New Trailer from Hell

[Palm_Beach]

I don’t see any reason why OP would be mad or frustrated at Shadow - they made her trailer to order, and she did not think through the entire result. Plus it was delivered in plenty of time for the trip. I’m not sure I understand about the ramp - I have an xtall xwide trailer, and my ramp is just fine, both in steepness and weight. I always unload out the side - much easier than backing out. My horses stretch their heads down and forward when unloading down the side ramp, so I’ve never given a thought to the height of the opening. One of my barn doors is low, and no horse has ever had a hard time going through. And if the horses are trail riding, I’d bet that they’ve been in situations where low branches have caused at least the rider to duck down. I’ve led my horses under fallen trees that barely clear the pommel of the saddle.

Anyway, it appears that Shadow is trying to re-customize this trailer. I’ve had enough renovations done to my house and barn that I understand that what I ask for and what is delivered often comes with unexpected surprises. Getting upset and yelling at people accomplishes nothing. I always say, “I know I asked for (blank) but now there is this little issue…” And the contractor says, “Oh I see” and we go from there.

[arlosmine]

Nope, I still believe that the door height on the the escape door should be taller on a trailer whose entire dimension was modified to be taller. The fact that the buyer didn’t think of it is because she is not a trailer manufacturer. This is something the company should have settled on as standard for trailers with modified heights.

Particularly in an emergency, I would not want my horses to have to lower their heads to not hit their heads in order to exit a trailer. Trailers are already dangerous enough. If Unloading in a chaotic parking lot, on a roadside, or after an accident, I wouldn’t expect a calm, lowered head unloading.

I have an extra tall option on my trailer and even the people exit doors, which can serve as emergency exits for horses, are up the the extra tall ceiling.

[lorilu]

That design flaw is something the dealer should have caught during the design phase. After all, they are the experts.

[sascha]

It’s the fault of the dealer and the manufacturer. Holy cow, that’s their JOB. It is not the customer’s job to know every little nuance of ordering a custom trailer.

If you ordered custom height kitchen cabinets and the drawers came too tall or too short, would that be your fault? No. It’s not the customer’s job to know that drawers need to be specially fitted for different height cabinets.

This wasn’t an IKEA puzzle project, it was a very expensive investment made in good faith. The service the OP got until they offered to rectify the problem was crap.

That said, I’ve had and trained some giant horses. They all learnt to lower their heads when going through low doorways. It’s just something a tall horse needs to learn.

OP, I totally sympathize with you on the steep ramp thing. I had an embarrassing meltdown among friends about my new trailer’s very steep ramp. My horse was fine with it from the get go, thank goodness, but I had worked myself into a tizzy. Had another horse with us that hasn’t learnt self-loading and self-unloading and that horse was fine too. Hopefully when your opening gets the added height the ramp won’t seem so horrible I’m still kind of pondering adding anti-slip rails on top of the rubber mats for rainy day traction, but it’s all feeling less urgent now that I have got over my tizzy lol

[roseymare]

I am a bit unclear as to how the ramp is steeper because the trailer is taller. Doesn’t the steepness of the ramp depend upon the length of the ramp and the height the trailer floor is from the ground? Is the taller trailer higher off of the ground than the regular height ones?
I understand that the door opening is proportionately shorter if they used the same doors that they use for the regular height ones. And I do get the argument that one might expect a tall trailer to have taller escape doors but I still don’t correlate that to expecting ramp height to be less steep. Although it may seem so to some horses if they have to shimmy out a small doorway!

The op needed to request a long ramp. Unless the clearance of the trailer is higher for a taller trailer, the ramp height has nothing to do with the height of the trailer. If the trailer had been regular size a long ramp would have also need to be requested.

That said it sounds like they might need to install longer ramps on everything if they are that short.

Happy they are making it right.

[sascha]

[QUOTE=roseymare;8642324]
I am a bit unclear as to how the ramp is steeper because the trailer is taller. Doesn’t the steepness of the ramp depend upon the length of the ramp and the height the trailer floor is from the ground? Is the taller trailer higher off of the ground than the regular height ones?
I understand that the door opening is proportionately shorter if they used the same doors that they use for the regular height ones. And I do get the argument that one might expect a tall trailer to have taller escape doors but I still don’t correlate that to expecting ramp height to be less steep. Although it may seem so to some horses if they have to shimmy out a small doorway!

