Renting a horse trailer

[Rain]

Does anyone know of a site like Zipcar or Getaround where people can rent trailers (instead of cars)? My trailer sits around for much of the year and it would be nice to find a way to have it “earn its keep.”

Note this is not a discussion on whether this is a good idea or not.

I recently found a site called “Neighborgoods” where you can rent resources (like tools and kitchen appliances) from your neighbors. It got me thinking about a similar site for horse trailers and other utility vehicles…flat beds, non-horse trailers, etc.

[BellaMia]

That would be an awesome service. I don’t know of anything like it either.

[2DogsFarm]

Just make sure your insurance covers the trailer if you aren’t pulling it, or that anyone renting it has coverage for possible damage/liability.

Like you, I rarely haul, but my solution is to have neighbor kid use it whenever he needs a GN or enclosed trailer (his is stock).
Still not does not get as much use as I’d like, but better than sitting.

[trubandloki]

It seems like the added insurance expense would make it not likely to be cost effective unless you get lots of rental customers, which might be why no such place exists.

Neighbors rent tools and kitchen appliances from each other?
Really?
Any neighbor I would trust with anything I own would also be a neighbor I would simply loan things to.

[Texarkana]

I’d be very nervous to ever rent out my own trailer. Even more so than renting out my own vehicle.

The local feed store rents stock trailers. People beat the tar out of them. They treat them so poorly, despite having a security deposit. They are constantly damaged. I have never seen people do so much damage to rental vehicles the way they damage these stock trailers. Uhaul trailers also seem to get beat up pretty badly, despite their strict checks, and they don’t even have animals in them.

So, while a good idea in theory, there may be a reason why something described in the OP has not caught on!

[jmbaumgardner]

I am curious if you could connect with 1-2 folks in your community who you would come to know over time (and hopefully they would treat it well) that may want to rent it fairly regularly (vs many people using it). Where I live, there are many local FB groups for our eventing and dressage network and this may be a good way to connect with some hopefully responsible people to have a win-win situation.

[Foxglove6]

Someone at my barn advertises their trailer for rent by posting a flyer in our lobby and they have their number painted on the trailer itself and it says “rent me.” I don’t know how effective it is.

I would think Craigslist and local horse related FB groups would be good.

[Rain]

[QUOTE=jmbaumgardner;8901537]
I am curious if you could connect with 1-2 folks in your community who you would come to know over time (and hopefully they would treat it well) that may want to rent it fairly regularly (vs many people using it). [/QUOTE]

This would be ideal. The are boarders are my barn who might be interested, but it means doing all the legwork related to insurance, collecting deposits, providing a rental agreement, etc.

An alternative I was hoping to find would be similar to the private car rental sites (like Zipcar), which provide insurance so if someone wrecks or damages your trailer, it is covered separately from your own insurance policy. So I was looking for site like that. It seems there isn’t one.

[Foxglove]

Our community is predominately Amish (no cars, no trailers). There are quite a few RV, stock, and horse trailer rental places. An Amish family might hire a driver (who has a car/tow vehicle) and transport themselves, trail horses, and whatever to a park or horse camp ground.

[Guilherme]

Given the massive diversity of trailer types, ages, brands, and systems I’m not sure how any sort of “ziptrailer” system might work.

Then there’s the liability issue. Not just on the physical unit but the skill of the person using it. Most of us were novice trailer drivers at one time and can remember not only our actual screw ups but the many times we had “near misses” as we gained experience.

Anyone know of the costs of rental of U-Haul trailers to U-Haul? That would be the closest analogy I can think of. Or maybe a local co-op that rents out trailers would be a source of information.

One risk that U-Haul might not have in large amounts would be that of damage to a trailer by the horse being hauled. Again, I’d bet that many of us have had horses damage our trailers during some phase of the hauling experience.

Hauling horses might be just too specialized an activity for some sort of “mass” operation like a “ziptrailer.”

G.

[Rain]

[QUOTE=Guilherme;8901596]
Then there’s the liability issue. Not just on the physical unit but the skill of the person using it.

One risk that U-Haul might not have in large amounts would be that of damage to a trailer by the horse being hauled. Again, I’d bet that many of us have had horses damage our trailers during some phase of the hauling experience.

Hauling horses might be just too specialized an activity for some sort of “mass” operation like a “ziptrailer.”[/QUOTE]

Yes indeed, to all your various points. It may not be feasible.

I’ve contemplated a number of scenarios, since my trailer gets used maybe 10-12 times a year. Seems like a waste to have it just sitting around.

I’m thinking the informal “rent to someone you know well” might be the best option, and even that is fraught with opportunity for things to go off the rails.

I do like the idea of “ziptrailer,” though! Or maybe “zip-utility” to include stuff like farm equipment? Rent a tractor for the day!