but it was too small for my last horse. Loved it though!

[LCDR]

As the original question was about light weight trailers, here are some curb weights of some of the lightest 2 horse bumper pull trailers, as listed by the manufacturers’ web sites. Some manufacturers, such as 4Star and Shadow, do not list weights. Curb weight is for the bare trailer, and does not include options.

Logan Coach Crossfire 2,570 pounds
Featherlite Models 9651 and 9652 2,700
Featherlite 9407 3,000
Featherlite 9409 2,800
Kingston Classic Standard 2,100
Exiss Express SS, CX and CXF 2,620
Adam 710-AF 2,850
Sundowner Charter TR SE (with DR) 2,850
Sundowner Super Sport Slant 2,435
Gore Aluminum Deluxe TB 2,480
Double D Townsmand 2,400
Equisport Equispirit 2,780
Brenderup Baron (no longer made) 2,000
Boeckmann Champion R 1,985

Most all two horse bumper pull trailers are in the same ballpark weight range . If you want the lightest towed weight, horse weight is the greatest variable, followed by how much feed, water, equipment, and tack you choose to load along with the horses. Of currently North American manufactured trailers I looked at, the Kingston Classic Standard has the lowest curb weight, at 2100 pounds. It is within 115 pounds of both the old Brenderup Baron, and the Boeckmann Champion R . A 15 year old Brenderup Baron was recently listed as sold on line for $9,900. It looks like a new 2021 Kingston Classic Standard lists for about $14,600, and a new 2021 Boeckmann around $20,000.

The major difference weight-wise between American 2 horse bumper pulls versus European style is not the overall weight, but the balance which results in the European design putting a smaller percentage of the trailer weight on the trailer tongue, so the European style can be towed by a smaller vehicle with a weaker suspension.

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[greysfordays]

I had a Boeckann Portax with the front unload ramp. that design is TERRIFIC! Being able to unload the horses on the front made life really easy. The horses had a lot of space in front of the chest bars and would do long rides really comfortably. I towed with a range rover sport and my biggest issue was staying under 60 mph, as dictated by CA when you’re towing. It was super balanced, easy to hitch and go to the gas station etc.

The breaking was superb, it gave me a lot of confidence as a newbie tower. I would highly recommend them if you don’t need to haul a lot of stuff. Or if you can fit your tack trunk in the rover.

[blob99]

Thank you @greysfordays this is really helpful info!

I don’t have a lot i need to haul around that wouldn’t fit in the trunk. My only concern would be hay. Was there space in front of the chest bars for a bale?

I also really like the idea of being able to unload in front as I have one horse who had a bad accident backing up off a ramp and while she will back off a ramp, she would probably much prefer not to.

If you don’t mind my asking–how much did you pay for your’s? Feel free to PM or not respond as I know it’s a personal question!

[greysfordays]

I had the portax LK, so it has extra room in front of the chest bars. Tons of room for hay, I was hauling with 3-4 flakes in a hay net. I now have one of those horse vans, and I’ve switched from hay nets to the hay bags so they get less hay and dirt in their eyes.

the other nice thing about the boeckmann’s is you can convert the back from a ramp to a step up. I took everything out of the trailer to haul rubber mats once and it made it so easy for the fork lift to come right up to the edge of the trailer and drop off the mats.

I bought mine from Marsha from Maple Lane in Canada. She is delightful to work with and if you go to her youtube, she does video walk throughs of all the trailers so you can get a sense for space and hay rings, etc… I think I paid around $22-23K all in with shipping from there.

If you have smaller horses, I don’t think you need the LK Portax, you will probably be ok with just the Portax K, which is less expensive. I still think you would have plenty of room for hay, the K model has the smallest tack cubby so that the driver’s side horse can easily get off. My horse was 18h, so I figured the extra space was critical, but honestly, we probably would have been fine with the K model.

Hope that’s helpful! I love my van, but still miss the Portax for its amazing design and ease of use.