The op needed to request a long ramp. Unless the clearance of the trailer is higher for a taller trailer, the ramp height has nothing to do with the height of the trailer. If the trailer had been regular size a long ramp would have also need to be requested.

That said it sounds like they might need to install longer ramps on everything if they are that short.

Happy they are making it right.[/QUOTE]

Sounds like maybe the back ramp is a shorter ramp than the side ramp?

My ramp is steep due to the former owner replacing the axles for heavier duty and lifting the trailer so it fit their new truck that had higher bed rails than their previous tow vehicle. So, the ramp is the proper height for its original height which makes it steep for that extra 6" or so it now sits off the ground. I would doubt that scenario fits the OP’s unless the dealer sold her a trailer that sits higher off the ground and only fitted the side ramp (I think she said the side ramp was ok?) to take that into consideration, and failed to make the back ramp longer to make up for the trailer being higher off the ground than normal.

[Palm_Beach]

It’s not a design flaw, it’s something the OP did not ask for and did not think of until later. I have xtall xwide but my doors are not xtall. I don’t haul giraffes or elephants, but have hauled draftx and many large tbs and never had an issue unloading. It’s never even occurred to me that the opening was too small for the bigger horses - they did just fine.

[spotted_draft_x_fill]

Those coco mats are great for traction, all of the shippers around here use them. They’re not that heavy and you can roll/fold them up in seconds.

Other things you can do about steep ramps is if one is available, unload on a small hill or if you can’t and it’s still steep, have one person hold onto the tail of the horse unloading as its going down the ramp. The commercial shippers do these methods as well.

[sascha]

[QUOTE=Palm Beach;8642481]
It’s not a design flaw, it’s something the OP did not ask for and did not think of until later. I have xtall xwide but my doors are not xtall. I don’t haul giraffes or elephants, but have hauled draftx and many large tbs and never had an issue unloading. It’s never even occurred to me that the opening was too small for the bigger horses - they did just fine.[/QUOTE]

Oh my goodness, just because you didn’t have a problem, doesn’t make it right. If someone designed a house for you (because presumably you are not a an architect) and then put hobbit sized doors on it, would that be your fault?

If a wedding dress designer custom makes you a gown and has to lengthen it through the waist because you are long waisted, would it be your fault if the designer lengthened only the front bodice and left the back as a standard size?

At the very least the employee who helped the OP should have said, “since you are going Xtall, do you want standard or Xtall openings?” If it’s a possibility to customize the opening (and clearly it is since Shadow has agreed to fix it) then the person helping the OP should have spelled out all the options and the consequences of getting or refusing each one.

[Mosey_2003]

The dealer should’ve reminded the OP that it would be higher, making the ramp steep, and that the side doors would be normal height. When you custom order something, the dealer should be experienced enough to know questions need to be asked.

[China_Doll]

[QUOTE=arlosmine;8640902]
I, for one, think that it IS reasonable for you to expect an extra tall trailer to have door openings that go to the extra tall ceiling. The whole reason you want the extra height is to accommodate tall horses, and a trailer manufacturer’s JOB is to know the client’s needs and to know what sort of safety considerations go into different options. They are supposed to know know more than you, it’s their business![/QUOTE] the side door header is lower for trailer stability. They need that header for support which is not needed at the back end.

[Cindyg]

[QUOTE=lorilu;8642163]
That design flaw is something the dealer should have caught during the design phase. After all, they are the experts.[/QUOTE]

I agree. Yes, it should have been discussed beforehand, but the mfg is the one who should have pointed it it out, or at least caught it during the mfg process. OP doesn’t build horse trailers for a living!

[right_horse_at_the_right_time]

I had the same issue with my ramp being too steep and my horse fell to his knees as well-my heart sank.

My rear doors have two on either side on top of the ramp, so the ramp is shorter than others.

After coming on here and getting great help, I ordered mat from Hawk. We screwed it into the existing ramp: problem solved. He’s never skipped again.

Very inexpensive and I would recommend it.

[Palm_Beach]

[QUOTE=sascha;8642506]
Oh my goodness, just because you didn’t have a problem, doesn’t make it right. If someone designed a house for you (because presumably you are not a an architect) and then put hobbit sized doors on it, would that be your fault?

If a wedding dress designer custom makes you a gown and has to lengthen it through the waist because you are long waisted, would it be your fault if the designer lengthened only the front bodice and left the back as a standard size?

At the very least the employee who helped the OP should have said, “since you are going Xtall, do you want standard or Xtall openings?” If it’s a possibility to customize the opening (and clearly it is since Shadow has agreed to fix it) then the person helping the OP should have spelled out all the options and the consequences of getting or refusing each one.[/QUOTE]

Really snarky and poor analogies. The OP wanted deviations from standard, and got exactly what she asked for. No one installed smaller doors; standard doors were installed. Obviously she feels her horses are too big to fit through standard doors. I simply commented on the FACT that I’ve hauled some very large horses, including draftx, in my xtall xwide with standard doors and never had a problem getting through the doorways, nothing even close to a problem. Not sure why you would fantasize about wedding dresses and hobbit houses when we are talking horse trailers.

[Manni01]

[QUOTE=right horse at the right time;8643695]
I had the same issue with my ramp being too steep and my horse fell to his knees as well-my heart sank.

My rear doors have two on either side on top of the ramp, so the ramp is shorter than others.

After coming on here and getting great help, I ordered mat from Hawk. We screwed it into the existing ramp: problem solved. He’s never skipped again.

Very inexpensive and I would recommend it.[/QUOTE]

Does it make the ramp heavy??

[moving_to_dc]

[QUOTE=sascha;8642506]
Oh my goodness, just because you didn’t have a problem, doesn’t make it right…[/QUOTE]

I doubt this is the ONLY trailer that the company has made to these specs. I am betting there are hundreds, if not thousands, rolling around out there without issue.

It seems to be an issue isolated to this owner.

[moving_to_dc]

[QUOTE=Mosey_2003;8642608]
The dealer should’ve reminded the OP that it would be higher, making the ramp steep, and that the side doors would be normal height. When you custom order something, the dealer should be experienced enough to know questions need to be asked.[/QUOTE]

I agree with the other poster that pointed out that the INTERIOR height of the trailer has nothing to do with the steepness of the ramp. If the floor of the trailer is the same distance above the ground in a 7’, 7’6" or 8’ tall trailer, then the steepness of the ramp will be the same.

[Tory]

And I for one believe that pictures say a thousand words.

I have never purchased a trailer sight unseen without looking at a ton of pictures in the bouchures or on the manufactures website. I have had to order a trailer before because what I wanted was not on the lot. I didn’t place that order until I had looked at a sufficient amount of pictures of the actual trailer I was going to order.

All manufacturers make subtle differences in their designs. When I open the back doors of my Hawk, it is an open area, nothing coming down from the top. My Sundowner on the other hand had a opening that was a bit smaller than the door height.

Although hindsight is always 20/20, and I would imagine that the OP (or anyone reading this thread) wouldn’t make the same mistake again.

I don’t know if it is anyone’s fault as much as it was an oversight on everyone’s part.

[MyssMyst]

I work in sales… And let me tell you, it’s MY job to ask the questions to get the information that customers don’t even realize I need. I am not that skeevy sales person that’s going to push product no matter what, I’ll flat tell you if what we have isn’t going to cut it for your needs. Ultimately, the customer is the person who has to live with the purchase, not me. And I refuse to be anything less than honest (I may not chalk up the biggest numbers, but my people are always happy). It’s not my customer’s job to know my product, it’s my job. I need to do my job and make completely sure that what I’m setting up will work, and that they understand what to expect. If the side door couldn’t be taller without interfering with structural stability, that needed to be disclosed up front. Asking about the ramp configuration may seem stupid, but you’d be amazed at how many little things I ask about that people just wouldn’t think of. But I ask because I know my product inside and out, and I have yet to have a customer that does.

[Nevada10]

[QUOTE=moving to dc;8643868]
I doubt this is the ONLY trailer that the company has made to these specs. I am betting there are hundreds, if not thousands, rolling around out there without issue.

It seems to be an issue isolated to this owner.[/QUOTE]

Ironically, I found an Adam trailer that I liked at another dealership and called and explained my situation and they said they just had another person trade in their 2+1 Shadow for the exact same reason. So I’m not the only one!